Tag: MeepoBoard

Posted on by Paxson Lim

Meepo 1.51 (Black) – Review

Foreword

6 months after the original Meepo burst into the scene, the Meepo Board is now the undisputed most popular budget electric skateboard brand on the market.

Meepo 1.51 (aka the Black Meepo) is the latest iteration of this very popular board.

This is my review of the Meepo 1.51, and as per usual, I’ll start by introducing the company which makes the board.

Introduction of Meepo

MeepoBoard- Background

For those who are interested in how MeepoBoard came to be, I wrote a story of how Kieran created the Meepo brand back in August 2017.

Kieran’s Meepo: The person, the board, the story.

Here is the short version:

MeepoBoard was founded by Kieran, a mechanical engineer who worked in sales for an electric skateboard company. Frustrated by his boss, Kieran started assembling electric skateboards for himself, using his connection in the industry to source quality parts.

After sharing his boards on Youtube and received offers for purchase, Kieran quit his job and started MeepoBoard.

Kieran circa June 2017

When it all started, Meepo was just a 1 man operation with some helpers, selling to international customers through word-of-mouth. Even from the outset, Meepo saw success as customers were impressed by the quality of the boards and could not stop raving about them online.

After the story of Kieran and the Meepo in HQ went viral, MeepoBoard saw a huge growth in sales to the point that demand couldn’t be met.

After some aggressive staffing, the MeepoBoard of today is no longer a small, scrappy team making skateboards on-demand. Selling at least 5 thousand skateboards in the past 6 months, MeepoBoard has grown into a full-fledged company with factory operations and Kieran is still manning the helm.

Meepo Board – Original to 1.51

The original Meepo Board revolutionized the budget electric skateboard world by being the first sub $400 eskate (after shipping) that had great specs, reliable quality and good customer service.

Prior to Meepo, budget electric skateboards cost around $700. Meepo lowered the entry bar and allowed a lot more people to join the eskate community.

On the competition side, the success of the Meepo also attracted many Chinese companies to get into the eskate space.
These companies are now known as the “Meepo-clones,” they go by many names including Wowgo, Ownboard, Ionboard etc.

So the arms race of budget electric skateboard began. With each brand trying to improve their boards in order to to one-up each other.

MeepoBoard kept up.

On December 2017, the Meepo 1.5 was announced, which saw an upgraded deck, battery , and better quality wheels.

On January 2017, Meepo 1.51 changed to a better quality, black deck.
This is the board that I am reviewing today.

Meepo 1.51 Review

Meepo 1.51 Overall specs

There is a reason why I keep referring to the Meepo as the king of budget boards,

The Meepo 1.51 has awesome specs for its price:

  • Top Speed: 22mph (36kmh)
  • Range: 11mil (18km)
  • Weight: 15.2lbs (6.9kg)
  • Charge Time: 3hrs
  • Features: 2 hub motors, weatherproof, Regenerative braking, handles up to 30% slope.
  • Price: less than 450 USD with shipping included.

Build Quality

Right out of the two boxes that Meepo 1.51 comes in, what struck me the most was the quality of the packaging.

When unboxing the original Meepo, I got the vibe of a scrappy, garage-assembled company.
6 months later, unboxing the Meepo 1.51, I feel like I am opening a product from a top company. It still has a hint of its DIY origin mainly from the lack of sophisticated graphic design on the printed materials, but everything that matters – from padding to accessories is now far and away from the days of the 1 man operation.

I also really like the stealthy black design of the Meepo 1.51.

Stealth black is just better looking in my humble opinion

The deck, the trucks, and the wheels, everything looks nice and feels high-quality, and with a massive community riding their Meepo every day with very few faults reported, you can bet the quality is good.

In short, the Meepo 1.51 today is truly a refined product, both inside and out.

Riding Experience:

Overall

The original Meepo Board provided a decent riding experience with it’s biggest weak point being the weird arching convex deck.

The Meepo-deck-swap became the trendy discussion among the eskate community, and the experiments proved that with an upgraded deck, the Meepo rides like magic. Even Kieran acknowledged that and start sending out extra padding to help buyers to deck swap better.

(Following the trend, now every Chinese Budget skateboard company ships complete boards with extra padding.)

With the Meepo 1.51, Kieran made an investment on a better and longer deck and the riding experience saw huge improvements.

I’ll get more into that, but in short, you don’t need a deck-swap anymore to make the Meepo ride as good as any $1000+ electric skateboard.

Acceleration and Deceleration

With the addition of a third riding mode to cater to beginners, Meepo 1.51 now has 3-speed profiles that should fit new, advanced, and expert riders.

In the slowest mode, the acceleration is so gentle (slow) that experienced riders will get bored. Definitely suitable for the newest riders that are still getting used to electric skateboards.

The medium mode is where I spend most of my time. The acceleration is still fairly gentle, with no jolts.
This ride very similar to the lowest speed profile in the original Meepo.

The fast mode is really fast. The board really takes off and can throw you off the board if you are unprepared, or don’t have a solid stance.
One time I mistakenly switched on to the fast mode thinking I was switching into slow mode and ended up on the ground pretty quickly!

Now, onto the deceleration and braking.

I am always very wary in testing out the brakes on an electric skateboard because trying to answer the question of “what will happen if I brake really hard at speed” often ends up with me lying on the road in a lot of pain.

The braking in Meepo 1.51 is … for lack of a better description… normal.

There are no delays in braking and it is very easy to get used to after a couple of rides.

It also appears that the braking profile is the same in all speed modes.

Just be careful when braking while going fast, as electric skateboards tend to brake harder than expected at higher speeds.

Vibration & Stability

I rode on these on cobblestone to compare the vibration.

The Meepo 1.51’s black deck is a bit stiffer than the original Meepo, which means the deck smooths out less vibration but provides more stable rides at higher speed. A stiffer deck also makes the board feel more responsive.

When compared to the original Meepo, I found the new black maple deck to be more concave and longer. The concave kinda makes me feel lower to the ground and the longer wheelbase makes balancing on it easier. Both of this changes result in a much more stable ride.

Control Options (Remote)

The remote for the Meepo 1.51 is the RC5 2.4Ghz remote that most DIY hobbyist/ budget board use.

There are currently no known disconnect issues, which have plagued other eskate companies, so that’s a plus!

This knob.

As mentioned, the remote has 3-speed modes that are controlled by a little knob on the side.If you are trying to change the speed mode mid-ride and get the wrong gear like I did, you will probably in for a nasty surprise, so I would recommend changing speed-modes while stationary.

There is also a little button on the side for reverse. It has been filed down so that it is hiding a bit inside of the recess;  a change resulting from community feedback as too many times the reverse button was accidentally pressed while riding.

Button is now less protruding.

The remote is a tried-and-true model used by many eskates. Nothing much to be said.

Summary of Riding Experience

All-in-all, the riding experience on Meepo 1.51 is as good as any board out there.

The board is stable, responsive and carves really well.
Definitely a huge improvement from the original Meepo.

Capability

Range

The Meepo 1.51 also saw an upgrade to the battery, improving the range by a little and eliminating the voltage sag of past models.

The advertised range of the Meepo is 11miles(18km) but you have to either be very light or ride conservatively to reach that range.

Most people report around 8miles(13km) on a single charge. That is still twice the reported range of a Boosted board!

With the new battery, voltage sag will only start to be felt on the last miles, whereas the old Meepo would start to lose its speed and torque at 2/3 of its range.

There is also a Sanyo battery option at $619 to add another 6miles(10km) to the range.

Speed

Meepo 1.51 can hit it’s advertised top speed at 22mph(36kmh) without issues. That is fast enough to get you in serious trouble or kill you, so I think it is an acceptable speed ceiling.

Torque

Meepo 1.51 has enough torque to get over most of the hills I tested it on.

Stop and go in the middle of the incline is how I test the torque of electric skateboards.

I also did a stop-and-go test on a multistory car-park ramp with a rather steep incline,  the board could brake and hold me still at the incline, and can then accelerate from the stop without rolling back down the ramp.

After testing, I would not worry about the torque unless you are very heavy and need to climb insanely steep hills.

Customer Service

There have been a few cheap Chinese boards made before the Meepo, but what allowed the rise of the Meepo Board is that it was the first to provide reliable customer service.

After the frantic expansion to keep up with sales, Kieran is largely able to maintain this high level of customer service. Certainly, there are a few slip-ups that have been reported, but they are exceptions rather than rules.

As I have worked with Kieran regularly since I first interviewed him, when HQ readers have not been able to reach Kieran with their problems, I have helped them to alert Kieran.
Based on this experience, I feel safe vouching for Meepo’s commitment to customer service.

Other Features

Meepo is quite a simple board, so there are not many bells and whistles.

One thing I like about the Meepo is how modular it is, which is why deck-swapping is so popular with these boards in the community.
You don’t need to be mechanically inclined to be able to pull apart the Meepo and put it back together. You can swap out everything and anything.
You can also salvage the Meepo for parts and create your own eskate quite easily.

One time I borrow the Meepos deck to test out Onan X2.

The most important part is that the battery is easily removable. Taking off the <160wh battery requires undoing 4 screws and just unplugged it.
(Buy a <99wh battery and Meepo will suddenly be air-travel compatible.)

The Meepo also came with an LED tail light accessory that you can choose to attach to your Meepo (or on anything for that matters.)

The features it doesn’t have:

  1. Downhill braking with a full battery – Not sure any electric skateboard have solved the problem of downhill braking while holding a full charge. As the energy generated from the regenerative braking has nowhere to go, the braking will not work with a full battery.
    I was told adding a capacitor to it will not solve the problem as the capacitor will overheat, and the board will then fail.
    Kieran’s efforts in tinkering the BMS settings did help to make the problem less pronounced, but it’s still there, and we should all be careful.
  2. Waterproof – Kieran decided not to claim the Meepo is waterproof but just weatherproof. If the seals of the board are not compromised, the Meepo is actually fairly resistance to splashes and water, but still, urethane wheels + water = slippery as hell. Trust me, I have fallen because of that.
  3. Swappable PU on hub motor – The PU on the Meepo 1.51 is fairly durable and should be able to last for hundreds of miles before needing a change, but you would have to change the entire hub motor for that, which thankfully, is also not that hard.

Verdict

The Competitors

It’s 2018 and Meepo, though the most popular, is hardly alone in the affordable electric skateboard space.

Wowgo, Ownboard, Ionboard and hundreds of other less-known brands have joined the space after seeing the success that Meepo has enjoyed. Not to forget Backfire G2 is also a very well received option for electric skateboard under $500.

However, any insider will tell you that, when it comes to electric skateboard parts, sharing the same look doesn’t equate to having the same quality. Most of the budget boards that we see on Alibaba or from lesser-known brands are exactly that, poor-quality products that share the generic look.

So, ignoring other less-trustworthy clones and putting aside Ionboard which isn’t shipping yet, this leaves us with the Wowgo, the Backfire G2, and the Ownboard as the main competition.
These companies offer products similar to the Meepo and both have enough of a track record to warrant consideration.

However, an electric skateboard is more or less a vehicle and similar to a vehicle, it will need to be maintained and serviced. That’s why I give a lot of weight to the proven track record and customer service of a company when recommending any electric skateboard, and that’s why I favor a familiar and proven brand like Meepo over other less-known companies in my reviews.

Summary

TL;DR
At $419, the Meepo 1.51 is definitely my top recommendation for anyone looking for a quality budget electric skateboard or electric skateboard in general.

I like to say, the first question to ask when choosing an electric skateboard is
“For what I need, will a Meepo suffice?”

Just as Boosted board is the gold standard for electric skateboards in general; the original Meepo was and now the Meepo 1.51 is – the gold standard for affordable electric skateboards.

Plus, there is a version of it with kick tails @ $469.

For all those Meepo owners out there, if you enjoy this post, please share your experience with Meepo down in the comment section! I really appreciate that!

Meepo Board Official Site.

Posted on by Paxson Lim

January 2018 in the Electric Skateboarding World

January in Electric Skateboarding:

Posted on by Paxson Lim

Best Electric Skateboards – ElectricSkateboardHQ’s Recommendations

update 4th May 2019:
Winboard Panther is out, Backfire G2T is in.
Updated Budget Longboard Section.
update 21st August:
WINboard Panther and Lynx.
Backfire G2s and Ranger X1.
Exway X1.

update 1st June 18:
Added Boosted Mini.
Updated Gen 2 Meepo. 
Update Arc Aileron V2.

Update 2nd April 18:
Removed Spectra Series from portable board recommendation after reviewing them myself. 
Most Anticipated Penny/Nickel Board list is empty for now.

update 24th February 18:
Add in UnikBoards, Kaly.NYC and DIYeboards AT kits are valid choices in for the all-terrain needs.

update 9th January 18:
Mentions Metroboard Micro Slim in place of Metroboard shortboard as consensus is Micro Slim> Shortboard.
Winboard & community feedback -Winboard GT-M8 2.0 not for sale anymore.
Backfire G2 back on the menu as feedbacks are their customer service doesn't suck anymore.

There are a lot of “Best Electric Skateboard” posts out there, most of them, however, are more sensational than helpful to someone who is looking to purchase an Electric Skateboard.

Sure, Enertion Raptor 2 might be the best electric skateboard in consensus right now, but it would be insane for me to simply recommend it to anyone who emails me, without first understanding what they want out of their Eskate.

“Hey, I great blog! I just want to ask…”
“Enertion Raptor 2. Say no more.”

Among the hundreds of electric skateboard that I’ve researched/ tried on, there is often one or a few electric skateboards that fit best for certain people.

This is that list.

And of course, the list will be updated when a better option comes around and old boards fell out of favors.

So let’s get to it. The best board for those who are looking for the …

1) Best Penny/ Nickel board

To a lot of people, an electric skateboard is mainly a means to commute, and among these people, some value portability above everything else. There is no use to ride to a mall and ends up carrying a 20lbs longboard for the next 2 hours you are there.

There are portable options for both longboard and shortboard too, but for those who are looking for penny/nickel size board, these are the boards that are best in their categories.

Best in general:

Arc Board (899 SGD ≈ $699 + $80 FedEx international shipping.)

Arc Board is simply the best electric penny board you can get on the market right now.
It is penny board size with a 22 inch(55.9cm) deck and only weighs 7.7lbs(3.5kg).

The range and speed is nothing to write home about but it gets the job done.

With the help of the VESC, the acceleration and deceleration of Arc Board are very comfortable.
70mm wheels, however, means good roads and sidewalk only.

With that being said, electric penny board is best to be considered by those who are experienced, as balancing on such a narrow wheelbase is not going to be comfortable for beginners.

Every Arc Board is manually assembled by the Arc team in Singapore and hence the quality is assured. They also come with a 6 months warranty.

Check out ArcBoard

Best budget option:

With 28″ Meepo Campus discontinued and being replaced by 32″ Meepo Campus 2, there isn’t really any small budget electric skateboard that I can recommend on the market.
If there is any board that you feel fit this category, please let me know in the comment section so I can check it out!

These are the other boards that were considered but weren’t picked:

Bolt, Louboard, Winboard GT M8 Mini, Maxfind C

Acton Blink Lite is now known as Blink Go, it is a small, cheap, single hub motor Eskate. There was simply no reason to pick Acton Blink Lite over Meepo Campus as, for the similar price, the Campus has better performance and Meepo are way more reliable than Acton.

However, now that the Campus is discontinued, it left the $200 Acton Blink Go the only board 

I still wouldn’t dare to recommend an Acton because of their poor reputation on how they take care of their customers.

Acton Affiliate Link, if you wants to go against my advice and buy it anyways.

Bolt -899EUR ≈ $950 USD

At its price, there is little to pick Bolt over Arc Board. Arc Board has more range and bolt has a slight edge in speed.

But at the end of the day, I would choose Arc Board which has proved to have good product quality and customer service. Saving extra 200 bucks is just the icing on the cake.

Check out Bolt

LouBoards –$449, $790, $990

Turns out, Louboard is not the sure thing.

After months of delay, the backers of Lou board was disappointed by the actual product.
Quality, customer service aside, the main complaint is the board doesn’t perform as it boasted.

Outside of Kickstarter campaign, Lous don’t have that attractive of a price anyways. 

I don’t think anyone is looking for a highspeed penny board but Lou 3.0 is basically the penny board with highest top-speed if you are into that kind of things… …

Check out Lou …

Maxfind C

Reviews had shown that Maxfind C is weak, has poor quality and breaks easily. It is more like a toy than an Eskate.

Check out Maxfind C

WinBoard GT-M8 mini – not for sale anymore.

2) Best Shortboards

Shortboard lovers are in luck.

There was a time when there is not much option in the electric shortboards market.

Not anymore, there are a lot of new players joining the shortboards niche and it is a red ocean out there.

Best in general:

There are so many good shortboards in the market that it is difficult to pick a best in general.
So I will cheat a bit by subcategories them into different motor drive – Belt, Geared, and Hub and pick the best amongst them.

WINboard Lynx ($699-829) -Hub drive

At this point in time, still relatively unknown, Lynx is a treasure to be discovered.

One of the first product put out by Eskate manufacturing giant WINboard, it has all the benefit of a China Board – Great price for performance; while not suffering from the lack of finesse in control, build and design that is characteristic of Chinese electric skateboard aggregator company.

And that unibody carbon fiber design that is shared by the Predator Banshee? Gorgeous.

Light, powerful, refined, there isn’t much of the Lynx that I can pick on.
Well, perhaps the lack-of kick tail might be the deal breaker for some.

With their customer support now properly set up, I wouldn’t hold back to say Lynxes are the best electric shortboard available right now.

Check out our review on the Lynx Challenge

Boosted Mini X ($999) -Belt drive

Boosted Mini X is the exception from the high price, high polish but low-performance stereotype that we know Boosted for.

At 20mph(32kmh) top speed and 14miles(22.5km) range, the Boosted are just slightly behind its competitor in specs, something that the quality, polish and brand name definitely more than made up for.
Comparing to it’s weaker brother Mini S($749), Mini X has better value/dollar ratio as it has 2 times the range for just $250 extra and should be the first consideration.

The only downside of the Boosted Mini X would be the weight. At 16.8 lbs(7.6kg), it was really heavy, especially for a shortboard.

If weight is not an issue for you, (then why not buy a longboard?!), Boosted Mini X should be among your first consideration when shopping for an electric shortboard.

Check out my summary on the Boosted 3rd Gens

Arc Aileron V2 ($1249 + $80 FedEx international shipping)

– Geared Drive

Arc Aileron V2 is one of my favorite electric shortboards!

The board from reliable Arc team nailed almost every aspect that makes a good electric skateboard from quality to performance. The big 90mm wheels (which is compatible to 107mm wheels upgrade!), a light 12.1lbs(5.5kg) weight, and geared motor that free-rolls like dream, Arc Aileron is the perfect board for a lot of people.

Its only weakness should be the torque. As always, a single drive has its limitation.

Check out my review for Arc Aileron V2

Best Budget Option:

Meepo Campus 2 ($299 US only)

For those who are in the US, Meepo Campus 2 at $299 is a no-brainer for anyone looking for a budget electric shortboard.

Besides the limitation in torque, the Meepo Campus 2 has an all-rounded spec, making it a fine choice for anyone who doesn’t care about speedy acceleration and crazy top speed.

The polished that came with the 2nd Gen Meepo’s also is something rarely seen at this price range.

My 2nd favorite boards of all time, I would recommend the Meepo Campus 2 to anyone who is not looking for torque.

Check out my full review of Meepo Campus 2.

For those who need more torque or if Meepo Campus 2 is yet to available in your area, my budget recommendation would be the 30″ Meepo V2P, or the Wowgo Mini 28″depending on which deck suits you best.

(Wowgo remote seems to have finer control than that of Meepo, but with some sacrifices in features. Meepo has the better track record in post-sales service, that’s why I always suggest Meepo first.)

These are the other boards that were considered but weren’t picked:

Pulse Echo, Predator Banshee, Arc Aileron V1, Riptide R1 and R1 Elite, Metro Micro Slim, DIYelectric Torque Speedster, Acton Blink S1, S2, Yuneec Ego-2, Huger Classic, Huger Travel.

Pulse Echo ($999) – Hub Motors

At one point, Pulse Echo was considered best shortboard on the market right. It is fast (25mph/40kmh), it has a decent range (12mil/ 19km) and has all the important features such as VESC, swappable battery, swappable PU sleeves and water resistance.

However, it seems like the board was never ready for purchase. Early reviews have been positive for this boards, but it is still undergoing refinement and improvement. The lack of availability really makes it a difficult board to recommend.

Pulse founder is from the Eskate community so there is a lot of faith in the product and company.

Check out Pulse Echo

Predator Banshee ($1099)

Predator Banshee has a problem- Winboard Lynx exists now.

Q’s Predator Banshee has a different philosophy than the Winboard Lynx.
Catering more to speed demons and thrill seekers.

Similar looks aside, both of them are only sharing deck and battery.

With Winboard Lynx undercutting Predator Banshee in price while also being equal in performance…

Check out Predator Banshee

Riptide R1 and R1 Elite – ($599, $729)

Eric Birkemeier’s Riptide R1 and R1 Elite are dual belt-motors electric shortboard.
They are powerful, fast and light in weight.

It rides pretty well too.

However, priced @ $599 and $729, the Riptide R1 are the victims of a new Boosted Mini series.
It’s hard to see anyone pick the R1 over Boosted for $150 and a few pounds lighter. The quality, customer service, and comfort of the Boosted brand make going the Boosted way a more logical and common choice.

The long-standing concern of battery quality and recent woes of quality concern wasn’t helping too.

Check out our Riptide R1 Elite Review

29″ Metroboard Micro Slim – $1099

Metroboard has been around for a long time and is known to build quality belt motor boards.

Unless you are in love with the design, there is little reason to go with the heavy 29″ Metroboard Micro Slim today. The other boards I mentioned were either faster, lighter or cheaper or in some case just better overall.

Check out 29″ Metroboard Micro Slim

Acton Blink S1, S2 – $449, $999

Ughh, Acton…

When I first came to the eskate scene, Acton’s board is a company I like. They have boards in every tier and always edge out the competition in pricing.

As more and more good budget eskate came to the market, Acton no longer has the edge in pricing.
On top of that, the bad reputation of Acton for their customer services and board quality makes me uncomfortable in recommending any of their board.

While there are a lot of “this is the best board I have ever ridden” video, there is, even more, posts of “My Blink S2 broke…”

Would not recommend.
However, if you want to buy at your own risk: Here is the Affiliate link & discount code<— XD

DIYelectric Torque Speedster -$774

At one time, DIYelectric Torque Speedster is my go-to recommendation for a budget electric skateboard.

A year back, it was the best performing budget board.

Nowadays, there is a lot more budget and better boards, leaving Torque Speedster without a niche.

And as mentioned, Diyelectricskateboard are putting the production on hold for now so you couldn’t buy it anyways…

Check out Torque Boards

Huger Classic -$449

Only a few have received Huger Classic after a 2 months delay in their Indiegogo shipping.

So being a new brand (that I have no confidence in), I would not start recommending it before the review comes in.
Even if it is all it promised, at $449, Riptide R1 would still be an all-around better purchase.

Check out Huger Boards 

Huger Travel– $799

Poor riding experience due to the short wheelbase. Preview and early review are all negatives.

Just avoid it.

Check out Huger Boards 

Yuneec Ego-2 ≈$340

Yuneec Ego and Ego-2 have been the staple of the budget electric skateboard for a long long time.

There are quite outdated at this age.
In comparison with the new budget boards, it is slow with unreliable quality and customer service. There is no reason to recommend Yuneec Ego-2 to anyone anymore.

Check out Yuneec Ego-2 on Amazon

3) Best Longboards

Too many grounds to cover here, we will go down the price list:

Cost: A Kidney

La Croix  ($2299)

You know what’s costing 2 grand yet sells like a hot cake? La Croix. 

Range: 37.5 mile/60km
Speed: 18mph-22mph (30km/h to 35km/h)

All terrain wheels, very flexy deck, carbon fiber enclosure.

And a waiting list.

Check out La Croix official page

Custom Trampa Build ($2200 Onwards)

You can build a powerful beast with Trampa deck, and the most known way to do it right now is to go to Kaly.nyc for it.

Check out Kaly.nyc

Premium Tier:

Enertion Raptor 2.1 ($1785)

I have to agree with the consensus that Enertion Raptor 2 is the overall best electric skateboard on the market right now.

Fast, Powerful with great range, Enertion Raptor 2 is the complete package.
The ability to switch between 90mm, 98mm or 100mm wheels is just icing on the cake.

Early reviews of the Raptor 2 are overwhelmingly positive.

I think the best on-hand review of the Raptor 2 is done by Michael Gatti.

All in all, a great performing board that is made of quality parts by a reputable company.
Raptor 2 is an easy recommendation.

Affiliated discount link for Raptor 2.

Boosted Stealth ($1600)

As long as the Boosted Stealth’s rather limited range can get you where you need, it should be among the first consideration when shopping for a premium board.

Going Boosted is about putting all your money in to ride comfort, board quality and … well… brand name.

My buddy Samuel James has a very good article written about his rationale on getting a Boosted Stealth, take a read to see if that resonate with you.

Boosted Stealth – The Decision (by Samuel James)

Best middle high-end:

Exway X1 ($900)

Exway X1 has been around for a while, and it has largely flown under the radar.

In a world that China Boards are frown upon for being raw, unrefined with poor customer care.
Exway X1 is none of that.

With the performance, ride feel, control, quality and service that rivals that of the Boosted, while asking only for two-thirds of the price. Is EXWAY X1 THE BOOSTED KILLER? (Oh my gawd what did I just said, I sound like the rest of them now!)

Check out our Review on the Exway X1

Best mid-tier:

Backfire G2T ($599)

Backfire G2T has made alot of noises this year, and rightfully so.

It has a perfectly smooth control thanks to the Hobbywing ESC.
It has a powerful torque when the Turbo mode is activated.
It uses great Samsung 30Q batteries which provide range while eliminating voltage sag.
It uses Caliber II trucks that delivers stable and comfortable rides.
It comes with both 83mm and 96mm wheels which allows the board to be versatile in any road type.

It’s hands down, the best board at $599.

Check out our Review on the Backfire G2T

Best Budget Option:

I define a budget board as a board that are asking for less than $500. With the rise of Chinese brands, we are spoiled with choices and for that, I have made a separate list introducing and comparing boards in this price range.

You can click here to read about it.

But my personal favorite in this segment goes to Meepo Classic ($399)

Click to read the review of Meepo Classic here.

Best for portability:

Linky (999USD)

*Marketed as a longboard, the Linky is only 31.4inch(80cm) in length, it is more like a shortboard actually.*
*credit to Armin from Discord community who spotted this*

I think it goes without saying that the only electric skateboard that can be folded and put into a backpack is the most portable electric longboard.

After few months of delays, Linky was finally delivered to fellow Indiegogo backer in December 2017. Too bad there wasn’t review out to know how well the board rides.

It is 12.1lbs(5.5kg) in weight only, and can be folded into a 15.8inch(40cm) package that can be easily stored in backpacks.
Linky is also packed with features – phone app, swappable battery, LED lights and is waterproof.

It is the most special electric skateboard I have researched on so far.

For your information, there are a lot of fold-able decks in the China Market, an attempt to copy Linky’s design. A friend who tried out those board reported that those counterfeits were very very heavy, definitely not on par with Linky in the portability sense.

Check out Linky

Best off-road:

1) Evolve Carbon and Bamboo series

If you are looking for doing any real off-roading, Evolve Bamboo and Carbon AT series is about your only choice.

Unless you are planning to break the bank and go for a custom build Trampa. Or the La Croix.

The Evolves are great performing board made by a great company. (With a known case of remote connectivity issue and notorious problem with voltage sag on battery.. well.)

Check out Evolve Boards
Buy it from Amazon Here.

2) Backfire Ranger X1 ($699)

Early reviews of the Ranger X1 has all been positive, making it the most affordable option for All Terrain.

Check out Backfire Ranger X1

3) One Wheel

Is one-wheel an electric skateboard? Well …it is electric and we skate on it so.. yes?
Check out our review on OneWheel here.

Note: In the more DIY side, many Eskate makers offers custom all-terrain builts, famously with Trampa boards. You can check out UnikBoards or get in touch with Kaly.nyc for that.
These makers tend to provide top of the line service and quality.

On the other hand, although I am not particularly a fan of www.diyeboard.com, their 6″ Wheels All-terrain Electric Skateboard DIY Kits 10S2p @ $599 is probably the cheapest AT setup available. I have strong opinions against how they conduct their marketing campaigns, but consensus is that their products and customers services are solid.

Most anticipated longboards:

1) JED Dual wheel drives & All-Wheel-Drives ($1199, $1599)

JED Board was founded by Jeremy Bogan and incorporated in Singapore.

JED Boards are designed to be outstanding.

JED boards have a lot going for it.

  1.  Minimalistic design
  2. It uses a self-designed direct drive which enables it to
    1. Allow the use of standard longboard wheels (=thicker PU in motor wheels)
    2. Eliminate the use of belt
    3. More efficient power delivery
    4. Better Free-rolling
  3. Using very good parts for Trucks, Bushing, Bearings, Remotes.
  4. Very light.
  5. 2-year warranty.
  6. Good specs with good price.

With the downside of being very loud.

JED board is due for early 2018 delivery.

Check out Jed Boards

2) Carvon Evo and REVO 4WD ($1999, $2999)

Carvon Evo and Revo 4WD have booked their place as the champions of high-speed electric skateboards.
After months of delay in their Kickstarter delivery date, they are estimated to ship in February 2018.

The Carvon Evo and REVO 4WD are too rocking a different kind of direct drives and have most of the same benefit such as power efficient and allow the use of standard longboard wheel.

Best on-hand review for Carvon Evo from an early backer can be found here.

(This time, I am not going to list down all the electric longboard that were considered because there is just too many of them!)

Check out Carvon

Final words:

If there are any boards that you felt should be the better for any section, please let your opinion be heard in the comment section.

Again, this post will be updated from time to time as new boards releases.

I did not mention most of the electric skateboard from the China market, you can read about them in my piece on China Board where I tried to cover all the big name electric skateboard brand from China.

Wanna see how all electric skateboards spec charts and how they stack up against each other in a big top speed vs range chart? It’s on the Comparison Chart and the infographic page.

Posted on by Paxson Lim

Kieran’s Meepo: The person, the board, the story.

There is not much publicity and promotion on the Meepo – a sub $300, super affordable electric skateboard with 5-star riding experience.

If you had heard about Meepo, it was either from Reddit or from Youtube.

I’m sure of it.

That is becuase those places are where Kieran, the man behind Meepo connects with fellow Eskaters.
Also that is where his customer rave about Meepo and how helpful Kieran has been when(if) they encounter problems on their Meepo.

I was offered an opportunity to interview Kieran, so I did and it has been a blast.

I now like Meepo so much that after the interview, I took the opportunity and got a deal from Kieran so that HQ’s reader can get something extra when purchasing a Meepo! (more on that at the end of the post.)

So today, I’m honored to introduce you both Kieran and the Meepo Board!

Origin:

Working for an Electric Skateboard Company

Kieran is a 28-year-old Chinese gentleman graduated from the field of mechanical engineering.
As a skateboarder and a longboarder, he was first introduced to electric skateboard through a TED talk, delivered by none other than Sanjay Dastour from Boosted Board.

https://www.ted.com/talks/sanjay_dastoor_a_skateboard_with_a_boost

Kieran: “I remember he said ‘when you think about a vehicle, think about something new”, and I was inspired.”

So Kieran went and joined a major electric skateboard manufacturer and reseller in China.
It was awesome, at least part of it was; as the marketing manager, he gets to try out different electric skateboards from different brands.

But there is a problem. The company is not making a profit.

Kieran,the guy on the right. NOT the kid in blue. Don’t switcharoo me.
 

The problem, according to Kieran, lies in the quality of the board.

The way most Chinese manufacturers conduct their business is to push sales at all cost.
Boards with quality issues were knowingly sold to customers.
When those boards inevitably broke down, they were returned for refund and repair, which end up costing the company money.

That’s why there was no profit.

Kieran expressed his frustration to his boss, and guess what did his boss do?

He blamed the losses on the sales team.

Birth of Meepo:

Most Chinese electric skateboard manufacturers are not E-skaters, and their board’s performance annoyed Kieran when he was using them for his daily commute.

In April 2017, with the ease of access to all the parts and manufacturers, Kieran started building a board for himself to use.
He started from what he has and with some mix and matches, got a board that has the performance that he was satisfied with.

He showcased the board on Youtube to try to get the attention from retailers hoping for some B2B business opportunity.

Instead, what Kieran got was the interest of some viewers abroad.Some of the viewers expressed interest to buy the board, and after some back and forth, the first Kieran-made-electric skateboard was sold to a viewer from the US.

Some of the viewers expressed interest to buy the board, and after some back and forth, the first Kieran-made-electric skateboard was sold to a viewer from the US.

After proving that selling electric skateboard online can work, Kieran fired his boss and started his own electric skateboard company.

And hence, Meepo was born.

And yes, Meepo got its name from the DotA character with the same name.

Grow:

Today, Meepo is a 3 person company with Kieran manning the helm, making all the product decisions.

The company is scrapping by, recording around 150 sales since its recent founding late June 2017.

With no marketing budget, word-of-mouth has been the primary way Meepo found new owners – which is rather effective as the riding experience, board’s quality, and Kieran’s pre & post-sale services have left his customer raving about Meepo all over Reddit.

In fact, that was how I got to know about Meepo too.

“All of Meepo’s buyers are from abroad. 70% of them from the USA, 15% from Europe and 15% from the others.” Kieran

Approach:

Meepo’s Philosophy:

“Electric skateboard should be a commuting vehicle that is affordable to everyone. Electric Skateboard doesn’t have to be expensive to be good. It doesn’t have to be expensive to give great riding experience.” Kieran

When Kieran put together Meepo, the chief focus is the riding experience.
“I commute around 10km on my Meepo every day, and I need the experience to be good. Many people care a lot about the battery range, but what is the use of extended range if traveling on that E-skate is intolerable? It would just extend an unenjoyable experience.”

Sure enough, the theme of ‘focusing on riding experience’ came out again and again when we talked about how he put together Meepo.

Technical Approach:

“I think the Battery and the ESC are two of the most important component when putting together a board. 

When putting together the Meepo, the battery has been the one that gave me the most headache.

ESC is simpler, I chose a good one and the rest is just making sure my firmware is up to date.

I would like to play around with different motors but the truth is, with my size right now, there are limits on what I can do with the motor.”

Battery:

“When putting together the Meepo, the battery has been the one that gave me the most headache.”

Battery 10S2p 36V 4.4Ah Samsung 18650 5c

“I have tried and change the battery I use for the board for around 6 times.

People may say Samsung or LG battery cells is good.
But using a good brand by itself isn’t enough.
I have to get Samsung cells in model 22P to get the best performance.

And When building the BMS, it is important to know how the ESC is programmed, what is the consistent current drain needed, and what is the max current the battery can provide in a stable manner.”

Kieran then went on to explain why he cares so much when picking the battery for Meepo.

“When I was riding other electric skateboards in the market, there were a few problems that bugged me.

For one, there was the issue where when braking with a full(or near full) battery, the board may turn off as the regenerative braking will be charging the battery over its max capacity.
It manifests as ‘the remote disconnected’ but it was actually due to the battery’s BMS cutting off the charge.

I have a stretch of downhill road in the beginning of my commute and I would be afraid every time going down it, frightened by the prospect that my board will power off.
I don’t want to work around it by not charging the board fully. Neither do I want to skate around to drain some battery before I go downhill.

I want the problem solved and that’s what I did by working with the battery supplier.
We worked together to tweak the BMS so that battery overcharging would not happen and the brake would not fail that easily.

To my knowledge, some of the big players in the market still haven’t solved this issue.

Another problem was when the battery was below 50%, some board will slow down ridiculously when going up a slope. That stinks and I’m sure my customer will not be happy if I sell them an Eskate that performs that way.

Again, I don’t want this problem to plague my Meepo and after some back and forth with the battery supplier, we solved the issue.

Now, every time I get a new batch of batteries, I will test them out in my everyday commute to make sure that they are good.”

ESC:

“The fact is, the riding experience of Meepo is unlikely to be further improved by a pricier ESC.”

ESC is another component that was carefully picked for Meepo.

“ESC impacts the riding experience significantly. A good ESC can allow the rider to control the acceleration – whether they want it to be abrupt or to be gentle.

On the opposite side of things, ESC also controls the braking experience. With a good ESC, you can have a better control of the brakes. It will allow you to stay at any speed you want when going downhill.”

ESC can get expensive, there is really a point of diminishing returns where a pricier ESC does not improve the riding experience further, at least for Meepo.

So to assemble an affordable board, Kieran picked out a good quality ESC that can that can give the best riding experience while staying on budget.

“I would not say my ESC is the best, better VESC can cost up to $300 and that’s for a single motor!
The ESC I use is a good one shared by many major brands.
Look at it, it is beautiful, its has a symmetry look and has a simple design.
It can do everything I want it to do, smooth acceleration, smooth braking, smart turn on, regenerative braking etc.
The fact is, the riding experience of Meepo is unlikely to be further improved by a pricier ESC.”

Motor:

“I chose a good motor that can provide enough torque for slope climbing.”

Kieran told me that there was the concern that this motor looks bulky and unsightly but at the end of the day, utility triumphs look, at least for Meepo.

“I want a motor that does not have heating issues. Many China Boards use motors that will overheat to 90-100°C. That damages the motors.
This motor that I used will stay at around 60°C going up hills which will be fine.”

“At the end of the day, when I was riding my Meepo, I will not be seeing how pretty the motor looks underneath my board.”

Substance over style indeed.

Wheels:

“There are some really bad roads where I live and I DON’T want to step down from my electric skateboard and walk. Small wheels might look prettier but I want to feel safe.“

On choosing the wheel size:

“I have been thrown off my board before and it is not fun.
With 70mm wheel, a small pebble can throw you off your board.
With 90mm wheel, at least I can be confident that my wheels can safely roll over small bumps on road.
As anything smaller than half of the radius of the wheel I can confidently roll over, a 90mm wheel can handle a 1-2cm bump easily.
So I can relax and enjoy the scenery a bit instead of being stressed out by bad roads all the time.”

How about All Terrain wheels in the future?

“Many people have asked me about All Terrain setup. I am interested too and will be looking into it but it will take time and probably nothing will come of it in the near future.”

Deck:

“The deck has to be stiff enough so that a heavy person won’t scrape the floor and flexible enough to accommodate a light person.”

“I am adamant to get a two-piece component housing at the front and tail of the board instead of a single full-length component housing at the center of the board.

This is because I want Meepo’s deck to be able to flex. It may not look as nice as a one piece design but the flexibility of the deck really improves the riding experience.”

Meepo uses a 8 ply deck (7ply Chinese Maple + 1 ply bamboo Deck).

“The deck has to be stiff enough so that a heavy person won’t scrape the floor and flexible enough to accommodate a light person.”

Is Meepo’s deck the best?
Kieran thinks that Boosted Board probably has the best deck on any E-skate right now but his Meepo wasn’t half bad either.

Hey, when you are making a sub $300 board, a compromise has to be made somewhere right?

Overall:

Meepo was built with good quality components.

The early customer reviews reflected that.
There were a few accounts of component failure, a great way to test Kieran’s after-sale service, and he has passed with flying colors.

Another upside is how neat and tidy the component of the board was assembled.

“Kieran designed this board to be fixed by the user. All you need is the part from him and you can practically replace anything yourself. For example, I had to swap some motor connectors because the board would go backward instead of forward unless I pressed the change button direction. He messaged me on WhatsApp and gave me instructions on what to do so I got a first-hand look at the internals. Things were easy to disconnect and reconnect again. Everything is almost plug and play aside from if you want to change the motor wheels, you have to use Loctite for the screws and the adhesive glue to waterproof the board.”   /u/KingPrudien

A clarification has to be made though,
when we said Meepo is a good quality board, we didn’t mean that it has a refined look.

The board is put together using components that are widely available in the Chinese electric skateboard market.
The external designs are shared by many other Chinese electric skateboards that can be found all over Aliexpress.

Where Meepo differs. is with what lies inside and that reflects in how well the board performs.

At the end of the day, the board has a DIY origin and definitely has a scrappy look.

Let’s just say there is more than what meets the eye.

Future:

“E-skate is definitely the best portable vehicle among the likes of Segway, One wheel, and Hoverboards.
E-skate is just faster, lighter, more stable and simply cooler than any other portable vehicle on the list.”

In the future, Meepo will not deviate from its focus on quality and riding experience.

“As the ‘product manager’, there are thousand of ideas that I want to try with Meepo. But given the size of our business right now, there are only a few moves that actually make sense. First, we have to get more sales and then more options will open up.”

Kieran wishes to add a third, more premium board to the Meepo line up once the company has a healthier bottom line.

Something with a better riding experience, more range, and perhaps even better looking from the outside; the look still won’t be the priority, Kieran stated in a frank manner.

At the immediate future, however, the goal is to get more sales. Kieran remains hopeful, as the word-of-mouth from his existing customers has beginning to help sales.

But with a 3 person team, how well can Meepo be expected in handling massive orders?

“No worries, I have friends that run E-skate production factory. With 1 week notice, they can start the production and we can handle up to 1000 orders per month.”

And on the after-sale service front:

For now, Kieran is expected to handle all of the after-sale services. However, he is already in the process of bringing an extra person in to maintain their current top tier customer service. Kudos.

My thoughts:

I have yet to come across a negative review or complaint on Kieran and his Meepo boards.

At a sub $300 price, there is nothing that can compare to it.

The caveat is, Kieran was unable to get a better shipping deal from his shipping agent (monopoly) and hence the shipping fee for Meepo is ridiculously high.

Meepo’s shipping fee:

Canada$135.00
USA$100.00
Europe$100.00
Australia$85.00
South East Asia$65.00

100 USD to ship to the US! More than one-third of the price of Meepo itself!

“Most of the people abandon cart when they saw the shipping price, it is ridiculously high but there is nothing I can do about it at the moment.”

Bulk ordering would significantly reduce the shipping fee.
So if anyone is interested in reselling or doing a mass drop for Meepo, well, let Kieran know.

At the end of the day, even after the shipping fee,
Kieran’s Meepo is still unmatched among the budget boards in both price and performance.

Considering the electric skateboard in the budget segment: We have Acton Blink Lite(<400$), Torque Speedster(<600$), Yuneec E-go(<500$), Spectra Mini(<400$) and Lou 1.0(<500$).

Meepo both out prices and out performs all of them, even after taking account of the shipping fee.
The after-sale service of Kieran is also unmatched by any boards on this list (other than DIYelectricskateboard’s Torque Speedster).

To go any cheaper, you will be considering China Boards, which I have talked about extensively in my previous post. And no, I don’t consider Meepo as a China Board, as it is not produced-en-masse (at least for the time being).

If you do consider Meepo as a China Board, just think of it as the best of what China Boards can offer – Unbeatable price with great quality and service.

Performance-wise, Meepo really does punch above its weight.

A bubble chart for all board’s range and top speed. Click to enlarge.

Click here to see the chart in Metric Unit instead.

As you can see from the chart, Meepo is performing as well as the likes of Inboard M1, Boosted Dual, and Blink S2. Boards that are easily 2-3x Meepo’s price.

Meepo is the best budget electric skateboard currently available PERIOD.

I will recommend Meepo as the first board to consider for anyone who is looking for a budget electric skateboard or a good electric skateboard in general, right before DIYelectricskateboard’s Torque Speedster.

I made a deal with Kieran:

The philosophy of Meepo aligns perfectly with what I have set up to do with Electric Skateboard HQ.

To promote electric skateboard as a mean of transportation for the masses.

It is a commuting vehicle for the masses.
Also it is an easy recommendation for its price and its value.

Not everyone can afford a Boosted Board but everyone can afford a Meepo.

I talked to Kieran for 2 hours + and I like him.
He is passionate about Eskate and clearly obsesses about putting together the best E-skate he can for the commoners like himself (and myself).

I want to help Kieran out, so we made a deal.

An exclusive deal for the readers of Eskate HQ.

I help promote Kieran’s Meepo from now until the end of August and in return, Kieran will give something back to my readers when they purchase a Meepo.

The Deal:

From now until the end of August, Kieran will give you one extra adapter charger and one extra remote when you buy a Meepo long board.
Just let him know I sent you his way with the promo code “EskateHQ” on the check out page.
(the free gifts will not be reflected in the cart, but he will make sure you get it, don’t worry.)

*P.S.: This is not a paid review and that isn’t an affiliate deal.

Update: Too bad the promotion has ended. But thanks to your support, the demand of Meepo has skyrocketed! Kieran now has to produce around 100 Meepo per day just to keep up with the demand! 
Kieran wishes to thank the readers of ElectricSkateboardHQ for your support.
If you have any problem or question with the Meepo, you can reach Kieran at [email protected], or you could just leave a comment below and I will relay it to him.

Some Link:
Meepo Boards Official site.
Kieran’s Youtube Channel.

Even if you are not interested in buying a Meepo, I hope you enjoy this kind of content =).
Leave a comment if there is another electric skateboard company that you think I should interview next.

https://youtu.be/yf4utC7P_hY

“How about I give them an extra charger so that they can charge their board at multiple locations.” Kieran
“That’s a bit lame.. is there nothing else?” Me
“Err, how bout an extra remote?” Kieran
“Why would anyone need an extra remote?”Me
“It’s small, they might misplace it, I lost one before.” Kieran
“Can you give them both?” Me
“Er… I might be able to… hmm, Okay”