Recent Comments:
Photon Light Boards smothers your skateboard in LEDs {Engadget}
Jan 14th 2008 2:54PM ... because everyone wants to add weight and lameness to their board while forgoing high quality components by purchasing a complete setup with lights on it.
who makes these things, NASH?
Rok It Science intros improved Boom 2 Borda electric skateboard {Engadget}
Oct 19th 2007 5:17PM ALSO - what do you consider a "reasonable speed"? I think the average skater can achieve 10 miles an hour on flat ground. which is all anyone would expect. I dont think the range or the power would disappoint any skater. The maneuverability is the big issue.
Rok It Science intros improved Boom 2 Borda electric skateboard {Engadget}
Oct 19th 2007 5:15PM Dude, do you really think you need more than 0.8 horses to get up to 25 mph? an actual horse is limited by how quickly it can pull its legs forward. 1 horse moves me around just fine. Plenty of "giddyup" as it were. It also matters how it's geared. 15 miles at top speed is still pretty damn good - you wouldn't want to have to stand up and steer for much longer than that anyways. range specs are always whack, but seriously, have you ever skated 10 miles? it's fucking exhausting to go that long. if this thing can do 10 and all i have to do is stand on it, notwithstanding my previous posts gripes, this is a pretty sweet way to travel in style.
Rok It Science intros improved Boom 2 Borda electric skateboard {Engadget}
Oct 19th 2007 3:57PM VERY cool.
Rok It Science intros improved Boom 2 Borda electric skateboard {Engadget}
Oct 19th 2007 3:55PM 25MPH on a board is about the top end that a set of pivoting bushing-system trucks is capable of without getting the wobbles something fierce. Every single person who ever skateboarded seriously can tell you 3 or 4 nasty speed-wobble related tales of gruesomeness. When you first discover the phenomonon, often you are already at a point where it's unavoidable that the situation to progress to its logical conclusion. Worse is when the wobs take you into some obstacle at some peak or valley of your wavelength that you weren't planning on hitting.
Ok, the weight of batteries and motors etc... this is not going to help the situation. Light setups do better at speed (IMO) because mass = inertia, and when its pulling side to side and it's under your feet, it tends to take you with it, and the tipover from one side to the other becomes more pronounced and violent. You have to nip those wobs in the bud or they grow exponentially. Going fast on a skateboard is not as easy as it looks. there are a lot of feedback operations going on all the time. And it doesn't help if adrenaline makes you twitchy.
For non-bushing systems, ie the spring shock system used on mountain boards, the effect is dampened a bit (the 2 to 3 times wider track also provides additional stability) but you still have that pivot point, and the tipover problem still exists. 25 on a mountain board isn't bad, though, i'd put the comfort cieling at about 35mph - but mountain boards use inflatable tires, and a blowout will tend to end your day on a relatively shitty note.
$900 is rediculous, as well. an excellent skateboard costs around $200 if everything is top of the line and brand new. some motors and batteries and a control system should not tack on an additional $700, especially since i can pretty much guarantee they dont come with premium swiss bearings, legacy-engineered trucks or any of the other fancy doodads that seperate a serious deck from a toys r us NASH.
LAME!
Informance shades give athletes a heads-up display {Engadget}
Oct 19th 2007 11:15AM LCD, not LED, doofus. An LED display of 160 X 120 would be way to big for heads up.
