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Original Apex 40 Diamond Concave Deck on a Metroboard with Paris 180 Trucks, September 30, 2013

Check out this slick Original Apex 40 Diamond Concave Deck on a Metroboard Electric Skateboard with Paris 180 Trucks. This picture was taken with a new light box that we built to take sharper photos of the Metroboard. We are still tweaking the light box, but it does produce really crisp results! Let us know what you think!

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Metroboard IR Remote Upgrade Kits begin shipping this week,  September 23, 2013

Our production remote case parts will be arriving today and we will start shipping upgrade kits this week to existing customers. We will ship about 3 kits per week, in the order we received. We've already shipped about 20 boards with our new remote and the feedback has all been positive! Our production remote color will be a bit darker than the grey you've seen in the other pictures. It's a really sleek looking clear black (see below).

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Metroboard Unveils its New Super Reliable, Vibration Proof, and Interference-Free IR Remote,  August 23, 2013

This week we built and shipped the first 3 boards with our new IR remote, and everything went smoothly, and things are working very nicely.  We will now exclusively be shipping with the new IR remote. Upgrade kits for existing customers will be

available in about a month. We think you will be quite pleased!

We designed and now build the new IR remote and receiver ourselves, so we have total control over the quality of the components and the manufacturing (unlike the wii nunchuck remote, which is an off-the-shelf product with unknown (and some known) quality and performance issues. For example, the wii receiver was prone to vibration damage over time. The new remote is functionally equivalent to the nunchuck, but is far more durable, vibration proof, and interference free! So bottom line, you should have trouble free performance both in the short and long term with our new remote and receiver!

You may wonder why we use IR instead of RF for the wireless remote.  There are many reasons:

INTERFERENCE-FREE:

RF wireless is prone to interference from many RF noise sources such as power lines, Wi-Fi signals,  Bluetooth signals, and even the skateboard motor itself.  IR use a light based transmission which is completely immune from these common RF noise sources.  We use a powerful IR transmitter which doesn't require you to aim it very accurately.  In fact you can move your arm freely while riding and still get excellent results.  You can also use it in either hand!

VIBRATION RESISTANCE:

Most RF receivers are built from many small and often delicate components (e.g., timing crystals).  Electric Skateboards are subject to a lot of vibration and so over time these delicate components are subject to vibration related failures.  The IR receiver consists of a single solid state component which is virtually vibration proof.  In fact we built our first 200 Metroboards using an IR system and had an excellent track record for reliability over the long term.  We didn't have even a single failure!

COST:

IR systems are inherently much less costly than RF systems.  Keeping the cost down enables us to keep the Metroboard price down as well!

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Glowing Metroboard Electric Skateboard with 29" Flexdex Clear Lighted Skateboard,  July 2, 2013

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Electric Skateboard Racing Stripe,  June 19, 2013

We normally paint our aluminum battery cover bracket (the structural component that holds the battery box to the deck) black to blend in with the battery box, but we've been playing around with other colors to make the product more eye-catching. What do you think of this "racing stripe"? Yeah or nay?

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70 year old man from Singapore Collects Small Electric Skateboards,  May 29, 2013

Our oldest customer, age 70, in Singapore, owns 5 Metroboard Electric Skateboards! He insisted on getting as small of a board as possible. His shortest board is the "stumpboard" (3rd from left) which was basically our shortboard with the nose and tail chopped off!

From left to right: 27" Arbor Bogart, 27" Gravity Mini with tail removed!, 20" stumpboard, 23" Flexdex Grenade, and 41" Landyachtz Bamboo Totem (for the occasional Sunday ride!)

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700th Metroboard Electric Skateboard shipped! May 20, 2013

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Metroboard Electric Skateboard with our temporary New Midsize Deck, the 34" Riviera Burner Deck, April 29, 2013

This cambered deck with fiberglass layer is super-thin and has a bit of flex to it to help absorb road vibrations

making for a smoother ride! 

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Custom Metroboard Electric Skateboard with 36" HoneySkateboard Hybrid Deck, April 19, 2013

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Custom Metroboard Electric Skateboard with 35" Bustin Mekanik, April 10, 2013

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VIDEO: Electric Skateboard Train Pulling Plasma Cars

VIDEO: Electric Skateboard Pulling Xootr Scooter

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Historical Photo:  Metroboard Electric Skateboard very first prototype (circa 2003), March 18, 2013

This first electric skateboard prototype taught me the importance of motor placement.  My original goal was to be able to fit the electric skateboard in my gym locker, and so I wanted to minimize the height of the electric skateboard by putting the motor in front of the front truck (this first prototype was actually front wheel drive), where I could take advantage of the extra space allocated by the kick tail.  However, after easily scraping the electric skateboard motor and motor bracket going up an down curves, I quickly learned that ground clearance was going to be a problem.  Later prototypes moved the electric skateboard motor in between the two trucks which although forced the deck to be higher, better protected the motor from getting whacked going up and down ramps.

Historical Photo:  Metroboard Electric Skateboard very first prototype Electronics (circa 2003):  I learned very quickly that vibration and solderless breadboards are not a good combination!  I remember one of my very first rides, where something vibrated loose from the breadboard, and the motor locked on causing the board to slide out from me and launch into the street.  Luckily the Electric Skateboard hit the tire of a parked car and no damage or harm was done!  After that I learned very quickly the importance of vibration proofing the electronics and building safeguards into the electronics so that even if one component fails, no safety issues would be created.

First Wireless Electric Skateboard Video for Metroboard (circa 2003)

First Electric Skateboard Prototype for Metroboard, Ben Yehuda St, Tel Aviv, Israel (circa 2004)

First Electric Skateboard Prototype Metroboard, Park Hayarkon, Tel Aviv, Israel (circa 2004)

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Custom Metroboard Electric Skateboard with Honey Skateboard 35.5" H-BOMB Deck, March 14, 2013

Read the Wired Article about the Metroboard, January 16, 2008

Ubergizmo Article about the Metroboard, November 15, 2007

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