bamboo zeus pro = bzp
its a beast...at its longest, end to end, the bzp is a good 7in/18cm longer than my backfire g3+ (axle to axle is +6in/15cm, notable because the deck is barely an in/2.5cm longer) and the deck is a solid in/2.5cm wider than the widest parts of the g3+...it looks like a boat...at 40lbs/18kg it weighs well over twice as much as the g3+ at 18lbs/8kg. the deck is a quarter in/6.5mm thicker.
its sexy...the anodized/"oil slick" look is gorgeous. you apparently either love it or hate it. i think it was maybe about two years ago i spent a small fortune on two anodized/"oil slick" anti-sink plates from radium performance for my g3+ and have never looked back.
unboxing was as expected from what i have read previously; one box only with minimal padding and no paperwork. inside was the usual accoutrement of extra screws, bolts, feeble hex keys, bearings, spacers, etc and at least one rubber thingy that i am fairly certain belongs nowhere on this board.
i thankfully took the advice of others to secure all of the hardware as i found several loose fittings and while doing so i loosened the belts as they were tighter than i have been advised by youtube to have them.
standing on the board, then hopping on over to the g3+, and back and forth and back and forth it seems to me that the g3+ (again, carbon fiber) has more "flex" than the (canadian maple, et al) bzp.
i found the loss of free roll to be disappointing. i normally start riding by kicking off then accelerating with the remote. i tried to do that with the bzp and the lack of free roll caused me to fall over the board at first. a lack of free roll is a definite draw back to belt boards. if you're not accelerating your slowing down considerably, even downhill.
braking is exceptional. first brake test i fell over the board again and had to run it out a bit i was not expecting to stop so quickly. it was set at i think like 73%. i've since adjusted it down to 35% and will probably bump it up to 45% next ride.
my first ride i started on speed mode 2 and quickly found myself going faster on this board then i ever dared on the g3+. i had never gone above 19mph/30kmh, i just couldn't do it and didn't want to do it. i'd say my normal cruising speed averaged about 16mph/26kmh. i looked at the remote briefly while riding the bzp and was floored to see 21mph/34kmh. i never would have guessed. this board is sooooooo stable, and the pneumatic wheels are just lovely. rocks on the road? lol...larger cracks? lol...that massive crack on the sidewalk that put me on my face a few months ago? gtfo...i love these wheels. i think the 5 in/150mm is the perfect size for pneumatic and will be getting a set of 100-110mm street wheels.
i rode it onto some grass and it didn't feel like it had enough torque to do so while on a sidewalk before entering another grassy area i bumped it up to speed mode 3 and accelerated...and bit it hard. the board just flew out from under me. my g3+ had what i though was a lot of torque, but the bzp is something else altogether. i found myself wishing that it had a mode between 2 and 3 but i've gotten used to riding it in 3 after a few runs. rode it in 2 for most of my ride today as i was doing more carving than on previous rides.
this thing carves really well! my BIL has a hadean with dkp trucks and he really had me worried that i wouldn't like the tkp on the bzp. i was also concerned i would lose some agility with such a larger setup but those fears were for naught. i ended up tightening the trucks up a bit and found the sweet spot for me was about one whole turn greater on both front and rear than how they arrived. its seriously perfection. the pivot cups are great. silky smooth turning.
i haven't done a full range test but from what i am seeing i should expect roughly 6 miles/10km per remote bar, depending on terrain and there are 5 bars so looking at about 30 miles/48km per charge with the 150mm. this is more than i will ever need and is a much appreciated upgrade from my backfire g3+ which would only give me at most 12 miles/19km.
overall very happy with the board and i have no regrets getting it. its the perfect board for my riding style. i was originally going to sell my g3+ but when i saw the size of the bzp, and felt its heft, i thought i might hold on to it for short jaunts around the city as i assumed the bzp would just be too big and heavy to have in stores, etc. i've gotten used to it though and am again second guessing what i'm going to do with the g3+. i was going to install the handle on the bzp but have become comfortable just using using the bash guard as a handle and rolling it around on the front wheels.