The Hoyt St. Puck Remote: You Probably Want It

[system]

Originally published at: http://www.esk8.news/2018/12/14/the-hoyt-st-puck-remote-you-probably-want-it/

Hoyt St. Electric Skate, a new company based out of Portland, Oregon, recently started spitting quality products out of nowhere. From their lineup of completes (SKINN, DV8, and STARS, each $1,999.00) to their unique quick-swap battery system (3 to a set for $299, which is quite reasonable), everything has been over-engineered to the maximum. Most of the parts that they offer have cheaper alternatives that are reliable and readily available, however one in particular has been turning heads in the DIY world: the “Hoyt Puck Remote“.

Image credit to hoytskate.com

The Puck Remote

This initially awkward looking piece of technology packs more than the average remote, with a robust CNC’d bamboo shell, textured thumb-roller, and intuitive interface. 

It’s not everyday that you see a controller like this, so when representatives from Hoyt St. came down to San Francisco to show off their work, I had some friends chime in and report back. The verdict? Boards: great. Motors: great. Batteries: powerful. Remote? Get it now.

And I did. The builders forum had a group buy, and I hopped in (got my tag engraved as well – nice touch!). My order was placed on October 12, and the remote arrived on November 4. Not bad considering they had a lot of other orders ahead of mine. Communication was swift, and the group got word and pictures as remotes were completed and shipped.

So, what next? Testing. As soon as everything arrived at my doorstep I received an email with a setup video and an explanation that this was my assistance while Hoyt St. was still setting up their help page. Again, stellar communication. Five minute setup with the video was all it took, and the riding was ready to commence.

Feel of the Ride

The precision and feel of the textured thumb roller is pristine. It’s super easy to get a grip on the remote despite the circular shape. I’ve found that it takes a lot longer for your hands to cramp up on extended rides holding this remote than my trigger controller. It’s simply a better fit for the hand. 

It is worth noting, however, a select group of riders with larger hands have said that the puck can take some adjustment, and recommend shorter rides when first using the remote. 

Throttle Curve

From what I could tell, the acceleration and braking take up equal amounts of space in the range of the roller. This is neutral in my case, although I can see some customers preferring more acceleration space. If you don’t have your ESC/VESC/FocBox tuned up well, it will show no mercy. I first tried this out on a dual drive mountainboard with Trampa Gummies,  11:72 gearing, and a 10s battery pack with no modifications to the throttle or braking curve. Suffice to say, it had me on the ground pretty quickly, smashing the remote to the curb on my first day of owning it. That brings us to the next topic:

Durability

Image credit to Tim (@sender) from Alabama

If you are buying a nearly $200 remote, the expectation is that it is either a piece of art or that it will hold up to skatans fiery wrath like no other. In both cases, the Hoyt Puck remote does not disappoint. My smash to the curb barely made a dent on the front side of the bamboo shell, and nothing broke internally. I was able to get straight up and keep riding. Other riders across the United States have seen similar results, as you can see above. It’s called a “Puck”, and so far it appears to be able to perform as such when needed. That being said, I do not recommend using this as a downhill puck, for bamboo performs very differently against asphalt than hard plastic or rubber. 

Conclusions

Having paid for this remote out of my own pocket, I have no reservations about admitting to how expensive this is. But you get what you pay for, and it is a super unique piece of technology that has outperformed all of it’s competition so far. Do I recommend it? Maybe. If you’re on a budget, there are more vital things to spend your money on. But if you want the best of the best or you plan to be racing away, this is the next step in ensuring that your board is the most pristine and capable in the Saturday riding group. 

Rating

Quality: 10/10
Price: 8/10
Feel: 8/10
Aesthetic: 8/10
Reliability: 10/10
Durability: 10/10

Total: 54/60 – very solid.

[KuphJr]

Hey, I’d like to know how the remote performs in cold weather. I think this really needs to be tested before recommending the product because I have heard it can cut out under 40 degrees.

I’d love to test it myself since it’s going to be cold as hell in Minneapolis for at least the next month, but I’m not about to shell out $200 for something I’ve heard has issues…

Sorry for raining (or snowing) on the parade, just wanna look out for all you cold weather riders out there!

[DerelictRobot]

because I have heard it can cut out under 40 degrees.

Let’s be careful with hearsay.

I’m familiar with what you’re talking about, and I’ll try share a bit of information on the topic:

“cutting out” implies that the connection drops. As far as I know, not a single reported instance has occurred where this remote cut out mid-use.

The only issue I have heard of, specifically has to do with the initial auto-pairing on complete boards when they are stored below 0C. As in, when they are turned on that cold, the remote won’t connect without warming up the board a bit. Once it connects this is a non-issue.

This is independent of the remote itself. Afaik there have been no reports of this being seen with the remote itself with DIYers, as the issue is specific to the internals of the board, not the remote/receiver.

I have two of these remotes in 2 of my boards. I use one of them every single day and have had it in there for maybe 5 months at this point. I have had zero dropouts and zero issues with the auto-pairing on startup.

Hoyt St. is fully aware of the issue with cold-starting, they’ve addressed it publicly, and already appears to have a solution in the works.

Let me repeat:

AFAIK, this is specific to cold starting their complete board at cold temps. It does not impact connectivity once the pairing has been established, and is not specific to the remote itself at all. DIYers shouldn’t see this at all, and the reported cases of it even on the production board I can count on one hand

PS: I am not a Hoyt St Electric representative. I do not speak for them, and do not receive any compensation for product reviews or posting.

[mmaner]

I have heard it can cut out under 40 degrees

I’ve never experienced that I’ve spent hours under 40 riding. Who said that happened? I’d like to talk with them.

something I’ve heard has issues…

Don’t fall for the rumor mill, its usually bunk.

[ThermalChild]

I use this remote daily. I rode to work with this remote in 8 degrees Fahrenheit. Never had an issue with it ever.

[magharees]

Acknowledged issue with the receiver in cold conditions, 4 Celsius or below if I understand correctly

Hoyt Puck Remote Group Buy [ENDED]

Maybe makes a problem for @b264’s winter commute

[mmaner]

only on prebuilts and only a few of them and the issue has been resolved for weeks. This is a non-issue.

[DerelictRobot]

only on prebuilts and only a few of them and the issue has been resolved for weeks. This is a non-issue.

Yep. I personally was involved in digging into this issue with them.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the remote itself, it was specifically an issue on the prebuilt PCM, and it’s been resolved.

[mmaner]

Honestly I’m getting irritated about how much this gets brought into the conversation when Puck remotes are the topic. I mean it was literally half a dozen boards in subzero weather.

[DerelictRobot]

I mean it was literally half a dozen boards in subzero weather.

This is how misinformation spreads, and most people don’t have the technical understanding to investigate with any clarity so they just parrot an assumption. I’ve even seen people who don’t even have the remote or board claim “it’ll drop connection in cold weather” which has literally never happened.

I know from looking at the electrical design itself- it had nothing to do with the remote or receiver. It was limited to a handful of users trying to start up their boards in cold temperatures (which I’ve had issues with on other devices), and Hoyt already has a fixed version in place and is known for going above and beyond in terms of warranty/service support.

Yeah it’s a tad annoying.

[mmaner]

I think its safe to say…
A. if the board has been sitting in subzero temps
B. if the remote has been sitting in subzero temps

A + B = shit aint gonna run right.

It just boggles me that anyone could possibly think its ok to run electronics this way, batteries more than anything. Whatever though, it’s all good.

[magharees]

Don’t fall for the rumor mill, its usually bunk

Elucidation about an early issue and bunking/debunking should not really get the blood racing.

It is great @DerelictRobot helped Hoyt find this and eliminate it quickly, also great it won’t affect anyone & the only people it could have affected are extreme conditions monkeys on an earlier rendition.

Nevertheless it was a clarification that it was not based on myth, rather an early edge case which had hardly any impact.

Your etc,
Misinformed non-Hoyt owner

[DerelictRobot]

Elucidation about an early issue and bunking/debunking should not really get the blood racing.

It’s not this, it’s statements from people who’ve never touched a product making exaggerated statements such as:

“It drops connection in cold weather”

And I’ve seen that misinformed statement made more than once. That was never the issue to begin with, and a dropped connection while riding is vastly more dangerous and alarming than “a handful of users had issues starting their board up in sub zero temps”.

People love to point. If there was ever any concern with this issue I’d feel compelled to warn people, but the people “warning” don’t actually understand the issue and jump to conclusions based on assumption.

[magharees]

I did postface, I love to point

Misinformed non-Hoyt owner

[mmaner]

Elucidation about an early issue and bunking/debunking should not really get the blood racing.

That’s the thing, it does. Let me explain why.

Here’s a manufacturer that has made a large investments in developing and manufacturing a remote and likely sold less than 200 and that may be a very liberal number. Then you have a guy that’s new to esk8 and really likes the remote but see someone say “there are drops in cold weather” so he goes looking for a different remote.

There’s a lot of consequences to this seemingly innocent statement, but let me expound on 2 of them…

1. The manufacturer lost a sale, hence profit, therefore has less ability to make more and better products.
2. The customer is not buying the remote that he really wanted, he is settling for something less so his ride experience will be less than what he envisioned.

My suggestion would be to ask a question if you don’t have data to back up a statement, that leaves the conclusion open to others that do have the data. By making a statement instead of asking a question your giving less experienced users the impression that the statement is FACT instead of supposition.

We are all good, and I’m a huge fan or yours. You build great boards and, I mean damn, your irish . Just keep in mind that questions vs. periods are important in both small batch manufacturing and pregnancy

[magharees]

I get it.

However, the elucidation in a fairly small forum which is extremely unlikely to result in anecdotal incorrect ‘Chinese whispers’ to those considering purchasing the product, is rather just fully tracking the product history & purely out of interest.

A side-story on what was a minor event in detail rather then any kind of product shaming.

Juxtapose that to an example fictional Reddit post which fulfils the remit in the assertion
OneNewb: Those Hotty remotes any good?
esk84ever: Nah bro, they go dick in the cold

Peace out!

[bourbon_norm]

New esk8er here. It doesn’t take long for professional technical people and/or dedicated DIYers to recognize this forum and “the other place” as places to learn from other’s experiences. As such they have the ability to bring in new ideas and different looks at old ones. The level of knowledge is immediately recognizable to those “knowledgeable in the art” (a common patent term used to describe experts). What is also immediately recognizable is the kind of acrimony leading to having two places.

There are a couple things necessary to maintain the quality of high level technical discussions:

1. Don’t state something as fact unless you know it is a fact and have or have reviewed data that verifies it. Otherwise it is hearsay or an opinion.
2. Recognize that there will be differences of opinion between technical experts. Keep it technical, don’t let it feel personal and don’t make it personal.

I’ve spent decades in technical new business and R&D roles. The difference between smart people with great ideas and successful smart people with great ideas is interpersonal skills and differentiating between fact and opinion.

Mike Nolan
Chief Technologist
Northrop Grumman Astro Aerospace

[magharees]

Hey Mike, welcome aboard the purely for pleasure cruise

Edit: apologies! Interrupted mid-compose

[Dareno]

Hey Norm,

whos Norm?

[magharees]

Not you friend, cheers