Electric Skateboard Buying Guide—Avoiding Pits

The electric skateboards market is getting hotter and hotter, and more and more competitive and new brands and salers entering this sport and device field. Currently, there are a minimum of many choices from $100 to $2,000, so how does ine choose an honest quality electric skateboard? Please read on. Selecting an electric longboard is far like choosing a vehicle; we must figure out our needs in advance. For example, if you would like sort of a high-speed vehicle, you should select a low chassis and high horsepower sports car, and if you prefer off-road driving experience, then you’d better choose an off-road vehicle with a high chassis, high torque and short wheelbase if you want to satisfy your home daily needs, you may need an SUV. Therefore, it’s wise to consider your needs, using conditions, and then pick an electric longboard suitable for  you. I will divide this blog into three dimensions:

1. For children under 15 years old. People who buy the electric skateboard as a present or are desirable to try electric skateboard as a newcomer.
2. Electric skateboard hobbiests, enthusiasts, commuting needs players, and junior and intermediate players.
3. Crazy DIY players pursuing speed and drifting skills, extreme sports players.

We will mainly explore the first two primary categories of people; after all, the quantity of avid extreme players account for a tiny portion.

Presents for children under 15 and  new beginners:

Electric skateboard that meets the needs of this category have the below features:

1. Price is no more than $300;
2. Speed no more than 12MPH or 20KM/H;
3. Range is within 8km or 5miles;
4. The deck length is within 76CM/30 inches;
5. Weight no more than 8lb/3.6kg.

We generally call this sort of electric longboard a fish board or e-penny board. Their characteristics include, not fast, short-range, little bearing capacity, but fit for children entertainment or girls commuting. Because the speed of this electric skateboard is not fast, so the whole skateboard does not require a lot on the motor, controller, battery and skateboard structure Uusually, providing you do not weigh more than 80kg/180lb and do not use it for violent actions, this kind of electric skateboard is very cost-effective, and you can get much fun from it. For example, it is an excellent choice when accompanying children to skate or walking your dog. Since this kind of products are not fast and low load-bearing, so as long as you choose some big brands, generally less likely to have quality problems One of the brands making good-quality electric fishboard is Acton Blink and E-wheelin.

For electric skateboard hobbyists, intermediate and advanced players:

Yongsters and adults who would like to have the fun playing of electric skateboards yet have no concept of product should look carefully at the next. Electric skateboard is not as straightforward as the vehicle market, which means products can be messy and the finished products are not good, mainly referring to those no-brand products. Many people hold the view, the faster the speed of the skateboard, the better it is, and the longer the skating range, the better the skateboard. But this is a very elementary mistake. Every product, especially sport and outdoors products, is seriously not just simple figures. If people are only concerned about the speed and range of the skateboard, why not manufacturers make an electric longboard with a large battery package and a huge set of motor? However, the weight of the electric skateboard might be over an adult, and you can hardly carry it on your hands when it’s out of electricity. Therefore, we should look for balanced indicators when we are buying. When riding an electric skateboard, the most fun for me is that I can reach 35km/h-45km/h by using the remote control and without human strength. In fact, if it’s not on the downhill road, one can hardly reach such speed on the flat road. (P.S. For over 90% of amateur skaters, skating more than 40km/h is very dangerous). Skating at an average speed of 30km/h is enjoyable. The breeze is blowing past your ears, bumpy feeling from the road passing to your feet, moving your centre of gravity to make carving…… It is almost the same as surfing on the land. Great! Hence, undoubtedly, skating body sense is a necessary indicator. Great skating body sense is a good index reflecting a manufacturers’ capability on deck R&D. Most manufacturers currently are former manufacturers of balance cars, electric bicycles. For most of them, electric longboards are just regular decks plus a set of power system. When using electric longboards, you are going to feel the skateboard very stiff. It feels like gliding on a dead slab with no flex  because these devices are produced by manufacturers who know nothing about electric longboard. For those unprofessional manufacturers, five frequently-made mistakes include:

1. No elasticity of the deck.
2. The deck surface is much high from the ground.
3. The wheels are easily stuck in the deck.
4. Wrongly installed truck.
5. Low-quality wheels.

1. No elasticity of the deck.

Some manufacturers, adopt cheap and low-quality miscellaneous wood to do the deck surface to save expenses. Imagine you are sakting at the speed of 30km/h, with the wheel’s diameter only 80mm or even smaller, hardness up to 78A, 85A; under such condition, you will feel the strong bump. This will not only cause your feet paralyzed after a long-distance riding, even worse, but it may also lead to damage to your head and spine . So, how to tell whether a deck surface is good or bad? When you received a piece of electric skateboard, you can directly jump up and step on it, simulating you are skating on the real road, to see the deck’s elasticity, meanwhile looking at the lateral of the deck. Often good quality decks have the same thickness on the side of each layer, and the bonding line between each layer is straight and parallel. Sometimes, there are dyed layers on the side of the deck, although they play no practical use, they reflect the details and skills of the manufacturer’s attention to the product. On the contrary, the inferior deck has unparallel layers, and the colour is inconsistent.

2. The deck surface is high from the ground.

This index simply refers to the short distance between your feet standing on the deck surface to the ground. The smaller of this figure, the better it is. This is especially applied to high-speed electric skateboard. When riding at high speed, keeping a low center of gravity can help you stay stable and safe, and your skating experience is more smoother and safer.It is not difficult to understand; for example, girls wearing high heels are unstable to walk. Racing cars’ chassis are typicall low to gain lower centre of gravity, by applying this design, racers can gain better control of the car when drifting. Generally, when riding speed exceeds 18mph or 30Km/h, the above indicator smaller than 11cm will be more stable, grippy and flexible.

3. The wheels are easily stuck in the deck.

A lot of manufacturers adopt 80mm wheels and hub motors to pursue higher speed and more power. The larger wheel’s diameter, the higher the board surface off the ground, it will lead to people standing on the skateboard with a high centre of gravity. And large wheels lead to a very slow travel speed due to the friction between deck and wheels. In this case, high-speed skating is very dangerous if wheels and deck crash together. This skateboard will immediately drive the person down to the ground.

4. Wrongly installed truck.

So many manufacturers knowing a little about skateboards, use some entirely unscientific trucks, leading to problems like wheels stuck, trucks broken, too flexible steering or inflexible steering. So, what are the qualified trucks? As shown in the following picture. When you get the skateboard, carefully observe the gap (shown in the picture as the red line). If there is a 1mm-1.5mm gap, it is ok. If not, the truck will be difficult to steer, or if this gap is larger than the above range, high-speed shaking will lead to violent shaking. Most qualified trucks are not cheap; some even are equivalent to a budget electric skateboard.

5. Low-quality wheels.

The primary problems of poor wheels include:

• Poor rebound.

Wheels with good rebound improves skateboards’ possibility on the road, enhance the comfort of electric skateboards, and improve about 1-2 km range.

• No wear-resistance.

Although most wheels wear out after a long time, a good wheel will last for 100-150miles, while a poor wheel may wear out entirely in 50miles.

• High eccentricity.

When wheel concentricity is poor, it consumes many efficiencies when turning, shortens the range, and gives you poor gilding experience.   Apart from what I have mentioned in this article, to help you avoid pits. I have written another post concerning how to buy electric skateboard. Click here to read it.