June 11, 2018October 23, 2019 by Paxson Lim

A beginner guide to electric skateboard battery

There are some questions that I have when I started out learning about eskate:
1) What are the things that separate good batteries from the bad batteries?
2) How could a non-DIYer read battery in commercially available boards?
3) How do you compare batteries on different brands of electric skateboards?

This post is written for newcomers to the electric skateboard world, riders who are not looking to build or tinker with their electric skateboard but nevertheless want to know what they are putting their money into and want a crash course to understand batteries and how to compare batteries between commercial boards.

For someone new, trying to understand the battery of an electric skateboard can be an overwhelming experience. Besides electrical terms such as “ampere”, “ampere hours”, “voltage watthours”, etc; we also see terms like “10s2p”, “18650 cells”, and “continuous discharge” that simply makes no sense to someone without a working knowledge of batteries.

I will try to make this short and concise, and hopefully, by the end of it, you will know what you are shopping for when you are looking at battery specifications.

1. Good Batteries VS Bad Batteries

Batteries have an impact on performance such as torque, speed as well as durability, life-cycle and safety. The quality of a battery pack also affects the significant of voltage sag.

Voltage sag – A phenomenon where you experience a drop in performance when the battery is asked to work harder or when the battery is drained to a certain level.
Some of the eskaters that use poorer batteries will see the board drop in both torque and top speed once the battery level drops below 50%.
Voltage Sag will happen to any battery, however, the better the quality of the battery and the stronger the battery pack, the lesser the impact the sag will have or later on in life the voltage sag occur.

One of the infamous battery stories that we see in the Eskate world involves the Evolve board battery.
The Evolve community found that the stock (10s1p prismatic pack Li-ion battery) was not performing up to the board’s premium tier. Evolve riders frequently found the board failed to handle inclines that it should be able to, given its powerful specs. At times, the battery level would also drop when going up hills, making the board automatically switch into a slower riding mode – something that frustrates countless Evolve riders.

Custom battery upgrades became a thing (see Kevin Dark the Battery Guy) and after the upgrades, the performance difference is day and night. The sag went away and performance dramatically improved. This is one example of how the quality and size of a battery pack can impact the performance of a board.

Another case study involves when Meepo first implemented a battery upgrade, going from v1.0 to v1.5, they saw an increased in top speed, torque and decreased in voltage sag. This all happened when the other parts of the board, including the size of the battery, were kept the same.

My point is, batteries can make or break an electric skateboard’s performance.

2. Understanding battery specifications

Right out of the gate, there are a few specifications that, once understood, can improve a person’s battery literacy.

Voltage(V)= The torque that a board gives. Also improves the efficiency of the battery hence range.
Industry standard = 36V.
If the voltage is too low, the board will not have enough torque.
If the voltage is too high, the motor/ ESC can not handle it.

Ampere(A)= The current that a battery can give. This affects the top speed.
Continuous discharge current = The ampere that the battery can provide continuously without overheating. Most electric skateboards need their batteries to be at least 30A continuous.

Ampere Hours(Ah)= The charge that a battery holds. This affects the range.
(Number of Ampere that a battery can put out if it was to fully discharge in one hour, hence Ampere/Hour)
1000mAH = 1Ah

Example of battery options listed in “Ah”

Ampere Hours is definitely one of the most used specs when a company markets their board.
It is also a more reliable reflection of the range than the marketed range, and it also shows you if a company is inflating their board’s range.

5700MAH battery out ranged 6500MAH battery? What?

WattHours(Wh = Ah * max voltage)= Size of the battery. The power that a battery can output in one hour.
WattHours is the total battery size and an even better indicator of range.
General rule of thumb is WattHours/ 10=Range(in km) .
Air travel regulation mostly limits battery to 99WH and under, though for different airlines different rules apply. Check out my eskate air-travel guide.

Series and Parallel (eg 10s1p, 12s2p) – are the configuration for how the battery cells are connected. How the cells connect impacts the Voltage and Amperes Hours. It’s a bit technical and more important to builders than buyers so I will not break it down in this article.

3. Understanding Battery Types

LiPo, Li-ion, and LiFePo are 3 types of battery that are commonly used on electric skateboards.

Among these 3, Li-ion battery is the most common among commercial boards, while LiPo more popular among hobbyist – and there are reasons for that.

LiPo

Li-Po (Lithium Polymer) batters are cheaper and have less voltage sag.

Li-Po, however, have significant downsides that limit their use in commercial boards.
For one, they are less safe and could start a fire if not handled properly – something that no company wants as a liability. They also require a user to drain the battery to a specific charge for storage, so they just aren’t for everyone. On top of that, they have a shorter life-cycle compared to a Li-ion and LiFePo4 battery.

As battery prices are pretty much fixed (for the moment), some companies will try to circumvent the size and price problem by using Li-Po instead of Li-ion eg, the Pomelo board is a recent example.

BMS

For DIY builders, it is important to know that using a Li-Po battery means you either need to install a BMS (Battery Management System) yourself or use a balanced charger to balance charge your Li-Po packs. Li-ion battery usually already come with BMS installed, so it is more of a plug and play.

Li-ion

So a Li-ion(Lithium-Ion) battery is basically what everyone is using right now. Although it is weaker than the LiPo as I mentioned, it has a longer lifecycle, is easier to handle and is a lot safer.

The 18650 cells and 26650 cell that you sometimes see in the battery conversation are just the types of the cell inside a Li-Ion pack, with 18650 being the most common cells used.

These cells are what’s inside a Lithium Ion battery pack.

LiFePo4

LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) is a newer battery technology that gives you the power of a LiPo and the lifecycle and safety of a Li-ion. Best of both worlds? What is the catch then?
There are two main downsides. One – they are expensive to produce and; two – they cannot be sourced easily so not many companies use them – Boosted and the Arc Boards being the main two who do.

4. Understanding Lithium-Ion Cells

I bet you have heard marketing phrase such as “Same battery that powered Tesla!”, “Powerful Sanyo!”.
For instance, Meepo are using the “Samsung 20R”, an upgrade from the old “LG MH1” while also offering the “Sanyo 20700B” for extended range. What do those brands and designations even mean?

Well, when a company is touting the battery they use in their pack, they are talking about the individual battery cells they use. Most of us are not aware that there are different batteries made by big and small brands, and they all have different performance.

Think of it as a smartphone, just like the Samsung Galaxy S9 is better than the Samsung Galaxy J7; the battery cell Samsung 20R is better than Samsung 35E. And LG, Sanyo, Panasonic and other smaller brand makes their own batteries of differing quality.

For non-enthusiasts, it’s quite difficult to know which battery is better, so beside relying on experts such as those found on the electric-skateboard builders forum, what we can do is either Google it or refer to a benchmark test from an e-cigarette forum.

However, since most eskate company are not disclosing which cells they use, reviews of a board’s performance are still probably the best test of the battery quality.

Final word

There is definitely a lot more knowledge behind batteries and if you want to know more, I suggest you check out the battery guide from the Esk8 builder forum.

Nonetheless, I hope this short guide helps to give you to at least an idea of what the marketers are saying when shopping for your electric skateboard and to help you see through inflated marketing stats.

May 27, 2018June 9, 2019 by Paxson Lim

Meepo Campus 2.0 – Review

Foreword

In the electric skateboard world, the budget board segment definitely sees the toughest competition. Brands from China are always trying to out-compete each other through upgrades, price, and customer support.

MeepoBoards, the company that ignited the affordable eskate market definitely has not stayed idle. Meepo refreshed its lineup just like the Boosted, and gave all its boards the 2.0 update – which includes improved remote, trucks, ESC, motors and of course – looks.

While these improvements have helped to maintain Meepo’s position as the leading affordable brand in the eskate market, the most interesting news that comes with the update is the revival of the Meepo Campus in the form of the Meepo Campus 2.0.

This is the board we will be reviewing today.

Introduction to MeepoBoard

MeepoBoard’s story is something that many of us are very familiar with, but for the sake of those who aren’t, it is worth retelling.

MeepoBoard is undoubtedly the most popular budget board brand in the market right now, but the story of how the eskate giant came to be, surprisingly, is a Cinderella story.
The founder of MeepoBoard, Kieran, was a young engineer who worked sales in an electric skateboard company. Disagreeing with the company’s focus on pushing sales while disregarding quality, Kieran decided to try his luck in selling a self-assembled board on Youtube. After a few successful sales, he decided to set up his own eskate brand with a focus on affordability, practicality and customer satisfaction.

In a world where any electric skateboard under $700 was either a toy or thrash, Kieran’s Meepo was asking for half of that price while delivering decent performance. Kieran figured with word of mouth , existing customers vouching for the quality of the Meepo and his post-sales service, MeepoBoard could break the hesitance of international buyers towards cheap Chinese Boards.

True enough, a dozen positive customer reviews on Redditt and a featured interview post with us later, the floodgate was opened. With weekly orders in the hundreds and customers lining up – willing to wait for months to get their Meepo, MeepoBoard has not only established itself but also set up the affordable eskate market as we know it.

With the meteoric rise of the MeepoBoard, other Chinese electric skateboard manufacturers have moved into the niche and “Meepo-clones” have become a thing.
And now, thanks to the affordable electric skateboard movement that Meepo created, anyone can own an electric skateboard.

Meepo Campus

The last generation of the Meepo Campus was a nickel board series known as the Meepo Penny.

It was never supposed to be the focal point of MeepoBoard, but many still seek out this lesser known little brother of the Meepo for its form factor and price.

The Meepo Penny later received some upgrades to become Meepo Campus, which was often sought after for the same reasons.

Because the Meepo Penny and the Meepo Campus weren’t very powerful boards, Kieran thought that the board might not be right for a lot of people and chose not to market it heavily.

Hence, when the 30” Meepo Board became available, the Campus was quietly discontinued.
Well, that didn’t last long!
To Meepo fans delight, the Campus board has been brought back to life with the 2.0 update.

Is it any good though? read on.

Meepo Campus 2.0 Review

So how did the Meepo Campus 2.0 come to be?

Well, apparently the Campus 2.0 was designed by Kieran for his wife’s commute. Aimed to be lighter, tamer and beginner friendly, the Campus 2.0 kept the portable mindset that the Campus series was known for with tons of other improvements.

Meepo Campus 2.0 Specs

The Meepo Campus 2 saw lots of improvement in specs but also gained some weight.

Top Speed: 18mph (30kmh)
Range: 10mil (16km)
Weight: 12.5lbs (5.5kg)
Charge Time: 2 Hours
Features: Weatherproof, Regenerative Braking.
Price: 299 USD.

Build Quality

This is 2018 and cheap Chinese Boards are not cheap in quality anymore.
From the packaging to the finishing, 2nd Gen Meepo is evolving from its garage-made origin.

From the carrying handle of the box to the fitting cut out from the protective foam, the Meepo Campus 2.0 looks good right off the bat.

While the makeshift A4 printed instruction manual and the lack of design on the instruction booklet were two dead give-aways of Meepo’s garage-made origin, they also remind us that Meepo’s priority has always been affordability and practicality with polish being something extra.

Deck

The Campus 2 come with a broad 32” Canadian maple deck with a kicktail.
It has a slight concave to it and feels good underfoot.

Instead of a regular grip tape, the Campus 2.0 uses a non-abrasive foam tape.

I am sure there are skaters who would prefer a regular grip tape but this foam tape worked for me (and my pants, my car seat, my skateboard carrying bag – they all hate the regular sandpaper grip tape).

The foam tape definitely wears faster than regular grip tapes, but its a tradeoff I am willing to make.
I wonder if it makes doing tricks harder though?

Wheels

The 83MM 78a wheels were great. They’re soft, big (for a skateboard this size anyway), and all yellow.
(not sure how I feel about the color though.)

Trucks

The 2nd generation Meepo boards have upgraded trucks. The Campus 2.0 trucks are now beefier compare to the 1st gen Meepo.

Time to put rest to the thought that Meepo doesn’t have good trucks.

ESC

With an updated ESC, the Meepo Campus retained the popular smart turn on feature (board turns on when pushed). The board will also turn itself off if left idle with the remote off, and I really love this power switch button.

Summary of Build Quality

The Meepo Campus 2.0 is a beautiful product.
The finish is great, the parts look good, and everything was put together solidly.
By looking at it, you wouldn’t believe that this puppy costs under $300 bucks. Impressive!

Riding Experience:

Acceleration and Deceleration

All of the 2nd Gen Meepo boards come with 4 riding mode, Beginner, Eco, Expert and Pro.
But to be honest, the Meepo Campus 2.0 probably doesn’t need them.
The Meepo Campus 2.0 has only one hub motor and a single hub motor can only do so much for acceleration and braking.

All of the riding modes come with gentle acceleration and deceleration, and only the pro-mode has a little kick during acceleration.

This is definitely a beginner’s board. The acceleration is very gentle, even in pro-mode – too weak for someone who likes the thrill of a fast start, but good for someone who wants absolutely no risk of falling.

Kick pushing to start is definitely a good idea.
Braking is definitely gentle and butter smooth, say goodbye to the braking jerk of the previous gen Meepos. The downside? It is weak. Takes a long time to brake to a full stop and full braking down a hill is not possible, it can only slow you down to a safe speed so that you can walk off the board.
Again, single hub motor has its limitation.

Vibration & Stability

Single hub motor = three 83mm 78a soft skateboard wheels = better vibration dampening and more comfortable ride.

However, you will definitely be standing on top of the truck so your legs will feel every vibration.
Riding it on cobblestone and poorer road surfaces feels… acceptable, but definitely not as good as most larger electric longboards.
The Campus 2.0 has a broad deck and feels stabler than most longboards once you tighten the trucks. You can’t go fast enough to become very unstable anyway.

Tight maneuvers are what the Campus 2.0 does best.
With the short wheelbase, the turning radius is great, perfect to navigate around tight spaces.
What’s more, there is a kicktail for kick turns.

There is, however, a risk of wheel bite. The board has wheel wells but unfortunately, at the tightest turn, the wheels will still bite. I decided to tighten the trucks, sacrifice maneuverability for safety and sure enough, after the truck have been tightened, I can’t get the wheels to bite anymore.

*I have contacted Kieran on this and was informed that they are now using a harder bushing to prevent wheel bite. They are also installing a higher riser and making a bigger wheel well .

Remote Control

The remote is definitely more ergometric and better looking.

It uses a dial to allow finer acceleration control.

As I mentioned, there are 4 riding modes. Changing the riding modes mid-ride is even possible!

The remote also features an LED indicator showing the board and remote battery as well as a reverse button.

Nothing too fancy and of course, no disconnection issues.

Summary of Riding Experience

With smooth acceleration and braking, soft bushings, good maneuverability, the Meepo Campus is both fun to ride and practical as a mobility device.

It cannot provide the thrill of a high-speed ride but the campus 2.0 is definitely good enough for a leisurely slow ride.

If I am being totally honest, the lack of adrenaline rush is what makes the Campus 2.0 my current personal favorite Eskate – I have a peace of mind when I am on it.

Beginners and non-skaters would definitely appreciate the configuration.

Capability

Range

Can’t be a good last mile option if it can’t go many miles, can it?
The Meepo Campus 2.0 is using a 4AH, Sanyo 10S1P, 144wh battery and
is advertised with a serviceable 10mile(16km) range.

My personal range test, running on a flat surface between 9 to 15 mph (15-25kmh) lasted me around
13miles(22km) before the battery went dry. There is almost no voltage sag either!
(my weight 165lbs/ 75kg)

The range is definitely an upgrade from the original Meepo Campus.

Speed

Speed is definitely not the priority for Campus 2.0.

That said, it can still get up to 18mph(30kmh). (Full speed tuck, with a little help from the wind.)
Even then, as the acceleration is slow, you will definitely still get dusted if you choose to take the Campus 2.0 to a group ride.

But considering what its made for, sidewalks, and within building compounds, the top speed is definitely sufficient.

Torque

Its called Meepo Campus and campuses are supposed to be flat.
The Meepo Campus is definitely torque-challenged and could not perform a stop and go on a multistorey car park ramp. To my surprise, it did manage to hold the board to a stop and not continue rolling.

Stop and go on this incline, however, didn’t seem to challenge the board at all. It went up from resting position without a problem.

Riding modes affect the torque as well. If you are facing any incline, any at all, you should be using only the expert or pro mode. Other modes handicap the Campus 2 so much that it can’t start from an imperceptible incline with you on it.

Honestly, I was expecting a far worse performance from a single hub motor board but I actually find the results acceptable.

With that being said, torque is definitely the biggest limitation of the Campus 2.0, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone heavy or who lives in hilly areas.

Customer Service

Customer service doesn’t come with a board at this price, unless it has a Meepo logo on it.

Product quality and post-sale service are what separates an affordable electric skateboard from a toy that you use for a single weekend then store away in the garage, never to see daylight again.

Simply put, the Meepo Campus 2.0 is the cheapest electric skateboard on the market that meets the customer service requirement, and hence the only electric skateboard I can recommend at this price point.

Other Features

It has smart turn on. Auto shut-off.
Has a non-abrasive grip tape and that’s pretty much it.
Nothing fancy, all the budget probably went into making the core part of the electric skateboard.

Verdict

Meepo makes eskates that allow everyone to ride, and the Meepo Campus 2.0 is the epitome of that, pushing the affordability to the extreme.

The Campus 2 is an easy recommendation. With good value and an insane price, the value per dollar ratio is just through the roof.

Not to take away the fact that the board is pretty good but with this price tag, you won’t do too bad even if you just buy the board to salvage its parts – and per usual, tinkering and upgrades are always easy with the Meepos.

It is perfect for beginners, for children and for someone who just wants to experience eskating.
It’s also perfect for someone who doesn’t need torque and doesn’t care about top speed.

For the above reasons, the Meepo Campus 2 is at the moment, my favorite board. Its performance is enough for me in most situations and its portability and ease of handling (that non-abrasive grip tape makes a difference) make it my go-to choice for last-mile commuting and rides within building compounds.
(Well, technically my favorite board at the moment is Arc Aileron V2 but it costs 3x more.)

With that said, it is important for me to make it clear that Meepo Campus 2.0 is definitely NOT a beast. It’s a tame puppy. It fetches your newspaper and makes life fun and won’t hurt you, but don’t ever expect it to outperform any big dogs. At least not without some tinkering.

$299 used to get you a toy, well, not anymore.

Wanna hear bad news? It is only available in the USA.

P.S: You can even get it from Amazon!

Check out Meepo Campus 2.0

To know more about MeepoBoards, click here.

For those who are from a European country, you can choose to shop from a local dealer – Speedio.
Speedio is an Electric Skateboard re-seller based in the Czech Republic. While you do pay a little premium, they offer a 2-year warranty, local support, and fast 2-5 days shipping.

May 14, 2018May 18, 2018 by Paxson Lim

Arc Aileron 2.0 – Review

Foreword

Not the most flashy company, Arc Board EV from Singapore has been putting out quality boards since the launch of their Arc Penny(AKA Arc Board) on 30th August 2016. Following the success of Arc Penny, the Arc team launched the original Arc Aileron, which is also regarded as one of the best electric shortboard available to the market.

Throughout the years and with this 2 main products, Arc has established itself as a trustworthy brand that makes good boards.

Fast forward to the 2nd April 2018, the Arc team announced not one but two up-coming new products, the Arc Finix and Arc Aileron 2.0.
Both of this boards will be rocking the new “Arc Fusion” geared drive designed by the Arc team.
This is exciting as the Arc Aileron V2 will be among the first geared drive powered electric skateboard to hit the market.

I was given the chance to thoroughly test out the pre-production model of the Arc Aileron V2 and get a taste of how well the Arc Fusion drive works, and spoiler alert, its good!

Introduction of Arc Board EV

Being near from Singapore where Arc Board EV is based, I am quite familiar with the Arc team.
In fact, I was given the opportunity to visit their operation in Singapore earlier this year and wrote a story on this small yet respectable start-up.

*Click to read more about the entrepreneur story of Arc Board EV.*

Though not a very talked about brand in the global Eskate community, the Arc team has gained the trust of those who paid any attention to them. They are a small team of electric skateboard start-up that doesn’t try to do too much, yet everything they did, they did it well.

Ever since they first launched their Kickstarter Campaign on the original Arc Penny in August 2016, Arc team has never let their customers down.
Always on-time in delivering great quality products and follow up that with great customer service, the Arc team is well-loved by the community it serves.

The Arc Line-Up

Listing in the upcoming Arc Aileron V2 and Arc Finix, the Arc team will soon to have 4 products in the line-up: The Arc Penny, Arc Aileron V1, Arc Aileron V2 and the Arc Finix.

While I consider Arc Penny the best electric penny board on the market and Arc Aileron V1 great shortboard balancing riding comfort and portability, the Arc boards were seemingly at risk to be drowned out by competition as more and more new eskate show up with crazy specs and crazier price. This changed with the announcement of Arc Aileron V2 and Arc Finix.

Arc team has chosen to answer the competition through innovation. Their in-house designed geared drive motor, the Arc fusion drive, is looking to give them a significant competitive edge.

While the much anticipated Arc Finix, which should be available by the end of this year, will use a dual motor set-up with two Arc fusion drive; the Arc Aileron V2 will be powered by single Arc fusion drive and be one of the first geared drive board to lead this post-hub motor era.

Arc Aileron V2 Review

So how does Arc Aileron V2 came to be?

“Among all the ideas we have, we choose to go forward with the Arc Aileron V2 and the fusion drive to solve a problem I have – the need for more range. I tried to ride to the office with the original Arc Aileron and couldn’t get all the way through.”

“The fusion drive, on top of many performance improvements, solve the range issue. By changing the belt drive to a more efficient geared drive gives you 2 times the range.”

“Instead of being the last mile solution, we want the Arc Aileron V2 to go the ‘full miles’, so you can skip the MRT or bus and just skate the whole way to your destination on the V2”

Paraphrasing Hung Yi from Arc team

Arc Aileron V2 Specs

Arc Aileron V2 is all-rounded in specs.

Top Speed: 25mph (40kmh)
Range: 19mil (30km)
Weight: 12.1lbs (5.5kg)
Charge Time: 70min
Features: Weatherproof, Regenerative Braking.
Price: less than 1400 USD.

Build Quality

Arc Aileron might be one of the toughest board on the market right now.
It has an industrial black and grey look with none of those fancy color scheme and rounded edges.

The look of the Arc boards definitely reflected Arc team’s philosophy – substances over style.

Deck

The Arc Aileron V2 continue the use of Aileron carbon fiber deck from 121C.

The aerospace grade pure carbon fiber deck allows the deck to be lighter and thinner, something that helped Arc Aileron to be the lightest electric shortboard in the market.

Impressive.

This carbon fiber deck is also very durable. It might be the only skateboard deck that could survive being run over by a car, something that seems to happen more than a few times these recent months… (stay safe guys.)

Fusion Drive

The Arc Aileron V2 will be the first board to use the newly developed geared drive – Arc Fusion Drive.

A few electric skateboard company has their own iteration of the geared drive motor: the Carvon has had theirs for a while now and JED board has been making it their marketing focal point for the delayed JED board.
None of those product has yet to make a significant impact on the mass market so it was so surprising when the Arc team announced that they have a market-ready geared drive!
(note: Carvon’s geared drive is available for purchase, but its complete eskate is currently stuck in delay hell.)
(note2: JED board which made famous the geared drive through its marketing effort is just beginning to start its production phase. So it’s likely that the V2 is going to be available around the same time (June) as the JED preorders (scheduled May but most likely will see slight delays.)

Apparently, the Arc team have been keeping the Arc Fusion R&D close to their chest for a good half year now.

If you are not interested in the geared drives, well, you should!

A lot of words are needed to explain about the geared drive so I will skip the explaining of what they are (think belt drive without the belt) and straight to what it means for the user.

Basically, with geared drive, you have a system that is more efficient while requires less maintenance compares to a belt drive. The geared drive also allows the use of standard longboard wheels – meaning significantly smoother rides. It also made possible the easy swapping of wheels and interchangeable AT/street set-up. These are the things that hub motor could not do.
The geared drive system also retains the responsive feel and instant acceleration that only belt-drives and high-end hub motors can offer.
On the other hand, unlike the belt motor, geared drive free-rolls well. In fact, it free-rolls better than a hub motor!

One of the criticisms of the geared drive as made famous by JED board is having a high-pitch steel to steel grind noise. Hence, many are waiting to hear how the Arc Fusion drive sounds.
After testing out the V2 myself, I am happy to report that Arc Fusion drive is only as noisy as a regular belt drive motor, no high-pitch noise.

Another concern that I have for a geared drive is their durability, especially when Arc Aileron V2 is the ‘virgin voyage’ of a new motor system.

While it is a good comfort to know that Arc team has been running its Arc Fusion drive under the radar for 4 months now, the real comfort lies with knowing that I can trust the team to have my back should there be issues down the line.

That’s the importance of buying from people you trust.

Wheels

With the V2, Arc team finally upgraded the wheels of their boards from 70mm to 90mm. Undoubtedly, it is a move that they were forced to make to allow more ground clearance for the board.
The bigger wheel took abit away from that agile feel I experience from the V1 but allows the board to skate on less than perfect road.

I found wheels size and durometer matters most in dampening vibration and in the case of V2, the four big soft 90mm 75a wheels smooth out vibration better than an ultra flex deck on a hub motor would.

Love the change.

Summary

With the aerospace grade pure carbon fiber deck from 121C, CNC part made in Singapore by REI Promax and with every unit assembled by the Arc-Team themselves, the Arc Aileron’s quality is one of its brightest points.

They have the track record to prove it too.