Thinking of scrapping my planned diy build and buying Onan x2 4wd

Looking at the cost of building an esk8 vs buying a prebuilt.

DIY BUILD Battery: $300ish Hub motors: $400ish (hummies) Vesc or foxbox x2: $100ish each Mounting parts and any extra wiring: $50 Enclosures: $50 Total cost: $1000ish

ONAN X2 4WD Price: $684 Shipping: $200ish Extra swappable battery x2: $62 each Total cost: $1008

I am interested in commuting to work about 2 miles each way over mostly flat ground (though my closest friends live around hills so if I wanted to visit them some hill climbing would be helpful). My fiance works with me on the weekends sometimes and is interested in esk8 to work with me. Plus we’d be interested in rides just for fun. She learned to ride motorcycles from me and now we love riding together. I like that I can split my Onan x2 4wd to 2 boards for days she wants to join me and I can keep the torque of 4wd on days I’m riding alone.

Obviously I’m giving up the much better build quality of the DIY parts (hummies, Samsung 30q, vesc). Should I forget the cheap Chinese stuff and just build my own quality board? I can always build my lady her own down the road. Or is the Onan x2-4wd a pretty good modular deal that fits my needs? I’m leaning towards getting the Onan for now and if we both fall in love with esk8’s then i can build a second board that’s fully DIY.

All input is appreciated.

P.S. - the board is a bustin boards Shrike i got on their recent 50% off. My lady would be using my fallout pipboy longboard

*if I posted in the wrong section let me know, I’ll delete and repost in the right place.

My first esk8 was an onan x2 it didnt even last a week until the esc died, also the battery falls out pretty easy.

Shud go diy

$1000 seems a bit low for a Diy build like that… You’ll need a deck too atleast (I dont know If you have one or not)… Also tools and similar can be expensive If you dont have em already. :grin:

But back to the question: Go Diy If you have the time and money (not a big difference tho) . The build will outlast the pre-built in all ways!! Its much more fun too!

Ya I figure once I start my DIY the cost will realistically go up! It’s always higher than the estimate lol. My buddy has a decently stocked garage so I could technically weld batteries to save money if I needed to. Though I’d have to learn how.

1 Like

Thanks for your input. Buy cheap Chinese made and you get what you pay for :slight_smile: I hear you. How was their customer service on the busted esc?

The Chinese over the counter boards keep going down in price and quality is getting better over time but not equal to Good DIY. Nothing wrong with buying an inexpensive ready to ride board to see how you like it. You can also upgrade and modify with DIY parts if/when parts fail. Take a look at this board for low cost ready to ride. It has been getting pretty good reviews on youtube. WOWgo 2S $439.00

Yeah exactly you get what you pay for, trying to fix the onan is when i discovered diy boards i didnt get anywhere with they’re customer service got couple emails then got no more response. The first diy build i had was single motor and since made bigger batteries and dual motors all have outperformed the onan easily on speed and range, the onan hubs urethane pretty thin you’ll feel the bumps if not on super smooth roads.

If your confident to build a diy id say go for it if you enjoy building stuff it will definately be more rewarding to ride, there is all the information here you would need and plenty knowledgeable folks to lend advice if needed.

you can’t compare good diy to shit chinese board. we compare with like boosted, evolve, enertion. U get what u pay for. generally I don’t believe chinese board claim.

I tried koolwheels wich is $500 when first came out and very disappointed. trucks and wheels are shit, torque is shit and speed is shit. heck I can push board faster than that. and oh lord, the battery… voltage sag is so real… it barely went 15% hill

you can buy meepo hub if u want to keep the cost down a bit. few diyer use them and it’s been good.

This should tell you everything you need to know, to not buy it.

3 Likes

lol yeah when it falls out and goes sliding down the road past you atleast it cheap to replace if it breaks or gets lost :joy:

1 Like

More like what kind of cells and how many including manufacturing cost and injection molding can you get for 62$… Ie it really probably cost them $20 to make… So good luck?

Deckoz: I thought the swappable battery was a bonus. I like that I can carry an extra battery with me if I want to go longer, but the base battery will get me to work and back since I only need to go a total of about 4 miles. Also with the swappable battery, if I start feeling voltage sag, I can pull a fresh battery out of my backpack. Why do you consider a swappable battery a bad thing?

I just saw Shawny’s post. Lol I can imagine watching my battery slide under a train and exploding.

EDIT: I get you Deckoz, cheap battery=crappy parts=how well will they hold up to multiple charges, wear and tear, etc…

Yeah swappable battery ahright if it executed well the onan is to easily swappable, honestly first time happened i was cruising along board shut off and i see the battery sliding along nxt to me like a hockey puck it quite a hard plastic box so slides well lol

According to Onan they fixed the battery problem. How long ago did you purchase from them. Though who knows if they really fixed it. I saw a hack where you put a rubber band or hair band around the whole lip of the battery and it keeps it snug. But at that point I’m basically DIYing so I might as well start right from the beginning and build it myself lol.

There is still the upside that i can configure the Onan 4WD so that my lady and I can ride in 2WD each on our own skateboards with only a couple minutes of work vs having to build her a whole other board. But i suppose I could get a real real cheap $2-300 board for her until we can build her one, but that seems like wasted money.

Yeah was maybe 2 years now since i bought it, yeah apparently foam helps.

That’s def handy being able to split, id rather have a diy and if she does not plan to ride often maybe get her a cheap one. You could just get her a nice longboard and tow her from your board until you can get the electronics together to stick on?

1 Like

if this is for ur gf and u to ride together, doesnt have to be very good board, onan would good enough.

Thanks for the input. I decided to build my own board! :slight_smile:

1 Like

Came to say “stay away from hub motors” but you already did :slight_smile: