[pg]

This is one of those things that's like Google in the sense that it seems to be just an improvement on existing technology, but in fact is enough of an improvement that it's qualitatively different.

In all the startups we've funded I don't think I've seen one whose product was so enthusiastically embraced by YC partners. Three bought one of these boards. One says it "changed his life."

[jonnycowboy]

At a 1,000$ pricepoint I'm not so sure it will be good enough for the masses, especially for such a standard powered longboard setup. Longboards can be found for 100$, add two 50$ brushless motors, a belt-drive setup and a controller, I don't think they can justify that profit margin. I'd expect that with a BMW StreetCarver truck setup, it would be a much easier sell (in fact I would probably buy one). With regards to the product design, I think you'll find the unsupported belt pulley to cause motor failure in normal use (these type of brushless motors are not designed for sideloading, even with dual ball bearings).

[skdoo]

We're starting with a longboard setup that costs over $300 retail. The reason those sell is because they have lots of advantages over $100 longboards.

We are still refining our transmission design, but even in its current form, we haven't had a bearing issue or motor failure in the past year of continuous and rigorous testing.

[Brashman]

I've tended to find the $300+ price tags on Loaded boards to be a bit high, but they are head and shoulders much better than anything you can find for $100. This is really exciting to see a motorized version of an actual good longboard.

[pg]

Like all technology it will get cheaper. Even now it seems empirically to be a good deal if you can afford it, judging from the reactions of the three YC partners that bought one.

[jonnycowboy]

I'd like to add, I love the controller design. That alone must be worth a couple of hundred ;) Does it use bluetooth? I hope it is not a standard RC transmitter because they can get jammed fairly easily (leading to injury and death, etc etc) even on the new(ish) frequency-hopping 2.4Ghz models.

PS. are you hiring ? ;)

[eurleif]

>they can get jammed fairly easily (leading to injury and death, etc etc)

Wouldn't a failsafe that activated the brakes if contact with the remote were lost pretty much avoid any serious problems? I don't think getting rear-ended should be much of a concern, since the maximum speed is 20 MPH, and cars will (hopefully) be careful behind someone on a skateboard in general.

[andrewjshults]

Sudden deceleration (or acceleration) is probably the last thing you want if the remote disconnects. I'd guess some audible alarm letting you know the remote is no longer functioning + disconnecting the drive system (motors and brakes) so it functions as a regular skateboard would be the safest way to handle that issue.

[eurleif]

That might be less than ideal if you were going downhill. Or if you had accelerated to maximum speed, were heading toward an intersection, and planned to hit the brakes before you got there.

[vacri]

Perhaps it also has a weight switch - no weight detected on the board for a second or two and it powers down?

[TylerE]

Take a deep breath, step back, and read what you wrote.

That's like saying, who would ever buy a MacBook Pro?

Why, just can just buy a motherboard, a block of aluminium, some commodity chips.

Just break out the vertical mill and soldering iron and spend a few weekends on it.

Why spend $1300 on $500 of components?

[jonmrodriguez]

As far as the profit margin, one barrier to just building this yourself is the NRE for a suitable brushless motor controller that does speed control, handles unknown and varying load torque, and does motor braking. Or do you know of an existing alternative controller?

[jonnycowboy]

They are using off-the-shelf brushless motor controllers (from what I can gather) and off-the-shelf brushless motors. There are many makers of ESCs with your requirements including from the now-ubiquitous HobbyKing, both sensored and sensorless (for RC car applications) including this one: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17234__Hobby_King... which will do variable engine braking as well.

[skdoo]

Our motor control ESCs, remote control electronics, battery management systems, and software are entirely custom. Off-the-shelf RC parts aren't smooth, reliable, safe, or quiet enough.

[khafra]

JohnnyCowboy's concern about early motor failure from the sideloading--do you have estimates on the mean mileage between component failures, and how much replacements would cost?

[jonnycowboy]

My bad, I misunderstood your comment that you were using "(relatively) cheap brushless motor controllers".

[wheels]

They're expensive, but keep in mind that almost by the nature of the product, the customer base is going to be mostly 20-something urban professionals -- i.e. folks that make $1000 in two working days and are less likely to have a family cutting into their gadget fund.

[Tloewald]

As a late 40s father of two who has never ridden a skateboard, I started researching how hard it would be to learn and whether I should get a conventional longboard skateboard to learn on while I wait. I think the website could use some FAQs targeted at non-skateboarders.

This is a VERY compelling product, the price point is just fine. But I do want to know if I could, practically, learn to ride it from scratch in a few hours.

[calebmpeterson]

I'm a bit younger and the father of two little boys; I had a very similar reaction. "Cool, I wonder how I can talk my sons into long boarding in the parks nearby when they get a little older."

And yes, as someone who lives less than five miles from work, it is a VERY compelling product. The only problem is traffic. In normal suburban traffic a long board + a helmet would make a motorcycle look downright benign in the safety department.

[qbit]

This might be inspirational for you:

http://shelterpub.com/_lloyd/skateboard.html

[khafra]

Interesting point on durability. This product fits my use case, but at $1200, if I bought it and it breaks after 100 miles I would be very unhappy.

[bambax]

The battery itself is likely to add $400-600 to the total...

[FrojoS]

I remember you wrote in an essay, that the Segway 'failed' because it makes people look lazy, like a 'smug', when they ride it and that changing the position to skateboard style might be the only change required. [1]

Well, its not a Segway yet, but seem like we're getting there. But maybe this is the optimum already.

edit: found it [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/segway.html

[pg]

Curiously enough there was another startup this batch that did the converse: used Segway-like balancing technology in what will probably turn out to be a better way: http://doublerobotics.com

[aggie]

It seems a dedicated, remote, wheeled iPad, especially like in the gallery example, should take advantage of an external camera with optical zoom. The iPad camera is good for what it is, but the physical dimension constraints don't seem to apply if it's already mounted to a 5-foot robot.

Otherwise, that's really cool.

[test450]

That still looks lame. OTOH, recently saw this segway tech in downtown Chicago and dude looked like he was from the future. http://solowheel.com/

[poub]

Another example of balancing technology : http://rynomotors.com/

[skdoo]

We actually found that essay after working on this project for almost a year, and I believe after applying to YC. The parallels are undeniable, though.

[dhugiaskmak]

    One says it "changed his life."

I would genuinely like to hear more about this.

[aaroniba]

I said that.

I realized my world was divided into: places I could walk to, places I could bike to, and places I could drive to.

Where I live (downtown Palo Alto), driving is a hassle because of traffic and parking. Driving is annoying, boring, frustrating, life-wasting... basically I hate driving and use it only as a last resort.

Walking is great, but it's slow. It's really time-consuming to walk anywhere beyond a few blocks.

Biking is pretty fast, but still a bit of a hassle because I have to bring a heavy U-lock and worry about my bike. "Where is my bike and is it OK?" is always in the back of my head, which makes it harder to enjoy whatever I'm doing. Also biking doesn't leave any hands free to carry things.

Now I have a Boosted Board with a 6-mile range. For any trip under 3 miles, it is:

* Faster than walking, biking, or driving.

* More fun.

* No extra hassle, nothing to worry about.

* Leaves 2 hands free to carry stuff like groceries.

So it's opened up this whole 3 mile radius of things around me that I previously wouldn't go to. Now these places feel like they're at my fingertips. It feels like my world got smaller.

[cuu508]

> Faster than walking, biking, or driving.

Is it really faster than biking? How? I imagine braking on this thing is not as good as on bike--harder to control stability, also smaller surface contact area. If you cannot stop fast, you cannot afford to go fast...

On a bike I can usually blend into city traffic, draft large vehicles, weave through traffic jams, or hop on to sidewalk. Doing the same with longboard would require serious skill (and be probably less safe), I think.

[ScottBurson]

I have a Metroboard, and definitely feel less safe on it than I would on a bike at the same speed. The big problem is the relatively short wheelbase -- it's not hard to go over the front of the thing when braking. The Metroboard controller is pretty smart and applies braking force gradually, to give you time to lean back -- but that means stopping distances are longer.

On the whole, I thought it a rather wooly way to go 2 miles from my house to the Caltrain. For trips around 1 mile or less I think it would make a lot of sense.

[aaroniba]

Yes, it's really faster than biking. I average 12mph on the boosted board. I know because I use a GPS app on my iphone to monitor my rides. This is unfortunately necessary because my prototype board does not have a battery gauge, so I need some idea of how much battery I have left.

I also weave through traffic. I don't know how to evaluate whether it's more or less safe than doing the same thing on a bike or motorcycle, but it doesn't feel any less safe.

[cuu508]

12mph average is respectable, now this gets interesting...

As for comparing safety, one could 1) compare time to stop with different brake types, on different surfaces, in a straight, in a corner 2) gather statistics on traffic accidents and injuries

[arohner]

> "Where is my bike and is it OK?"

How does the skateboard avoid this? Where do you park it when you go to a restaurant or something?

[nikatwork]

Dude. It's a skateboard. You don't park it, you just carry it under your arm. Pretend it's an oversize umbrella or something :)

[dchichkov]

Have you actually tried carrying a motorized longboard? I did. They ARE bulky. That's what actually stopping me from riding a board to do my groceries. And I wouldn't even consider riding it to the office.

But, who knows, maybe these guys will be able to make a board that is not ridiculously bulky. [Make a lighter 10 lbs version, with 5 miles range, and I'm yours. Even for 1k.]

[khafra]

I've seen lead-acid cell-powered scooters and skateboards. This one looks massively lighter and lower-profile.

[aaroniba]

I bring it in wherever I go. Haven't had a problem yet.

While grocery shopping, I put it underneath the shopping cart.

[wukkuan]

I've seen a good number of people bringing longboards into coffee shops and places like that. I'd imagine it would be harder to bring it into a fancier establishment, though.

[Tloewald]

Norms may change ;-)

[shard]

I thought you need one hand to use the remote?

[jonnycowboy]

These seem to use some kind of "sliding thumb" control (see kickstarter)

[pfedor]

Is it safe?

[agscala]

Ditto. This is the kind of claim that, if explained appropriately, may convince me (and others) to buy one despite the price point.

[adrianhoward]

This is a dumb question - but they be illegal to ride powered on public roads/sidewalks in the US?

They'd certainly be illegal in the UK... which somewhat reduces the possibility of fun things.

[Datonomics]

I wonder if applying this technology to something like this: http://www.diytrade.com/china/pd/2572648/Kick_Scooter.html would lower the perceived learning curve and greatly expand their potential market?

[IanDrake]

Paul, any chance we can see a video of you riding one? :)

[JoeAltmaier]

I can see its a life-changer. Among the skateboarding crowd. I just think its a smaller demographic than they'd hoped.

[twoodfin]

Are they street-legal in Cambridge?

[mmcnickle]

It might be pertinent to add that Booster Boards are a YC company.

[DaniFong]

It looks pretty awesome.