I’m looking to start my first build and was looking for advice on motor type and setup.
From the research I’ve done, belt is better than hubs for SF hills and a single motor will not be enough. (I am 6’1" and 170lbs.)
Would other SF folks mind sharing details on their dual motor setups?
I am looking to do a DIY build, and I am particular about my choice of deck. I dislike longboards and want to go with an old school cruiser deck (similar to a retro Vision, Powell or Santa Cruz). I would also like to build this on as much of a budget as possible, though I don’t want to sacrifice safety.
Any advice you can share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I don’t recommend anything shorter than 35" given the inclines we have here. It’s much more stable to balance on a longer deck when bracing for hills, obstacles, potential cutouts, etc.
That said, I think I shared with you my two builds I’ve used extensively here in SF, but here it is again if you want to check them out.
And if you haven’t already, here is our Facebook group.
Thanks for sharing, @Jinra. Your builds looks awesome. I appreciate your advice on the board length, based on your experience riding hills here.
I think, however, I still may opt for the shorter board. I have decades of skateboarding experience on the shorter decks and would greatly prefer to stick with that size board, even if it means I may not push the build to its top speed.
In terms of your motors, I see you selected the dual 6355’s on your Carbonated build. I have read mixed reviews about the sufficiency of those motors for hills. Do you find that they provide enough power for your riding needs?
In my experience skateboarding experience does almost nothing for esk8 since traditional longboard/skateboarding doesn’t prepare you at all for the acceleration and deceleration forces from motors.
6355’s are powerful enough for most everyone, even in SF, and are a great balance between weight and power. I’d certainly recommend them.
Ah, good point on the acceleration/deceleration forces from the motors. I may have to rethink the deck size. Also, great to hear your recommendation on the 6355’s. I will plan to use that size motor for my build.
I’m also in SF, and was about to start my own build. I hate the roads and tracks here though, so I was thinking a mountain board would be much safer (and more fun)… then I found this: https://www.lacroixboards.com/product-page/dss60. Worth a look I think since the pre-order discount roughly matches total cost of components I was considering for DIY. Note, I’m just a snowboarder who’s been lurking here and don’t have much real esk8 experience
Cool, thanks for the heads up, guys! I just joined the California Electric Skateboarding group (and the Bay Area Esk8 group). I really like the idea of DIY for eskateboarding, mainly due to being able to customize for my skateboarding preferences (and hopefully optimize size and weight for my needs), so it’s great to hear about these existing communities in the area.
@squishy654 are you one of the admins for the California Electric Skateboarding group?
I’m not in the Bay area but I’ve climbed some crazy hills in LA using just a single 6374 149kv motor with 83mm wheels and a 10s4p Li Ion battery, though there have definitely been hills where my drive wheel couldnt grip the road and I started sliding backwards. I’m upgrading to dual diagonal 6374’s and downsizing to 80mm wheels to hopefully eliminate this issue.
I would recommend not cheaping out on trucks or motor mounts…my motor COULD take me up and down hills all day long but my motor mount would always get yanked loose and would never stay gripped to my cheap cast trucks… I’m upgrading to Ollin Boards machined motor mount with an idler pulley; it’s tough to commit to the $500 price tag but Ive easily spent WAY more than that on commuting when my board wasnt working due to the motor mount coming loose every couple days.
To put it all into perspective, I paid $500ish for a Barajabali ChiBoard battery, $350 for 2x Ollin VESCs (not available for sale anymore), $500 for trucks and motor mounts, $160 on 2x motors, $60 on wheels, and am using a cheap mini skateboard deck i found at goodwill for $20. I’ve easily spent DOUBLE this amount on cheap parts and the cost of not having a working board to get to work every day for the past 2 years…honestly really wish I would just bought all the nice things first so that I could stop replacing parts sooner!
@itsmikeholland Wow, were the wheels sliding backwards on dry ground? Those must have been some SF-esque hills haha.Thanks for the recommendations, and good to know that a single 6374 might be enough power!
@squishy654 your build with the Super Slider deck is so awesome. I see you chose a 36" deck, which seems consistent with what @jinra recommended on minimum size. Love how despite its longer length it still has an old school style.
Question: is 36" the absolute minimum or is a 34" deck allowed? Is it truly the deck length that makes the difference, or is it really the wheel base on which these rules are based?
For example, would a 34" single-kick deck with truck placement higher on the top side of the board, netting the same wheelbase as that of a 36" double kick, offer the same results?
yup, this is of the hills where i was sliding on dry ground! not sure how it compares to SF but its really freakin steep hahah i think i couldve made it up with some treaded wheels but i dont think its worth the committment just to say my board can do any hill. also, my board is extremely lightweight which may play some role…
