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.