A lot of you guys/girls talk about how fast you go/want to go on your boards. I don’t often see anyone say that they want to go ~22km/h.
I built my board (nothing spectacular) and have been riding/commuting daily-ish since December 2017 and the fastest I go is about 22km/h. I often commute at stupid o-clock in the morning through the CBD (Wellington NZ) so the amount of traffic/cars/people are not a problem… but the thought of some random fault in my board and me flying off definitely limits my top speed (this happened the other day - phase wires unplugging themselves = motor locking up).
So how do you justify/rationalise it?
I used to ride a sports bike (1000c Aprilia) too fast for a few years, took huge risks so it’s not like I don’t like excitement. I kind of like riding my board fast-ish too, but I kind of like my hands and how they help me earn a living (software dev).
ps - I wear a helmet and gloves. I’d be a fool not to.
I want my board to be capable of higher speeds for when i have a smooth, strait street ahead of me. Also just to say it can go that fast I currently don’t have the balls to go 35+, but I am sitting at 18-20mph and it just doesn’t fell like quite enough when going strait.
This. I normally don’t want to – but on a smooth road I’m very familiar with in the daylight with few cars I am comfortable going faster than I can run off. But most of the time 18 or 20mph (29 to 32km/h) is a fine top speed.
Boards that go 35mph (56km/h) or more to me are just too dangerous.
My phase wires unplugged themselves and shorted a little which caused my motor to lock-up momentarily. Luckily I was only going at “fast running” pace so didn’t hit the deck when I went flying off. If I had been going at 30mph (or even 20mph) then it wouldn’t have been pretty.
Late summer here so I wasn’t wearing long sleeves/pants.
I’m not trying to be rude but I think its kinda like not going fast on the highway because your scared your brakes won’t work. They should work and your car must be safe.
The fastest I have taken my board is 34mph. I am usually riding in the 27-30 mph range and I love it. Usually I am riding in the roads, in the city with traffic (no bike lanes) and I wouldn’t feel safe not keeping up with traffic.
I reckon there are a lot more variable in skateboarding.
btw - not trying to convince people otherwise… or people to go slow. I have seen that in the motorcycling community (online), I’ve done some stupid stuff on a bike… but was able to rationalise it more than I can with skateboarding.
While my board can hit 40 easily, I mostly ride in the 20-35 range. I can push up to 20mph by leg easily… So going slower then that is like crawling.
I, inspect my board before every ride so don’t fear failures to much as I’ve built and learned and built some more(think I’ve had my hands on almost 30 boards now)
I’ve hit 40 maybe a hand full of timessince finishing my evo, mostly when I’m performing quick hops between developments on main roads.
I said this a few months ago, but going downhill at 35-50mph feels and responds entirely different to a powered board going that speed. Entirely different skill set almost.
My justification is to keep up with traffic on up to 40mph roads, as I skate street primarily, but I also wear gear intended to protect me at such speeds…
I currently don’t have the balls to go 35+, but I am sitting at 18-20mph and it just doesn’t fell like quite enough when going strait.
