 By pure chance (or luck), my neighbor across the street has an eXkate Powerboard. He was generous enough to let me take it for a ride tonight. I started off with my doubts... the board looks big, unweildy and not like much of a carver at all. It's also very heavy--it weighs in at 52 pounds. I couldn't imagine it being anything other than a novelty.
He let me jump on it and off I went. I skated down the street and around the corner, something didn't feel right. I was going slow and the board was making a whistling sound. I was at the point of turning around thanking him for letting me try it and going in to watch a movie or something when a little yellow Ford Focus pulled up behind me. It was my neighbor. It turns out his child was the last one to ride it and there was a governor on it in the remote that limited it to 8mph... whew.
He flipped a switch under the battery in the remote, I jumped back on and the board was out from under my feet quicker than I could touch the remote. I jumped back on; the same thing happened again. The third time I was a little more cautious, I put both feet firmly in place and leaned forward and slowly pressed the trigger on the wireless remote. This time I stayed on the board. I'll admit, the speed that it accelerated at was a little intimidating at first--it was eeire because the board is absolutely slient, yet despite the silence, it's very powerful feeling.
At first I felt like i could only ride it in a straight line... like a four wheeled Segway (which isn't as fun as the guy on the front of their site makes it look). After a block or two I started carving. The board comes with big torsion trucks and big wheels (you can look up the specs on their site... I'm not going to bother repeating all that here) that actually carve really well for such a heavy board. I didn't get any wheel bite and it really didn't feel like I had 52 pounds under my feet. It was fun!
I know there are probably lots of people reading this wondering why anyone would want a board with a motor (just like people wonder why anyone would want a board with brakes)... well, I have a good answer to that. Newport News, Virginia. This has to be the flattest place on Earth (well, here and Florida where I grew up). To be honest, since I moved here, the amount of skating I've done has been very limited... it's just not the same pushing around flat neighborhoods as it was living in hilly Seattle and near the Blue Ridge Parkway here in Virginia (but far from where we live now). This board makes all the difference. It was the first time I've skated over 20mph in way too long. Feeling the wind in my face and seeing the pavement zip by smoothly below me was more theraputic than anything I've done for a long time.
Are there downsides? Yeah... it is heavy and if you exceed the 15 mile distance range, you're not going to want to end up carrying that thing home. With that having been said... 15 miles is a long way. Further than most people skate in a week. You're probably not going to be pulling many slides on it (or any tricks for that matter) and while 22 mph is fast, it's not super fast. For most skaters 22 mph will probably be faster than you really ever want to go. The biggest downside is the price. It's $999. I'm not going to say it's not worth that amount, but worth it or not, it's out of my range (and probably most people's range). If you think about it though, how much do snowboarders spend when all's said and done? Surfers? I don't know, maybe it is justifable.
The board is a definite head turner. Tonight I had a motorcycle follow me for a few blocks then stop me to have a look. He was pretty impressed. I skated past a bunch of shortboarders kicking tricks at an elementary school... they all stopped for a moment of silence (I was crusing by at 20mph--UPHILL). Even the older folks out on walks around the neighborhood slowed down a bit and watched me go down the street. It's a fun board! |
Board Reviews 
