Thanks Okami, I will try to find and post larger pictures of the Flex G2.
For the time being, we are concentrated on launching our electric scooters using the same wheel design (http://flexscoot.com/en/). If we are still alive after that, we will also produce boards for the mountainboard/powerkite market and the Eboards.
Hubmotors are definitely an option but they are not yet available in the right dimension (as far as I know)…we are also looking for a closed sprocket reduction/transmission
Ideally, I would prefer to sell naked boards so customers can choose their own electric components (as they often know better than me about it) and keep the price low
Thanks for your welcome message…
I used to “read only” this forum to follow up the progresses about electric components (also hoping that , one day, someone will wonder about the board design ) as I was mainly concentrated on the scooters so I had no relevant news about boards…
Now, I will introduce myself to the forum members and I might open a post about boards design and stability if it interest the members
Btw, here are pictures of a E-Flexboardz made by a german rider few years ago (2011). It has a chain transmission but he made a real nice job to integrate it
@Flexboardz The ‘‘mechanical’’ design is really sleek for that ‘‘model’’…
I do remember now that someone from Korea had made some sort of board with fancy steering using hoverboard motors… it was pretty much ‘‘self made’’ from scratch and also had these ‘‘regulation bars’’ sticking out from each wheel, if I remember correctly…
Though, the user had poor english and these were other members who ‘‘over-published’’ the images of his board etc…
I wont be able to tell you how much interest there is exactly… but I do know that with current truck design going over obstacles is not fun…
Try to accelerate hard, then let go of the throttle - speed wobble… Go over obstacles at higher speed/acceleration - wobble…
Plus, the turning radius also suffer usually…
So yeah… not sure if this will reach the masses… but it should definately ‘‘find home’’ to these users, who have had problems with regular skate/spring trucks before and who want something better / different…
Sidenote: If the ‘‘legs’’ of the wheels could be made foldable, I think this could earn even more attention from these who seek solutions for carrying a board in a car… i witness it was quite hard sometimes to fit my 1.05m(3.45ft) long board into some car trunks… without taking off the wheels…
At 0.90m (2.95ft) it is still a bit hard but not as bad, as it was for that 1.05m(3.45ft) of total lenght board(motor mount included)
No, it’s all mechanical…
it’s an independant tilting wheels design so it swallow better the obstacles than a rigid axle … it only provide a bit of suspension effect (±1cm stroke)
The main interest is that it can be maniable at low speed and stable at high speed (no speedwobble). It also provide a better grip.
So basically, it’s a much safer board design
When I look at the beginning of the post, I see that it is about a stroller/scooter vehicle that can be ridden like a board, maniable enough for urban use and stable at speed.
In this case, I recommend a delta 3 wheels vehicle (with a aft truck)…it has the manoeuvrability of the handlebar steering at low speed and the carving of the aft truck at speed… I know that the look is a bit…like a scooter but the riding is very different (and very similar to a board).
I don’t want to be too promotional but building a scoot like mine (see below) is quite easy… just a bit of laser cutting, folding and welding + a truck and a fork… and the ride is really fun!
The one u showed here looks like a really good solution. I had been thinking about acquiring a 3 wheeled for a while now… so I assume I should kinda start thinking about saving money for this one lol unless I come up with my own solution to this and find how to make it.
Would u be willing to share the price tag for this one?
If possible a ‘bare version’ without motor or electronics would also be ‘favourable’.
@Flexboardz whats the max speed of that thing in picture is anyways? Do u offer different voltages or the one (36v?) Is good enough already?
I propose different voltage/ power/wheel size… for the time being a 48V/800w/12" and a 36V/500w/10" (and I plan to make a 24v/250w/9" soon to be legal).
The price of the 36V model is 1349 euros …
Speed is according to power, 30/35 km for the 36V and 35/40 for the 48V… it’s only depends upon the motor/battery power installed. The good thing is that it is safe and stable at these speed or even much faster
Btw, where are located the majority of forum members (Europe or USA)?
@Flexboardz Located in Eu. Not sure whenever I would be a ready made product customer (this is diy forum afterall) but getting certain parts for the frame might be appealing.
The speed ratios u mentioned seem to be quite good, non the less.
As the rider tilts the front board, tie rods activate the steering links. Smooth steering response is assured by design through all needle bearing construction in the steering links.
The Tie Rod Assist mechanism acting with our articulated board cuts the turning radius in half.
To Okami : don’t worry, location of members was simply informational, not commercial.
In the Diy spirit, a frame similar to the flexscoot is quite easy/cheap to make (I can share drawing for the laser cutting) then you just need to find a mtb truck.
I can see that you entered into an inventory of the different design of trucks, kingpin, cam like OP, channel truck, ackerman style (like roamboard), with suspension (like bajaboard), tiltable wheels like pramash, independant like flexboardz…
This is the Cycleboard, they had a kickstarter last summer. Uses a rear hub motor and a lean to steer system. Looks like tie rod assist as well. I wanted to get one to attach my golf bag to, but may go the diy route.
Problem of the tadpole design is the lack of steering angle, limiting the maniability (compared to a delta design that can steer at 90 degres and turn on location).
Delta design is also more stable as weight of rider rest mainly on the aft wheels.
Thanks Okami.
There are 2 types of tricycles, Delta (one front wheel + 2 rear wheels ) and Tadpole (2 front wheels +1 rear).
To choose between both designs for stability, the center of gravity has to be closer from the 2 wheels… In the case of a stand up scooter, rider’s weight is located mainly on the rear wheels so Delta is better. In addition, delta steering is much simpler compared to Tadpole steering.
Tadpole (like Piaggio mp3 scooters) main interest is to prevent fall due to front wheel sliding
Ive seen some of these ‘‘kid’’ kick scooters… they also got 3 wheels, 2 at the front and 1 at the back… unfortunately the steering angle is very limited for them, I saw them at chinese shop… was always wondering where do people find these
Has anyone ever tried fitting two front assemblies from this little thing on a board to make a skateboard-like machine?
They use longer axles by the way so that a Trampa Hub would fit