Worst. Skate. Ever.

Last night my girlfriend’s friend came over with her son. I take him on electric skateboard rides sometimes. Besides being really cold, it felt like a typical skate for us. But little did I know it would turn into the worst skate ever.

Usually I let the boy ride my Snubnose. But the battery pack still isn’t secured to the board. And the drive belt is still very loose. So that wasn’t an option. I figured I’d make him ride the Bamboo series two with the all terrain wheels, since I’m very territorial with my Boosted Board.

So we skate onto campus, and we don’t get very far before I get a funny beep from my Boosted remote, a beep I’d never heard before. It took me a minute to figure it out. The remote ran out of battery.

At first I beat myself up. How could I have been so stupid? Usually I’m really good about charging the remotes. But this time, I guess I forgot. It flashed through my mind that, if the remote used Micro USB instead of Mini USB, my chances of charging it would have been higher. But with effectively no change at charging the remote, I was forced to go home the old fashioned way.

I had to get back on my Bamboo series two and make the boy kick that Boosted Board home. I thought the Boosted might give him a little trouble to skate, but he said it rolled like a boss. Not only that, but he really enjoyed skating on the Loaded Deck. I don’t think he’d ever skated on such a high end board before.

That was the epic fail on my part, involving the Boosted Board. But there was another event which happened that night.

As he was skating the Bamboo Series two, I noticed he was staying in low gear. Why? He was experienced enough of a skater to max it out on high gear.

“The connection keeps cutting out in high gear,” he told me. I thought that was bullocks. I told him to try holding the remote in a different place, like behind his back. That didn’t work. I told him to try pressing the remote either looser or tighter, finding the trigger’s sweet spot.

“Nope. It keeps cutting out when I’m in high gear,” he told me. So when we switched boards so he could kick home on the Boosted, I got to feel it for myself.

Would you believe he was right? I had a bit of an epiphany at that. I’d never noticed the difference between high and low gear, because I never use low gear. When my girlfriend skates the board, she always uses low gear, and I confirmed with her that uses low gear for the same reason. I had to admit that even I have had the board cut out on me on high gear, but I was blinded by my love for the board.

So something is wrong here. It might be in the board, it might be in the remote. My hunch is that the culprit is the new remote. But I plan to write Evolve and get to the bottom of this.

Longest Boosted Ever

So the other day, my friend Austin comes over to skate with me. Usually, he rides the Snubnose while I take the Bamboo series two.

But this time, the Snubnose was out of commission. The zip ties that hold the battery pack onto the bottom of the board have been breaking. It looks like I’m going to need a better solution to holding it onto the bottom of the board. In addition, the drive belt is very loose. So we would have to use the other boards. I’m very territorial of my Boosted Board, and Austin has never rode the AT wheels, so I figured I’d give him a taste of the all terrain.

We skated from my house to the restaurants across the street from campus. The plan was to get some food and skate back. It was a run I’ve done many times on my Evolve boards. First time doing the run on my Boosted Board.

It’s worth mentioning that the ride to campus, the run we were doing, is mostly uphill going there, and more downhill coming home. But by the time we got to the Pita Pit, I checked the battery left on the Boosted. Two of five lights. Meaning I’d burned through more than half of the battery.

Now this is a kinda scary feeling. I’ve never kicked a skateboard anywhere in my life, so as an electric skateboard enthusiast, the scariest thing in the world is the idea that you’re stranded somewhere and you have to kick push home. Or worse, carry the board. I wasn’t sure what to do. Maybe I’d make it home. Maybe I’d only make it part way. The only thing in my favor, was that there was more downhill for the ride back.

So we started skating home. About halfway we stopped and did another battery check. I was down to my last light, but still perhaps two miles from home. Austin, thirty pounds lighter than me, suggested we change boards. He was more interested in riding the Boosted, but I agreed. What difference does thirty pounds make? Well if it would get us both home, I was willing to give it a shot.

Austin wasn’t scared to maybe have to kick home. He raced the Boosted home, wasting more battery than I would have dared to. But guess what? We made it home. Not bad. I checked the GPS. 7.73 miles. It was the longest run I’ve ever made on the Boosted. Remember they advertise about six. I think it’s fair to say it would really go eight miles. And that’s up hills and carving for joy.

So I just want to give another kudo to Boosted for giving their customers a conservative estimate of the range of their boards.

Slower, no matter

So I’ve been skating around with Austin for a while now. Usually I ride the all terrain bamboo series two, and he rides the snubnose.

But lately, we’ve been switching it up. He rides the snubnose and I ride the Boosted. Part of the reason why is, Austin is faster than me. I’m fine with that. It’s okay to be faster than me. Most of the time, he’s faster because I’m breaking because I’m not comfortable with going as fast as him.

So I did a ride on the Boosted, specifically to prove that I can smoke him. There was just one little problem. He was still faster than me! Even though he’s on a single engine, and I’m on a dual engine. I could max out the throttle, and still he’d zip right by me.

Fine, I thought. I’d just have to race him up Center drive, the biggest hill on campus. Maybe he could be faster than me on a flat, but no way a single motor could beat dual motors uphill. Well guess what? Racing up Center drive, it was pretty much neck and neck.

“Austin, how much do you weight?” I finally had to ask. He weighs about thirty pounds less than me. Thirty pounds. And here, I don’t know what to think. Thirty pounds is thirty pounds. But dual motors should still smoke a few pounds, right?

I guess it’s only right to mention the value of skill. Austin is a much better skater than me. I’m sure skill makes a difference. But how much of a difference? Does it make that much of a difference?

The whole incident makes me only more excited to get that speed upgrade from Boosted. Then we’ll see who’s fastest.

How to attach a battery pack?

So the other day, I invited a friend over to have a skate. Don’t bring your board, I told him. He could use my Evolve Snubnose.

So we go outside, and everything looks good. You ready? I ask him. He’s ready. I hopped on my All Terrain Bamboo series, and begin to roll off. He was holding my Snubnose vertical, and slammed it down to riding position.

The only problem was, the battery pack was being held on by zip ties. He slammed the board down so hard, it actually broke the zip ties. He apologised, he didn’t realize he shouldn’t have slammed the board down. That’s how he was used to doing it with every other board he’s ever skated.

I was a bit upset. Despite being an older electric skateboard, and being a discontinued model, it’s still a great board. It still has a great, run roll to it, and I really love that board. I thought I had fixed the problem of the battery pack with the zip ties and a few nails a long time ago. But when he slammed down the board and broke the zip ties, it was like opening an old wound.

So I took the board inside, and put on even more zip ties. Four this time. We go out for a ride, and wouldn’t you know by the time we were back home, only two of them remained.

That board had gone months with only three zip ties, no problem. I guess the problem lies in the differences in how people skate. He was trying to dance on the board, while most of  my electric riding involves stationary feet. In other words, inexperienced with electric boards, he innocently was doing everything you probably wouldn’t want to do on an electric.

Like most orthodox skateboarders, he didn’t want to ride on the all terrain wheels. And in a way, I can understand that, because the all terrain wheels do give a very different feel to one’s skate. But I know he didn’t like getting the orthodox wheels stuck in a gap in the sidewalk pavement. I know it’s not fun to roll over tactile pavement on those wheels.

At the moment, the Snubnose is laying belly up in my living room. I want to throw on more zip ties. But I really want a better solution. How incredibly difficult this slight design flaw has been, on what would otherwise be a fucking awesome board. A friend of mine offered me $400 for it. I’m not sure if I want to sell or not, because I feel that $400 is a little low. I think it’s worth more. But certainly not if the battery case keeps coming off.

So in the end, I’m happy that they discontinued the Snubnose. Look at the bottom of all the current models, and you won’t see a boxy design like that anymore. I mean, I have a Bamboo series two, but I can’t even figure out how they attach that battery pack on there.

Boosted's New Models

I haven’t gone anywhere, I’ve been skating the entire time. Most of the time, I wonder about the different models of board I ride. Specifically, the all terrain bamboo Evolve, and the Boosted.

They represent opposite ends of the electric skating spectrum for me. The Boosted is the more orthodox ride. It’s smooth, it’s fun, it’s the endless skate. I use it to commute every day it’s not raining.

But when I go for a joy ride, I always grab the Evolve for the all terrain tires. They allow me to ride over any surface, to not worry about cracks and branches. But it’s true, you lose something when you ride with all terrain wheels.

You lose a certain roll that orthodox boards have. A board with all terrain wheels has very little, almost no roll. That changes the feel of a skate. Basically, it’s all motor.

Maybe there’s room in this world for both boards.

Then Boosted goes and releases information about their new models. They’re making a cheaper model with only one motor. Cool. Then they’re making a cheaper dual motor design. Awesome. Finally, they’re giving people with their original design a software update! That’s me!

It doesn’t surprise me that they can make my board faster with a software upgrade. When you skate the Boosted, especially on inclines, you can *feel* the extra power it’s holding back. This may also be the first time I’ve ever had a RL object that got a software upgrade to make it better. Which makes me happy, in a way. Although it does mean I had the power all along.

Slowly, but surely, Boosted has won me over as the must have electric skateboard. From their superior hand held remote, to the superior braking system.