Boosted Commute pt 2

A few additional thoughts on the Boosted Board.

First, battery life. I know that my commute puts four miles on my board. The Boosted remote has five lights for battery life. After my first commute, I had two lights left. Just less than half. But after riding the same path the next day, the battery read three lights. Just more than half. It may be too early to tell, but I think it’s safe to say that my commute takes about half of the charge of the board. Which would put its total range, at about eight miles. Boosted advertises six miles. In other words, Boosted is the real hero. They’re the first electric skateboard company I’ve found that under promised, and over delivered on their battery claims.

After leaving work yesterday, one of my coworkers saw me and asked, “You’re not skating home on your electric today? Going it old fashioned?”

“Of course I’m skating home on my electric. This is the new one.” I said, and held it up a tad higher.

Why had he thought I wasn’t skating on an electric? It might have been the colors. My Boosted board is a gray/black and orange to the usual bamboo and red. But I think he was fooled more by the way I was carrying the board. With one hand, easily, like any orthodox boarders would carry his board.

When I used to commute on my snubnose, I would carry it vertically, only lifting it a few inches off of the ground. The Boosted Board can be carried like an ordinary skateboard.

Or maybe what threw him off was how slender she is. That loaded deck is only a few centimeters thick in the middle. Boosted really did a top notch job of disguising their electric as an orthodox.

Then again on the bus this morning, the woman standing next to me saw the orange Orangatang In Heat wheels and commented about how she used to skateboard. She never noticed that it was an electric.

Here I have mixed feelings. Because showing off the board is half the fun. I suppose the angle, for her, was just so. But still, the fundamental of the design is the same. Boosted makes a top of the line electric board that is as close to an orthodox board as can be. And I’m in love with it.

Boosted Commute

So I’m back. Off of vacation, back in my normal routine. We’ve found the Boosted remote, and I’ve finally had a chance to take it on my usual commute to work and back.

All I can say is: Wow! Whatever problems I’ve had with the remote, when I first used it, are gone. I’ve actually come to prefer the Boosted remote. And not just because of the handy battery indicator.

It seems to work better in my right hand. I’m never sure what the proper hand for holding a remote is. There are no wrong answers, I guess. Personally, I like to switch things up, and practice with both hands.

But the button. Placed at where a trigger would be. You have to push the button in order to use the motor. But if you just push the button, it acts as a small break. It always makes me with of my friend who taught me how to longboard. He would hold his hands out, as if he were being crucified, and ‘air break.’ Even though you’re using the motor to do it, I like having that button there. Because it’s true, much of the time when you’re longboarding, all you need is a slight break in order to stay safe.

Yesterday gave me the perfect chance to make use of the dual motor design. I walked outside of work, at the bottom of a small hill, to see that the cross walk at the top of the hill had just changed favorably. I hopped on the Boosted Board and shot up the hill, faster, stronger than I’d ever done it before. I held out my hand like a Jedi, to ask a turning car to stop for me while I zoomed across the intersection. What a rush!

Those dual motors really carry their weight when you’re going up a hill. That much was obvious, even before I got my hands on a Boosted Board. But what I hadn’t realized was how useful they can be for going down a hill. Because when that ‘air break’ trigger button isn’t enough, you can always dial the wheel back for added stopping power. Unlike previous, single motor electric skateboard designs, the Boosted design allows me to fine tune just how fast I go downhill. Which really is something. Especially since classes just start, and there’s (switch to Australian accent) “Heaps of students clogging the footpaths.” (back to normal speech) There’s a lot of students on the sidewalks.

The other obvious, but great thing about my Boosted Board is that it’s lighter, and much more of a shock absorber. I was flabberghasted at how well it handled going over tactile pavement. It handled it almost as good as a board with all terrain wheels. I suspect this may be due to the Loaded Deck, but I’m not sure. Either way, the board handles literally every situation better, faster, and with more precision than a single motor board.

Yesterday’s ride had tons of leaves, branches, and tree material littering the campus. I always feel cautious about riding over that kind of stuff. It was very tempting to reach for my all terrain board for the ride. But I didn’t. I used the Boosted, and she handled those rough sidewalks quite well. Top marks.

Because I like to take the bus to work, the Boosted Board continues to be the board I reach for in the mornings. If you’re looking for a last mile vehicle, to supplement your commute and allow you to leave your car behind, the Boosted Board is likely to be first on your list.

I don’t think I’d mentioned it before, so I’ll say it now. After reading the Boosted webpage, I found that some earlier model boards have red and orange led indicator lights on the battery, instead of red and green. My board is one of these. So it has been charging and operating perfectly well. I tried to take a picture of these lights, but they don’t photograph well.

TL;DR Boosted Boards are the high end sports car of electric longboards. They’re lighter, smaller, and easier to carry, especially on a train or bus. The dual motors handle going up and down hills in a way a single motor never could.

On New Remote Design

In the beginning, there was the remote. It was big, plastic, and had a familiar way to control an electric motor -- a trigger.

But then electronics got smaller, and lighter. Yet the remote stayed the same size, mainly because it’s a nice size to fit in our hands. That’s where electric skateboarding comes onto the scene.

Unfortunately, around the same time, a lot of police have been shooting people holding wallets, and other objects, *thinking* that they were holding guns.

Which prompts the joke, when people see me holding the original Evolve remote, “Don’t get shot by someone thinking that’s a gun.”

I’ve asked many people if they thought they might mistake the remote for a gun. But nobody thinks they would. Partly because this is Florida and people here *love* their guns. But partly because it’s a big clunky, plastic thing, with a red trigger, and not even a barrel. It’s obviously not a gun. simply in the shape of a gun.

Still, wouldn’t it be nice to have a remote, in, you know, a different shape?

I guess the people at Evolve and Boosted both thought the same thing. Now that I’ve had the chance to use both of their new remote designs, I’d like to comment on them and say … You’re doing it wrong!

The first point, they got right. The new remotes aren’t in the shapes of guns. But they are small, black objects that are mostly concealed in the rider’s hand. I think about how men have been shot for taking out their wallets. Amazingly, both of these small remotes, I feel, are more likely to be mistaken for guns than their clunky, gun shaped predecessors.

Of course, both remotes have plenty of lights on them. And the lights are where we might realize they’re definitely not guns. But still. They’re doing it wrong.

Because skateboarding. Part of skateboarding is falling down. When you’re skateboarding and you fall, you don’t get any time to react. Not even to throw away the remote. When you fall with a remote in your hand, you fall on the remote. I’ll throw up some pics of my old Evolve remote so you can see. It’s all scraped up.

Sooner or later, I’m going to fall on these new remotes, too. And when I do, I’m very scared I’ll break them. The only logical solution is to work the remote into skating gloves. Why haven’t they  figured this out yet?

I’m talking to you, Sanjay Dastoor. I’m talking to you, Jeff Anning. I’m putting a picture of my scratched remote on Instagram. I’d like to see what yours looks like. Have either of you ever fallen on one of these new, small remotes? Did it break? I’m curious.

I’ve put a lot of thought into the remote. Because you really want use of your hands while you ride. Watch a professional skate video. They don’t even wear kneepads anymore. You can protect yourself with just your shoes and your skate gloves. The only solution is to build the remote into the skate gloves. The way these guys are designing remotes, it’s discourages the use of gloves, because it’s hard to wear gloves and work these remotes.

Make the hockey puck on the gloves so that it spins to adjust the potentiometer, the control over the electric motor. Add a kill switch if the hockey puck is pressed against the palm, as it would be in a fall or slide. The buttons can go almost anywhere. Trust me, bra!

I have to add that the Boosted Remote has one big advantage over the Evolve remote. It has a battery indicator. Both for the battery in the remote, and the battery of the board. That’s huge! The Evolve remote only indicates low battery for both the remote and the board.

All the time I’ve been riding my Evolve board, I’ve been doing guesswork. I’ve been using the gps powered MyTracks to see how far I’ve rode, in order to know how much charge the battery had. In other words, it’s guess work. If there’s one further way for Evolve to evolve, they’ve gotta get full on battery indicators.

Despite having this extra feature, the Boosted Remote is arguably worse. It has a trigger button, which you have to keep pressed in order to use their remote. While you’re pressing it, you’ve got to turn something like a mouse wheel to control the motor. The end result is more awkward than it should be.

The problems with both remotes are minor, to be sure. You’ll still be luckiest, coolest kid on the block to have either. I’m just saying, there’s room for improvement still.

Evolve Bamboo Series

So after waiting all this time for my new Evolve board, it comes. While I’m away on vacation. Can Fed Ex hold it for me a few extra days? No. So I drove from Orlando to Gainesville, just to pickup the board. Which I kinda wanted to do anyway, since I’d lost the Boosted Remote, and wanted to ride.

My first chance to ride it was at night. If you follow me @maulakai on twitter, you might have seen the post. I actually put my helmet on for that ride, along with a flashlight and brake light. Then I rode to StarBucks. By the time I got there, I realized, I didn’t need coffee. I was already on an adrenaline high. The board carves as well as my Snubnose, which is just how I like it. But it rides much smoother, and higher off the ground.

I’m famous for saying that skateboard wheels are like lipstick for men. They all have clever names and slightly different colors, but in the end they’re pretty much the same. Not so with these Kegels. Or is it the overall board design? I don’t know for sure, but this board rides smooth. There are several rough streets that my Snubnose didn’t like to roll over. The new bamboo series doesn’t care.

The motor is in the back now, what I’ve always called the optimal position. At least when you’re trying to go over cracks in the ground. But it also has a disadvantage. It makes the board a little long, a little taller. I’m used to picking my board up from the front. But with the motor sticking out, I’ve had to lift her from the middle. Still, despite being more awkward to hold, I’m happy to have the motor in the better place to ride.

When I tried to leave the coffeeshop, I noticed that my hands were shaking. So much so, I had trouble using the newer, tiny remote. But not enough to stop me. This new remote is familiar enough to have no major problems using it. I especially like the wrist strap, as you’re probably going to need that hand when you pick up your board later.

Which reminds me of a few other details I really liked. Remember when I got the Carbon series, and found all the parts thrown into a box willy nilly? Well Evolve has lived up to their name, and gotten better. This time, everything was in what we might think of as traditional packaging. They included the tools you’ll need to service your board (after I just bought a new set). They include all the cables you’ll need. Remember, the new remote charges with USB. But mini, not micro, USB, so you’ll probably need that ever so slightly differently sized cable from the one you use with your phone.

The wall charger was nice to see. It has a fuse this time around. Which I hear can prevent fire, and damage to the battery. Strange, but when I plugged it in, I heard the sound of its fan. It’s loud, about the same as a power supply on a computer. So you know that battery is hardcore.

This morning, I took the board for another ride. Just so happened to be the first day of school. Best show off session, ever! I got to ride by scores of kids, holding the remote in my hand just so that they could easily see I was riding a next gen board. How many kids had to go to the torture of school, knowing they’re missing out on the next big thing? I like to think I’m sowing the seeds of a new generation to use a new form of transportation, every time I show off like I do.

Before I had the board, I had resolved to put on the all terrain wheels. But the kegels ride so good, I haven’t wanted to take them off. Yet. Because I know I’ll want them in Gainesville. It’s almost torture that we’ve had rain every day. Leaving only a very narrow morning window to skate in.

The first time I took it to the beach, a bikini girl at the surf shop asked me about it. I guess what I’m saying is, I’m in love. With the longboard, not the bikini girl.

Boosted's Lost Remote

So I had planned to ride the Boosted Board a lot more. At least on my usual commute to work and back. But sadly, the rain ensured that didn’t happen before my vacation. Which I’m on now.

I took the Boosted Board down to Miami, and then couldn’t find the remote. I looked through all my bags, my car, the garage, it was nowhere to be found. So I wasted half of my vacation with the Boosted Board but no remote. I figure I must’ve left it up in Gainesville.

But when I got back to Gainesville, I still couldn’t find it. I’m almost ready to officially declare the remote lost. Which is sad. And really makes me hope that Boosted has plenty in stock. Because I really want to ride more of that board, and at the moment, I can’t.

My original plan had been to buy the board, use it, and return it. But I find myself increasingly reluctant to let it go. Even though I haven’t had much time with the board, it is clearly the top choice of down (and up) hill. It’s also lighter, smaller, and overall easier to carry than any other board. It’s the most convenient board to take on the bus.

I’ve just checked Boosted’s webpage. I can’t find a link to buy just the remote. I’m not sure what to do. The webpage says they’ll offer a 30 day refund, but of course that assumes you didn’t lose a vital piece. I’ll have to email them and see what’s up. There are a few more places I have to look, but I won’t know for sure until I’m back home, in Gainesville.

Boosted!

So, it happened. My Boosted Board is here. The board from the Ted talk that got me into skateboarding in the first place. In my hands. Looking sexy.

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you already know that. I was surprised, how great the board looked. The orange, Orangatang In Heat Wheels. Next to my Evolve Snubnose, it is clearly the aesthetic winner. When I’d carry around my Evolve board, people would ask me if I built it myself. Partially because the battery is zip tied onto the board. But also, even when the battery still held, because it looks like a really nice job someone would have done at home.

The Boosted Board doesn’t have that problem. As a matter of fact, on my first ride on the Boosted. Going the same route, same time, commuting to work like I do every other day, someone saw me skating and yelled, “Is that the Boosted?” I yelled back, “Yeah.” This board is famous!

The remote. Let me devote a paragraph to the remote. It’s small, it’s sleek, and again, it makes the Evolve remote look like an older children’s toy. The Boosted remote charges via micro usb, the Evolve uses triple As. It’s a small detail, but combined with the Loaded Deck, and the lack of a big black battery box, the Boosted is clearly the newer, cooler toy.

I did run into a problem. I plugged the remote in to charge, along with the skateboard. A couple of hours later, the remote was done charging. The board was not. But the manual says that the board should charge in ninety minutes. I wasn’t sure what time I plugged the board in, so I waited. After I was sure it had been charging for four hours, still no green light. I unplugged it, and checked the battery life with the remote. It reported a full charge. Knowing what I know about these batteries, the potential fire risk, I left it unplugged. The board appears to operate as normal, with the exception of no green light when it should be charged.

First ride on the board I noticed that the beginner mode is almost a joke. The board goes so laughingly slow on beginner mode, it’s literally faster to walk. Advanced mode, however, will knock your socks off.

One of the big questions I had about the Boosted Board, was whether or not it could go up Center drive. Center drive, for those who don’t know, is the biggest hill on the University of Florida campus. I typically avoid it, simply for being too steep and dangerous. My Evolve board can go up Center most, but not all of the way. My first ride, with the Boosted, I went up center. Easily. So quickly, I almost shit my pants.

If there was any doubt before, let me put it to rest. The Boosted Board is the superior quality board, and for twice the cost, it should be. If you’re a larger rider, or if you expect to use the board on steep hills, you’ll want a Boosted Board hands down. It’s also lighter. And because of the battery design, it can be carried under your arm, a position I never found comfortable for my Evolve board.

But there is one thing I don’t like about the Boosted. Surprisingly, it’s the new sexy remote. It’s not the size or the charging -- I like those just fine. It’s the operation. It’s not quite so intuitive. You have to squeeze a trigger button as a safety, then roll a wheel forward to go. The problem is that there’s no comfortable way to do that. I wish it had a simple trigger to squeeze and go forward. While this feels like a small detail, to my mind it’s huge.

The Evolve remote allowed me to squeeze the trigger and hold a certain amount of tension. From there, I could cruze without a care. The Boosted remote makes you constantly aware of the throttle. Also, the Boosted  has less of a natural roll to it. Which is to be expected, due to the double motor design. For some reason, pressing the trigger button applies a small break to the board. Meaning if you’re not giving it gas, you’re giving it breaks. Kinda sorta. It’s hard to describe, but the Boosted remote is complicated, and far less intuitive than I had hoped.

The Boosted also has one more great advantage. It’s balanced. When my friend took it down Center, he got no speed wobble whatsoever. Bottom line, the Boosted is clearly the winner for hills. It’s the kind of board you would expect someone from San Francisco to build.

It’s a great board, and I’m going to be sad to let it go when my time with it is over. Hopefully, more video to come. Thank you Boosted, and thank you, fellow Electric Skateboard Enthusiast.