Evolve GT vs Boosted Dual Plus - My hill test results and comparison

I know a video would be more engaging, but I’ll leave that to some others who would no doubt make a better video than me anyway. Instead I’m using my stopwatch (phone) and a bad-ass hill to come up with some real world stats to share. Hopefully they’re of interest to you. Also the fact that I own both boards puts me amongst a lucky few (for now) who can compare the two.

I have the standard Evolve 83mm wheels, the Abec 11 97mm wheels and the 7 inch standard AT wheels. I also have both the 32 (standard) and 38 tooth drive gears. I tested the board in all configurations, as well as back to back with my Boosted Board Dual Plus (their current top of the range) in ‘Pro’ mode for a comparison.

Here are some pics…

BB vs GT rear

BB vs GT front My current arsenal - Evolve Bustin 2 in 1, Evolve GT, BBD+V1, Loaded Dervish From the top With GT in AT mode GT vs BB from bottom Note wider trucks on the GT Out testing with the 97s

So I found the steepest hill I know of in my immediate vicinity, a 300m hill in Eltham (Victoria) which peaks at 23% and decided that this will be the basis of my initial tests. I have 2 ‘check’ points, one at about half way (1) and another at the end (2). Make no mistake, this is a hill I would have absolutely zero chance of conquering on any previous Evolve. Not even close. In fact this hill really tests the Boosted to its limits. At the steepest part of the hill (23%) the BBD+ almost comes to a halt but manages to keep going, just. To me that really corroborates an earlier video posted by Evolve about a month or so ago where the Boosted didn’t make it up a 25% hill. That video is legit, no doubt.

I started from stationary at the very base of the hill (ie no run up) which gradually winds up to 23% then levels off to almost flat for about 50 metres before winding up to 22% again and topping out at the 300m mark. I measured the slope with the ‘igradient’ app on my iPhone. For your info, my weight on the day was about 90kgs (about 198lbs) fully kitted up, and the weather was 10 degrees C (50 degrees F) .

I started with my BBD+. (I’ve had this board for about 6 months and still performs as good as new.) I performed this test at 100%, at 75%, and 50% battery levels. Interestingly it performed identically at all levels. It wasn’t till it dropped to more like 25% that there was a significant drop in performance. Good work Boosted! On the other hand, the battery on my Boosted literally only lasted 10 minutes in total whilst doing these tests! I managed to travel only 3km (1.9 miles) which was 1.5kms uphill and 1.5kms downhill to go from 100% battery to 0% battery! As much as I love this board, that range is laughable. Having said that, I do normally achieve between 6km and 10kms of range per battery on the Boosted, which is more respectable, and enough for many people, but obviously well short of Evolve’s range. My timings for the Boosted were as follows…

Boosted Board Dual Plus (Pro) : First check point (1) - 35 seconds, 2nd check point (2) - 65 seconds.

I then swapped to the Evolve GT. All tests were done in GT mode at at between 90% and 100% battery. My first setup was on AT 7 inch tyres. Exact same test.

GT AT 7" - (1) - 28 seconds, (2) 58 seconds.

Yep that’s right! The Evolve beats the Boosted by 7 seconds even with the All Terrain tyres on! That is mighty impressive in my opinion!

The next day I tested the street setup. The board was charged again to 100%. I tested with the 83mm wheels first with 32T drive gear, then with 38T drive gear. Then moved to the 97mm wheels in 32T and 38T. The results were a little surprising. Again all tests were done in GT mode.

GT 83mm 32T - (1) 23 seconds (2) 46 seconds

That’s 12 seconds faster to (1) and 19 seconds faster to (2) than a BBD+. What a machine!

My second and third run brought back slightly slower times, one or two seconds slower, indicating that maximum torque does gradually reduce pretty much as soon as battery drops below 100%.

2nd and 3rd runs: GT 83mm 32T - (1) 24 seconds (2) 48 seconds. This is probably a more realistic time compared with the Boosted as it is the time you’d be able to achieve more often, not just at 100% battery. Still a crapload faster than the BBD+ up the hill though, at 11 seconds faster at the 150m checkpoint and 17 seconds faster through the 300m checkpoint.

My next test was with the same wheels but with the 38 tooth drive gear attached. The results actually surprised me.

GT 83mm 38T - (1) 25 seconds, (2) 51 seconds. I was expecting the shorter gearing of the 38T drive gear to get me up the hill even faster, but that wasn’t the case. In fact my times were 1 second slower than the same test with the 32T drive gear. In one way I was a little disappointed, but in the other I was impressed. The fact is that the GT has so much torque that it doesn’t even need a lower gear to fly up that hill! I’m sure if the hill was even steeper, then the lower gearing of the 38T would actually come into play, but with this hill the 32T did the job just as well. Wow!

My next test was with the 97mm Abec 11 Flywheels. Gearing is higher with the 97mm wheels so I was very keen to see how it performed up hill compared with the 83mm wheels. First with the 32T drive gear.

GT 97mm 32T - (1) 25 seconds, (2) 50 seconds. YES! I was so happy that the GT with 97mm wheels powered up this hill virtually just as well as the 83mm wheels. It came within 2 seconds and 4 seconds respectively through the checkpoints, and felt just as fast. Its great to know I can have the benefits of the 97mm wheels, such as more shock absorption and higher top speed (42kmh), but still have the torque to power up any hill. Stoked! The final setup I tested was the 97mm wheels with the 38T drive gear attached.

GT 97mm 38T - (1) 24 seconds (2) 49 seconds. Again within 1 or 2 seconds of the 32T times, and as expected, virtually identical to the 83mm/32T setup which has the same overall gearing as this 97mm/38T set up and the same top speed at 35kmh.

As a final test I tried a couple of setups in ‘FAST’ mode, ie one step down from ‘GT’ mode. In short, for my weight and a very steep slope, I wouldn’t bother. It gets up the hill, but really struggles and takes a long time. If you’re tackling steep hills I would just leave it in GT mode. These were my times in FAST mode:

GT 83mm 32T FAST mode - (1) 55 seconds (2) 105 seconds, (31 and 58 seconds slower than GT mode) GT 83mm 38T FAST mode - (1) 50 seconds (2) 93 seconds (25 and 42 seconds slower than GT mode)

My conclusions from the hill tests are that no matter what setup you use on the Evolve GT, as long as you have it in GT mode, you are going to power up a hill, and will destroy any Boosted Board! Also I don’t see a need for a 38T drive gear, or even the 83mm Evolve wheels for that matter. The 97mm Abecs with the 32T gear will be the setup I run in street all the time.

Up to 42kmh top speed, better (as in slightly less sensitive) throttle and brake, smoother ride and virtually the same hill climbing ability for 99.99% of hills in Victoria means that:

EVOLVE GT + 97MM ABECS + 32T DRIVEGEAR = A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ve had about 2.5 years worth of experience on e-boards and I’ve got to say up until now, the Boosted Board, which was my 8th e-board, was my absolute favourite. It’s very nicely built, looks nice, is very reliable, has plenty of torque, is light, well balanced and has a nice fun flexy Loaded deck. In addition to that it has an intuitive and precise remote. It’s achilles heel has always been its range, although we know this has been somewhat improved with the upcoming Version 2. Everything else on Boosted V2 is only marginally improved, and for that reason, in my opinion it falls behind the GT now.

Having owned the GT for 10 days, I can confidently say that the GT is quite easily my new favourite board. Not only does it have at least 3-6 times the range of the Boosted, it has more torque, more power, higher top speed, great carving with wider and better carving trucks, quieter motors, the ability to change wheels and gears, and a remote control with speed and trip meter displayed. In addition to that I think it’s the sexiest board out there.

I haven’t yet gone down the route of DIY boards yet, but to be honest, the GT is the first board to actually do everything I want in an e-board, so don’t have any real desire to build my own just yet. I guess the closest competitor in the DIY field at the moment is the Enertion Raptor. I’ve ridden a couple and although they have even more torque than the GT, I think the GT is a better overall board. It carves much better, rides much more smoothly (especially with 97s) has a better remote, has a quieter drivetrain, better looking IMO, and of course the option to switch to AT tyres in under 10 minutes. Nevertheless I’d like to see how much faster a Raptor could get up my test hill. @Dedbny when you’re ready, so am I!

Here’s a couple of pics back in April of the 2 boards together during a group ride. I was lucky enough to get a few minutes on the Raptor and a GT beta test board!

Anyway, sorry about the long post, but if anyone out there is on the fence about the GT, maybe all this makes things a little clearer.

Safe riding! Mick