Hey Kyle it’s me
Can’t believe you didn’t have an (active) account yet lol
FYI people I’m also an admin in SDEsk8 
This is a good point - we haven’t seen an esk8news article in ages though bc, you know why lol
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This is all really good info, a couple of clarifications if you don’t mind!
You mention high strength threadlocker; do you have a specific brand or formula that you like the most? I’m familiar with the blue and green formulas from Loctite and have generally liked those, but am curious about others!
When you reference bolt-on pulleys, I assume you mean the Trampa style pulleys that mount directly to the wheel hub via the same hardware that holds the two halves of the wheel core together?
As for VESC firmware, I personally am using 5.2; do you have any others that you recommend? Any that you absolutely avoid?
I have a decent bit of experience with Davega units, and really like them; I have none with METR units. I know generally about their logging properties, but can you tell me a bit more about what you personally find valuable about them?
I have been running various sets of MR60s completely out of spec for years now, and have honestly never used bullets. I always thought it made sense to apply a bit of solder to bullet connectors. Is this something you do, and does it remove the need for adhesive lined shrink?
Sorry, I know that’s a lot of questions and I don’t mean to be giving you homework! Please feel free to answer as many or as few of these as you’re able.
That’s right - they’re antiquated. There are plenty of press fit ones available now that are great.
5.1 had the duty cycle issue I think, 5.2 is what I run too. Generally new vesc firmware is riddled with issues so I usually stay away from latest version for a few months.
Having logs that show your whole route’s data can be helpful for diagnosing issues, observing hardware limitations, and other stuff. In general, they’re just really cool to look at and share.
That doesn’t really make any sense to me, since you’re supposed to be able to separate them. Just use them properly, use the good kind and not the springy kind, and either use heatshrink over the connection, or use electrical tape. Sometimes electrical tape can come loose tho so heatshrink is better. I’ve had bullets vibrate apart before, otherwise.
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I would absolutely love to write some copy for y’all! DM me wherever and we can definitely chat more about that!
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Ahahaha, too many irons in my fire, otherwise I would have been here sooner! Great to see you here!
I shouldn’t take too much credit for SDESK8, as Ryan pointed out I have an amazing team behind me and I wouldn’t have gotten nearly as far as I have without them!
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Since it’s Brian’s list I’ll let him answer citation @b264. But I believe drivetrain comes first because that’s going to limit your compatible wheel selections.
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@ShutterShock did a great job answering your questions for me 
To address your unanswered questions:
I personally use off-brand threadlocker because Loctite isn’t popular where I’m from, but for information about the different types of Loctite threadlocker we have 2 great threads in the Wiki section of the forum:
Threadlocker (Loctite) Guide - Wiki
Where should I use threadlocker / Loctite on an electric skateboard?
Yes, 2-piece wheel pulleys suck because they’re hard to center, sometimes go off center, and can fall apart on you. 10$ more for a press-fit pulley with its own bearing to keep it aligned is 100% worth it.
I use Vesc FW 5.2 as well rn because I’m familiar with the known bugs it has and how to work around them. I’ll switch to 6.0 soon after more people have tested it. Some people got hurt on 5.3 so I don’t trust it personally.
What I love about metr is that it logs remote input, which makes diagnosing issues a lot easier, and it has a very nice online log viewer which makes sharing and viewing logs very pleasant.
Soldering bullets together is a pretty crazy but also pretty genius idea Maybe I’ll try that 
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You’d have to talk to @longhairedboy or his son @jamie, they are the admins around these parts and hold the keys to the wordpress. I’d bet they would be very excited about someone willing to contribute to the knowledgebase though!
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u wake frank up now
also drawing penis 
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Sure, drivetrain is first because there are a LOT more things that can be incompatible. You can almost always find a wheel to fit an otherwise completed drivetrain imho.
Picking wheels first can lead to many situations, only some of which are: nonexistant/incompatible pulleys/gears, wheelbite, enclosure scraping
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That makes a tonof sense, thank you for the clarification!
Welp time to go place an order
These are amazing resources, thank you for the link; they’ve gone in my spreadsheet and will be referenced liberally.
Yeah I’m not super current on VESC firmware but even I’ve had some horror stories filter down to me about 5.3; definitely gonna be team 5.2 for a while longer.
I mean it seems like it would be easy to remove with a bit of heat, but I honestly don’t have any basis for this; just something that made sense to me to try. I also have no idea what heating and cooling the connectors repeatedly may do to conductivity or physical integrity long-term, but I can imagine doing it repeatedly could potentially cause some issues.
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Hi Mr Kyle, I love you 
. My number one advice is to always triple check your solder connections.
Cold solder points will bite you in the ass, but good flux or rosin core. Another thing, always bring tools and a portable butane solder torch on every ride just incase, had a few moments where a connection got loose and I was stuck. Just always be prepared for your board to break Because at the end of the day, it’s a DIY.
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Holy shit have you been packing a torch in that backpack you bring on group rides 
All jokes aside, great advice, and I really appreciate the feedback! What tools would you say are absolute must haves? Anything other the obvious hex key/wrench/t-tool sort of setups?
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I carry around wera hex Allen wrenches(not the best but get the job done), a few socket wrench sizes for my trucks go dial them in, and an Amazon butane torch, (Lexion). Also always bring around a spare tire ready with air if you are running pnematics, even if it isn’t the same as your other hubs, just something with the same bolt pattern. If you want some good Allen keys, wiha is the go to Allen key. But yea the butane torch and solder gun has come in handy one too many times
A Lyft is only a few bucks and it seems unlikely you’ll need to solder on the side of the road very often. And also a Lyft is only a few bucks.
Over here a mile away is 15$ lol. Plus you can get stranded in the mountains in San Diego on offroad rides
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For the dabs and things.
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