Old Battery and Fiik Boards

So my oldest electric skateboard is the Evolve Snubnose. It’s served me well, and you can tell when you look at the bottom of it. It’s all scratched up. But those scratches are love, they represent me learning how to skate.

I thought it might be a good time to write about what happens to the battery, at least on this model, after a year or two.

For the most part the board is still fine and working just as it did on day one. With a single exception. As I was riding around the neighborhood, I saw an old couple on bikes in front of me. I wanted to pass them, I *live* to pass people on bicycles. And pass them I did. Just slow enough for me to hear the man ask his wife if I had a remote for my board.

I have to hand it to that old man on his bicycle, he spotted what others easily overlook. He saw that I was using a remote. I guess the big clue, with that board, is all the duct tape I have wrapped around the battery to keep it attached to the board.

If there’s one thing I love more than showing off on my electric skateboard, it’s showing off in front of people who *know* my board has a motor. People who can recognize that they’re looking at something they’ve never seen before.

But the problem came a few miles later. I had an internal tingling sensation, my spider sense, if you will. I felt like the batter was almost drained. But I was constantly checking the low battery light, and it never came on. One more time around the neighborhood then, I decided.

It was the wrong choice. A mile or so away from the house, the board lost power. No low battery light. No more juice after it powered off. It was flat dead.

It sounds minor, but to me, this issue really is an annoyance. Because riders really do rely on that low battery light. Now I’ve always said that of all the electric skateboard companies, Evolve most needs to improve on its remote design. And I’m not really sure what the issue was here. They say the simplist answer tends to be the correct one. Probably the battery is getting old, and simply doesn’t report being in low power before it’s out for the count.

But something also tells me that the same thing wouldn’t happen with my Boosted Board, which features five lights that slowly count down the battery power.

Needless to say, I pushed that board home, kicking a skateboard more than I’ve ever pushed in my life. I learned a lot about orthodox skateboarding on that journey home. Kicking is physical effort, something I’m not used to doing while riding a board.

The entire time, I was remembering a colleague from work who said he had gotten hip problems from kicking a skateboard so much. So I would vary which leg I used to kick. Even though I’ve been riding boards for years, I haven’t pushed boards enough to have a favorite leg, or the muscle memory to prefer one over the other.

But the worst part about that journey home was passing the neighbors. In their yards, on their balconies. They had been watching me skate all weekend, wondering who was this new man on the block zipping by. But for that shameful ride home, they got to see more of me, as I passed them much slower, with only my leg to propel me.

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I also want to mention that a new brand of board maker has come to Florida. Fiik. They’ve opened an office, and while they’re currently waiting on more inventory, they’ve contacted me and told me that soon they will have more in stock. It sounded to me like they’re going to make the rounds in Florida. Meaning they almost have to come to Gainesville, and our Freeride Surf Shop. So if you’re reading this and you’re anywhere near Gainesville, follow me @maulakai so you don’t miss out. A free electric skateboard ride *at* Freeride? Oh yeah!

Wait a minute. I just checked their webpage. I only see the older model, heavy lead battery type. Let’s reserve judgement until they get some of those new, lithium battery models in, as I don’t condone those fat boards (Street Surfer, Big Daddy, Shortii) that ride more like a war tank.