Begode Falcon, 900Wh Battery, 2,800W (Peak Power)

Since Electric Unicycles were unleashed into the world, over a decade ago, there has been an ever increasing arms race towards heavier & more powerful machines. Once the suspension Wheels arrived on the scene in 2021, the focus of development had been on 18" tires & larger. This created a void in the market for a compact, yet capable 14" Wheel with similar performance characteristics of its larger & more expensive siblings.

The objective of the Falcon was to bring a high-performance package in a compact & portable 14" chasis, being the first Wheel in this class with a fully functional (includes rebound) suspension system.

So far, the initial feedback from our Customers is that this Wheel more than delivers on the promise of being one of the most exciting Wheels of 2024.

The primary feature of the Falcon is its integration of suspension, a first for the small wheel class. It offers 60mm of travel, plenty for the use case and speed that this Wheel was designed for. The coils are also swappable by the rider if they'd like a stiffer ride. The Falcon ships with the orange (4mm thick coil) suspension springs installed, rated up to ~200lbs riding weight by Begode, but we have reports from heavier riders that prefer the plush feeling of the orange springs over the stiffer black (4.5mm thick coil) springs, which provide greater resistance. These shocks also feature adjustable rebound with their oil-filled coilover design, similar to what's offered on Leaperkim Wheels. Several experienced riders have claimed the Falcon suspension to be superior when compared to much more expensive offerings, like the King Song S22 and S16!

The Falcon includes Begode's large display, which provides the essential information that a rider needs beneath the prominent speedometer in the center. You can quickly view your battery level, ride mode (pedal stiffness), controller temperature, and total mileage ridden. While having a display isn't a new feature to Begode EUCs, this newest display provides the largest and most legible speedometer yet, plus it can be easily viewed in all lighting conditions.

The controller in the Falcon is Begode's latest compact 24-MOSFET design, capable of 280A max current, the highest power output in its size class. This extra punch allows the Falcon to support field weakening, a motor control technique that allows you to trade some torque for a higher maximum rotational speed, and it's quite current intensive. While it might seem minor, the power smoothing capacitors are mounted directly to the controller rather than folded over as in previous Begode controller designs, improving reliability and thus safety. The Falcon also uses an upgraded charge and discharge control board, with reverse protection diodes, overcurrent fuses, and other safety features.

Like the A2 that came before it, the Falcon uses an ultra-wide 14x3.5" tubeless tire, which comes with a number of advantages. The primary benefit of going tubeless is that the chance of getting a flat is greatly decreased, as smaller holes will self-heal, and larger holes can be plugged without having to change the inner tube. From our experience of selling tens-of-thousands of Wheels, most flat tires are the result of abrasion of the tube against the inside of the tire, which isn't an issue if there's no tube to begin with. Plus, the extra width of the Falcon tire provides better stability, which can help flatten the learning curve for new riders, while still providing the excellent maneuverability that a 14" class wheel can offer.

The Falcon's compact design and clever engineering affords it a relatively low weight of 55lbs, especially when considering the specs it's packing. The motor and batteries typically take up a large portion of a wheel's weight, & as can be seen in the graph, the motor/tire represents nearly 42% of the net weight. Many Customers have dispensed with the stock side panels, choosing the modular Powerpads directly on the Velcro sides; if removing those, the package weight comes just a tad over the magical 50lb mark.

For the major components of any Wheel, e.g. motor, battery pack & tire, these are pretty much 'fixed quantities'. The power properties of an electronic motor [currently] require heavy structural components, large amounts of copper & permanent fixed magnets—engineering is a constant battle of trade-offs between sufficient strength & keeping the weight down to acceptable levels. With present battery technology, the standard 21700 cells are a precise 72g. In the Falcon, the Wheel contains 48x of these + metal cases + BMS + wiring, etc., combined is a further 28% of the net weight. All the other components of the machine represent a mere 30% of the total.

A common complaint from riders is that the stock pads which ship with their wheel don't conform well to their legs, feel uncomfortable, or are otherwise not shaped correctly to allow the rider to use the wheel to its full potential. The most popular solution for this in the community has been to apply Velcro to the side of the wheel, onto which alternative/custom side pads can be placed in any position to perfectly suit the individual rider. The Falcon aims to provide the best of both worlds by including Velcro pre-applied to the sides of the wheel, to which the stock pads can be attached. Don't like the stock pads? No problem! Just pick up a different set of pads, several of which ship with Velcro already installed, and install them on the Falcon, no need to attach your own Velcro to the side of the wheel.

The Falcon is rated for a maximum 8 Amp charge rate; by way of comparison, this is almost triple that of the previous 100V/ 900Wh Begode battery packs. This feat is achieved using the top-tier Samsung 50S cells, turbo-charging the life-blood of the machine's arterial pathways, for a whopping 280A max top-end phase current. Besides this high-output rating, another intrinsic property is charging rates up to 5A/cell/series (the Falcon is composed of a 24p2s pack) charge rate—we recommend keeping the current at 8A, or below, to have some margin on the charge-port circuit. The included 5A charger, charges the wheel from 0 to 80% in under an hour, or about 90 minutes to 100%.