It’s February and I’m feeling really happy. I’ve got plenty of reasons. For one, February is the month that Evolve promised to ship their pre-ordered Carbon series boards. I absolutely can’t wait to have a second board so I can take my girlfriend on a ride.
When will I see my board? That’s still anyone's guess. But seeing as how I only put down a deposit on the board, I’d say I won’t be seeing it until at least a few days after they ask for the rest of the money.
Also, last night was the first night skate I’ve had since installing the new green underlights. The result was great. Skating around campus, nearly every group of girls I skated past yelled “I love your lights!” or something to that effect.
As a product, I have a complaint about the lights. If you’ve seen from the picture on my @maulakai instagram account, the entire thing is mounted under my board. But the vibrations from riding cause the battery cover to come partially open while skating. There doesn’t seem to be any good way to avoid this without mounting it on the top of the board. Although the problem would have been solved with a single extra screw in the design. I was going to trash the Nite FX LED Light Riding Kit, but given the number of shout outs I got last night, I’m instead giving it full praise. And my friend riding without lights even had people yell at him -- “You should get lights!”
Another good plus? Our ride last night clocked in at 7.64 miles. That’s about average for our runs. And nearly double my commute home the other day? What does this tell me? That the battery is still working fine. I guess Evolve is right, you do use more battery by breaking.
But not in every situation. Remember one of the properties of electro magnetism. If using the motor makes you go forward and drains the battery ... Then going downhill and using the break will charge the battery. The big hill on campus, Center drive, is a great way to charge. As a matter of fact, I had a low battery light on my remote at the top of the hill. But by breaking all the way down, I was able to charge it back up, and even made it back to my car without the low battery light.
I bet some skaters out there think what I’ve said is blasphemous. That’s probably just the difference between orthodox longboarders and electric longboarders. But that’s part of the style of being an electric skateboarder. You don’t have to make your ride all about speed and going fast. You have a motor to speed up on the slow parts and slow down on the scary parts.
Anyway, I just thought I’d make it clear. If you’re slowing down for pedestrians and then speeding back up again, it really is a waste of energy. But if you’re at the top of a hill with low battery, then using the brakes really can charge your board.
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