Finally after 2 months and 3 weeks I have the tracking number for the prebuilt electric longboard I bought online. When I decided to buy it, the announced delivery date was 1 month and a few days away but it took another month and 3 weeks to have the longboarg coming my way.
I genuinely though that buying something that would take more than 1 month to be received was a little foolish, even if it was a real car. I see posts in the forum from people waiting for their complete longboards or even for parts and I really understand their pain.
My expectation was that I wouldn’t have any delivery problems with a prebuilt but the longboards are made in China (where else) and must be delivered to Europe by boat and that takes time. The company kept me informed by e-mail and some tweets, it even sent me the site to track the boat. The only twist I wasn’t expecting was the delivery date being delayed by almost 2 months.
In my presentation post I said that I would learn more about electric longboards, it’s components and all the things I would need to maintain my own. Now I feel that I have the necessary knowledge to build an electric longboard myself and if I knew that it would take so long for my prebuilt longboard to arrive I would have built one myself.
Either way, my electric longboard is almost here and I will keep this post updated with some information about my experience with the longboard itself and also about my skate riding learning steps.
You’re right, the nominal voltage is a lot lower than we are used to with LiPo or other Li-ion batteries. I only have the information provided on their site:
I can’t wait to see what this board looks like. For several months I have been looking for one of these “Chinese clone boards”. The supply had largely dried up and it seemed the sellers (Lecdec, Magneto, MelonBoard, etc.) were all gearing up for their next shipments. Looks like these are finally arriving, albeit a couple months later than expected.
Best I can tell, these new boards are 2nd generation Chinese clones. Some of the upgrades I’ve seen mentioned are wider (different shaped) deck, smoother acceleration and braking, and slightly higher top speed. These second points suggest an updated ESC- I don’t think the motor has changed, so a better controller could achieve these.
After ordering a Lecdec a couple months ago, I switched the order to MelonBoard because they had a promotion going. The MelonBoard isn’t due in the US until mid-July, so I’m a bit behind you with the Lecdec. I’m really curious to see if the new Lecdecs and the new MelonBoards are the same (aside from aesthetics), or if the 2nd generation begins to diverge somewhat.
Please post photos and first impressions when you get your board. I’m dying to see what it looks like.
FINALLY! After 3 months waiting, today my electric longboard was delivered to me. I recall that within this time I investigated, choose the components, bought them online, learned to configure and start flying a quadcopter built from scratch when “drones” were not as common today more than 4 years ago. I believe that I could also have done the same and build an electric longboard from scratch.
It’s heavy but I never experienced the weight of any other electric longboards
The deck it’s high enough to avoid most obstacles but beware of the motor
The wheels rotate very freely (except the one attached to the motor)
The looks and finishing is ok, no visible major defects
They sent a silicone protection for the remote controller
Next I will finish the charging of the board and remote controller and try it with very care. I don’t want to broke a bone on the very first day with my electric longboard.
Hi, a quick update. I tried to rapidly go to a sport store and buy the helmet, knee, elbow and wrist protections. It was night when I had the gear to test the longboard for the first time but I went anyway. I liked a lot and I was very confortable riding the board, those were the first ever meters I did with a longboard.
The only thing that was a little more difficult was starting still, the acceleration of the longboard is to strong to confortably start from a stopped position. I start giving a few pushes with the foot to start moving and only then give a little acceleration. Also I have to better control the throttle because it’s to strong but with time I will get there. A very nice first experience.
Looks good! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a clone board without at least 1 visible defect . Keep us updated on how it lasts, and especially on the charging process. From what I’ve seen, the most common sign on failure among Chinese clone boards is that after about a month they won’t hold a charge.
Second day riding the electric longboard, first day crashing hard into the ground. I was in the zone, I started carving and controlling the board as I wanted, I made nice 180 degree curves with toes in or out and suddenly when I used the brake I was launched forward. My feet didn’t run fast enough and I went to the ground. All with that nice slow motion we all feel when disaster occurs.
The good thing was that I had my helmet, knees, elbows and wrists protections. The right elbow protection strap was almost cut, the left wrist protection got some nasty scratchs, the right hand went to the ground with the remote controller, fortunately I had the wrist protection and the jacket I was wearing has a new hole. Right hip has some bruises, right elbow skin was ripped off and some other minor things all around.
I’m happy, I survived my first skateboard crash. Lesson learned, you should not go fast if you don’t run fast enough. Also I need more practice with the longboard brake but it’s a little difficult since it’s too sensitive.
Not related with the accident, since it was before, I’m not sure but seemed that the board turned off. I couldn’t hear the ESC fan and the controller battery light indicator of the board battery was not on. Restarted the remote, turned off and on the board an it start working.
Let’s see what will happen in the next days, if I’m good enough to ride again and I have no pains.
One thing I’m trying to master is the truck setup, loose or not loose. Originally the front truck was loose and the back was very tight. This meant that in short corners the outer back wheel would loose contact to the ground and if it was the one connected to the motor it would spin. Not good.
I made some changes, tight the front a little and loose the back truck a little but I don’t have enough experience to correctly evaluate the result when I made about 10 km with this setup but it didn’t feel right.
Now I changed again to a little looser in the front and tighter in the back but also tested at home when the back wheels would loose contact do the ground. I loosed the back truck until it was a little more dificult to the whells loose contact.
Let’s see what will happen next time I ride the longboard again. I hope to find a nice setup to ride straight, control the board and carve when I’m in the mood.
Update: Already tested this new truck setup and I liked it. Good for carving.
Regarding the longboard, I verified how tight the wheels were and two of them were a little loose. I never checked before but it’s something I should have verified when I received the longboard. Good to go now.
It’s time to give an update about my electric longboard experience. I have already ride more than 120 km with it and no problems found so far. The only thing I’m still trying to understand is using the longboard by pushing with my right foot.
When I start pushing either with the longboard on or with it off, after a few meters the ESC makes the starting noise beeps and the board slows down, like the brakes were slightly applied. I don’t know if I should continue pushing or not so I never use it like this.
I contacted the vendor support but they weren’t very clear if they understood the problem. They said that I can push the board either with it on or off and if I use it on I will charge the battery at the same time I push and coast with it.
As a rule I avoid passing over water but sometimes I cannot help but to go through some of it at slow speed. I hope to avoid any problems related with water coming in the electronics enclosure or wheel bearings.
What I start feeling is that I need bigger wheels. I would like to ride in some other surfaces like the stone sidewalks that are very usual in Portugal. Also sometimes the bike lanes or parks don’t have a smooth surface and it’s painful for the feet riding there. Maybe I will do an electric longboard specific for this.
Either way I hope you saw my riding videos I posted in the video thread. If you missed them here they are for your enjoyment.
2 months later after shipping and around 300km of driving, here is my experience with lecdec board:
maximum speed 32km/h
best range 16km
actual range after 2 months, 10-12km per charge
charging time: 5-6 hours from empty
the metal protector from the motor have blunt screws, so no way (yet) to take it off and clean the bearing or motor.
the remote had an issue with the on/off and calibrate buttons. It has a design flaw and over time
their customer service is basically inexistent - it took almost two weeks to respond and failed to fix or replace the remote.
unsolder from the main board and failed to respond. I had to take off an unused button from the back of the board and solder in the place of the on/off button.
Being my first board, and like @sismeiro said, I did order it because they promised fast shipping in 2 weeks in my case. And it took 5.
Hi @ciocan, good to know about your experience with the LecDec electric longboard. Thank you for sharing.
I should also post some information about the range and speeds one of this days. My experience about the range is more or less what you said. I think I usually get about 15 km of range on average, maybe more since I don’t go that fast.
It’s a pity that the customer support didn’t work for you and you had to take care of the problem yourself. That’s not what we expect as a paying costumer.
No mechanical or electrical problems yet (knock on wood) and enjoying every minute while riding it.
Hi all, I’m still riding my electric longboard and enjoying the last days of summer. I don’t know what will happen during the next months but I expect to continue riding my longboard even when the temperature is lower.
A different subject now. I didn’t imagined the quantity of iron dust that was around in the ground until I looked at my longboard motor. Since it’s black it’s easy to see metalic dust strips all over it according to the magnets direction.
. Keep us updated on how it lasts, and especially on the charging process. From what I’ve seen, the most common sign on failure among Chinese clone boards is that after about a month they won’t hold a charge.
