Bamboo Series Two Skate Wheels

This Sunday, my friend came over to skate. I took the Evolve Snubnose, and gave him the Boosted Board. Before we left, I checked the light on the Boosted remote. It was green.

We skated off. But we were barely on campus before the terrible happened. His remote, the Boosted remote, ran out of battery.

I almost couldn’t believe it. That was the second time the Boosted remote had run out of battery on me. Ever since then, I’ve been very careful to check the light on the thing. It was certainly green. And yet, still we lost power. I called my girlfriend to come pick us up.

I think there may be a design flaw in the Boosted remote, where it lights green when it doesn’t have enough battery to match the board. We took the ride home and set it charging.

While we were waiting, I decided to switch out the wheels on my Bamboo series two. It felt like time. It was quite an undertaking, and for a moment in the process, I thought I had lost a part. But when I was done, I was very happy with the board I was holding.

We went out for another ride. It would be the ride of my life.

I often write about the “roll” of a skateboard, and how the all terrain wheels don’t really have any of it. How the Boosted Board, with it’s dual drive belts, has less roll. Well the Evolve Bamboo Series two has more roll than anything. It carves for days, now that it has its Kegel wheels back on.

Yet that might not be entirely accurate. Because I know part of the equation are the trucks. Both Bamboo Evolve boards ride very similar. They just feel different from the Boosted, they carve so much better. A part of me knows that  part of it is due to those Evolve trucks.

Either way, I rode that baby like I would Scarlet Johanssen. We had a great skate. And for the first time ever, I skated faster than him! Even though he was on the Boosted, with its two more powerful motors, I still managed to go faster than him. I knew the Bamboo series two had a strong motor, but I didn’t think it was that strong. Still, when I get the software update for the Boosted, I expect it to retake the title as the fastest board. In my collection, anyway.

There is one bad point to speak of. The intermittent throttle when in fast gear. You’ll remember from an earlier post, this was an issue I’ve heard about from two separate riders. I was hoping that with the normal skate wheels it wouldn’t happen. But it did. Several times. In our nearly hour long skate, I estimate it happened three times.

I’m skating along, and the power goes out. Just for a moment. The temptation might be to squeeze the throttle even harder. But I go to neutral, and then gently throttle up, and it comes back.

That momentary loss of power is a strange beast to deal with. As an experience electric skateboard rider, I might not even notice. It’s the equivalent of going over a small gap in the sidewalk. But for a new rider, it’s very off putting.

I’m tempted to buy a new remote control, just to see if it fixes the problem. But you’ll remember that I’m not particularly fond of the new remotes they’ve made, and if it didn’t fix the problem, I’d be a little disappointed.

On one level, I hate to ride so much about the minor problems of owning an electric skateboard. My biggest fear is that someone who is thinking of riding an electric will read this blog and not get one. So please, don’t take me wrong. Electric boards have changed my life. Boosted or Evolve, battery or no, I highly recommend skating on an electric.

I just want the uninitiated to have a realistic idea of what they’re getting themselves into. I’ll end by saying that my Bamboo Series Two is my new favorite board. I rode it the other day over eight miles and not a low battery light in sight. I can’t wait until the holidays are over and the normal bus schedules resume, so that I can ride it on my usual commute.

May you ride more than you carry.

Mom's Ride

So it’s been what? Two or three weeks since I discovered the unreliable fast gear on my Bamboo Series two, all terrain board. I still haven’t heard back from Evolve. I guess it isn’t the biggest deal in the world.

But I was going to take off the big wheels and see how it skated orthodox. Until my mom begged me to ride it. So last weekend, I let her give it a spin. I was kind of scared, because she’s big and slow. But to my surprise, she was able to ride it around her block without any trouble at all. Slowly, for sure, but without any trouble. She really enjoyed the smooth ride it gave. She wants the board.

So in a way, I might change my official stance on the board. Because I used to think that those cheap Chinese boards were the best for beginners. In a way, it’s still accurate to say that they’re slower and safer than the Evolve board. But if my Mom can ride the big wheels Evolve board, I feel comfortable saying any can.

That same weekend, I took a picture of my Snubnose being held together with duct tape. It was my most popular Instagram picture ever. It even got the attention of Evolve, who offered a new casing.

While I’m happy for the offer, it’s something I’m going to decline. First off, I’m already on my second case. What’s a third going to do? It’s going to last a few months, and then break, just like the others did, that’s what. I mean, I already used silicone to seal the screw holes. I spent hours trying zip ties, velcro, and finally duct tape, to hold the damn battery on.

But I really like the way the duct tape make the board feel. One of the most common questions I get asked when riding my electric boards is, “Did you make it?” Usually I’m honest and say no, but potential is there to lie and act like I’m some kind of engineering god. The duct tape means that in a tiny way, I’m not lying if I say yes. Maybe I didn’t make it, but I certainly repaired it enough to call it my own.

The other reason why I like the duct tape is because it sticks out. Without it, the board is easily mistaken for an orthodox skateboard. But with the duct tape, any layman can see and easily understand that I’m riding something new, something they’ve never seen before.

Repairs

So over the weekend, I finally decided to repair my old Snubnose from Evolve. I did it using the technique I should have used from the state. I used duct tape. Honestly, that stuff works great. I don’t know why I tried so hard to attached the battery pack without it.

The other repair the board needed was the belt needed to be tightened. If you look at their old, discontinued Snubnose model from the bottom, its got a lot of surfaces that run at 90 degree angles to the surface. After adjusting the position of the motor to tighten the belt, it became clear to me how the belt got loose in the first place.

Letting one of my friends ride it, they probably tried to clear a speed bump or some such thing that they couldn’t. This would have caused the motor to smack against the rock or speed bump. Which would have knocked the motor back a centimeter or two.

I’ve long thought the solution to this is to have the motor up and behind the board, like Evolve did with their Bamboo Series Two. But it’s also interesting that my Boosted board doesn’t have that problem. Even though the motors, battery, and electrics are under the board, they’re designed much more aerodynamically. So that if you hit something, you’re more likely to bounce off than to get stuck. Also, I’m a better skater, I guess that has to factor in somewhere.

After noticing the tear in the belt of my Boosted Board, I emailed Boosted. They said the belt probably doesn’t need to be replaced, but gave me a link to where I can buy new belts for $25.

After keeping a close eye on the tear in the belt, I’ve come to the conclusion that they’re probably right. The tear doesn’t look like it will be much of a big deal. But it’s still a scary thing to skate around on, to know that it’s your face on the line, in the event that it is a big deal.

I showed the tear to a friend at work, whose dad used to repair vacuum cleaners. He said he’d seen plenty of belts like that. His advice to me? “Wear a helmet.” I don’t wear a helmet. So yeah, I’m probably going to order the new belt, but continued to skate around on it anyway.

About the same time, I also emailed Evolve asking about the motor intermittently cutting out when on high gear. So far, no response.

This weekend, I also did a not so random act of kindness for myself and the neighborhood. You see, every day, the most dangerous part of my skate is when I go down 20th avenue on my way home. There’s a bike lane on this two lane road, but the traffic is so close, it can be scarey sometimes.

But what makes the whole situation even more dangerous is a particular intersection which has been littered with … nails! It’s hard to believe but true. One day, while skating down the bike lane in front of some of the ghetto apartments, I ran over debris. The next day, I took more notice and saw nails. I figured someone would clear them up eventually, but nobody did. So Sunday morning, after fixing my Snubnose, I skated over with a broom and swept up the nails. Yay me. You’re welcome.