For all that to happen the board has to have some serious compromises in its ability to get around imo. Less battery so it’s lighter, shorter board with urethane which drops most people’s comfort level with speeds in less-than-perfect surfaces. I used to jump between a bus station and a light rail on my train-bus-light rail 3 hour one-way Los Angeles commute and did it on a Onewheel pint. It was more maneuverable around people and surface problems, not terrible to carry with its handle and horizontal (no mall grabbing ) position but did need a little more speed since it was back in 2019.
Not that what you’re talking about (going around a city into stores etc) can’t be done with a shortboard or anything but it’s still not the most ideal device for what I responded to (price to mile ratio/ efficiency etc). Poster was comparing the range/speed of boards to EUC. None of which matters if you just REALLY want to eskate
Its also very telling that the vast majority of eskate seems to be at minimum long boards and most riders opting for pneumatics. This could be totally anecdotal through, no ideal what numbers of boards are out there. Shoot, hub boards probably have the biggest numbers lol. We’re pretty jaded and skewed here in DIY land.
Yeah, gone are the days of my 7kg wowgo 3 Currently I ended up with a raceboard that is basically go kart that you dont want to carry even for a second and ideally you dont want to go anywhere near non-ideal surface So the idea that you can go around with skate and then race on it is basically gone for me. Got just a raceboard that I carry to the track and back
The all arounder track/commute/leisure board is something we’ve probably all chased and came up with something doesn’t really hit all the boxes. Purpose built is the way.
Even in EUC world that’s really gonna be a hard thing to pull off I think. Talking to guys with the new super fast P6 they say it’s a pretty big and heavy wheel, so my hunch would be not great for commuting /in and out of stores etc. Wildly fast on track though.
I agree with a lot of the comments posted on this thread.
For me, I would love to live in the mountains so that I can ski or snow board when I want to. Or live on a beach so I could surf.
But, I don’t live anywhere near the ski mountains or the surfing beaches.
That said, ESK8 checks A LOT of boxes for me personally. I live in a major city that has a great lakeshore and bike paths and there is concrete everywhere. As such, I can just walk out my front door and start riding anytime I want. I sometimes get-in quick 25 minutes rides around the neighborhood between work conference calls (just to get my “fix”). I also like tech, and working on things with my hands. So DIY Boards are a perfect fit for me. Plus, I do almost all my work in my condo (no special garage or tools required).
And personally, I think ESK8 is one of the best ways to get around the city. When I go grocery shopping or to a doctor’s appointment, I am there in minutes and I don’t have to worry about parking my car, etc.
I think your bias from being on this forum is showing. Pneumatic is what is most common on here, but go to a college campus, which IMO is where most of the eskates in the country seem to be, and you’ll see about 10 urethane to 1 pneumatic, about 50/50 long to short boards, and probably 75% hub motors would be my guess from someone who works at one.
My campus could be an outlier. We have a lot of commuters and an even farther walk from most of the parking than a lot of other campuses, so I think a lot of these are for transportation from the bus or car to class and back, but there are tons of them. Scooters do still outnumber them by at least a factor of 3, also, but there are tons of urethane hub motor long and short boards around. There are a few one-wheels, and I’ve seen EUCs on rare occasions, but I think eskate is actually second to scooters.
For me, a big factor for eskate is the ability to DIY and the DIY community. I know you can DIY one-wheeled type things, and I haven’t actually seen it, but I’m sure it’s doable with EUC, too, but I don’t want to be reliant on a single manufacturer providing me parts for something that is likely to wear out or be damaged otherwise at some point. Skateboards are a much more modular platform than one-wheel or EUC, which makes them way easier to modify and repair.
Id agree with that. For the college kid a cheap hub board is probably the go-to for a few reasons.
1, cheapest PEV especially if considering the speeds possible.
2, smallest form factor in the price range of sub $400 (Max I would have spent if when I was in college and event $400 would have been a big stretch)
3, low maintenance until they just give up the ghost and they just go buy another cheap board
4, college kids have youth on their side, something that really helps when riding hubs on uneven surfaces.
Outside that demo I bet the trends change quite a bit.
My favorite grab and go board is still the Exway X1 Max, It’s not the most pleasant ride since I have the hub version. but nothing beats the portability and the incognito factor.
I don’t ride my EUC (InMotion V12 Pro) often enough to ride confidently, mostly just in large circles in an empty parking lot until my calves get tired. It’s got all the speed and range I would need in a small package, my only concern would be the single tire going flat or just general need to one day change the tire. It’s a lot of work.
I don’t mean to come off as a nihilistic dick. I love longboarding and have been coasting and dive bombing hills since I was 14. I’m 29 now. It’s just, I shouldn’t be on my 7th or 8th board, 7th brand looking for the range that reflects the price point. I wouldn’t be this much of a hard ass about it but the Propel Pivot gave me 34+ miles of range consistently and that was before I installed the gear drive. Damn near my dream board outside of the fact that the default trucks and screws for said trucks are absolute trash. So why do I have to invest $2 Grand into a Linnpower OX ER just to get similar results for range and dependability. I love skating and feel dirty saving up for a Funwheel and Speedboard instead of another board in confidence, still getting that OX tho
I started skateboarding when I was 13 (and I’m 58 now). Back when I was 13, I never even dreamed an electric skateboard would be even possible. I stopped riding my regular push long board when I was in my early 40’s because my joints would get too sore. Then when electric stakeboards came-out, I wanted one - but I was unwilling to pay $1,500 for a Boosted Board, so I just waited until the prices came down. So now I’m back to boarding. Back when I was 13, everything was urethane. And I still LOVE riding urethane on smooth roads. Urethane is great, Mad Wheels are great, Cloud Wheels are great, Pneumatic wheels are great - they are all great. The great thing about ESK8 is that it is NOT one size fits all. Ride what works best for you.
I felt that. I fun skated from 9 up until high school graduation, in college the board was pretty much just transport from dorm/apartment to classes with an occasional kickflip. After college I didn’t touch a board for years until I bought as house at 30 and used to sit on as I rolled along painting the base board. Randomly found out about esk8 through EndlessSphere and been around for 10 years. Never thought off the shelf boards would become the quality the are today at that price point!
I attempted to kick a longboard down the trail for a few mile, I’m so old and out of shape, leg burned so bad after the first mile.
This is so right. There are thane lovers here but we’re the minority. Plus side is it makes buying used thane from sales threads super cheap. Since a lot of users on here no longer want them.
As for hub motors, the posts with them are rare for a reason, and I’d know since I made a lot of replies featuring my old hubs. They’re good for budget pre mades but have so many downsides in general that make them not worth it once you start building your own board. Unless you live in a country where you have to be stealthy to avoid being pulled over.
The esk8 Reddit features more thane and hub motors.
Back in 2020 that was the price I paid for my board. A Lycaon board back when they made amazing budget boards. My battery did die in 9 months but they did end up sending a new one.
Not a perfect board but the value I got from ~$400 was insane. I can’t endorse them currently since since I’m not sure if the quality to price ratio is worth it. I needed a way to get to campus without using the bus since my immune system is shit. I did Also have fun with it too but commuting 3-5 miles was the reason I bought it.
I blame a lot of this issue on production boards companies. They gotta profit and process get jacked up based on what’s hot in the market and take advantage of it. The esk8 tech today has gotten far better than it was 5 years ago and for the price, but the problems are still around today where you have boards that cost a good penny still breaking. This was one of the reasons i went diy on all my boards. It’s a pain in the ass but at the end of the day i know what’s in the board, the purpose, and the quality. That ares x3 was my first production board in years and the only reason i got it was bc i tried it out at esk8con and liked it and wanted to give production boards another chance. Long story short, I’m already figuring out diy plans for it bc it sucks
Even my favorite production board of current, the Propel Pivot GT, comes with awful trucks and downright trash screws to secure the trucks to the board. The amount of aftermarket parts I’ve bought for this thing and I still wanna send it to Theboardgarage and maybe tomiboii for a custom DIY setup. I have this custom Deck from forever ago and its either use it for the Pivot or let it continue to collect dust since I sent the wrong measurements for the holes to be lasered in when I wanted this thing to replace a different board.
The battery range and deck itself felt great! The distance and power from the esc was miles above anything I had from Tynee, Isinwheel and Hoyt. Board felt great but I despise belts, had to adjust, tighten, loosen entirely too much about the drive train. Replacing the trucks and installing a gear drive was the only downside to the Pivot, everything else about it shreds. Easily gave me 34+ miles even before the gear drive
Which hoyt did you have?! The ones after the uav were stellar as far as power and range since the uav ran a 12s4p p42a and vesc. And then everything went up from there. Anything before that, ya i can see that.
But ya, i see a lot of boats coming out with suspension trucks and first thing i think is i see a lot of moving parts, potential for breaking.
Also why are u adjusting the belts so much? I have one of my boards where i hadn’thad to adjust any of the belts since i first put them on back in 2021. To replace the belts i just roll them on to the pulleys. Takes 30 seconds, even less. When they start skipping at around 1200 miles i replace them since that’s an indication that the main band broke and needs to be replaced soon
) position but did need a little more speed since it was back in 2019.
Currently I ended up with a raceboard that is basically go kart that you dont want to carry even for a second and ideally you dont want to go anywhere near non-ideal surface 
