I set out to build a board like 3 months ago. I succeeded, with some hiccups, but the board I created worked. That’s the important part right? This is what I came up with.
!
Some of you may have seen this go up for sale a little bit ago, and I took it down rather quickly due to very little interest and the quite taken-to-heart comments about how it looked “too DIY”. I will admit, I rushed it the first time around. What I build worked, but it was function before form. Until those comments and the lack of interest sparked the determination to change all that. (Very petty of me, but hey whatever works right?
The original build suffered from some flaws. A loose and unprotected battery, loose drive pulleys and lots of opportunity for dirt and dust to find its way into my electronics.
(I rode it home on that unaware… Crazy.)
That with the unreliable braking and acceleration settings, led to a very time costly injury which took a good month and a half to heal from and left a good mark on my good hand. Doesn’t look that bad in the pictures, but there was quite a bit of blood and tears and more blood and slight loss of consciousness, did I mention blood?
Needless to say, I had work to do. So here’s what conspired.
In addition to the physical overhaul, much was done under the hood with ramp time and accel/brake curves and expo. LOTS of changing and testing, research, and crying late at night. (That last one didn’t happen) I finally came up with settings that produce a variable acceleration, quick but not abrupt. And a braking curve that’s gentle, but can lock the tires up and leave skid marks if needed.
And here’s the finished product.
Meet Ellie (As in ELEctron, part of the atom, makes electricity a thing and powers this beaut). Top speed: 30mph* - loaded Range: 16 miles - riding aggressive with lots of change in elevation** Charge time: 2.5 hours - from 5%-100% Carve level: ungodly*** Turning radius: I could circle a smart car while keeping one hand on it the entire time**** Terrain response: “don’t give a crap” over 9000 Visibility at night: stealth or “you got your brights on? Two can play at that game bud.”
*Outran a fully charged Enertion Raptor 2 going uphill **Still had the juice at 20% to tow 2 daisy-chained riders on dead Boosted Board V2 XR’s up the hill to the charge point ***Pavement still has it’s normal abrasiveness in the event of rider error sadly ****If anyone has a smart car I can test this on, please PM me
And yes I do, never ride without them now!