Couple of folks expressed interest regarding the Ecomobl x MBS mash up I put together so heres a build thread.
But first…
This isn’t your ultrasmooth, super stable, ultra fast board.
If you want the best of the best this isn’t it.
If you want high end go look at this other build instead - BIG FOOT HAERO 2.0 <FINALITY + AntInnovation 63100 First Impressoins>
If you are curious on an affordable and super easy to build option read on.
To kick it off… Pictures!
Background
I picked up an ET2 (not a bad board tbh but thats for another thread) from ecomobl since I wanted a “normal” longboard style esk8. Ecomobl’s boards were different from the standard cookie cutter DKP 7inch belt drive offerings you see on the market these days. Their planetary gear drive got me interested enough to pick one up on sale.
- Its compact like a hub drive making it really easy to build
- Its actaully an all metal gear drive with proper reduction
- It makes a shit ton of noise to scare away the pedestrians with their eyes glued onto their phone.
After riding the ET2 for a while I thought this has potential to make a really sleek looking 4wd without the front motors sticking out in strange angles. I will start with 2wd with the stuff I have laying around just to see if it works. So I gutted the ET2 and cobbled this board together with parts that I have laying around… which puts me back in square one where I still don’t have reliable longboard style eboard.
Parts List
- MBS DWII deck
- Ecomobl ET2 Drivetrain Trucks – Ecomobl electric skateboard
- 15 Degree Baseplate from Moon [PAIR] 15 Degree Baseplate – MOON E-SKATE
- 12s Lipo
- Unity
The Drive Train
Quick intro on the ET2 Drivetrain
Ecomobls boards runs on all metal planetary gear drive with 1:4 reduction (I need to double check)
The drive train comes with:
- 18 inch RKP hangers
- 6374 170kv motors (sensorless)
- Gear drive and hub
- Airless 8 inch knobbies
Hubs, hangers are supposed to be CNCed.
The whole set currently cost 654usd shipped making it ones of the more if not the most affordable options out there when it comes to geardrive.
How does it ride?
Everything about this drive train is heavy and I was having trouble with wobbles esp when I hit imperfections on the road with the rear trucks.
Once everything is dailed in though it rides surprising well.
You get quite a bit of extra shock absorption going from channel trucks to RKP (bushing is now sitting between hanger and base)
Even with solid tires I found the vibration and shocks perfectly acceptable.
The drives were surprisely smooth even though they were loud.
My guess is that since its 5 gears (motor gear surround by 3 satellite gears driving a large outer gear pushing the hub) Some gear is always in contact / meshed. Unlike other straight cut setup I don’t get the tiny jolts when changing directions or going from full stop.
HiFi were surprisely well behaved on these motors. Maybe 1/20 I can feel them trying to start up the wrong direction, I just let go of throttle and try again. I haven’t really had any trouble with cogging.
I would give it a thumbs up for sub 30 mph riding across whatever crappy surface that you would take a standard mountainboard. But do pick up some good hard bushings.
Verdict
While I can’t comment on reliablity and longevity because I haven’t been riding this for long, I can say if you are looking for something thats easy to build, affordable and different but will still get you good performance, the ET2 drive train is worth a look. This thing is literally plug and play. Install 2 hangers plug in 6 phase wires. Motor detect + setup HiFi, DONE!.
