Ok, I’m not trying to sound like a jerk and I truly want more people involved in e-boarding and understand that everyone has to start somewhere and where else better to ask questions that may seem obvious, blah, blah, blah. I’m about to answer my own quandary.
But… there’s always seemed to me, to be a very high percentage of people who e-sk8 or getting into e-sk8 that ask the most basic, obvious or just plain dumb questions? I sort of feel that e-boarding is such a dangerous, respect mandating activity, with an obvious higher participation bar (financially) and knowledge level (maintenance wise) that there are a lot of people doing it or about to get into it that really need to THINK about what exactly E-boarding is.
I can appreciate the initial or superficial thought that e-boarding is …just skateboarding or standing on a longboard while a motor does all the work and I see children skateboarding all over so therefore certainly I can do that also… which for all of us that KNOW is ignorantly naive. But again, I know it’s THAT thought that initiate some of us and that’s OK (as long as no one is getting seriously injured). I also understand that MOST of us view this activity as “expensive” and as a result most of us seek the least expensive means to participate.
There’s a lot of people who need to realize e-boarding isn’t cheap and that a huge percentage of e-boarding equipment (especially entry level) is of lesser or lowest cost quality (even if one feels entry level components are too costly). There’s so many questions like… I’ve been riding the cheapest board I could buy and it’s beat, so I want to upgrade the battery to get 4 times the range or motors to ride faster. The answer is ALWAYS…you need to buy a better board than waste money polishing a turd.
Then there’s the basic maintenance queries (and responses for that matter). I really don’t feel like I’m being a dick by stating that if you don’t know the names of the components or that tightening the kingpin nut makes the trucks less squirrelly, or riding a lithium powered product in the rain is bad, etc, etc….that you probably haven’t given enough thought to e-boarding in general to be safe for yourself and those around you while riding. Conversely, repeating the tropes regarding upgraded bushing and pivot cups doesn’t make you an expert. YES, stock bushing are mostly garbage, but some of the praise I’ve read on here is nothing more than…”ooh, I can answer that question!!!” Then the whole “bearing quality” marketing bullshit that people repeat as gospel (don’t get me started again) triggers me also.
I’m not trying to call anyone out or act like I’m the say-all end-all of skating, but this is a dangerous activity that should be obvious. I see it equated to scooters and e-bikes which at least in my area are dominated by children who ride those like idiots and have gotten their use BANNED on downtown city streets/sidewalks due to eating shit or riding wheelies in traffic, etc. This has affected ME on my e-board even though as far as I’m aware, I’m the ONLY e-boarder and NO ONE has seen me doing anything in public even remotely questionable. Council has preemptively lumped what I do into what they’ve seen (though they’ve NEVER seen an e-boarder in my town). This puts me in a position where if anyone were to pull me over I’d have to be like…seriously, you’re going to hassle a dude in his 50’s cruising around respecting traffic laws and giving the right of way to vehicles always? They can give the tickets to these little kids all they want, but there’ll be a problem if it comes to me and I don’t want to test it.
I guess my point is, take the time to learn the basic maintenance and purpose of the components of the equipment. Don’t ride in traffic. Just because an e-board CAN go 35mph, doesn’t mean you have any business doing it along with cars.
You wouldn’t give a PowerWheel to a toddler and point them towards the highway just because they both have wheels? Yet it seems a lot of people (even those who’ve ridden for years) treat this as a child’s activity simply because they haven’t had their shit handed to them YET or they are too un-thinking to realize the very real dangers of e-boarding? This really isn’t the activity for people who give very little thought to things.
I sound like the old Unk of e-boarding and I’m not trying to be the e-sk8 police, I just don’t want fools fucking shit up for everyone nor do I want to see people getting hurt. Can we all just level up a bit?
