If you do, I’d want an option without the wheels.
I don’t plan on buying a set of thanes anytime soon and I don’t feel like being forced to buy thanes with the drivetrain I like.
Gonna throw some input in here as i got my hands on a set of the hangers earlier on
Goddamn did yall do a nice job. Ive discovered wide RKPs arent for me, but man were they nicely made.
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you won’t want a 2.22 ratio on anything over 110mm, … maybe 120… but of course making wheels optional isn’t a big deal. Pneumatics would likely set off the thermal throttling constantly.
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Naah I’d wanna run airless rubber on it. 105mm most likely.
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do defiant boards come programmed with roll to start ?
Yes, though I don’t think it’s mentioned anywhere. We should probably fix that. Thanks!
What are you using for roll to start? Is it a feature of the VESC used, an antispark or something else? Is it proprietary tech?
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it’s a feature of the Stormcore 60D+. It seems to be enabled by default as we didn’t have to do anything configuration wise. It’s sensitive enough to be triggered by quickly twisting a wheel by hand.
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We’ve started shipping boards! Also, we’re doing a discount code for forum members only! If you’re looking for a DIY friendly board that you don’t have to DIY now but maybe want to later, we’ll give you a $100 off!
Discount code: ESK8FORUM
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That heat shrink is around the individual two-group segments. The segments are taped then shrinked. Heat shrinking the whole pack wouldn’t work because of the enclosure. The segments are heat shrinked, then the solder points are cut out over the tabs, then they’re soldered together during final assembly and taped over to keep everything down and free of debris in the event of ingress.
This worked out pretty well when we “accidentally” submerged the enclosure in a pretty deep puddle on the prototype and then opened the enclosure to look for where the moisture went. most compartments were dry but where there was moisture ingress it was on or near the pack and not in it. Keep in mind this was submerged, not just splashed on. Although it is not recommended to ride through puddles or in the rain, we have found that splashing and even riding in rain doesn’t seem to create much, if any, ingress, presumably due to the foam gasket and the silicone seal around the motor wires.
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The pic you have with little holes cut into the shrink wrap
exposing the solder pads looked super neat
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Thanks! It’s a bit time consuming but definitely seems to keep them weather resistant. Also it makes final assembly easier because no matter which way you drop the segments in they’re always oriented correctly (provided they’re not upside down of course). We have tons of pre-assembly pics in our instagram from last year. Obviously we’d be delighted for the community to borrow any ideas they would like for their own builds. The one @glyphiks posted looks like its from the prototype, which was pretty early on. One thing we do now that’s not shown there is seal the segments into the enclosure with a bead of corning 737 down each side to keep them snug and help absorb some vibration. It’s still pretty trivial to break that seal and pop out the segments though.
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Board looks sweet. Im a little concerned with the use of BN gear drives though. I did not have any luck ever getting a set that were usable due to pinion gear motor shaft holes being machined off center and had to go another route because the problem couldnt be rectified. I recommend testing each gear drive for that issue before shipping to customers so they dont end up with a $3k paper weight.
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First I’ve heard of an issue like this… though I’m sure this is something @Boardnamics would rectify
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Happened last summer. He finally got me a new pinion but by that time I had already got some Newbees. People were having issues with the pinions working themselves off as well.
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Yeah, I’ve heard of the loctite breaking, but never an off-center pinion… weird. Must’ve been a rarity I think.
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Forgive the party foul if this is the wrong place for this; but I received my board 10 days ago, and have some initial impressions.
Setting the stage; first powered board, but have been trying to skate more since bearings were loose and trucks were tight. 6’3", 240, and don’t feel as old as I actually am. More slalom and longboards in the quiver than street/park boards, but still try…
Board shipped quickly and pickup at Fedex was without issue. Shipped in a great box, just enough to protect the board and accessories, with no waste - top foam actually works great on top of the work bench when you need to tweak things.
First time out was better than I thought it would be. Charged everything up, made sure it was on rookie mode and hit the go button. Nothing to compare it against, but the Hoyt puck is really nice in hand (XXXL meat hooks here). Working on my gamer thumb, but no issues.
Intentionally took the first ride “as delivered”; just made sure everything was secure. One thing to note, this is a BIG board, with WIDE trucks - may be normal for the esk8 crowd, but coming from a GS rig with a 23" WB and 115 mm trucks that works 40 mph+ - the visual was daunting.
Causing around the neighborhood was more than just fun - now when I carve down a hill, I can carve back up! Better than being a kid agin, really. Got comfortable, and sped up a little; quickly (pu intended) got the reminder that I am too heavy for the stock bushings (especially out of the box). Speed wobbles at ~20 mph - below that no issues - back to the garage for the wrench; snugged them up and mid 20s were fine - little too reactive (hard to say “twitchy” when you are dealing with 280 mm hangers). Still having a blast though - sun going down, more tweaking will have to wait.
Next session was dedicated to tweaking. Pulled out the bushing bag and the tools… First task was to take some turn out of the rear; left the front at 50 degrees, and set the rear to 36. Bushing wise, ended up with OG Tracker Stimulators board side and the (board side) Riptides that came the deck road side. Magic… still carvy, but stable up to 30+ (Davega logged 33 mph); few wiggles dumping the throttle, but not too scary (more my thumb, than the board, I’m sure). And yes, it hit 33 mph in mode 1; 31 up hill a couple of times. Really, really like this board!
Mode 2 test was today (feeling myself a little); no drama, just more fun. Only thing I noticed, other than a little more pick up, was that the braking response is better in mode 2 than mode 1 for me. May be my weight; may be my thumb is getting better; but earlier rides, I did have to “prepare” myself to brake. With mode 2 set, seemed a little smoother, even though is seemed to stop a little more quickly (again, could just be me getting used to it.). Tried to keep it below 30 (only had the helmet on, and shorts, so…); if you knew me, that is me being “safe”. Normal GS speeds, so upper 20s is comfortable, I promise.
Sorry for the long post, but just wanted to share. This truly is a “buy once, cry once” (until you ride it) type of purchase. Not even a hint of guilt - one of the best impulse splurges I have ever pulled the trigger on. Will be a while before I outgrow this board; it is amazing. But now I want one with 4WD; I am 240#, you know…
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Sounds like you are adapting like a pro! That board blows almost all prebuilts in its class out the water, lucky that’s what you got!!!
oh meant to add something that is near impossible to “get used to” is stuff like the board automatically braking when you go over its max freespin speed.
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Nice! This seems about like what my experience was too. Horrible at 50 50 but I set it to 44 and 38 and it was much better
Let us know if anything breaks
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