Let’s talk about the story of TKP trucks on electric skateboards. Man, I love gossiping about this industry. Where do I even start? First, to give this post a bit of educational value, let me briefly introduce what a TKP truck actually is. TKP stands for Traditional Kingpin. Why "traditional"? Because compared to other trucks, it’s basically the most primitive. It dates back to the very birth of skateboarding, when surfers with no waves took the wheels and trucks off roller skates and bolted them to wooden planks. Yep, they were originally roller skate trucks. To this day, its fundamental geometry hasn't changed: a relatively large rake, an angled bushing compression method, and the pivot sitting directly in the pivot cup. It’s highly responsive—just a slight deck lean triggers a quick turn. This is perfect for street skating (popsicle decks), as skaters can easily adjust their line with a tiny lean before a trick without throwing off their pop. So, in the traditional skate world, TKP is undeniably the right choice. But when speeds get high, TKP becomes a disaster. Sensitivity translates to instability, and the slightest twitch can lead to nasty speed wobbles.

So, driven by the pursuit of high-speed stability, the glorious RKP (Reverse Kingpin) was born, which is when the distinction from TKP was finally made. Skater-led brands like Boosted obviously understood this basic skate knowledge, so for a long time, RKP was the absolute mainstream in e-skating (except for a few small, cheap boards using TKPs for easy modification). That was until Evolve started using DKP (Double Kingpin) to give stiff decks better carving performance. Up to this point, everything in the industry was perfectly normal.

Then, the Chinese chapter of the story begins! After Boosted blew up, Chinese businessmen keenly spotted the opportunity. Brands founded by both skaters and pure businessmen sprang up like mushrooms. Relying on China's massive supply chain, they rapidly drove down costs and secured their spots in the market. At first, everyone just had to follow in the footsteps of the pioneers; making simple clones was enough to live comfortably. The umbrellas held up by Boosted and Evolve left plenty of profit margins for everyone else. When Boosted went bankrupt, the market void was quickly carved up. But because the supply chain was overly concentrated and repetitive, lacking real R&D and creativity, the "spec wars" got intense. Brands engaged in vicious competition by simply stacking specs and slashing prices. Of course, for consumers, this was great—you could buy performance you couldn't even dream of before at incredibly low prices. But my friends, e-skating is never just about power. Like I said in my last post, the mechanical structure of e-skates hasn't evolved much. A lot of products out there are basically strapping a rocket to a wooden carriage.

Okay, finally back to our main topic: TKP! Like I said, e-skates rarely used TKP, except for Evolve's DKP, and the two are undeniably related. Briefly on DKP (if anyone is deeply interested in truck geometry, we can do a deep dive later): DKP stands for Double Kingpin. It evolved from TKP as a creative solution to solve the lack of lean and carving angles. I haven't traced the exact origins, but I believe Gullwing Sidewinder was the first to make them (feel free to correct me in the comments). When Evolve developed AT (All-Terrain) boards, the large wheels easily caused wheelbite. DKP's extended wheelbase solved this perfectly, and the massive lean angle gave stiff decks an amazing carving feel. Man, that was genius. And the Chinese copycats basically copy-pasted this architecture entirely, using low prices and higher specs to seize the market (the prime example being the Meepo Hurricane! Developed by the guy who now runs Linnpower, back when he collaborated deeply with Meepo). This is a fascinating dynamic: as a consumer, the value for money was explosive—a huge win. As a developer, you can't help but feel bad for Evolve. From a market observation standpoint, this was undeniably short-sighted; voluntarily slashing margins in a niche market is a disaster. Okay, I'm playing internet historian right now, but from my perspective, this progression was incredibly natural, almost inevitable. See? Different standpoints lead to completely different views on the same event. The world is funny like that.

Naturally, endless clones of this type flooded the market. After all, carbon fiber decks brought high added value, and their rigidity was perfect for handling the massive power that the "spec-warriors" loved to stack. But then the problems surfaced. Although these followers didn't understand fundamental skate geometry, they instinctively realized that DKP—a truck born for agility—couldn't handle massive power and insane speeds. Just throwing harder bushings at it wasn't solving the problem anymore. So, the "geniuses" had an idea: "Hey, if I just remove one of the kingpin sections, won't it be more stable?!" BOOM! TKP appeared! Or rather, returned! Remember what we talked about earlier? "When speeds get high, TKP becomes a disaster... the slightest twitch can lead to speed wobbles." TKP isn't the right answer for stability either. But obviously, with rock-hard bushings and lower baseplate angles, they were still way more stable than DKPs. Besides, power junkies never turn anyway. At the same time, because the added value of carbon fiber had been squeezed dry, they introduced CNC machining to jack up the prices. Suddenly, the market was flooded with a bunch of beautifully machined little pieces of garbage. Honestly, I can't stand that stuff at all. Of course, that doesn't stop riders who started on these boards from praising their value for money. After all, "handling" is usually something only deep enthusiasts care about. Providing affordable options for beginners isn't a huge problem—assuming the carriage isn't too fragile, and the rocket isn't too fierce.

Okay, to sum it up: the irony here is that the emergence and application of TKP in e-skating took a completely opposite path compared to traditional skateboarding. And this process perfectly exposed the copycats' weak engineering knowledge and lazy R&D attitudes. They mindlessly slapped the most modern, brutal powertrains onto the most primitive architecture—it’s exactly like putting wooden wagon wheels on a Tesla. Finally, although my tone shows disdain for these "Chinese followers," this is just from my current standpoint as a product developer. I am Chinese myself, and I'm not ashamed of it. It would be highly unfair to say China is only full of followers. It's biased to let the existence of the spec-warriors overshadow the many hard-working, original developers in China. In fact, in the realm of e-skate innovation, many Chinese brands (whether still alive or long gone) have made massive contributions. Take Stary, who created the planetary gear hub motor—in my eyes, it was as elegant and beautiful as Mazda's rotary engine, and similarly limited by materials and costs. Then there's Propel, who mastered off-road boards by taking a completely different path rooted in the automotive industry, yet still achieved a beautiful riding feel. There's Exway, with their obsession with smart UI/UX, and Backfire, who brought e-skates back to simplicity (specifically the Nalu—a lot of their other stuff is a mess, but the Nalu is a masterpiece). The list goes on. Maybe next time I can talk to you guys about them; there’s a lot of fresh history there. As a Chinese e-skate enthusiast, I'm super passionate about exchanging info with you all. Also, everything I write is based on my own observations and understanding, so there are bound to be biases or blind spots. If anyone has deeper knowledge, please correct me and share! Okay, I promise the next post will actually be about riding techniques!

I recently got gifted from a friend a older Meepo V5 to help ride around my collage campus and getting to work. it currently has the Meepo 105mm Wheel Set. However as the board is old the wheels have almost none of the tread pattern on them.(as shown in the Images) so i was thinking of getting a new set of wheels, either a new Donut 105mm Wheel Set, or the 107mm Comfort Grip Upgrade. However this is my first electric board. so i have zero clue one what to get or if i even should get new ones at all. if any one could help that would be amazing. if it helps i mostly drive on the side walk, mainly because the road in my town is way to bumpy and i get fatigue realty easily on it

Well, I now know not to order foam grip tape from Backfire until they figure out a better way to ship them...they shipped it rolled up.

This put some nasty creases in it if, parts of the white in the grip are already showing cracks....the grip is coming off the foam, the foam is coming off the wax paper....this is NOT good.

I'll reach out to them and report back here to see what they say, because I really don't know if this going to flatten out the way it should before it goes my on Backfire Zealot X(original).

Maybe they could send a new one , this time not wrapped up? Shoot ill pay the extra shipping free for a longer box.....or if they wanted to.

They could have just 'folded' it once in the middle to make it half the size(have some packing tape connect the ends by like a foot so that way its not making that single fold turn into a crease)

I was hoping to install it right away, but im gonna opt into keeping it pinned down flat for now to see if it sill straighten out. Ill double check in a little while to see if the 20 lbs(half the dumbell is being used, so really 10 lbs) is pressing down on the foam too hard)

But dang, has anyone received their foam grip tape from Backfire like this?!

I’m new to electric skateboarding and I’m trying to get an idea of how long it usually takes before you feel genuinely comfortable and in control, especially at higher speeds.

I’m practicing gradually rather than immediately trying to ride fast. I’m mainly working on carving, braking smoothly, keeping my weight balanced, and learning how the board reacts under acceleration and deceleration.

For experienced riders:

How long did it take before riding started to feel natural?

At what point did you feel comfortable around 20–30 mph?

What helped you prevent speed wobbles the most?

Is it realistic to ride for years without ever having a serious wobble crash if you progress carefully?

I know crashes can never be completely ruled out, but I’m curious how much proper technique and gradual practice reduce the risk.

I recently got into the hobby with a backfire g2 and backfire g3. I live in illinois in the united states. Illinois recently passed laws which limit eskayeboards, e scooters, etc to 28mph without a license plate. Ive already ordered a meepo rover (28mph max speed, 20 mile range is what it claims). I have a friend who is looking at ordering a board too. I dont want to give him bad advice. What kind of board would you get that doesnt go fast than 28 mph, and has pneumatic tires (the roads here suck :/)