*OUTDATED* Nico's Racing/Shredding Tune Card

WARNING: NEVER LOAD A TUNE CARD IF YOUR BOARD ISNT RIDEABLE YET

EDIT: This tune card is OUTDATED, as it does some things to try to combat the nose hunting issues caused by IMU confusion/drift. This problem has been solved pretty much completely beginning with Dado’s Stable V6 Firmware, meaning even a much more basic tune is extremely versatile both on street and trail. Go check out my latest tune card for V6!


Hey y’all! As FloatLife Fest quickly approaches, I’ve been working on my own personal tune tailored to high speed trail riding, and wanted to share what I’ve been running so far! While it still has its quirks, it has in many ways been a game changer for me and absolutely crushes the majority of trails I’ve thrown at it so far. It also rides beautifully on street, though feel free to tone down certain features like Torque Tiltback and Variable Tiltback and set P/Mahony KP to 22/2.2 for an even smoother experience!


The goal was to keep as close to the classic FM board feel and control as possible, while also still taking advantage of some VESC benefits. This is why the use of Tune Modifiers are limited, with Turn Tilt and Booster disabled and Bump Comp fairly subtle, in an effort to keep the board predictable and controllable. However, Torque Tilt is actually used fairly heavily in order to take advantage of extended uphills and hard accelerations from a stop (I personally use Torque Tilt strength of 0.45 vs. the 0.25 in this card, but I only weigh 105lbs, definitely experiment with this!). For flatter/uphill heavy trails, I will sometimes bump Turn Tilt up to a strength of 3 or so, depending on the scenario.

One of my favorite quirks I’ve been messing with is Variable Tiltback. I’ve found that implementing a subtle variable tiltback almost has a similar effect to XR pushback, making the board feel a bit more solid as you push it up to speed. It’s worth experimenting with this one to find a rate and angle that you like (1000 ERPM ≈ 2mph), and even adjusting Constant Tiltback to alter your starting nose angle. By default, my tune uses a rate and max that, in practice, makes the nose approach 1 degree of tilt as you approach ~22mph. Ways you can strengthen this include doubling the rate to 0.2 (get to max angle at a sooner speed), and increasing the max angle to something like 1.5 or 2.

Last bit, I’m not sure if it’s some magic sauce with my I and Deadzone value or what, but any bonks, drops, etc. on this thing feel amazing and always land SOLID, no matter how nose/tail heavy you are or how much the wheel freespins. I have yet to get sent into a tail drag from a bonk. This makes bonks/drops to downhill MUCH more confidence inspiring.


EDIT: I have found that for trails where IMU drift (nose dipping) is a serious issue, Turn Tilt actually helps a ton! This is because as the IMU Pitch value drifts in bumpy terrain, so does IMU Roll, so Turn Tilt actually tends to trigger tiltback in response to IMU drift, keeping the nose up much more. I have found strength values of 6-9 are most effective for this use case, though feel free to experiment with the strength, as well as raising the maximum nose angle.

Just be wary of side effects this may introduce. Using turn tilt will make the board feel a tad less smooth and more twitchy/unpredictable, even on smooth ground at times. It can also trigger tiltback in scenarios where it is unwanted, such as on off-camber ground, downhill berms, and the rare situations in which IMU drift causes the nose to actually raise instead of dip. For this reason, I will leave it out of my base Tune Card, but it has actually been a game changer for me for trails, so feel free to give it a shot! Just use caution and ride safe!


Anyways, I hope you all get a chance to try it out sometime and see what you think! Keep in mind that this tune card is very much a “base,” and I’d encourage anyone to fine tune settings as needed, just as I do on a trail-by-trail basis.

I’ve linked the configs below, and the XML’s have been manually modified to only include the described parameters. This means you should be able to load them both up while preserving any personalized values (motor config, IMU calibration, battery specs, startup, tiltbacks, etc.). However, please make sure you backup your original configurations regardless to be safe, and please let me know if there are any issues with the configs. Happy shredding! :call_me_hand:

Tune Config Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SlMgioIamFUzaysxEZy8Stx6hqgF77F3/view?usp=sharing

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Excited to try this!

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Let me know how you like it! I think the subtle Variable Tiltback will be the biggest hit or miss feature here. If you’re not feeling the tune at first, feel free to turn that off, or try bumping your IMU pitch down a degree to compensate!

And note, it does run on SurfDado’s V4 firmware, in case you’re coming from Max’s tune which required his beta ATR firmware :ok_hand:

0.45 Torque Tilt strength - WHOA
I suspect that for a heavier rider (Nico is a featherweight) that 0.45 will be way too strong and should be no more than 0.3

WHOOPS lmao, i hadnt even considered this but it makes perfect sense. Thank you for the disclaimer! I’m going to change it to a more modest 0.25 when I get a chance so its more accessible to the average rider.

EDIT: Changed! :+1:

I’ve had it start at 30 amps and strength at 0.55. it rides nice and smooth and super predictable. I wanted to test it in all conditions but it seems like me and you are on the same frequency nico

Wanted to share an update, using this tune led me to a 3rd Place finish in the Floatucky Trail Derby Finals, including having the fastest time of the day in Time Trials! Definitely stoked to bring it out to FloatLife Fest next month. Check out my runs here: Floatucky Trail Derby Finals | Onewheel VESC Racing (Raw Runs) - YouTube

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I’ve had the MakersPEV box for a few days and this is the first setting I tried after the “default”, I really like it. I’m a city commuter, so almost all of my riding is surfing sidewalks that are in various states of disrepair at XR pushback speed. The box shipped without any LP filter configured, the filter in your settings does a good job of reducing the oscillation I felt on the deck.

I was getting a lot more leg fatigue than I expected, reducing P to 15 helped a ton… And since the nose was running lower I also gave it a 0.75° constant tilt back which still doesn’t raise it to level, but closer to where I want it usually.

Thank you for sharing!

What is your board setup with this tune, Nico? WTF rails and a lift kit?

Yes sir! Definitely need an extra clearance setup imo for hard racing with the current state of things. The nose drifting lower is still very real in my experience, but extra clearance and tuning to the specific trail can at least make it manageable to stay competitive enough. Running WTF Rails with a .4" lift from Crazy Hubs rn, with the IMU calibrated to ride symmetrically (like a Tilt Kit). Probably switching over to Varials as well before FLF since I’m betting FAF’s with a lift may be the move for Thunderdome.

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Or maybe a set of Mustache Rails🤓

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Mustache Rails w/ Lift would be pretty baller for VESC for sure, the ~Brooks Classic~ :sunglasses:

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Im in the research phase of converting my XR to VESC soon and was curious about what the best are using for BMS configurations (FM rewired for charging only, Ennoid BMS-XLITE-24S tracing CBXR Battery cells to correctly wire the balance connector, No BMS, etc). Kyle Klausing mentioned that you smoked him in the recent race as he’s fixing my XR Battery harness that i accidentally pinched when installing the CBXR 1,430 miles ago. Any help would be greatly appreciated to mod my XR to become a VESC beast.

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I personally just use a CBCSO from ChiBatterySystems which has a built in BMS, but that was discontinued for now unfortunately. That said, this may be better served in a different thread about potential BMS configurations since it’s not really related to my tune and other people know much more about BMS’s and batteries than I do haha

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@NicoAleman you using the surfdado ATR firmware in this link?
ATR Firmware / Configuration - VESC App Settings & Testing - pev.dev

Nah, I’m using the V4 firmware off SurfDado’s Github! So far I haven’t had the best luck with ATR personally, something about the firmware just makes it not ride how I’d prefer it from my testing. I’ll experiment more after the WinMan Enduro, but gotta commit to what works for the races for now.

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I’m trying to figure out the main differences between ATR and the other surfdado fw. I’ll keep reading and searching. I’m sure I’ll find the answers I’m looking for somewhere.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the v20 ATR. Has your tune card changed since Mitch’s update?

Im still out of town, but ill be making an updated Tune Card later this week most likely for V6. It shouldn’t have too many differences just something a lot more basic since you no longer need to compensate for nose dipping.

After this weekend, I’ll be diving deep into ATR to find a tune that works well for me. Every time I’ve tried ATR, I’ve struggled to get a tune that feels equivalent to what I’m running in Stable. I’m sure its possible, just didn’t want to spend so much time experimenting with it during race season and messing with my muscle memory.

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Thanks for your card.
I think I saw you have a WTF set up too?
What adjustments do you make to switch from FAF to wtf?