plenty of stopping power, and i have my vesc programmed in a really nice spot to where i can slam max brake on my board and not fly off, but it still comes to a nice stop. and im running 8s on my motor and get around 33km/hr uphill (dont know the % gradient but pretty decent hills), 36ish on flats, and 39 downhill…so not much power loss up hills at all.
Wow. That seems pretty solid! Id be happy with that. What Vesc are you using? Mind if I ask your weight? What kind of range are you getting?
im using a torqueboards vesc i bought last summer. i think its hardware 4.12 and software 2.18…i weight around 165lbs and on 8000mAh i can get around 18km before i see any voltage sag
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Awesome! Just what I’m looking to accomplish. What motor you using? Im looking at the diyelectronics one.
i ordered from hobbyking…using an SK3 192kV… if you can get the torqueboards one i would use it over mine…i just cant afford the 40$ flat rate shipping to canada PLUS the conversion to the canadian dollar…just too much for a broke student like myself haha
Gotcha. performance and “will it work for me” i think goes back to the main questions we ask when trying to help someone build their first board:
- how heavy are you?
- Hills? (where do you live, what kind of commute/ride do you expect). hills are rated 10-20-30% - find your biggest hill locally and measure to let us know what’s your biggest hill you want to ride up.
- Range? (use 10Wh = 1km very roughly. let’s you plan battery size for range you want). Just realize a monster battery you haul around when you normally only ride 2-3 miles… Heavy and expensive unless you just don’t want to re-charge.
- Budget?
I’m a big guy - 6’8"/2m and heavier than i’ve ever been 265/120kg. I ride single motor setups regularly without issue. My Marbel has a 50mm motor, GF’s board i just upgraded to 6374 and love the additional power. Totally doable unless you want to ride up big hills, and/or want to race off the line. Dual motors give you no faster speed - but faster getting to the top speed, and riding up bigger hills.
Gearing is key. I love big wheels (97’s my favorite), and gear down as low as i can (love DIYes and @Titoxd10001’s 40t wheel gears), with 14/15t motor gears on 8/10s usually. Waiting for VESC 6 to try 12s (60k ERPM limit fixed).
On her setup (just moved to Kegels w/ 36t 12mm) w/ 8s 8Ah lipo i can get a solid 10mi w/ moderate hills. Might stretch to 12mi if i ride more conservatively (why?!). I’ve not tried bigger hills, but eventually will.
I understand the dual vs single for redundancy - but just think it’s a huge expense for that failure-proofing. And most still run over canbus which can equal full failure of the master ESC fails anyway… so not redundant and false confidence. Instead don’t’ bomb hills where you need brakes - or brake early so you never go faster than you can bail from.
old pilots and bold pilots… ride within your means and be conservative to start is key IMO. Wear protective gear appropriate for the speeds you intend to ride. /soapbox
GL and HTH!
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lol I hear ya. Thanks for the info man. Very helpful.
Thanks for this man!
- I’m 5’9" and about 155lbs 2)I live in NY. Mostly flat with a hill here and there. I would say 10 degree occasional grades with one or 2 20deg here and there. (rare)
- The Batt pack I am looking at is a 10s3p Lio-Ion 37V 7.5AH. Pulley/Belt setup - 16T 36T with 12MM belt. - 90mm Wheels
- Not looking to go cheap and then have to replace everything anyway, but of course trying to budget. Dual setup is pushing it over the edge for me.
I love power, but, Incredible acceleration is not a must. Reasonable is perfectly fine. As long as there is enough torque using the single 6374 for decent accel and hills, I’m happy.
Also a good point about redundancy not existing if one Vesc kills the other. But, if one belt goes, I guess there would still be some redundancy. Think I would be fine just being careful going down hills, like you said.
So I guess 180mm trucks are looking like the way to go? They a better ride then the 218mm ya think?
I weigh 220lbs. 6’1. 10sp3 battery, 83mm but had 97 before and wasn’t too much different. I like 83 way better. Range: 20-25km (never maxed out range). Speed ~35km/h which is pretty fast. If you do crazy downhill shit then maybe not fast for you. 15t 36t 265mm setup. I went up a pretty decent size hill the other day no problem. I have it built on a wolfshark.
I thought the same getting dual 6374s but I actually couldn’t imagine going that fast. If you really want duals I would go for 2 50mm size motors.
Great, now we have some details to help steer you.
At 155 and 10-20% i am positive a single will work for you. I’m going to suggest a few tweaks to help w/ hills and keep it from being rocket speeds:
your setup (assuming 190kv motor): 90mm - 190kv - 10s - 16/36 = 31mph rocket
I would keep the bigger wheels (nice for rough roads), but gear down more: 90mm - 190kv - 10s - 14/40 = 25ish. 15/40 = 26ish.
You could go lower kv like 168/149kv 22/20mph respectively w/ 14/40 gearing. add 2mph if you go 15/40. and another 2mph if you go 36t vs 40.
I’ve yet to break a belt. they are cheap - when well aligned and periodic inspection you replace when worn - you shouldn’t have one break on you. Riding in gravel - don’t. 
I think the 180 or 218’s both will work. I’d stick with Caliber II’s vs any clone, and most importantly dial in good bushings for your weight. Makes a HUGE difference on ride quality (carving in particular) vs the cheapest bushings they send w/ stock trucks. but i’m also not normal size/weight… so my experience is especially poor w/ bushings intended for someone half my weight…
GL!
EDIT - besides cost savings - a single motor is a lot lighter! My GF’s 6355 setup was 14lbs. Haven’t re-weighed since went to 6374 and 12mm 36t aluminum kegel setup. Previously 9mm belt w/ 3d printed wheel gear - fine for her 8mph top speed (not joking), but skipped like crazy braking when i rode. I can still skip the belt hard braking w/ 12mm aluminum gear… So a single i still recommend 15mm if you are going fast and need to stop!
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Wow. Huge help. Thanks for breaking that all down for me. I think I am more confident that the single 6374 will give me the power/speed I would like and won’t need to add an additional one in the future. So, I think maybe I will go with the 180mm trucks. Keep it more compact, and portable. Prob be easier to fit in a pack pack too.
15mm pullys/belt huh? Ok, I’ll look into that as well.
Well, I just ordered a set of 218mm trucks and a pair of 6374 200kv motors from APS Here we go again!!!
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hahahaha o no! can’t wait to see it!!
@Namasaki - me too! Just some of the 190kv 6374 from Torque instead of APS.
@VerticalMedia - a good gearing calculator is a huge help when planning. I usually target 25mph top speed as it’s faster than i should go really, but love the 18-22 speed range for fun fast carving!
On the gears - ping @Titoxd10001, and since you are using lbs/ft i’m guessing you are in the US? $20 +s/h for a set w/ 15/40 iirc. Great 15mm gears and especially at that price. Hardest part will depend on figuring your belt length - depending on motor mount and your center to center axle distances (truck axle to motor axle).
belt length calculator. Here’s an example w/ a guesstimate CtC length (otherwise correct - metric - HTD5 - Wheel Gear teeth, motor gear teeth):
.
are you sure the 218mm trucks would fit 2 6374 motors on one truck? If so i cant wait to do so!!
They said yes when I chatted with them, but u can easily start up a chat on their site and ask them yourself to double check
Yes US. Thanks for the chart!
that’s what I’m hearing. And I know for a fact that my 200mm CNC trucks would fit dual 6364’s and they have a larger wider V in the middle of the hanger.
If your looking for a really solid kit. Check this one out.
Also you don’t have to get diy trucks either. Any 50 degree caliber 2 trucks would work. If your from the us you can get them pretty cheap locally or on amazon.
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If you are going to gear down go with the 192kv 6374, 90mm wheels, and 15/40 pulley set from @Titoxd10001.
Great combo of power and torque gearing. I have these on my. Board except with a 9S, I may be converting to duals 6374 as I have the mounts/pulleys/vesc s.