I want to get or build an offroad board capable of jumping and handling rugged terrain/bike trails. Though there are a lot of different AT boards the only prebuilt ones I see that truly fit for this style of riding are the Trampa and the Bajaboard. As I am in the US shipping and support may be an issue so I may lose some of the advantages of going prebuilt. DIY is a possibility depending on the complexity and if there is a need to fabricate any parts.
With a budget of $2000
Is it possible to build something comparable to a Trampa board with just off the shelf components? So many of these builds seem to involve certain components being CNC or 3dprinted but Im not sure if that is by choice or not.
2.The Trampa Holypro deck seems ideal for this style of board, is there anything comparable that is made in US?
3.From what I have read their spur gear drive (geared correctly) has a similar feel to a motoX bike which is what I am looking for, should I just go with their motors or do any of the smaller vendors make geared motors with a focus on torque rather the top end?
I also read something about the Trampa having an option for a 1 click reverse, would this be something specific to their esc?
After owning a Meepo City Rider for a few weeks I can say that I don’t really care for a high top speed on the street or otherwise, I’m looking for torque and range and overall durability.
Should I just order one from Trampa in spite of the shipping costs or is building one a consideration?
I mean there is Kaly and LaCroix, have you looked at their options? I know there is a third that makes good AT boards but I can’t remember the name. Of slightly less reputation is momentum boards if you want
Depending on what you want you can also DIY it all from builders here for batteries and store fronts like Janux for the drive train
There are also multiple companies which sell gear drives similiar or even better then trampa such as moon gear drives, fatboy gear drives, or avio gear drive
Also with deck mbs is in us and they sell at/mtb decks
Off road mtb are not difficult to build.
Trampa is a great platform, but you can get something good and probably cheaper with mbs which are as well based in US.
Trampa isn‘t the only option to get a gear drive and motors you can get from maytech or hobbyking as well.
From the esc side I would stick with the trampa vesc though.
Advantage to go full trampa is that they offer a good discount on parts if you buy a full prebuilt set and it takes you off a lot of work you would need to do by your own.
I would recommend you to search a bit around here. There are some great trampa build threads here which can give you some inspiration. For example @taz and @RyuX builds. @glyphiks and @rich are about to build there mbs based boards, which I can just recommend as well to have a look into.
While both of those are really nice I haven’t seen anyone doing any serious off roading on them. The Momentum boards are kind of unproven at this point and they dont look that rugged either.
I’ll check out the janus site, thanks!
Thanks, there is a lot of good information there. I think part of the issue is that not only are these types of boards still in the early stages of development, their actual application is sort of a blank canvas at this point which is actually pretty damn exciting but also pretty frustrating for someone who isn’t good at winging it in mechanical type projects. Its not like you have forums where 20 or 30 people are debating the best proven build for a BMX style track vs a freestyle build, there just aren’t many people doing this and people like you and @rich are having to figure it out as you go along usually breaking stuff to figure out the limits.
I’m going through the different build threads to see if I can get a sense of what I want to build and your light white seems fairly straightforward other than the nice paintjob and the motor mounts and 3d printed stuff.
Are the motor mounts specific to the deck, truck or motors or more of a combination of the 3? I’ve seen the motor mounts at various vendor sites and it seems that they are specific to their motors so when I’m looking at these various builds i’m never sure if the motor mounts is custom for that build.
I really like the jumpinator II build based on the MBS but he had to cut the shafts to make it fit and I would hope to find something more plug and play. I need to do some searches on builds based on the MBS and see what comes up.
You could wait for a good deal, I saw nice boards at a good price being sold within the forums… Some patience and maybe someone may public a street carver for 1200 usd, and you could buy the rest (MBS trucks, motor mounts, bindings…). Cutting a motor shaft it is really simple, with a 10 usd Dremel you could do it seated on the toilette…while pooping…
That means bindings (and heelstraps) and top mount battery so real offroad not AT. Without bindings you would fly off the board all the time on rugged terrain.
Figure out the limits doesn’t help when you have to buy the same part again and again
You can build a MTB without the need of machining anything but you would need to do research, order all parts, solder wires and connectors for example and of course it takes some time. If you want to save time and possible troubles there’s nothing wrong with a Trampa complete (without battery) with gear drive (helical) and the biggest motors plus barrels. As @Andy87 mentioned you get a good discount when you buy all there. I can also recommend Vesc6 they are bulletproof.
As a warning: DIY is dangerous for your wallet In the end you buy everything twice or even more often but you can build or tweak it exactly like you want. That’s the real beauty.
Specific to the trucks. Most used are MBS Matrix II and Trampa Vertigo or Infinity ATB trucks (same shape). I would recommend gear drive, due to less ground clearance 9" wheels help on really rough terrain.
The reason why I build the MBS is that my Trampa got too heavy and is too flexy for jumping. It’s great for riding and if you don’t jump higher than this:
I want to jump higher but I don’t know yet if it’s a great idea
After this video I made a bigger battery for almost double range which is great for riding but heavy for jumping. I couldn’t reach the same height as in the video. If you want both then you could swap between a light battery for jumping and a heavy for long riding.
In the end you buy everything twice or even more often but you can build or tweak it exactly like you want. That’s the real beauty.