Hello, im new to the community and want an eboard to cruise and have fun around town. My question is should I build a budget board with a single motor 6374, and a 10s2p battery pack or just buy a lower end pre-built. I like the idea of building my own board but want to stay near $400 and am unsure if im better off buying one outright. Any help would be much appreciated
any thoughts on the following assembly? The trucks are clones and am wondering if they can be relied upon. The mount and pulley are from dickyho i believe. (different picture is displayed in post please open link)
I was also planning on putting together my own 10s2p battery pack (but unsure about quality bms)
Here’s the thing with a $400 budget board.
Things are bound to break. Fixable things but that $400 board can quickly turn into a $600 board and still have the performance of a $400 board.
The thing that’s nice about prebuilts is they do have some kind of limited warranty.
If I could do it all over again I’d get a Meepo NLS PRO or Ownboard W2. But then I’d be riding around on a Meepo v1 for 2 years or not eskating at all. I also gained some valuable skills from DIY (soldering, crimping, spot welding, problem-solving, patience) that can’t be ignored.
I would check this out: https://forum./t/is-diy-right-for-you/112#heading–link-to-3
I definitely agree with this.
I just wonder if he has money for regular maintenance on a cheap board.
I’d hate for him to have an unfinished DIY just sitting around taunting him over something stupid.
I definitely prefer diy and only think pre built stuff is right for certain situations.
Yeah I think 400 is a bit low for DIY, however i had a meepo v2 and it worked amazingly for months with no maintenance. When my battery wouldn’t charge, they sent me a new one. In my personal opinion I think 400 is better spent on a meepo, over DIY
Don’t buy that kit. What i’d do: Buy a meepo classic and be riding a board in 5 days for $350. Then start building a bad ass custom DIY board.
BUT, if your ok with waiting, you have some general building skill, you still want to build something under a cheap budget and you understand what comes with building a DIY(read the stickys here) you can make this budget build:
Dickyho mount/bordnamics mount: $20
Deck: $50(?)
Caliber trucks:$40
97mm flywheels: $99(you can get cheaper 97s for $40, but they’re not as good.)
Zelous Bearings: $15
Enclosure($15-$50)
Hardware($25)
5065 racerstar motor: $40
Belt: $10
Pulleys: $40
VESC 4.12: $60
Battery($100-$300)(depends on size/range/make it yourself/buying pre-made)
TOTAL: $525-750(depends on range/battery needs)
And i promise, after this learning curve of building ect ect… you will be left with an extremely reliable, and cheap board. The best part? It’s easily upgradeable. Iv’e made the above build a couple of times now and its solid. You can always upgrade to dual motors by adding another vesc, motor mount, pulley ect…
I made this mini board build for a friend for under $450:
thanks for the detailed repy, id much rather build it and upgrade from there. As far as the VESC are you refering to those flipsky look alikes going for $60? Also i weight about 175lbs, would you recommend a bigger motor for single belt drive?
The speed can be changed simply by gearing ratios. The main thing is 400 isn’t enough. You always think of the large parts like Battery, Motors, VESC and other things, but forget about a soldering iron, wire, repair, loctite. The small things are what get you.
The guy that rides that single motor 5065 is 200lbs and its plenty of power and speed for him. But its geared higher at 40T for that reason.
It’s really up to you. Some people may feel that single 5065 is more than enough power, others feel that dual 5065 or even dual 6374 is not even enough power for them. That’s why i suggest starting with single motor and then upgrading to dual. If you are willing to pop the extra dough, then ofcourse 6374 is better. but it will run you almost 3 times the price.
Speaking from experience here. It is far better to dip your toe in the water first with a pre built board. Most of us have at least one in the quiver. Its the best way to find out what you require from an esk8. You buy it and ride it and love it and then you outgrow it. You then have an idea of what you want to change about it and away you go with designing your first diy. It will stay in your closet ready for when the diy you built breaks down and you will always have something to ride.
I built 2 boards and then bought a meepo. It is still going and right now its my only ride.
It sits there smiling at me because it knows its value the evil little bastard.
Buy the meepo, ownboard, wowgo whatever and keep it forever because you will always come back to it when you inevitably work on your diy.
The meepo classic rocks. If you don’t have an esk8 maybe buy a meepo v3 and then start buying diy parts. You’ll have a deck and front wheels and a nice front truck. Im 240 and I got to 24mph and I can get a good 8 miles of slower cruising. You’re going to spend a lot more on diy to get those specs.
I agree. A friend of mine bought a meepo classic. He’s been riding nonstop for the past 4 months logging hundreds of ROUGH miles. He’s not exactly nice to his things… it keeps going. Cheap boards have come a long way.
I wish they were that good when I was getting into this
I just bought an ownboard W1AS and I’m really enjoying it. Take the price of any budget board and add a set of caliber trucks, bushings and possibly a new deck and wheels. That’s not to say that some of the $600+ won’t need them as well.
I’m enjoying the board and it’s gets me around plenty fast
Just throwing my 2 cents in here as well. No experience with prebuilts but doing a cheap DIY I think will still end up running around $600 because something inevitably goes wrong during the build and none of the components are that cheap or readily available. So if you aren’t in a rush and are willing to add a bit more to the budget DIY is rewarding and fun (assuming you like building and debugging things), but it’s not for everyone and not the best solution to get you on the road quickly.
