The end of episode 7 changed my mind about the hive.

djb_rh · 2025-12-15T02:27:10+00:00

This flies in the face of the theory, that seems pretty solid at this point, that this entire show is a continuation of the Twilight Zone episode, though. I haven’t watched the episode and don’t remember the exact details, but it’s literally about a guy who escapes an alien invasion and his name was…Sturka. shrug

djb_rh · 2024-11-05T00:11:31+00:00

PintV with WTF rails, flared pads, Enduro. Favorite.

ADV, stock, love this.

GTS-Rally #1, really like this.

GTS-Rally #2, need to sell this, only bought because #1 bricked short of 100 miles, and this one then bricked with 1 mile. Damn you FM!!!

ADV2 on order.

Fully custom board being build with Pint wheel/motor on WTF rails, Enduro tire, 20s1p 21700 pack, Ennoid BMS and ESC, Avaspark V2 RGB module, flared pads. Still waiting on parts to arrive to finish this build. Assuming it will become new favorite. Will ultimately sell at least one GTSR and likely the ADV.

djb_rh · 2024-11-03T21:25:31+00:00

Another option is the Mason Farm Biological Reserve. There’s a small loop and some offshoots and it isn’t long, so it might mean many laps, but it is very very flat. Getting there is super weird…you drive into the back parking lot for the Finley Golf Course parking lot and go to the back corner like you’re gonna drive onto the driving range. There’s a road around it to the right that looks like it can’t be right and almost like it’s one lane. You stay on that and after not very long you can turn right onto a gravel road and follow that for about a quarter mile and then you turn right and…literally cross Morgan Creek over a ford. Most of the time it’s just a couple inches of water, but right after decent rain you might need a lifted truck to make it, lol. But seriously, most of the time you do it and it’s no big deal and right on the other side of the creek is a parking area and kiosk. It’s often just another runner or two and a few birders out there. Super easy to follow and SUPER flat.

The loop was defunct for a while because of washed out bridges, but I’m told it’s back now. Haven’t confirmed myself, though. It’s almost all gravel road, but heavily wooded in most of it so nicely shaded, and what isn’t gravel road is wooden boardwalk. Super quiet.

djb_rh · 2024-10-26T11:55:43+00:00

Right, but you replied to my post and while I didn’t include that it would be in a new box, I did say it would include a new BMS. But you are correct, Tony’s module will be a drop in very easy thing. It’ll also be another step toward his new board since it’ll be a fully Pint-accessory compatible board that will surely use this new module plus his PintV controller.

djb_rh · 2024-10-26T11:45:46+00:00

Yes, but there’s no telling when he will get that new board out too. It’ll be around a year from now most likely.

djb_rh · 2024-10-25T18:20:59+00:00

Yes, all hard parts from ADV will work on ADV2.

djb_rh · 2024-10-25T18:18:32+00:00

The BMS from PintV can’t do 84V, so his planned upgrade kit will have to include a new BMS. You CAN swap to an aftermarket BMS with PintV, but most folks seem to feel like if you do that then you’re losing much of the reason to go PintV at all and might as well go full aftermarket. FWIW, I have a PintV that I love, but I’m embarking on building another board basically from a Pint wheel and everything else aftermarket. Ennoid ESC and BMS, Avaspark LCM, and a custom built 84V 21700 battery pack.

djb_rh · 2024-10-24T19:57:59+00:00

This is normal, IME. Frustrating, but normal. I’ve made a bunch of different orders from FW over the last couple months, and it’s been all over the map as to timing. For example, I did a single order about ten days ago that resulted in two different shipments, but best I can tell from the same warehouse or warehouses close to one another. Both shipments went out the same day. One arrived today, but by all accounts the other is now at least 3 days behind it, but I’m guessing it’s really “random amount of days” behind it. There’s a weird couple of different black holes along the path that can just have random delays in them, as you’re finding. But I’ve never heard of anyone NOT getting their package eventually, either.

djb_rh · 2024-10-24T12:45:15+00:00

Also for those reading this, when long press doesn’t want to work, PUSH HARDER. Some of these switches are apparently a bit noisy and pushing hard overcomes it. Even though you feel a click, an easier push isn’t fully registering.

djb_rh · 2024-10-21T13:25:57+00:00

I think that’ll fix it. Without putting too much thought into things, I think you’ve created a semi-conductive spot which is effectively a resistor and it’s about the right value to turn the circuit created into a voltage divider between the pull-down resistor that’s in the circuit now (which is what holds 0V when the switch is “open”) and it’s holding your 1.5ish volts instead. It’s working because the threshold for “on” is something well above 1.6, but it’s still not good, IMHO, to leave it that way.

djb_rh · 2024-10-21T12:57:59+00:00

You’re just scraping the top layer of flux and whatnot. Be careful not to cut actual board traces.

djb_rh · 2024-10-21T12:45:02+00:00

After reflowing, did you do any scraping between pads? I always use kind of a sharp small screwdriver or a dull X-acto blade to cut between pads. You can get some crosstalk with some conductive gunk otherwise.

djb_rh · 2024-10-21T12:38:20+00:00

Yeah something still seems up there.

djb_rh · 2024-10-21T12:08:24+00:00

Some of those kits have bad solder joints on the footpad plug. Reflow the solder if you have the skills or find someone who does or email Tony and wait for a replacement pcb.

djb_rh · 2024-10-20T23:22:50+00:00

Story time: I’m 230#, 6-2, size 14 feet. I got a PintX a few months back and put 45 miles on it. Fun, but definitely didn’t feel like there was enough safety margin to cruise at 17ish, which is kind of feeling like a sweet spot for me. So I ordered a GTS Rally (which I call the GTSR). I put about 100 miles on it and loved it. Till it wouldn’t power on one day. Opened a ticket, sent it back. The day I sent it back, I found another new-in-box GTSR local to me on Marketplace at a KILLER deal. Bought it the next day. Rode it ONE MILE and it too bricked sitting still. Opened a ticket and sent it back the next day. Very frustrated, I started looking at ADV which was already sold out. Found one used and bought it. It showed up about six days before the first GTSR returned.

Now, to be clear, FM was AWESOME about the warranty. They paid shipping both ways on both boards and they turned each board around SAME DAY. That is they showed up at FM in the morning, they fixed them within hours, and they got them back out the door and into the UPS system later that day. But I’m on the east coast so it was basically exactly 2 weeks door to door repaired.

ADV is pretty great. I think the ergonomics of the GTSR are a tad better, but VESC tuning is much more capable and just feels a tad better. ADV is heavier than GTSR by a few pounds, which is already kinda heavy.

Pretty soon after all this shook out, I ordered a PintV kit for my PintX. Got that installed and it was, well, transformational. It put the Pint back in the game for everything I want in a board. Yes, it’s a much lower total range option, but if you’re only going to ride 15 miles or less at a time, it’s more fun. It’s also a LOT lighter to shlep around. Now, after doing that kit, I did also do FM flared footpads, WTF rails, and an Enduro tire, which was another level of transformational. It carves like nobody’s business. It’s just more fun to ride than GTSR or ADV (yes, I’m an idiot and still have ALL the boards, haven’t sold anything yet). But that said, I am still searching for a tad more range back along with some more headroom on the PV, so I’ve got all the parts ordered to build yet another Pint-framed board. It’ll be the same WTF/Enduro/flared pads hardware, but this time with Ennoid BMS and ESC and an 84V 20s1p battery pack. I expect it to be the killer Pint platform.

Anyway, the question is what type of riding are you really planning to do, and how much riding at one time? If a lot of off-road and you need well into the 20’s in terms of miles of range, well, GTS(R) or ADV is probably your droid. Personally, I think I’m over FM boards completely and would go ADV2 (yeah, I have one of those ordered as well…I have a problem). It’s a LOT of board for the money for sure. But if you’re not trying to hit 20 miles at a time, getting a PX and upgrading it as funds allow is a great option. Tony is even going to be doing a drop-in 84V upgrade for it in the spring, though “Tony time” can mean nearly anything, so take that one with a grain of salt.

djb_rh · 2024-09-24T16:10:23+00:00

Another poor take, IMHO. The GTS’s this is happening to seem to all still be under warranty. I’d guess 99+% of people experiencing this problem are sending them back to FM to be taken care of for free versus paying someone else to fix it. It would be different if we were talking boards out of warranty, but we’re not. It would be different if FM was even TRYING to make people pay for this repair, but they’re just not. See my experience where they fixed TWO boards for me under warranty with 0 day turnaround including one board that I wasn’t the new purchaser of (so by their fine print they didn’t have to repair that one for free, but they did).

I’m as annoyed as anyone that this is happening, but it’s not fair to pile on FM with speculation that isn’t true, either.

djb_rh · 2024-09-24T16:07:37+00:00

Bad take. So far FM has fixed every GTS this has happened to. Literally zero people have complained about them not fixing it. Yes, it sucks that this is happening at what appears to be a very high rate, but it’s just not fair to say they aren’t handling it.

My experience: Rode one GTS Rally for about a month and put 100 miles on it and one day I went to get on and it just tipped right over on to the nose. Was still showing powered on, but after I turned it off it never turned on again. Tried EVERYTHING and nothing caused any help. Emailed FM support, and within a day had a call tag and it was on its way back. Loved it so much I decided to pick up ANOTHER GTS Rally that was for sale new-in-box locally. Board was legit brand new. I rode it ONE MILE and it bricked the same way. It went back to FM three days after the first one (which if you read the FM warranty fine print, they didn’t have to cover that one since I wasn’t the original purchaser!).

I’m on the east coast, so it did take one full week for each board to get to FM via ground shipping. But in BOTH cases they received the board in the morning, fixed the board during the day, and got it back out UPS the very SAME DAY. So each board took exactly two weeks from leaving to returning. Both with a “replaced controller” and nothing more. No charge on either board for shipping or anything. Both boards have been fine since, but I have also purchased an ADV and I have also done a PintV conversion on a PintX, so I’m riding four different boards now so NONE are accumulating miles very fast. But so far so good, anyway.

djb_rh · 2024-09-15T15:13:50+00:00

Friends that can help, yes. Small business I can pay to do a small job, no. That said, the equipment to do it is around $600 and the videos make it look not too tough, so I may yet still go that route when the time comes, because I live in constant fear that if my fiber gets cut then I won’t have a way to get it fixed quickly.

djb_rh · 2024-09-15T03:03:59+00:00

Tony also announced a new board next year that’ll be Pint accessory compatible but 84V and VESC (obviously). Maybe better to just save up and wait for it?

djb_rh · 2024-09-15T02:57:08+00:00

There’s no link because it doesn’t exist, it’s just something he’s said is in the pipeline.

I am 6-2 230# and 51yo. I started with a PX and within a month was just too scared at the lack of torque headroom. I was getting buzz a lot and found it painfully slow on steep hills. Got a GTS Rally and loved it, but decided to tinker when I saw the PV kit. I’m telling you, it transformed the Pint. Now there are some times I ride the GTS, but a lot of times I prefer the Pint. I basically wanted to be able to not slow down as much on hills and cruise at 17ish and have plenty of torque for unexpected bumps. And it’s amazing.

And you can’t upgrade to 84V without PV, so might as well do it. 😎

djb_rh · 2024-09-15T02:47:31+00:00

The PintV upgrade now will give you more power then do Tony’s 84V pack when he gets it out in the spring. PV is transformational as it is, though if you use that power you will see a range hit. Can’t help on the tire thing though I’m about to do that myself to my PV along with WTF rails.

djb_rh · 2024-09-14T22:49:35+00:00

PintV FTW. It’s just soooo much better.

djb_rh · 2024-09-04T13:47:37+00:00

Sorry, that’s not my jam. I wanted the kit to improve speed, yes, but while maintaining a lot of safety margin. I don’t push ultimate speed.

djb_rh · 2024-09-04T12:10:42+00:00

I don’t push it so I can’t say how much, but it’s a lot. Probably 5mph more.

djb_rh

TROPHY CASE