My First Build Log: College Cruiser (help needed)

[spidum]

Hello ES!
I'm spidum and I'm new around here!

I've been looking around for about a week now and have read multiple tutorials and think that I have enough knowledge to get started. This community is great and I look forward to sharing my progress with you all and hopefully getting some valuable input!

I am in the process of getting a parts list together. My end goal is something affordable yet powerful. My campus is very hilly in some areas, like I don't want to ride my bike up it every day hilly. So I want my board to be able to climb hills with ease and have a reasonable top speed. I think around 20 mph (on flats) and as close to that on hills would be fine for now. From what I have learned I can always switch the gearing up later if I feel the need for speed.

Motor wise I am thinking I am going to need a dual motor setup. I am going to try to keep the board as portable as possible but I am not too concerned with weight.

From what I have been reading I think I am going to need an 8s setup if I want to be able to climb hills like a boss. 10s scares me lol but I'm open to input if others think that is the way to go.

Alright so I have a couple questions for the community I would love answered.
1) How does braking work? Before deciding to build my own board I was considering a boosted+ which from what I took away was that something about the boosted boards esc or motor allowed it to brake just as hard as it accelerates. Is this the same for DIY builds or is this something proprietary?

2) Single or Dual motors? I think dual is going to be required but I am trying to keep this as affordable as possible (the broke college student struggle is real) so if there is a better option I'm open.

3) 6s? 8s? 10s? This is my first board I have nothing to reference in terms of power so I would love some advice.

4) Chain or Belt? I have no idea what is better for my scenario.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. I would love part suggestions from some experienced builders, Im feeling a bit overwhelmed at the choices I have. If you know of something that is a better value, or is just better, please let me know.

Parts I am considering:
Deck: Earthwing Hoopty 34 $89.95
https://www.muirskate.com/longboard/decks/59131/earthwing-2014-hoopty-34-longboard-skateboard-deck-w-grip
Trucks: Paris? I may go the prefab route if there are some out there that I can justify not having my own backed welded.
Motors: Not sure yet
Batteries: Not sure yet
ESC: Not sure yet
Remote: Not sure yet, wiiceiver seems pretty cool but i do like triggers...
Everything Else: not sure yet.


This is my first post as well as my first build. I am looking forward to getting some input and posting my progress! Thank you guys for being the wealth of information that you are, I look forward to being a member of the community. If anyone has some parts collecting dust they want to sell off hit me up!

 

[torqueboards]

For hills a dual motor setup works wonders. I wouldn't trade it for a single motor any day of the week. You increase stopping power and torque and less stress on the motors.

Boosted should brake fine and should be a great setup.

I'd suggest 8S or 10S perhaps even 12S. You can go 10S/12S and just ease the throttle more. In the end by using a bigger pack with more watt hours. You increase the distance you are able to travel as well as the power. Just because you have it there doesn't mean you need to use it.

1. Braking for most DIY is electric brakes through the brushless rc dc motors. The braking is more the adequate and actually works pretty well especially on dual motors. I can tackle pretty much any hill going uphill and downhill and I'm in San Francisco. Probably, about 5% of hills I wouldn't dare climb but most of those are dead end hills usually.

2. Dual motors is your best bet.

3. 10S/12S is ideal IMO even if you aren't using it. The price for batteries is nearly the same as 8S so you might as well bump it up.

4. Belt is what everyone uses since most of the boards are street boards. They are easy to replace and pretty durable. I estimate belts should last about 400-600+ miles. I haven't had to change belts in a long time. Some people have issues with belts but usually that's because of the setup. Belts should be tight and not slip when braking downhill. If it's too loose the belt will skip on the teeth of the belt and if you do that long enough. The teeth will slip off. This is less likely to happen on 15mm width belts but more so likely to happen on 9mm belts especially single motor.


For motors - You can go 50mm and/or 63mm. 63mm will make your setup heavier especially if you go dual motors. 50mm is a nice happy medium between the two. If you setup is optimal the dual 50mm is more then adequate for most people. I'd only recommend dual 63mm for riders over 260+ lbs. That's only to make it extra durable IMO.

For batteries - Typically, most of these builds are Lipo 3S, 4S, 5S, 6S packs * 2 which we wire in series. We use two separate packs for lower height. I prefer to remove the packs from my deck and charge separately.

For ESCs - You can use the VESC which is a pretty awesome ESC. Of course, it is a bit harder to configure and setup for your own personal use. It is not fully available at the moment but should be coming soon.

Remotes - Wiiceiver works.. some people have issues with interference some people swear by it. It's up to you other then that you can use GT2B and Quantum PistolGrip from HobbyKing. There's also a 3d enclosure made by BadWolf for the GT2B which looks awesome. Haven't tried it yet though.

Good luck You've been missing out....

 

[spidum]

Thank you torqueboards for all the info! I will post updates as I have them. Looking forward to getting started.

 

[cmatson]

both enertion (www.enertionboards.com) and www.diyelectricskateboard.com have some really good products for building boards too. Torqueboards covered pretty much all of it, but these are two sites I recommend if you are looking for mounts, motors, etc. Enertion's new carbon fiber motor is really sweet, and not very expensive at 125 usd- it also comes with the both the gear for the motor, and wheel, aswell as the belt. diy has a similiar offering for the same price range, but I haven't had a chance to use that one yet: I am sure its great though based on their other products. Both companies costumer service is unbeatable too.