11–20 of 174 posts
It is astonishing (and more than a little awesome) that you can pack 2kw of motor power and so much range into so small a space now. Oh how I wish parts like this had been available in 1989.
I would recommend a direct drive motor though, less parts to break, direct torque.
Seems like it's illegal to use in California: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21968.htm
Great idea. I'm surprised nobody has done this before (but they probably have, I'm no longer a skateboarder). But I'm wondering about the prices. $10 stickers and $40 t-shirts are still advertising, so people are paying to advertise for your company? That doesn't seem right. In reality, they are really trying to push people to spend $1200 for a board. Even the $1099 pledge is a complete rip-off since you spend $100 l…
For comparison, you can buy a top-of-the-line longboard for $200, full kit. An essentially equivalent product [1] is selling for $500 a pop, half the price. That's more in line with what I'd pay for a luxury product like this.
Also, I'm not sure how comfortable this would actually be to carry around. Most longboards are around 7 pounds... this says "12 to 15" in the description. So, basically, this is going to feel like I'm carrying two skateboards around, not one.
[1] - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1645804961/the-zboard-th...
Isn't this the same thing? Was launched on kickstarter months ago: http://www.zboardshop.com/
Kind of a big difference in battery size from the Zboard to the Boosted Board. Quoted mileage is not that different either. Given that the board has to move a human at 20Mph I would wager that the smaller of the two batteries is not big enough. Its barely larger than a couple of mobile phone batteries.
They say the motor is rated at 2kw. Something that size using that much power is going to get pretty hot and the wires and battery are also going to get hot. I'm pretty sure that brushless motors don't like working at low RPM (anything less than about 10,000rpm) Looking at the transmission and wheel size, at 20mph those wheels are going at 1,100rpm. Which means the motors are probably doing about 2-3 times that. Under high load (like this) brushed and brushless motors are comparable efficiency.
I'd love to see a prototype of this but the motors and batteries don't seem powerful enough (having been a model car enthusiast for many years) - I'd love to be proved wrong. I wanted to put some brushless motors on my bike but after doing the calcs never got any further than the drawing board.
ZBoard seems more realistic to me.
Great idea. I'm surprised nobody has done this before (but they probably have, I'm no longer a skateboarder). But I'm wondering about the prices. $10 stickers and $40 t-shirts are still advertising, so people are paying to advertise for your company? That doesn't seem right. In reality, they are really trying to push people to spend $1200 for a board. Even the $1099 pledge is a complete rip-off since you spend $100 l…
The pricing seems like a complete rip-off, to be honest. $10 for a sticker? $40 for a t-shirt? $1000 for a skateboard? For comparison, you can buy a top-of-the-line longboard for $200, full kit. An essentially equivalent product [1] is selling for $500 a pop, half the price. That's more in line with what I'd pay for a luxury product like this. Also, I'm not sure how comfortable this would actually be to carry around.…
Great idea. I'm surprised nobody has done this before (but they probably have, I'm no longer a skateboarder). But I'm wondering about the prices. $10 stickers and $40 t-shirts are still advertising, so people are paying to advertise for your company? That doesn't seem right. In reality, they are really trying to push people to spend $1200 for a board. Even the $1099 pledge is a complete rip-off since you spend $100 l…
The pricing seems like a complete rip-off, to be honest. $10 for a sticker? $40 for a t-shirt? $1000 for a skateboard? For comparison, you can buy a top-of-the-line longboard for $200, full kit. An essentially equivalent product [1] is selling for $500 a pop, half the price. That's more in line with what I'd pay for a luxury product like this. Also, I'm not sure how comfortable this would actually be to carry around.…
It was a lot more expensive back then: $4,000 for the 1984 Chevy Blazer and $0 dollars for an extension cord we found in the garage, but going going fast on a skateboard, no matter what the method, is dangerous.
The worst part of this idea is "braking". I can assure you the only good way to brake a skate board at speed is a power slide, which you need to be an expert to do.
I've hit sand at speed and, even knowing it was coming, the slight braking power of the sand was enough to throw me. It's difficult to explain, but between knowing how far to lean against the braking force AND managing your balance side to side on the trucks, it ends up being harder to pull off than a good ole power slide.
That said, a roller blade version of this would be cool.
Great idea. I'm surprised nobody has done this before (but they probably have, I'm no longer a skateboarder). But I'm wondering about the prices. $10 stickers and $40 t-shirts are still advertising, so people are paying to advertise for your company? That doesn't seem right. In reality, they are really trying to push people to spend $1200 for a board. Even the $1099 pledge is a complete rip-off since you spend $100 l…
The pricing seems like a complete rip-off, to be honest. $10 for a sticker? $40 for a t-shirt? $1000 for a skateboard? For comparison, you can buy a top-of-the-line longboard for $200, full kit. An essentially equivalent product [1] is selling for $500 a pop, half the price. That's more in line with what I'd pay for a luxury product like this. Also, I'm not sure how comfortable this would actually be to carry around.…