First Build I Platypus I Caliber trucks I 6355 170kv I Eboardsolutions mount I 10s2p I VESC

I thought I would first explain how I decided to make an eboard from the very beginning. I bought my first traditional longboard when I was eleven years old. My friends got them as well and we loved them to death. Even though they were kind of cheap with crap bearings, really stiff board and low quality trucks, we rode them as much as we could, sometimes for 8-9 hours a day.

As I kept being interested in longboards, I got myself a higher quality one from Fibretec a year later, along with paris trucks, nice abec bearings and orangatang wheels. This led to my friends of course upgrading their boards after having been blown away by the difference between theirs and mine.

Now that we all had our wonderful boards, the interest in the sport kept rising to the point that it was pretty much the only thing we did during summer breaks. However this all changed some years later, the summer of 2015, the same year that I turned 16. Towards the end of the summer I suddenly started being really tired all the time, but not a "normal tiredness, rather is if I had a fever. After over a year of visiting doctors, doing different tests and taking blood samples, it turned out that I have a chronic illness called CFS. This prevented me from riding my board any more as it was exhausting for me.

Until a few months ago, I saw one of these electric scooters that you rent via an app in your phone. I tried one of those out and it went pretty well, I did not feel exhausted at all. This eventually led to me buying my own scooter, a Xiaomi M365. After riding that for a few weeks now, I have finally decided to build my own eboard. To be able to get back the awesome feeling of surfing down the streets.


I am going for belt drive since I want to be able to change out the wheels from time to time. It also looks cooler :sunglasses:. I am only going single drive since I do not need that much power in the beginning, but I will eventually upgrade to an additional motor and vesc in the future.

This is my parts list which from my understanding should be compatible:

Mechanical_single_kit_480x480

First off I am getting this kit, from electricboardsolutions which includes wheel and motorpulleys, motor mount, truck, belt and such.I chose the kegel wheel pulleys.

Orangatang_Kegel_80a_480x480

Since I chose the kegel pulleys I am going to be using these orangatang kegel 80a wheels, also from electronicboardsolutions

MTVESC50A_6460466c-36e4-4873-b87f-2bf6a58fd26d_480x480

I am using a VESC from electricboardsolutions as from my understanding it seems to be a pretty reliable ESC with a good software.

MTSKR1712_with_Acc_480x480

I am using an esk8 remote

The battery that will be powering the board, is an 10s2p, also from electricboardsolutions. I am pretty certain it will be enough since I only have a single motor. Also from my understanding this will not need a switch, as it has a high discharge BMS. I based it on what I read in this thread ec48191f6d0c6efb7817e3d73b401686

platypus_slipstream_card_dt

Lastly the deck I will be using is from Slipstream. Not really a known brand but in my local area some longboard stores stock them.

I have already ordered the board and will fetch the rest of the parts next week. Please share your thoughts and opinions as I am not experienced in the whole DIY esk8 category.

Thanks for reading, will provide updates further down the line!

1 Like

Looks like the basis for a good solid first build, I know cos it’s very similar to mine

Caliber II’s, 6374 190kv, electric board solutions mount, 10s, VESC and a maytech remote! Mine has evolved from a 8s 6055 270kv into this although I’ve gone for evolve kegel pulley with a centre mounted bearing and I’ve just ordered some 85mm orangatang caguama’s which will slip straight onto the pulley.

Only thing I’ve had to since moving to a 63mm canned motor is swap it to the rear of the truck as it was getting hit too much at the front with 80mm wheels

Good luck with your build - you’ll love it when it’s up and running.

1 Like

if you dont mind buying from multiple sources, i can link you almost identical parts for much cheaper

1 Like

That would be really nice of you! However I assume that wont be from inside the EU?

Please do, I’m also interested

Depending on shipping cost you might want to get the Kegel wheels from skatehut.co.uk

High discharge BMS is probably a good choice with only a 2p pack. Especially if you want a nice button instead of a loop key :slight_smile:

Wow, you can mount the motor backwards with the eboardsolutions motor mount? That’s nice :smiley:

no, i am in the USA. that might make these items harder to get…

Ordering from skatehut makes an 8 euro difference, so I will order them from eboardsolutions instead :slight_smile: But does the list look OK otherwise? Like the vesc being able to handle the battery and such? :flushed:

I think I will order all the part from this seller, as I do not want to deal with customs and such. Ordering inside the EU also gives me much more protection as a buyer than ordering from companies overseas.

1 Like

i dont blame you. dealing with customs for anything but china is a nightmare

Oh the battery can’t give out more than 40A anyway, so it’s safe. Just a 2P battery will limit your breaking power though, so be prepared to charge your cells at 2.5x what they’re rated for lol.

I recently purchased parts for a build also mainly from eboardsolutions, with the exception being that I got ecaliber trucks from unikboards (cheaper that way even with shipping) and thus used the kegel pulley with an integrated berring so that I don’t have screws going through my wheels. Even with loctite I had some issues with my current board’s wheel pulleys, so I decided it was worth the small price bump.

Oh thats nice! Did not know those wheel pulleys existed, might be an upgrade in the future. The braking should be no worries, I am light as a feather :sweat_smile:

1 Like

So all the parts arrived today and I started assembling the board itself. The board I first ordered was not in stock, so I went with another DT deck that has some tan tien inspired look

unnamed%20(3)

Even though it is a drop through deck, I decided to top mount the trucks since I want better ground clearance.

unnamed%20(2)

When I began assembling the electronics, things started to go wrong. I failed the soldering job so bad that I messed up my XT90 connector, making it all crooked so the male wont go in the female part of the connector. I have ordered a connector here in my country, but it will not arrive until next week :sob:. I wish I would have asked Frederic to solder the connector for me, since he would have done the job so much better.

unnamed%20(1)

unnamed

1 Like

So, I managed to fix the crooked XT90 connector by heating up the connector and then bending the pins to the right place. I then redid the soldering job, but this time with the male connector stuck inside the female one. This made the connector stay shape in shape even though it was heated up. So this is a great tip for anyone soldering XT90 and XT60 connectors.

I then made a test run with the board, without applying loctite. This was a big mistake, since while I was riding one of the screws on the motor mount came loose and got stuck in the drivetrain, which made the board stop immediately causing me to fly head first. Luckily I was wearing a helmet and did not go very fast, so I got off with only some lost skin on my hands and shoulder as well as a sprained pinky.

unnamed%20(4)

So I made another run after having applied loctite and letting it cure for about 12 hours. And boy do I love this machine. Even though I am pretty constrained by my terrible riding skills, I really like riding this board and have been thinking about it constantly ever since.

Even though I am very satisfied, I think I should have gone with a flexier deck. So I might build another board in the future with a double stacked battery using the meepo NLS deck or the loaded vanguard.

Will update with some more pics in the morning, thank you for reading!

1 Like

Pretty sure most of us have made that mistake before :smiley: Glad you’re alright.

Do you want a flexier board to get rid of vibrations, or just for feel? I found that using soft riser pads improved my riding experience way more than softer wheels (Switched from OTang orange -> blue), and it’s definitely a cheaper option than getting a new deck.

Mostly because of vibrations, but my push board is a little flexier and I think I prefer that riding feel over the stiff maple deck I have now. I do not have ny riser pads at all, so I might have to try getting some before changing deck.

I have orange kegel wheels on my push board, and was extremely surprised when I realized that on rough ground my skateboard with 5mm soft riser pads and softer, albeit smaller, wheels had way less vibrations and was a better riding experience. Both are just as stiff.

First get some soft riser pads, if that isn’t enough you can try getting softer wheels. If you’re into orange then Evolve has their new wheels available :wink: :moneybag: Otherwise skatehut still has a sale for the blue Orangutang wheels, but they aren’t that big of an upgrade imo.