The added weight of 4wd doesn’t really change the way the board handles. It’s only like 8 pounds, so it’s just not that much.
If you want the board to be as capable as possible, 4wd is the way. 2wd gets hung up climbing in loose and steep terrain pretty easily. Also when riding downhill, having brakes on the front wheels gives you enormous amounts of control in scenarios where the rear wheels would normally lock up and fishtail.
2wd can be more fun in certain situations, like doing slides or burnouts. Those are harder to do on 4wd.
I’d like to add some mtb situations where I don’t like 4wd.
If you are doing primarily offroad with bindings and need to be able help turning with bunnyhops for example on tight mountainbike trails or are doing jumping, 2WD for sure.
IMO off-road is really where 4wd shines. The hills you can climb and descend capably are ridiculous compared to 2wd. It also lets you charge through sandy patches that 2wd gets easily stuck in. I’ve gone on rides with people in the desert where I could start and stop on the trails but my buddies had to get off and walk their 2wd boards.
You’ll definitely notice the weight while bunny hopping or jumping but I didn’t have much trouble bunny hopping 4wd. I think if you want to do stair drops, manuals, or dirt jumps, 2wd is probably better for that, but for off-roading 4wd is way more capable than 2wd.
4wd also doubles the power of your board, so if you want absurd power, 4wd is not a bad choice.
Finally went for a ride to test the @MBS tires. The balance is superb. They are quite robust so they do transmit road chatter, but on smooth roads they are a dream. I’m confident they’ll have good grip for mountain boarding also.
The jump drives are running @Evwan custom straight cut gears that I signed a waiver to release him from responsibility when they seize and kill me.
Glad you like them. I’ve been playing around with lower tire pressure recently. On those explorer tires you can go REALLY low. You lose efficiency, but it makes the ride soooo much more comfortable, and increases grip. You guys probably already know that, but I’m coming from the analogue side of mountainboarding, so this is a new discovery for me
