Lycaon Swift in depth review
Hi, this is my short-term review of the Lycaon Swift (belt version). I will try to go over the main specs of the board highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, as well as giving you my user experience in hope it will be useful if you are looking for a high-performance e-skate. I hope some of you will find it useful!
About me
I would describe me as a typical e-skate enthusiast: ever since I first saw an e-skate video five years ago I knew I needed to have one. Now, a couple of years later, I daily commute with my e-skate and regularly go out for long and fast e-skate rides in the countryside. E-skates are both my main daily vehicle and favorite fun machine, and I will therefore give you a review on both sides of the product. I am a strong believer of e-skating and micro mobility in general, therefore I think e-skates should not be considered as merely toys but proper vehicles.
Who is it for?
The Lycaon Swift is the perfect board for both beginners looking for their first e-skate and experts looking for a high-speed, high-range board. If you are looking for a sub 800 USD e-skate then this is the board to buy: at this price range you will not find a board with better speed, range and quality. Unfortunately, in the e-skate market emerging brands like Lycaon are often mistreated and ostracized despite providing excellent products. After riding the Lycaon Swift and comparing it with some of its direct competitors (like the backfire Zealot) I truly think this board should always be listed among the best e-skate under 800 USD and deserves much more love and consideration from the e-skate community.
Riding
Riding the Swift is very easy due to its amazing top speed stability and smooth acceleration and braking curves (depending on the riding mode). Turning radius is nice and allows you to tackle most of the 90° turns even in busy city roads. Braking (regenerative) is very strong and allows you to stop the board in total safety, even in emergency conditions.
Riding comfort is surprisingly good despite the stiff deck and 90 mm wheels: you will be able to go over cracks, gravel and small debris without a problem. Cloudwheels would be an amazing upgrade if you seek a smoother ride.
Weather riding is possible as Lycaon Swift is rated IP55: protected against low-pressure jets of water from all directions, limited ingress permitted.
Overall, the combination of features meant for high-speed stability and excellent maneuverability results in a wonderful riding experience which does not compromise on anything.
Shipping
Lycaon, like all e-skates companies, offers both fast air shipping and free (but slower) railway/ocean shipping. On the website you can easily find this useful table listing all the different options and prices for each board (https://www.lycaonboard.com/pages/shipping-policy). They have a stock warehouse in US and AU which grants for fast shipping in those countries. As for other countries, the board will get shipped from the Chinese factory.
My board arrived via UPS in perfect condition in around 10 days.
Unboxing
The box is simple but well built. Inside you will find the board, remote, charger, 2 spare belts (only if you choose the belt drive system), an e-skate tool, a wonderful multi-tool with all the bits needed to maintain the board and a nice pack of eight ABEC-9 black bearing and 4 spacers. I must say that I was positively impressed to find the multi-tool and the bearings in the box: as far as I know Lycaon is the only e-skate company to provide such useful accessories alongside the board itself and they surely are a wonderful touch for a beginner who may be lacking spare bearing and adequate tools to maintain the board.
Quality of materials
The board feels sturdy, and all its components are high-quality. The plastic housings of the battery and ESC are thick and even after a week of intense riding on quite bad roads, often full of debris, they barely have a scratch on.
Customer service
While my board has not had a problem since I got it, I was able to have a chat with the marketing manager and the feedback was amazing: my mails were answered quickly and very kindly. Looking at other user experiences on reddit the customer service looks quick, solid and reliable: strong positive point while choosing which board you want to buy.
Size, weight and portability
The board is 93 cm (36.6'’) long; 25 cm (9.8'’) wide and has a 79cm (31'’) wheelbase. Those dimensions are on par with others board of the same category as the Backfire Zealot or the Exway Flex. The ground clearance is 9.2 cm (3.5'’) with the standard 90 mm wheels: more than enough to overcome any possible obstacle without bottoming out. Weighing at 8.9 kg (19.6 lbs) the Swift is slightly heavier than its competitor (Backfire Zealot is 8 Kg; Exway Flex 7.7 Kg) due to its bigger battery. Overall, the portability is very nice due to the perfect weight balance of the board and the squared deck, I would even say it is much easier to transport and move around than a lighter (but not perfectly balanced) board like the Zealot. On the other hand, having around 1 Kg (2.2 lbs) more of weight on the back could be a disadvantage after a long day out.
Deck
The deck is very stiff, composed by 8 ply of Canadian maple and 1 ply of fiber glass (1.5 cm/0.6” thick). The shape is slightly dropped and has w-concave: those features, alongside the stiff deck, are extremely useful to improve the overall stability of the board at high speed (and boy you can go fast). Max load is 150 kg (330 lbs), much more than the usual 110 Kg (242 lbs) limit of other boards of the same category making this a wonderful option for heavier riders. For those heavier riders, the board can offer decent range thanks to its huge battery. The grip tape is nice and provides good foot hold.
ECS
Lycaon Swifts uses the latest Hobbywing 9028 ESC which comes with a handful of useful features: you can switch ON/OFF the board with the remote power button (wonderful feature), select reverse mode with a double tap and easily switch driving system from belt drive to hub. A specific PID algorithm has been added to the ESC, with which you can achieve the exactly programmed speed, regardless of the wheels size you are using: this feature eliminates the need to set the board to different wheel sizes.
Speed and range
Speed and range are truly Swift greatest strengths: a huge 35–40 km (20–25 miles) of range (depending on riding style, weight and terrain) and an impressive 50 km/h (31 mph) top speed. There are four riding modes: Low (20km/h -13 mph max) which is perfect for beginners, Medium (30 km/h — 19 mph max) is your everyday commuting mode, High (40 km/h — 25 mph max) for experts, Pro (50km/h — 31 mph max, at the expenses of range) for speed demons. In my range test (22°C, 75 Kg — 165 lbs rider) I got around 35 km (22 miles) with a mean speed of 28 km/h (17 mph) while driving aggressively and on steep hills: amazing results I must say. The board is claimed for up to 30% hill climbing but I went up steeper hills without a problem during my test rides.
These amazing speed and range performances make the Swift outperform its competitors like the Exway Flex (32 km — 20 miles range and 40 Km/h — 25 mph top speed), Meepo NLS belt (30 Km -18 miles range and 45 Km/h — 28 Mph top speed) and Backfire Zealot (28–36 km — 17.5–22 miles range and 46 Km/h — 28.5 mph top speed), sometimes even by a considerable margin. Overall, the biggest difference you will feel is the range: when you are having fun you just do not want to stop and only the Swift has the right battery to keep you going as much as you want without having to be concerned with range.
Trucks
The Lycaon Swift comes with 7'’ Caliber 2 clones for the Hub version and 8'’ Paris v2 clones for the belt one. The belt version comes with standard cone-barrel 95A high rebound bushing and a slop stopper. I really liked the truck because they make carving an absolute joy while not compromising high speed stability. I ride with the trucks almost fully loose and the slop stopper provides a solid behavior of the board even at higher speeds.
Wheels and motor
The board comes with different motors depending on the drive system: 850 Watts, 6.6 Nm x2 of torque for the belt motors (with 5m belts) and 750 Watts 5.2 Nm torque x2 for the Hub motors.
The standard wheels are 90 mm 78A ABEC clones and come with 608RS ABEC-11 bearings. Both belt and hub version are compatible with 90 mm, 97 mm wheels/sleeves and 105 mm Cloudwheels giving you tons of different configurations to try. Overall, the standard 90 mm wheels are soft and grant a smooth riding even on rougher roads.
Remote
The remote (standard Hobbywing) allows you to turn On/Off the board, extremely useful feature; select between the four riding modes and select reverse mode (to go backward). The display is big and allows to easily read your speed and the battery and remote charge level. I really like the material of the remote as it is comfortable in the hand and very grippy, in addition you can buy colorful remote to personalize and further protect it.
Battery and charger
The Lycaon Swift come with a HUGE battery: Samsung 35E 18650 Li-ion cells in 12S3P, 44.4V, 10.5Ah, 466 Wh. This is the best and biggest battery you can find in this price range (Backfire Zealot: 311 Wh. Exway Flex: 260 Wh) and will give you an amazing range and minimal battery sag. The board comes with a standard charger which will fully charge the board in four to five hours depending on the residual charge.
Price
The Swift comes at 699 USD (577 EUR) for the Hub version and 799 USD (659 EUR) for the belt version. In my opinion this board has the best performance-price ratio among all the sub 800 USD board out there and I would totally recommend spending the 100 bucks more for the belt version.
