I wanted to share a fun little build I’ve been rocking for the past couple weeks. I’m really stoked about it, hope you guys find it interesting too.
I had a Meepo Mini, which was excellent but I think I can do better.
Specifically, I didn’t like the hub wheels, so I wanted a direct drive setup (ideally) or pulley with kegel flywheels.
I wanted the lightest weight and smallest footprint I could reasonably get to.
The motivation for this is simply that I want an eskate light enough for me to carry around and not feel like it’s a massive burden. I also wanted a tighter truck width, and more of an analog longboard feel.
I didn’t do a lot of documentation, so I’ll just dump some info and pics and hopefully you can piece together the rest.
- Loaded Ballona
- Caliber III 184mm trucks
- Loaded Kegel wheels 80mm
- 12S1P 4ah Lishen LR2170LA + LLT Bluetooth BMS
- Makerx DV4s
- Generic 5055 motors 140kv, 15T 9mm wide belts
- Printed Kegel adapters, huge shout out!! Longboard Orangatang Kegel 36 Tooth Pulley for 9mm, 12MM and 15mm Belt by JuniorPotato93 - Thingiverse
I did a very small modification and shaved 4mm from the original print, that was to save space. - Dickyho Motor Mounts + Caliber Profile
I did have to drill into the trucks to add that gub screw to lock it in, it wouldn’t stay no matter how tight. - Custom Fiberglass Enclosure
I printed out a mold in ABS, vapor smoothed, then used fiberglass in a compression mold. Final finish is spray paint.
Final weight: 13.5lbs, that’s 6123g!
Conclusion: Awesome lightweight short distance fun board!! Seriously one of the boards I pick up most often; excellent utility and easy to have everywhere. Almost like an EDC you can keep with you.
Some final thoughts and ideas for the next one:
Top speed was geared to be 28mph/43.5kmh (18T - 32T), but pretty soon I realized the sustained amp draw and short wheelbase + trucks are all the way loose = it’s not too confidence inspiring at that speed. I changed to the 15T - 36T, top speed 22mph/35.5kmh.
Range is 15mi/24km+ if you cruise around ~15mph. If you full send you get less than 8mi/13km. Usually I am around 10-12mi to empty.
Kicktail doesn’t work with these motor mounts 
. If I were more clever with the enclosure spacing and I drilled out the back truck holes further back, I think I could face the motors forward. Also, the dickyho motor mounts are a little large, I think I’d have to custom design them.
I also think 5045 motors would be better, I just happened to have 5055 on hand. I could also save some weight de-casing the DV4s, about 100g, and snip the extra long motor wires. With all these changes, I could fit some standard 180mm trucks. With generally better planning I’m sure I can shave some extra weight and be well in the 12lb range for v2.
Photo dump note, the fiberglassing photos are from another build; I don’t have for this one. I posted them anyway because I figured some of you would like to see.
On that note, anyone know anything about these hobbywing direct drive motors? I love direct drive and I’d be VERY interested to use them and have so many questions. Where can I get a truck to mount them? Any flywheels available? Where do I even get them?
Shoot your critique below ↓
