I don’t actually own a waterborne adapter, but I’ve seen them. They’re definitely cool! My main point which I still stand by is putting an adapter on the rear truck with the motors is a bad idea, and would likely cause more problems than satisfaction.
I think what you are also saying is that the electric part isn’t a problem since you probably don’t go as fast, it would be interesting ot see what it does with an adapter on the front truck. Either way you’d probably want to switch out the bushings in the back truck
hmm when i read you guys, it seems to me like you are not acknowledging that the waterborne adapter is not just ‘an adapter’, but in fact ‘two different adapters’, one for the front truck and another for the rear truck.
the front one is designed for agressive turning while the rear one is designed for ‘no-turning’, in fact it is an stabilizer, like the tail of a surfboard.
I dont know if that were the case, but it sounded to me like you were talking about putting the front adapter in the rear truck, that indeed would lead to strange behaviours
i just wanted to clarify that point to avoid confusing information for somebody who read this.
Ryan, we might be underestimating the surf adapter.
Fabi clamped one on to what seems to be a pretty fast electric skateboard and took it for a long fast ride.
Its true he did not use the rear adapter. Even still, it might me much more stable than the double king pin trucks that you and I might have as our closest point of reference.
I get it. First thing I said was that I had never ridden on one so I could be completely wrong.
Anyway, Fabi seems to handle speed and sharp turns with it quite well–so I think my assumption that it would be unstable at speed does not jive with the actual outcome of mounting the front adapter on an esk8.
As for the rear adapter, try using an aluminum plate to cantilever the drive infront or behind the rear surf adapter. The rear surf adapter looks pretty strong. It should be able to handle some cantilevered weight.
Interesting, I did see that it’s not quite the same because of the angle the pin is at. I don’t think I’d enjoy it but it will be cool to see what the others think haha
Why’d you wanna pump on at esk8 for? You got motors for propulsion. You’d just want to carve really sharp turns and enjoy the constant “wave” of flow which a yowsurf or a smoothstar would mimic much better than a waterborne according to reviewers, and they’re only for the front. If you wanna pump stick to non-motorized.
To me at least, riding a surf skate is less about pumping and propulsion and more about the “rail to rail flow” that a surf adapter can grant you. With regular trucks the arc of the curve when carving is way too soft, I have seen YOWsurf and SmoothStar but unfortunately the higher price point is what kept me from pursuing them. Especially considering that Waterborne also offers the Rear Rail Adapter, which is still much cheaper as well. The Rear Rail Adapter greatly enhances the rear trucks’ lean, but limits turning. Because of so, your rear trucks become a pivot point and allow you to quite genuinely turn on a dime. It also keeps your rear wheels from lifting up on tighter turns and heavily increases stability because with less allowed turn on the rear trucks, you’re able to limit understeer and more freely transfer weight (which in my opinion, is the biggest reason for instability. At least for me, because i’m not used to my back end being able to turn just as much as my front end). I’m more interested in being able to carve my way through the city on an ESK8 during my way to work and have some fun at relatively high speeds than having to pump really hard on every single incline I face (which is a lot), and doing so in a way that feels most natural to me. The Revel Kit is incredibly cool from what I’ve seen and heard, and I really want to find a way to make it work (especially since I bought mine last month and want to make it worth waiting for aha) so that I don’t have to purchase two separate boards (one with power and one without) for what would fulfill the same purpose of being something fun to ride on my way to work.
@pkasanda had mentioned that I could possibly cantilever the Revel Kit while using the Rear Rail Adapter. Could you talk more about what exactly you mean as I’m quite interested.
I tried to include pictures and links but unfortunately the forum says I can’t
Anyways, it was just a few photos of what the Front and Rear Waterborne Adapters look like. As well as how they function together. Hopefully this gives you a better idea as to what @Maven and I are trying to achieve with our ESK8.
The photos of the two adapters can be found on Waterborne’s site
And a very good explanation on how they work can be found on this youtube video:
“Waterborne Surf Adapters explained”
Notice how the rear wheels are essentially locked straight while the front wheels have an increased turning ability. This allows for the sharp “pivot” motion that surfers are used to, and keeps the board nice and stable at higher speeds.
So to cantilever the Revel Kit, you would need to fabircate an aluminum plate that has 4 bolt holes for the adapter, 4 bolt holes for the revel kit and one large cutout in the center for the kingpin.
You could do most of this with a hacksaw, step drillbit and a drill press. Or you could order it from an aluminum laser cutter or water jet cutter. If you work with aluminum yourself, wear ruber gloves and professional breathing aparatus to avoid absorbing or inhaling aluminum dust.
plenty of reasons: excercise, battery manage, to go when no battery, because is fun!
one could grab the board, ride it normally and go to some skatepark/interest place, turn it off, use it to pump and stay there for hours, turn it on and go back home.
motors on a surfskate can make “the endless wave” and as I said before:
I think Rebel with the adapter a great combo bc of being direct drive you can pump with no ressistance and also can have real wheels.
Seperating the drive from the trucks would not stop wheel bite. It would keep the drive parallell to the deck. However, your picture suggests that the the revel drive might have ample room to pivot without hitting the deck.
If you cantilever off the back of a pin tale there would be no wheel bite. No “Drive Bite” either.
I’m not saying it would be a great pumper or stable at speed. I’m just saying that if someone wanted to try waterborne adapters and the revel kit together that a cantilever would avoid additional risers and resolve some potential clearance problems between the deck and the drive.
And you never know. The waterborne revel may please the people who like waterborn adapters despite the reservations of all of us who have never tried one.
Or, like @ShutterShock says, with the Revel drive bolted dirctly to the back of the deck, the weight of the drive is going to make it much less likely that one wheel would lift off the ground.
There is no right answer. Also no harm in trying different configurations.
I think the biggest risk is seperating the drive from trucks. You would have to extend the length of 18 wires with 36 solder joints. If any of those joints breaks,it could damage the drive or the rider.
So i’m advising against anthnig that requires extending the wires.
You may be greatly overestimating the degree to which a direct drive system is “resistance free”
It is less resistance than belt drive. All electric skateboards are heavy relative to manual boards. Whether you are kicking or surf pumping or tic tacking, it is hard labor to propel yourself more than a block or so without battery power.
Its amusing that you have people who have never tried a revel kit conversing with people who have never tried a waterborne adapter. There is no common reference – not until one of you waterborne dudes gives it a try and reports back.
I think my biggest solution was to just add spacers and like @Maven said, fill the gap between the board with fitted and shaped insulation foam.
The front trucks would be mounted as follows:
Waterborne Surf Adapter
1 inch riser pad (or two 1/2 inch risers)
Trucks
The rear trucks is would be mounted as follows:
Waterborne Rail Adapter
1 inch riser pad (or two 1/2 inch risers)
Entire Revel drive unit
Would this work? I was thinking then you could just fill the gap between the board and the drive unit with1.5 inches of insulation foam. Which would be quite easy considering you can buy foam at 3/4 of an inch, trace the revel drive, cut out three pieces, glue them together, optionally spray paint for aesthetic and protection, and then slide it in the gap with a little bit of non-permanent adhesive to keep it nice and sturdy while riding.
You don’t need to fill the gap. Any size gap between the drive and the deck is golden. It prevents the drive from slaping and vibrating against the deck. A revel kit that is gapped away from the deck will be quieter and better suspended than one that is in contact with the deck.
For me personally, I don’t plan to use the Waterborne Adapters as a form of propulsion. The added weight of the drive unit and motor resistance would make that less than efficient and impractical. And so, the biggest plus to having it in correlation with a Revel Kit is not needing to pump at all. It’s essentially like a never ending “wave” that doesn’t require pumping in order to keep riding it. You’re allowed the opportunity to give it some throttle, gain some speed, either coast or carve a few out, and then repeat the entire way of your trip. Or, you can just long carve and not worry so much about having to pump real tightly in order to accelerate.
The reason I’m saying this is because when I first moved to SF, a colleague of mine suggested that I try his Loaded Chubby with Waterborne Adapters. I immediately fell in love with how well it emulates riding a real wave. My only concern was that it was less practical in commuting because of the lack of an additional source of propulsion. Pumping all the way to work was more of a hassle than it was fun. We had talked it over and said that it would be pretty much a perfect setup with something like a Revel Kit on it, which is why I had looked into Revel initially.
i have already tested the 'resistance-free thing" on a dual-hub-motors skateboard, and while not zero, it was enough to be pumped i think. (for reference it was a maxfind max2 i got for a week to test it)
¿do you think the revel kit will be the same more or less?
I was concerned because I’ve yet to examine a Revel Kit for myself in person, and wasn’t sure if the neck of the drive unit was sturdy enough when suspended by itself. I only mentioned filling in the gap with insulation foam to limit the amount of stress put on the neck of the drive unit, but hearing that it would actually be more beneficial leaving the gap makes this much easier for me
Revel kit is really kinda wrong for the rear waterborne rail IMHO. It’s a like bastardized hack job of things - frankenstein looking… Better off going full DIY with a separate battery enclosure and everything and some good hub motors - meepo or backfire being reputable. If only left to the front for the surf adapter, then it should be fine.
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