Keep in mind I’m not a professional videographer or photographer, just an esk8 enthusiast trying to give more info to others. Summary at the bottom, and video review below:
Video review : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q03BsauJJk&feature=youtu.be
Photos of board here: https://imgur.com/a/wbNlaTh
My IG : @photorph85 (personal and esk8 related content)
I have ridden about 50 miles, I wanted to ride more before I get a review out but at the same time I wanted to get a review posted quickly for those who may be on the fence about ordering. Note that I weigh 140 lbs. All of the riding I do is on good quality tarmac which is exactly what this board is designed for, I save the bad roads for my onewheel. As usual I will review various categories highlighted in bold below.
Customer service: One of the main reasons I went with Lacroix is because of the team behind the board. Alex and Pat are true professionals. Alex recently quit his gig as a lawyer and is devoting all his time to the Lacroix board. From first contact he was extremely helpful (even though I sounded like I didn’t trust their shipping time estimates). @Arch is here, he is on the Facebook lacroix group, on reddit, and even on discord. Somehow he is able to keep up and reply in all those places while building boards for customers all day and getting them shipped out in 3-5 weeks. They have had zero delays and have gotten all their boards shipped out on time. This puts all other high end esk8 companies to shame. Unlike other esk8 companies, the guys at Lacroix made sure they had production and customer service figured out BEFORE they started selling boards. Bravo!
Shipping time: Excellent, shipped exactly when they said it would. I wonder how these guys will be able to keep up though, they had 400 or so orders at the time I ordered yet they still shipped boards out in time. As more people find out about them, they will get many orders and I have no doubt these guys will be in the 1000s. I would be truly impressed if they can keep up, however according to Alex the more orders they have the faster they can build since they can order parts in bulk and have larger quantities ready to go.
Build quality/Reliability: Fit and finish are A+. Everything was put together well and there was a lot of attention to detail. The build is simple, but the board and enclosure just exudes elegance. A a lot of thought has been put into the board and it has been made as light as possible. I would double check all screws to ensure they are tightened before every ride. The motor mounts are big and beefy, and mounted securely. Given all the parts are well known in the DIY community, I see this board as being reliable as long as you ride it how they recommend, on the streets. It is also important to do routine check ups on all screws and nuts, make sure your wheels are inflated to the proper PSI (I have mine at 40), and make sure your bless are aligned.
Range: They have two options for batteries, the 60 samsung 30q cells on the DSS60 for 666 Watt hours OR 50 Sanyo 20700 for 786 Watt hours. I chose the Sanyo for longer range, and if you can afford it go for that since the weight is the same. I usually ride the board from fully charged to dead, but I just could not do this on this board. You see after 30 miles of riding, my legs were literally about to collapse. So I’m not really sure about what the upper limit of range is, but I can say that at my weight I will never have to even think about range on this board. Do note that it takes about 4 hours to charge this board. I’ll update this section when I’m able to do a 100% to 0% drain in one try.
Wheel size/ride comfort: I am done with urethane wheels forever. These wheels are like riding a cloud, this is a sentiment shared by anyone who has tried a Lacroix board. The pneumatics combined with the amazing flex of the super wide Canadian maple/carbon fiber deck leads to the most comfortable esk8 rider EVER. It feels much safer to be on this board than any other esk8 with urethane wheels, no longer do I have to worry about little bumps or rocks.
Portability/size/weight: The board weighs 27.8 lbs on my scale, it’s no lightweight board. But you will never need to carry this given the insane range. You can roll the board like luggage though, I lift it up using the rear trucks and just roll it on the front wheels. Easier to do this than to carry the boosted I had. The deck is very wide, so this is not a board that you’d want to lift and carry though, so if portability is your main concern then look elsewhere.
Aesthetics: Excellent! The carbon fiber enclosure, the beautiful deck, the clean beefy motor mounts, and the neat install of everything makes this the best looking board in my opinion. Even the internals are laid out so neatly. These guys are perfectionists.
Noise: It’s on par with all other belt driven boards I’ve had, but not as quite as hub motors obviously. I don’t mind the noise, and actually I don’t even hear anything except the wind noise after I go beyond 20 mph.
Remote: boosted is the gold standard here and if boosted board is a 10/10 then this would be 7/10. The remote they use is the generation 2 nano remote, pretty popular in the DIY world. It’s reliable and it does the job. You turn the power button on, push the throttle forward all the way and backward all the way to calibrate it, you then put it right next to the receiver on the board by the power button and turn the board on. It takes about 1-2 seconds to sync. You’re good to go. I personally still think nothing can match the boosted remote. This does the job though, but it’s probably the weakest point in the board. The good thing though is, if you mess the remote up you can just buy a new one and it will sync with the board the exact same way. The remote syncs by proximity and once synced it stays connected w/o issue. Nothing to write home about, but it just plain works. Have to be careful with it since there is no deadman trigger. Note that the reverse function is turned OFF so you can’t accidentally hit that button while riding.
Throttle/breaking refinement: You will not get thrown off on this board from touchy braking or harsh acceleration, the acceleration and braking curves are smooth and controllable. There is a lot of power, but it is managed well. One thing to keep in mind is that it is a belt drive, so when you’re going higher speed and you let go of the throttle quickly, there will be slight resistance from the belts so you have to be prepared for that. Also due to the way the VESC works brakes can lock up at very slow speeds (i’m talking like 0-3 mph maybe), it doesn’t effect anything in anyway. I usually stay on the board since the speeds it locks up at are so low.
Performance: With two censored 6374 190 kv motors, this board has endless power. I’ve hit a top speed of 33 mph on ECO mode (shown in video review). I still haven’t tested max speed though on full power. The thing is though, I like riding this board at 18-25 mph and just carving up the roads. Those are exactly the speeds they recommend you ride at as well. The board flies up any hill pretty much, if you’ve got steep hills this will make short work of them. I’m 140 lbs and I only have small hills because I’m mostly in a flat area, I think I can get up everything where I am in ECO mode with 1/2 throttle. More impressive though is how manageable the power is. Oh and they also include a 16t motor pulley in case you want more torque.
Carving: this is where this board shines more so than most other e-skates. The only other esk8 I liked for carving was evolve, but that had other issues. This board has a different feel from other esk8s, it uses MBS matrix 2 trucks and these are completely different than any board I’ve ever ridden. The trucks are SUPER wide, you can see how far apart those huge motors are from each other. They also don’t have bushings like traditional trucks, they use these big blocks called “shockblocks” instead. The combination of the wide flexy arched concave board with these trucks make these board feel more like a surfboard than a skateboard. You really have to use your body, core, and legs all together to get those deep carves. It will feel like riding a surfboard. It’s also hard to get speed wobbles on this board because of the wide trucks and the “shockblocks”. So the board carves amazing at low speed, and yet is stable when riding at higher speeds. This takes surfing the streets to a new level.
Airline travel: Don’t even think about
Water resistance: Kind of, I believe it is water resistance but not water proof. But my advice would be to keep it away from water. I wouldn’t let this board get anywhere near water. You spend almost 3k on a board, at the first sign of rain I’m running for cover and calling an uber. I always double check weather before riding. I would never get this beauty muddy or wet.
Price: $2300 for the DSS60 or $2600 for the DSS50+. My recommendation would be the DSS50+ for longer battery life and slightly longer range. But if you can only get the 30q pack, that one will be great also I’m sure.
Terrain capabilities: Although this may look like a mountain road, this board is designed for STREET use only. It will go over rougher roads better than any other electric skateboard of course. But don’t try it offload and definitely don’t jump curbs if you want to keep that enclosure looking pretty.
Ground clearance: No issues here as long as you are riding on streets. Don’t take it off curbs. If you’re jumping on it aggressively the enclosure may touch the ground. Normal riding on the roads should be fine. Motors are pretty high off the ground.
Resale value: Should be excellent. This board will only grow in demand.
Deck: Perfect, WIDE, springy flex, side to side concave, slight arch, lifted front and back to lock in your foot if needed, and comes with grip tape only where you need it so you don’t cut yourself up while grabbing the board. A++ on this deck they developed.
Freeroll: Not so good, it’s two huge belts so I wouldn’t expect it to roll too well. You won’t need to kick push this board hopefully though.
Comparisons to other boards: I’ll just say that this and onewheel XR are my two favorites. If you want comparisons to a specific board, let me know and I can reply in comments. Here are boards I’ve had in the past or have ridden: boosted board (all generations), evolve GTX AT, enertion raptor, LHB custom build, metroboard, one wheel plus and XR, backfire G2s, inboard M1, meepo board (rode in parking lot only), and Yuneec Ego. A few people have done comparisons with the Kaly NYC and all preferred the comfort of lacroix, also two sold their Kaly NYC for the Lacroix.
Cons: I always try to find negatives on a board, and on this board it was tough. The remote isn’t the greatest quality, but it does its job reliably. I also think the tires on the Evolve are better than the ones that are on this board, the valve stem angle makes it slightly awkward to fill air. The valve stem may also be keeping the tires a bit unbalanced. Other Lacroix owners have suggested balancing beads. My board had no quality control issues, but these could be a potential con (belts not being aligned, screws not being fully tightened, etc). I would suggest everyone go over their board when they receive it, I did and mine was okay as it came. Screws holding the enclosure could be more robust, I fear that they will loosen over time or could strip…I make sure they are finger tight after every couple of rides.
Pros: literally everything, Alex’s responsiveness and helpfulness, the ride quality, the power, smoothness, comfort, aesthetics, surfy feel and the best carving you will experience, long range, the speed if you want, and on time delivery!
Summary: In 3 years of buying electric skateboards, this is the one that is my favorite. I think the guys at lacroix have the right formula: exceptional service and responsiveness, production and logistics figured out, on time deliveries, and an excellent high end product. If you are looking for the best of the best and can spend over $2000, this is it. I have finally found my perfect board. There is nothing that I want improved really for now on my board, I just want it to keep working the way it is right now. If it does, I’ll be riding this for a while.
This is currently the best board out there by far in my opinion, get it now if you can.
I kept it between 20-25mph the whole time.
Nothing special but traction control activated with 3000rpm max difference
The rest is standard :
Foc mode
Current no rev brake
Careful/repeated motor detection and hall sensors mapping
Battery is 10s6p 50a max - 20 min
Motor are 6373 with 62/16 ratio and 200mm wheels 80a max - 50 a min
Ppm curve with negative exponential on acceleration.