Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Kickr

So I’ve found some of the other electric skateboarders in my city. Namely, the man behind Red Rock Board Shop, and his friends. Together this weekend, the five of us all went on a cruise around town. It was awesome.


Zipping around as a group, we finally got to yield the power that most longboarders only dream of. Light changes before you can quite make it? No problem for our critical mass. The cars had to wait for us! We even found a large parking garage, with perfect surface, no speed bumps, and completely empty! How the gods of the boards shine upon us!


If you want to see some of it, check out my Instagram. I took some of my most liked vids ever, due to the Weekend Hashtag Project being #whpwhatmovesme


While we were there, I learned about a new Kickstarter. It’s called Kickr.




It’s kind of like the Rubbee, but for skateboards. It’s a very simple motor that doesn’t use a drive chain. It attaches directly to the skateboard wheel. It attaches and comes off very quickly and easily. For an elegant devices that can turn any board into an electric board.


One of the biggest differences is that it doesn’t use a remote controler. Instead, it has a pressure pad to step on in order to throttle.


But the only downside is that there aren’t any brakes. This makes me sad. Brakes are perhaps my favorite part of electric skateboards. They are a major selling point, because they make boards *safer*. They gives me confidence going downhill. They allow me to charge the battery (a little).


Kickr is basically a board with more power, but no brakes.


So for an experienced longboarder, the Kickr is the best thing since slide gloves. But for someone who only ever rode on electrics with brakes like myself, it’s really a deal breaker. I trust that in the future, however, they’ll add the brakes in, and I’ll sing praise of their more elegant design.

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