Powered Cart - Retrofit Alphard or Go Specialized?

[spartan6910]

For my birthday this year coming up, I want to go the electric cart route. I currently have a Clicgear 3.5+ that I could retrofit with the Club Booster V2. I've heard that the 3.5+ isn't the best given the fixed front wheel, so I would also consider selling the 3.5, getting a Rovic with the swivel front wheel and then doing the V2.

The other option is going something specialized. I've looked online and really don't want to spend over about $1200, which seems to limit the designated power cart options.

 

Given those two (three?) routes, which do you all think would be preferred? Retrofit 3.5, buy Rovic to retrofit, or go specialized? And if specialized, is there a model you all would recommend? Looks like there's just a lot out there so if there are any firsthand suggestions, I'm all ears.

 

TIA

[dbdors]

You can also go with the Alphard Swivel kit on you 3.5+  I have one on a 4 and it works great.  No turning or maneuvering issues.

https://alphardgolf.com/collections/frontpage/products/swivel-conversion-kit-for-clicgear-model-3-0-3-5-4-0

 

Edited April 10 by dbdors

[spartan6910]

11 minutes ago, dbdors said:

You can also go with the Alphard Swivel kit on you 3.5+  I have one on a 4 and it works great.  No turning or maneuvering issues.

https://alphardgolf.com/collections/frontpage/products/swivel-conversion-kit-for-clicgear-model-3-0-3-5-4-0

 

Definitely considered this, but I've heard mostly unfavorable reviews of that. If there's anyone that has this and has a positive outlook on it, I'd like to hear it.

[dbdors]

4 minutes ago, spartan6910 said:

Definitely considered this, but I've heard mostly unfavorable reviews of that. If there's anyone that has this and has a positive outlook on it, I'd like to hear it.

It is what I use on my 4.0, I think its great.  It does not turn on a dime, but not needed either.  I've not had any issue with turning or steering and staying steady.  There is a good "Club Booster V2 VIP's" group on Facebook.  Lots of good and bad feedback on the V2.

[spartan6910]

8 minutes ago, dbdors said:

It is what I use on my 4.0, I think its great.  It does not turn on a dime, but not needed either.  I've not had any issue with turning or steering and staying steady.  There is a good "Club Booster V2 VIP's" group on Facebook.  Lots of good and bad feedback on the V2.

Ok good to know. Not on facebook, unfortunately(?), so I won't have access to that. But I know guys at my local club who have it and it seems really nice. I also really like my current cart so having that retrofit option would be nice.

[Glock917]

Exact same scenario as you were minus the bday lol.

 

I have the clicgear 3.5 but pretty much the same. First off the clicgear is a tank and will prob last longer than me haha. Would be a shame to get rid of such a good piece of hardware.

 

My main thing was cost to function. Like you I didnt want to spend over $1K on a specialized one. I have tried one at a golf shop and while they were relatively compact, more maneuverable, and functional I just could not justify the cost.

 

So went with the alphard club booster mode and all in all I am glad I went with it and the money spent was fractions considering I got a used V1 club booster for a quarter of the price.

 

Couple things to note:

 

Its a two step process once you convert it over to the club booster. One big thing about the specialized ones is that everything is encompassed into one form. But you get used to the process and its relatively quick after repeated use. 

 

The swivel wheel is not that big of an issue as you might think. I have tested the rovic swivel prior to getting a clic gear and I choose not to get that one for a reason. I rather have the bigger wheels and more robustness and storage with the 3.4/4.0 than the rovic and it would translate to that with the club booster conversion. I have not tried their own cart however. 

 

I really considered buying their swivel conversion kit for the clicgear 3.5/4.0 but the main caveat was that it was going to increase the form factor when collased and do not have space in the boot of my car for that. 

 

 

[spartan6910]

2 minutes ago, Glock917 said:

Exact same scenario as you were minus the bday lol.

 

I have the clicgear 3.5 but pretty much the same. First off the clicgear is a tank and will prob last longer than me haha. Would be a shame to get rid of such a good piece of hardware.

 

My main thing was cost to function. Like you I didnt want to spend over $1K on a specialized one. I have tried one at a golf shop and while they were relatively compact, more maneuverable, and functional I just could not justify the cost.

 

So went with the alphard club booster mode and all in all I am glad I went with it and the money spent was fractions considering I got a used V1 club booster for a quarter of the price.

 

Couple things to note:

 

Its a two step process once you convert it over to the club booster. One big thing about the specialized ones is that everything is encompassed into one form. But you get used to the process and its relatively quick after repeated use. 

 

The swivel wheel is not that big of an issue as you might think. I have tested the rovic swivel prior to getting a clic gear and I choose not to get that one for a reason. I rather have the bigger wheels and more robustness and storage with the 3.4/4.0 than the rovic and it would translate to that with the club booster conversion. I have not tried their own cart however. 

 

I really considered buying their swivel conversion kit for the clicgear 3.5/4.0 but the main caveat was that it was going to increase the form factor when collased and do not have space in the boot of my car for that. 

 

 

I see you're in San Diego. Any chance I could meet up with you and demo it?

[Glock917]

5 minutes ago, spartan6910 said:

Any chance I could meet up with you and demo it?

Yeah sure haha. Prob be better and easier when I am actually playing. 

 

I'll be next playing Torrey Thursday at 3p. 

[Kaptain]

My two cents. I've had the Alphard with Rovic for years (bought both v1 and v2 off crowdfunding site) and have a bunch of friends with the MGI sold at Costco.

 

Alphard Pros:

Initial cost

Follow me feature at reasonable additional price

Lower cost to upgrade to future versions/features

Easy to convert back to a push cart

 

MGI Pros:

Easier to extend and collapse for transport

Longer range remote (radio signal vs Alphard's bluetooth)

Quieter wheelie bar (Alphard's wheelie bar is noisy due to rattle)

[spartan6910]

16 minutes ago, Glock917 said:

Yeah sure haha. Prob be better and easier when I am actually playing. 

 

I'll be next playing Torrey Thursday at 3p. 

PM sent

 

Thanks

[spartan6910]

11 minutes ago, Kaptain said:

My two cents. I've had the Alphard with Rovic for years (bought both v1 and v2 off crowdfunding site) and have a bunch of friends with the MGI sold at Costco.

 

Alphard Pros:

Initial cost

Follow me feature at reasonable additional price

Lower cost to upgrade to future versions/features

Easy to convert back to a push cart

 

MGI Pros:

Easier to extend and collapse for transport

Longer range remote (radio signal vs Alphard's bluetooth)

Quieter wheelie bar (Alphard's wheelie bar is noisy due to rattle)

Didn't even think of Costco. I know MGI seems to be a reputable brand. Can you compare the battery life of each?

[Kaptain]

1 minute ago, spartan6910 said:

Didn't even think of Costco. I know MGI seems to be a reputable brand. Can you compare the battery life of each?

 

With the Alphard I can get 27 holes on one charge, no problem. If I pushed for 36 it would be very close.

 

I can't speak to the battery life of the MGI, sorry. Those guys are all really happy with them, though. One guy just cracked 700 miles on his.

 

[Kaptain]

One thing I forgot to mention, I believe the accessories for Clicgear are superior to MGIs, both in quality and options.

[fonetic]

4 minutes ago, spartan6910 said:

Didn't even think of Costco. I know MGI seems to be a reputable brand. Can you compare the battery life of each?

I have an MGI Navigator with the same battery size as the one sold at Costco and have gone 36 without needing a charge.  

 

I know it's your birthday, but if you wait until Father's Day, MGI will usually offer the Navigator AT at a discount through Costco.com for a couple or several hundred dollars off.

 

I got mine second-hand (in SD) and would absolutely buy it new if I needed another.

 

Good luck!

[spartan6910]

6 minutes ago, Kaptain said:

 

With the Alphard I can get 27 holes on one charge, no problem. If I pushed for 36 it would be very close.

 

I can't speak to the battery life of the MGI, sorry. Those guys are all really happy with them, though. One guy just cracked 700 miles on his.

 

What are you using for the follow me with the Alphard? The options I'm seeing are the tether (which I kind of don't want to do) or a more sophisticated version that seems really expensive. Would like your thoughts.

[PNW]

I have the MGI Navigator AT and it can get to about 60 holes on a single charge. Only know this because my buddy had his die in the middle of the second round on day two of a Bandon tip because he forget to charge it the night before (too much fun at McKees!).

 

If you get it at Costco then it comes with all of the accessories. 

[spartan6910]

7 minutes ago, PNW said:

I have the MGI Navigator AT and it can get to about 60 holes on a single charge. Only know this because my buddy had his die in the middle of the second round on day two of a Bandon tip because he forget to charge it the night before (too much fun at McKees!).

 

If you get it at Costco then it comes with all of the accessories. 

Is there a seat that you can get for it? That's the one thing that I have for my Clicgear that I use quite a bit and would like to not give up.

[scotty_2987]

I have the 3.5+ with the swivel kit and Alphard v2. Best golf purchase I’ve ever made. Absolutely love it. 

[PNW]

26 minutes ago, spartan6910 said:

Is there a seat that you can get for it? That's the one thing that I have for my Clicgear that I use quite a bit and would like to not give up.

I bought from Costco and the seat was one of the included accessories 

[spartan6910]

3 minutes ago, PNW said:

I bought from Costco and the seat was one of the included accessories 

Ok. Doesn't look like that's part of the current bundle Costco has but it's good to know that there is one. Thanks.

[bekgolf]

Costco had the MGI navigator on sale for black friday at $12xx.  I was examining everything around that time and I picked up a batcaddy X3 remote with an advanced lithium battery for $850 as a black friday special.  If I refer your name and email to batcaddy you get 10% off and I get a few freebies.

 

So far the Batcaddy has worked fine.  I golf a course that winds through residential areas and it takes about 5 miles to walk it, the cart does that fine and also goes up steep hills without a problem.

 

If I was going to do it again I'd wait for the Costco buy on the MGI to come around again.  The MGI has gyroscopes to help on side hills.

 

I have learned quite a bit about the lithium batteries and chargers, it would be easy to buy the basic X3 remote and convert to lithium on my own for far less than what batcaddy charged for advanced lithium.  But doing that would void the 2 year warranty.

 

The best thing is that I'm getting decent exercise while golfing and the hills don't kill me anymore.  I'm down 20 lbs due to the exercise vs riding.

[spartan6910]

5 minutes ago, bekgolf said:

Costco had the MGI navigator on sale for black friday at $12xx.  I was examining everything around that time and I picked up a batcaddy X3 remote with an advanced lithium battery for $850 as a black friday special.  If I refer your name and email to batcaddy you get 10% off and I get a few freebies.

 

So far the Batcaddy has worked fine.  I golf a course that winds through residential areas and it takes about 5 miles to walk it, the cart does that fine and also goes up steep hills without a problem.

 

If I was going to do it again I'd wait for the Costco buy on the MGI to come around again.  The MGI has gyroscopes to help on side hills.

 

I have learned quite a bit about the lithium batteries and chargers, it would be easy to buy the basic X3 remote and convert to lithium on my own for far less than what batcaddy charged for advanced lithium.  But doing that would void the 2 year warranty.

 

The best thing is that I'm getting decent exercise while golfing and the hills don't kill me anymore.  I'm down 20 lbs due to the exercise vs riding.

Appreciate the thoughts and referral offer. I'm not really familiar with this company so if I end up going that route I'll get in touch.

[Kaptain]

1 hour ago, spartan6910 said:

What are you using for the follow me with the Alphard? The options I'm seeing are the tether (which I kind of don't want to do) or a more sophisticated version that seems really expensive. Would like your thoughts.

I had the tether and it was a pain. Wouldn't do that again.

 

The wireless option is about $300 more than the Alphard alone if you buy the bundle (https://alphardgolf.com/products/v2-sidekick-bundle). That's really cheap compared to other companies' options. I couldn't tell you how well it works, though, because I opted against buying it when I found that I prefer the cart be in front me at all times.

 

[spartan6910]

7 minutes ago, Kaptain said:

I had the tether and it was a pain. Wouldn't do that again.

 

The wireless option is about $300 more than the Alphard alone if you buy the bundle (https://alphardgolf.com/products/v2-sidekick-bundle). That's really cheap compared to other companies' options. I couldn't tell you how well it works, though, because I opted against buying it when I found that I prefer the cart be in front me at all times.

 

That's kind of my thinking, as well....I would send the cart way out in front of me. But I can see where the follow would be a nice feature every now and then.

 

Thanks for your thoughts on the tether. Pretty much confirms my thought that I wouldn't like it.

[bcc69]

I recently switched from the R2 Caddytrek, which has follow features to a MGI Ai Navigator.  The Caddytrek is on sale for $999 and i would say it's a good deal.  The main difference between the Caddytrek and MGI is the setup and take down.  The MGI is one step while the Caddytrek requires multiple knobs to be loosened and tightened.  The MGI is a much smoother and quieter cart.  My friend has the MGI Navigator AT from Costco and i would say the Ai Navigator is very similar in features except it has GPS built into it which you may or may not need.  Check out motogolf.com.  They have a great selection, free shipping, and no sales tax outside of Nevada.  Hope that helps

 

[dbdors]

4 hours ago, spartan6910 said:

What are you using for the follow me with the Alphard? The options I'm seeing are the tether (which I kind of don't want to do) or a more sophisticated version that seems really expensive. Would like your thoughts.

I have the Alphard TFS and it works like it should with no issue.  I just don't like having the cart behind me.  I much prefer the remote and have the cart in front.  I may have used the TFS 2-3 times, and then stuck with the remote only.  Again, no issue with the TFS, I simply didn't like the cart following.

[dwboston]

I had the Alphard/Clicgear 3.5+ combo with the swivel kit for a couple of years.  It was mostly good, but ultimately I got sick of it. My thoughts:

• Swivel kit works great, but it adds a lot of width to the cart for storage/transportation purposes - not a big deal if you can store the whole thing at your course. Also, the swivel kit is not very durable - mine fell apart a couple of times.  Alphard sent me the replacement parts, which was great, but it needs to be more durable.
• The Alphard battery is not good enough - it only lasts for 27 holes max so you're basically charging it after every round.  I bought an extra battery and swapped them out, but it got annoying constantly charging and swapping batteries.  They really need a battery that lasts for 36 holes minimum.
• I got sick of assembling/disassembling it.  You can't fold up the cart with the Alphard unit attached.
• The regular wheelie bar wheels make a ton of noise - you can buy upgraded ones that are like in-line skate wheels that are much better.
• There is no option to control the cart without the remote - you cannot control it manually like a regular push cart with the electric motor engaged - it's too strong.  You can put it in free-wheel mode if needed, but it's really heavy to push if the battery dies.

The Alphard is fine and the most economical choice if you already have the Clicgear.  Just realize what you're getting into.  I ended up giving mine to my nephew and getting a Motocaddy M7 Remote.  Gives me the option to push it motor-assisted or use it with the remote, and it folds up into one small unit easily.  Battery lasts for 2 rounds plus as well.  

[spartan6910]

15 hours ago, dwboston said:

I had the Alphard/Clicgear 3.5+ combo with the swivel kit for a couple of years.  It was mostly good, but ultimately I got sick of it. My thoughts:

• Swivel kit works great, but it adds a lot of width to the cart for storage/transportation purposes - not a big deal if you can store the whole thing at your course. Also, the swivel kit is not very durable - mine fell apart a couple of times.  Alphard sent me the replacement parts, which was great, but it needs to be more durable.
• The Alphard battery is not good enough - it only lasts for 27 holes max so you're basically charging it after every round.  I bought an extra battery and swapped them out, but it got annoying constantly charging and swapping batteries.  They really need a battery that lasts for 36 holes minimum.
• I got sick of assembling/disassembling it.  You can't fold up the cart with the Alphard unit attached.
• The regular wheelie bar wheels make a ton of noise - you can buy upgraded ones that are like in-line skate wheels that are much better.
• There is no option to control the cart without the remote - you cannot control it manually like a regular push cart with the electric motor engaged - it's too strong.  You can put it in free-wheel mode if needed, but it's really heavy to push if the battery dies.

The Alphard is fine and the most economical choice if you already have the Clicgear.  Just realize what you're getting into.  I ended up giving mine to my nephew and getting a Motocaddy M7 Remote.  Gives me the option to push it motor-assisted or use it with the remote, and it folds up into one small unit easily.  Battery lasts for 2 rounds plus as well.  

I appreciate the insight. The durability issue with the swivel kit you mentioned I've seen repeated several times. I think that might be the biggest issue I have with going that route. If I'm going to be looking at $800+ to do the V2 and the swivel kit, I want to make sure it's going to last.

[scotty_2987]

8 hours ago, spartan6910 said:

I appreciate the insight. The durability issue with the swivel kit you mentioned I've seen repeated several times. I think that might be the biggest issue I have with going that route. If I'm going to be looking at $800+ to do the V2 and the swivel kit, I want to make sure it's going to last.

Next month will be 3 years with my swivel kit and not one issue with mine.