Evolve Wheel Pulley vs Torqueboards Wheel Pulley (Bonus: Wheel Colors)
by jvu2000
2020-07-26T07:17:00Z
Introductions
Before I begin this post, I just want to go ahead and mention that this is my subjective review to look at the facts of the design and build quality of these manufacturers’ wheel pulleys - I absolutely mean no disrespect to the respective name brands (There’s a reason why these guys have made themselves a name in the eSk8 community to begin with so my due respect to that).
So this is rather a continuation of a previous post of my eSk8 build. I posted the following in a build log posted in the forum a few weeks ago:
So today, I am out to test these pulleys and see how well built they are… But before I begin, I need to address a burning issue first - wheel colors. Ever since I posted the build, there was a user by the name of @RedBaron (Not sure if you like the frozen pizza company, or you admire one of the best pilots of World War I based on your username, LOL) who wrote the following:
“Hate the blue color wheels” huh??? Well, I was very curious. I got my sister an eSk8 board, and I got her the black wheels, and all of that sparked the question, “What if my wheels weren’t blue? What if they were black?”
RedBaron sucked me into getting a set of black wheels. My wheels are no longer blue, but they are black. HOLY BATMAN! They look nice! To be fair, I think that both wheel colors look nice. The blue has a fashion statement built into them. When riding during the day, and the sunlight hits it, it just glows. But on the other hand, the black wheels scream stealth. It kinda resembles a race car to me, but man, it really does look stealthy. The really cool thing about them is that under certain lighting conditions, they look like rubber slick tires. In either case, I really like both of them. Oh, the 72A is a touch softer. Squeezing the 74A and the 72A, there’s a difference. And maybe it’s all in my head, but 72A is smoother on the road for me too.
Evolve Wheel Pulley
Okay, onto talking about the wheel pulleys. Let’s start with the Evolve pulleys first. First of all, they are made of some sort of tough plastic. As tough as they are, they will break. As evident below. Now these are brand spanking new from the Evolve factory here in America. I emailed the company, and they were super apologetic and sent me a new set no question asked. Maybe it was a defect from the manufacturing process. I don’t know. All I know is that they are broken. Could these pulleys work though? IMHO, most absolutely! Ten stems and missing one? No big deal, the load is still distributed equally around the wheel. What about the right side one with the chip in it? It was “sharp,” but just to experiment with it, I used a fine file to smooth it out, popped it on the axle and wrapped the belt around it. Ran it for a minute fast and slow, and from what I can tell, if this was to stay on permanently, I would be very comfortable and confident with it not tearing through my belt.
Here’s where I think that the Evolve pulley has an advantage over the Torqueboards, Evolve’s pulleys have a ball bearing in it. I think having one plus the two in the wheels will help distribute the torsional load caused by the belt from the two main ball bearings on the wheel.
(Left = Evolve Pulley; Right = Torqueboards)
Torqueboards Wheel Pulley
If you have been astute to my description of the Evolve pulley, you would have probably already guessed the build material of the Torqueboards pulley. It’s metal; all metal! I think this may be the last pulley that I will ever buy. When I opened up the package, I was like “DAYUM, this thing is well built!”
The stems on the underside of the pulley attaches to the wheel, however, unlike the friction fit of the Evolve’s, these pulleys attach by five screws. If you notice there are no nuts to which the screws bolt into. These screws bolt directly into the pulley itself. The use of blue loctite is advised (anything that interfaces metal-to-metal) so that you don’t find yourself missing a wheel(s) while cruising at 25 mph on the road.
You can actually see the threading on the pulley:
Gear Ratios (what works for me…)
Both of these manufacturers offer a selection (more than one) of pulleys. With Evolve, they offer two options: 32T and 38T in both Kegel and ABEC style wheels; Torqueboards offering has 36T, 40T, and 44T in both Kegel and ABEC also.
My motor pulley is currently geared at 16T and the Evolve wheel pulley at 38T which results in a drive ratio of 2.375:1 (A gear ratio of 2.375:1 means that when the motor pulley turns 2.375 times, the wheel pulley turns once = 38T divided by 16T = 2.375).
If you want the concept explained, YouTube or Google “gear ratios explained.”
If you use Torqueboards’ pulleys at 38T, just use a 15T motor pulley. That combination results in a gear ratio of 2.4:1 (A gear ratio of 2.4:1 means that when the motor pulley turns 2.4 times, the wheel pulley turns once = 36T divided by 15T = 2.4). You’re not going to be able to tell the difference between 2.375 vs 2.4.
(Left = Torqueboards; Right = Evolve Pulley)
Conclusions
To revisit the statement from the beginning… that you should use Evolve’s pulleys on the “Ownboard Double Kingpin Trucks” is not accurate. I am not sure about other pulleys (MBoards, Boundmotor, etc), but Torqueboards work fine on DKP trucks.
For me, my vote goes to Torqueboards’ pulleys. Super rigid and all metal! With that being said, Evolve can hold its own too. I am actually currently running the Evolve pulleys on my board.
(Left = Torqueboards; Right = Evolve Pulley)
(Top = Torqueboards; Bottom = Evolve Pulley)
Cheers! Happy gearing and pulleying…