Sup!
Backstory (feel free to skip)
A few months ago my ebike’s battery died and I’ve been too busy/lazy to fix it. Instead I started using these Bolt rent scooters that lie scattered around the sidewalks of cities. I gotta say – the convenience is pretty remarkable!
- No need to lock your shit when you get somewhere
- No need to charge or carry it up to your apartment / office
- For my commuting needs I end up spending ~30€ per month, definitely cheaper than any esk8 I’ve ever built if I were to divide the time I’ve actually ridden it (while commuting).
- Goes slow and has manual brakes, so no helmet needed
- Not yours so don’t have to worry about it breaking / weather affecting it
The main appeal for me is not needing to drag the scooter with you when you get somewhere. These days I most often commute to meet up with people, so not needing to explain why I have a big skateboard with me, or worry about my hair getting flattened by my helmet is a huge win. (I go on first dates a lot and it matters, okay? 
)
But as with all things you rent, rather than own… They can be taken away from you at any moment, and that’s what has happened.
It’s winter in Latvia right now, and even though we barely have any snow on most days, it looks like scooter companies decided that the cold weather is too harsh for the batteries, and have taken the scooters offline and into storage. Now my only mode of transport is my mountainboard, but god that thing is heavy to drag around, and definitely overkill. (Unless there’s snow. Then it makes sense, but hey, I’d rather be on my bike then for safety.)
This has made me think: Should I just buy a cheap Chinese scooter to own for myself? But what if I want to take it with me? It should be foldable and fit in my backpack, but does that exist? Will it survive the pothole roads of Latvia???
Evaluating my options
Requirements:
- Can ride in the rain or light snow
- Battery can survive the cold so that I can lock the PEV outside of work (my office is in a skyscraper these days, and I don’t want to be that guy bringing a bomb into a high-rise)
- PEV / battery can be chained to a fence pole / locked outside
- Portable (ideally have it fit in my backpack)
- Fast to set-up
- Doesn’t get me wet (mudguards)
- Lightweight
My options:
- Electric rollerskates (but would definitely require a helmet)
- Electric scooter that folds up
- Esk8 that folds up
- Esk8 that is thin enough to be carried with my Altar backpack
- Small onewheel?
In any case, I’m going to need a water-proof bag to put the thing in so that after riding in the rain my backpack isn’t dripping water and mud lol.
Rollerskates
Seem like too small of a form factor to build well + require a helmet + take a while to strap into + you have to charge 2 of them. I think it’s going to be a no.
Scooter
Building my own scooter looks hard. Like, I’d need a welder. All the foldable scooters I found online look like they’d break in under a minute in real world terrain. If anyone knows any good ones, please tell me!
Onewheel
Do these fit into backpacks? Maybe I just need a larger backpack? @TheBoardGarage What are your thoughts? 
Esk8
What options are there in 2025 for mud-guards for boards? I’m thinking the cloudwheels with the rubber layer would be perfect to keep this thing light-weight yet give me grip in wet conditions.
What deck options do I have? Is the folding-deck esk8 still a thing?
I see there’s Linky 
Traqpod?
And the good-old Board-Up:
Or, if I can find a large enough waterproof bag in the size of a regular esk8, I suppose something like an Evolve bamboo deck and small enclosure would be pretty ideal
(I don’t plan on going fast with this thing, would rather have it springy and absorb bad terrain than handle steering perfectly)
Battery
I guess for cold days I need LiFePo4 cells. Any advancements in this area? Surely there’s something better than the A123 cells Boosted used, right?
Help brainstorm with me!
Let this be a thread for suggesting ideas, no matter how wacky or stupid 
