Here come the clones..

[torqueboards]

Stary I think is decent. The price beats the MelonBoards by far as well as technology and style. Melonboards is nothing but a clone that has been re-branded.

Of course, DIY is always a small niche.

Stary is 8.6 lbs vs MelonBoards 14.2 lbs.

At 14.2lbs you could build a dual motor setup with 12-15 mile range.

 

[sk8norcal]

http://melonboard.com/#spareparts

motor mounts, cogwheels, etc

 

[sk8norcal]

At 14.2lbs you could build a dual motor setup with 12-15 mile range.

not really a fair comparison,

I take it that the increased weight comes from using non-lipo batteries.

 

[sk8norcal]

luoov

http://www.luoovboards.com/#top

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEsMy2XsP48

[youtube]WaMoy5dNrh0[/youtube]

===

hub motor

https://www.facebook.com/electricskateshop?fref=ts
http://www.electricskateshop.com/collections/electric-skateboards/products/e-wheelin-kids-electric-skateboard

http://esports.com.sg/products/electric-boards/w-wheelin-electric-skateboard.html


http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2015-New-Design-cheap-electric-skateboard_60250860994.html








.

 

[Barndom]

melonboard

indiegogo is becoming a place for reselling Chinese products...

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/melonboard-electric-skateboard#/story

From the website FAQ:
"Can I brake going downhill?
No, the motor may get overheated. For the riders safety we highly recommend not to go down hill. The motor is fixed with the wheels. Turn OFF the Melonboard and ride it as a normal longboard."

 

[onloop]

The reality is most people are not interested in building their own.
they want a turnkey with a warranty.

DIY is a very small niche.

I disagree slightly...

Yes people want a warranty, yes they want a solution.

We need to remind ourselves that building a skateboard using seperate parts is not uncommon. In fact most skateboard riders are very comfortable and willing to build their own setup, it's actually sort of embarrassing/lame if you are rocking a "pre-built" deck.... just like a mid level bike enthusiast, they will want to make some custom changes, different wheels, handle bar, brakes & seat

I believe the issue at the moment is there are simply not enough legit brands out there supplying quality electric skateboard parts, people will buy quality gear when it is available and they will build therir own electric skateboards.

The big issues is all thsee lazy people going on crowd sourcing websites with crap and expecting to make 500K without putting in any effort. The long lasting quality brands in any industry took time to build an become what they are. It takes time and hard work.

The first major step forward is That DIY electric skateboard builders need to stop using hobby king stuff. It's simply not designed to do what we want it to do on an electric skateboard. Once the pedulum swings towards using custom made high quality electric skateboard parts the DIY scene will grow rapidly... in fact it won't be called the DIY electric skateboard... it will simply be called the electric skateboard industry and it will be a Jagganuaght.

There will be warranty and support. It will become a sport where people compete in specially designed courses... endure racing. Tricks events. Jump and stunt events. Electro x-Ross....

 

[CSN]

Even with a warranty a buyer has to ship it back and forth to the seller and that gets expensive plus downtime.

If someone wants a board for commuting then they realistically are going to need more than one board or other forms of transportation as alternative.

Let's say you have to ship your boosted board in for service.... With insurance that is going to cost at least $50 if not $75+ R/T. Unless you live in SF of course.

I think people ultimately will favor boards that use modular parts and are self serviceable.

The great thing about a DIY board is your not afraid to ride it because if it malfunctions it's easy to diagnose and replace or repair a part.

For these China boards I doubt anybody is going to send it back for service and even if they did it would cost nearly 50% of the original purchase and take a long time.

 

[sl33py]

Seriously? I hope you are joking. 5 posts total insulting the 4k posts MODERATOR. smart...

As for the indiegogo & chinese - that is a clone and has been seen on alibaba and aliexpress. Check post #1 on this thread from Dirkdiggler - Not much innovation. You could also resell a yuneec e-go as a new "startup" product.

 

[onloop]

Man!.... thats not cool.... everything sk8norcal said is true. I could sell that exact board right now on my website. I wouldn't even need to raise the money using crowd funding I just go buy some from AliExpress ... no development is required because its an off the shelf product. Some aussie guys tried the same stunt on kickstarter and they shut it down.

It goes against everything ES members believe in.

It should be banned.

 

[sk8norcal]

ok, not sure why the strong reaction to what I said, but I see the offending comment was removed.

I will go ahead and removed the quoted comment.

As for the indiegogo & chinese - that is a clone and has been seen on alibaba and aliexpress. Check post #1 on this thread from Dirkdiggler - Not much innovation. You could also resell a yuneec e-go as a new "startup" product.

Yes, it's borderline scam when people pull this kind of stuff on crowdfunding sites. (the funders are assuming that the seller are the ones that developed this product)

On the flipside, I don't have much problem with the product itself. some guy probably sold the design to some factory and the factory sells it to any vendors with their own branding.
We all seen this for other Chinese product.


Regarding Yuneec, I don't think you can resell an E-go with your branding. Yuneec is a Chinese OEM company that makes their own stuff.

 

[sk8norcal]

.. in fact it won't be called the DIY electric skateboard... it will simply be called the electric skateboard industry .

one thing to point out is how you would define DIY.

The guys offering kits are eventually going to offer everything at one place, (charger/battery/esc/motor+mounts+truck)
where the skill required to put it together will be extremely easy. (you would probably get the rear truck with all the parts premounted)
To me that is really no longer DIY. It's just a conversion kit.

Mellow is already there it seems in terms of simplicity. They offer a bolt on kit or sell as a complete.
I am not sure how many extra holes you would have to drill , maybe one or two ?
Everything is just one integrated assembly that you simply bolt on to the rear of your board.
but of course, its all proprietary parts.

 

[Hummina Shadeeba]

what's with the low wattage hub motors? Am I wrong in thinking these and the other's you put up norcal are super weak to the point I'm thinking they'd melt down given any hill? Funny how they don't recommend going down a hill but going up at some steep grade is ok. No way. It's surprising because you can have a 100 kv motor that will fit in a wheel and still be easily a 1000 watts. Maybe they're even lower kv and it becomes an obstacle.

the future of the electric skate buss..? Onloop is in it and newly so, at least a year and a bit I think am I right? Norcal are you selling parts or just interested? I think the motor mounts are the only real business other than hub motors in that everything else is just from the Hobbyking or some other hobby store. Except people like convenience. And there are 2000 forks for sale and they're looking for that special one that suits them.

 

[kira]

What do you guys think of this one? https://www.lecdec.com/

It kinda reminds me of E-Go but has a bit different specs (I like the higher speed!) and what scares me is that they didn't have any kickstarter or indiegogo going on.

The fact that it's cheap and it's a UK company makes it a bit more convenient for me as I live in the UK.

 

[CSN]

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=luoove&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xluoov.TRS0&_nkw=luoov&_sacat=0

Looks the same except the griptape logo and wheel color.

Bonus scrow down and check out some hot chicks.

 

[rsilvers]

$540 delivered to US.

1200 watts power.

Battery capacity not listed.

 

[sl33py]

Looks like a marbel clone - you can see almost identical ones in the "here come the clones" thread.

399 GBP - shipping was reasonable and total cost to the states was 560'ish. Not too shaby. I'm doubtful of the specs, but a nice inexpensive "e-go like" alternative.

 

[rsilvers]

I don't believe it is 1200 watts. At all. I think they probably get it to do that for a few seconds and then say that is the wattage. If it is not sustainable for the entire duration of the battery with a typical rider weight on level ground, then it is not the actual wattage.

 

[torqueboards]

The LecDec is the single motor clone board which has been a while for a long time.

 

[kira]

CSN, thanks. It actually does look and has the same specs a LUOOV.

I guess I'm stuck with E-GO as the only good choice (or Stary but that will take a while).

 

[sk8norcal]

merged.

hmmm, lec dek... could be the worst eboard name of all time... :lol:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g0YH6KSlWF2dTZeg0Sopg

to be fair, this board is not exactly a "clone" (a copy of the original)

It's a fairly generic but original design.

just sold under multiple brands.
backfire/street devil/falcon/streetsmart eco/luoov/lecdec/melonboard/Soulerboard88

one more,
magneto
http://electricskateboard.org.uk/

 

[WeeChumlee]

Hi Guys

Well I got the LecDEc (Backfire, etc.etc.)
So far all good. Pulls me very well and I am not exactly small (90kg).
I ran it till it died and got 8 miles of varying terrain, up and down hill and long straights.
Had it a week now and been riding every day, only thing now is to see how long it lasts.
Charging takes forever as the charger is only 2A - so theoretically 4 hours to charge.

Now before all those that say - "Build your own"
I have a self build as well, hardware from Aliendrivesystems and electronics from Alienpowersystems.
That, when it works is a great board. It is faster and more powerful (8S Battery and 2.2kW motor) than the LecDec.
Problem is, it does not work for very long. Been through 3 ESCs (no idea why they went tits up) and a motor (rotor turned on shaft) so far.
Replacements of the parts always takes weeks, and weeks, so got fed up and bought the LecDec.
Already the LecDec has more miles (of a single working period) of my self build so happy so far.
Hopefully when I get the third ESC back I will then have two working boards. (Until I get the Leif E-snowboard I ordered - but that may take a while yet I imagine)

Cheers

 

[torqueboards]

Well.. That's how your going about it all wrong.

The APS ESCs are junk and don't last. Stop buying those ESCs and buy better ESCs.

VESC and/or my 12S Unsensored ESC works great as well. There's also CastleESCs for 8S.

Both Enertion and I use to sell APS ESCs and they're all crap. Enertion even made VESCs from APS ESC Manufacuturer and they gave back crap.

Don't waste your time with that.

The motor can turn on the shaft because you did not check the set screws of the motor.

The first thing I always do is remove those low torque set screws and replace them with an M3 or M4 bolt with threadlock.

Your motor and ESC will then last thousands of miles. My motor is still going strong. It does help to lube the bearings on the motors from time to time. The grime and dirt seem to get to it at least for me.

The LecDec is decent I'd assume but I wouldn't buy it. It's just a 6S setup with a 6S 120A ESC geared for higher torque. It goes up some hills but because it's cheap you'll end up burning out the ESC too.

 

[dashimsta]

Like torqueBoards said, you need to stop buying shit ESC's

I have a 6S Mamba Monster 2 ESC that is fully programmable and you can even change the throttle AND Braking curves which is a huge thing. Im also running a Phoenix 75 Amp at 8S and lastly a Pheonix HV on 12S for my newest build.

Stop making excuses!

 

[whitepony]

most often overengineering helps with durability ... calculate what you need worst case and then just multiply it by 2. that formula worked pretty good for me in past projects

 

[WeeChumlee]

Wow, some dudes really do have issues.
I thought this forum was to be supportive and helpful..
What I did was to give my view on a cheap E-board that was mentioned in the forum, whether helpful or not is up to the reader.
I most definitely was not making any "excuses". WTF you mean by that anyway?

As to the ESCs - I am not buying them one after another. They may be crap (but how was I supposed to know that beforehand) but to give the guy his credit he has replaced them, I am currently waiting for the latest replacement. The motor was also replaced.

I have no idea of where the set screws you mention are. I am not talking of the pulley but of the actual shaft within the rotor.
If you could help me improve something here it would be appreciated.

I did "overengineer" as the ESC's are actually 200A so I though, wrongly it turned out, that they would be OK.

If, and probably when, the next ESC pops I shall try one from Torqueboards and see if I have more luck.
I don't mind fiddling around on the board as they is why I built it in the first place. Just realised how much fun it is also riding it and that is why i bought the cheap alternative.
Yeah, maybe that will break in the short term, maybe not - we shall see. If it does I shall then pass that info on. (And then some twat can say the inevitable, but maybe it will help someone.)
Until then I am having fun so I am happy.

And a byword, the APS ESC's are not actually from APS. I got them from him as he is in the UK and I wanted a local supplier in the event of failure. Seems it was a good choice.
Why someone from across the world from him, buying in bulk, would buy them from him when they could go direct to China I do not know.
http://www.fliermodel.com/en/

To those who found this informative, great.
To those who did not, sorry you wasted your time reading this.
And to those sad gits who somehow feel negatively charged after reading this, then please flame away. I shall feel appropriately hurt, honest.

Cheers