![\"Screen](\"http:\/\/www.computersolutions.cn\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Screen-Shot-2015-09-18-at-10.11.00-AM.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe board I chose to buy is what looks like a copy of the Boosted Board<\/a>. The design is different though, but its close enough to look like a copy of sorts. Mine is from a company called BenchWheel<\/a> out of Hangzhou, and although mildly expensive, isn’t too bad in Electric Skateboard pricing terms, especially in comparison to the similarly specced Boosted board at $1499.<\/p>\n I was originally planning to get the Stary board<\/a>, as its made in Shanghai, and I was watching their Kickstarter, but sadly they don’t seem to want to sell it locally. BenchWheel is currently available on Taobao<\/a> for 2899RMB (about 450$USD odd at this moment in time)<\/p>\n They have 2 models for sale – the B board, which is a standard longboard, and the C board, which is a skinnier board at the ends.<\/p>\n I bought my BenchWheel on Monday, had it delivered on Wednesday (the magic of Taobao), and have been riding it for a whole 2 days now. I’ve never ridden a skateboard or longboard before, and I’m finding it very easy to ride. I’m already comfortable using it on the road for short trips in light traffic here in Shanghai. Took me about 5 minutes to find my balance, and after about an hour riding around my compound avoiding pedestrians and small rodent sized dogs I felt comfortable enough to take it outside on the street with the bigger traffic.<\/p>\n So far I’m quite happy with it. Top speed is faster than I want to go still, and the battery life is quite decent @ +-20km. The entire bottom length of the board is essentially battery. <\/p>\n Having played with most of the things available here, from e-scooters to airwheel’s, I think a Longboard is the most fun\/ practical in daily use, especially for last mile from metro -> home.<\/p>\n All in all, it feels like a decent quality item. The parts are solidly built, and it doesn’t feel like cheap crap. Some notes on using it<\/strong> Remote control feels comfortable to use. The speed acceleration is good – its not crazy from stopped, it feels like they ramp up in a curve rather than giving you full throttle immediately. Braking on the other hand feels like they give you too much – you need to be more careful braking as its almost too fast on the controller.<\/p>\n Controller could do with some labelling, there are way too many leds that show different colors (red or green). My manual is in Chinese, and the instructions are not very clear – I had initial issues syncing the remote with the board despite reading the instructions, and repeating the steps a couple of times. I’ve actually had a go at making a better english manual here – http:\/\/computersolutions.cn\/downloads\/benchwheel\/<\/p>\n I’ll re-iterate, this is really fun to ride. I’m actually excited to go out and ride around, which is good. Some tech details<\/strong> Dual motors @ 1800W<\/p>\n Expanded view
\nSo, I scanned Taobao for similar products, and decided on the BenchWheel, as it looked reasonable quality-wise compared to the other options.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nI haven’t tried a Boosted board or other US brand boards though, so can’t compare to those, but I do know what cheap crap feels like, and this isn’t that.<\/p>\n
\nThe BenchWheel has a carry handle, but I think there needs to be something smoother around the handle as the sandpaper gets rough.
\nIts light enough to carry short distances, which is good.<\/p>\n
\nThe bottom 3 show board battery status. The top two are speed allegedly, although they do flash when the board isn’t sync’d.
\nThe remote and the board time out if not used and left on. The lights stay on, but the remote does nothing. Turning both off then on again resolves that. Looks like it does that when left 3-5 minutes unused. I’ve already hit that once or twice tonight talking to people about the board and not using it for a few minutes, then it doesn’t want to work.<\/p>\n
\nTheir online support was good (aliwang), and I resolved it, but the manual needs to be much<\/em> clearer.<\/p>\n
\nI’ve also been quite lucky in that I haven’t fallen yet. Having a brake and not going too fast helps a lot, as you can just jump off if you feel like falling.<\/p>\n
\nN5065 270KV motors x 2 – Not sure what brand, haven’t opened it up yet.
\nBatteries in a 6S 4P (22.2V nominal @ 6 x 3.7V\/ 25V peak\/ 20v get off the board before you kill the batteries \ud83d\ude09 ) config using 18650’s @ 8800MAH \/ 210WH
\nWheels are 80x45mm 78A hardness
\nBoard is 920x240x15mm
\n7.9KG total weight.
\nHas a carrying handle cut out in the board (useful!)<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n