It's been a tough e-skatboarding week. On my way back from a long ride last week I took a really hard spill and am taking a break from riding it. The owner was really helpful and answers emails really fast with genuine concern for safety and customer satisfaction. It's not clear if it's a mechanical issue (the board slows down when I release the accelerator, sending me flying forward), or a balance issue (I'm 6'4", and don't have much experience on electric skateboards and was maybe accelerating too fast).
This was my third spill, and the hardest one yet, possibly since I'm getting more confident and less careful and going faster. All three falls resulted in me landing on my right knee, hip, and elbow (I ride goofy foot), so my body is banged up in those spots and I am still nursing cuts and bruises a week and a half after the last fall. My wife said I look like I am coming back from Fight Club. Not really the look or lifestyle I was going for. The first fall was actually funny because I was going slow.
The second fall was not as funny. This time I was alone and opened up a cut on my knee and got a bruise on my right hip. I was going medium speed and was thrown onto the concrete for no apparent reason. I got home and put a bandaid on my cut.
The third fall was sort of traumatizing. I was really moving and was thrown forward hard and it was painful. Again there was no warning and no obvious reason, except that I was accelerating fast, but this would normally make me think I would fall backwards, so falling forward comes as a surprise every time when I release the accelerator. This time, I cut my elbow, aggravated the bruise on my hip, reopened the cut on my knee, and ripped my jacket and bag. On this fall, I was slow to get up. Two ladies ran over to ask if I was alright. I cursed, then said I was fine, then they asked if I was sure I was ok, and I didn't answer. I wasn't ok, I was pissed, but there was nothing they could do to help. I just needed more bandaid's and neosporin from CVS, which my wife was kind enough to get for me.
My theory is that all three falls happened when I held the joystick up and tried to accelerate fast, then let go of the accelerator, and was thrown forward by the resistance of the drive wheel. This could be avoided by slowly accelerating using the gear system, but I sometimes want to accelerate fast, and maybe just need to get used to this limitation.
I got a good 30 miles of riding out of the board, so it didn't happen all the time, but when it did happen, and I fell, it sucked. Maybe I need knee pads and elbow and hip pads or something. But I don't need these when riding a regular board so I don't own them and don't like the idea of having to lug around a lot of equipment, since that defeats the purpose of having a small portable board.
In all the time I had my electric bike and scooter, which was about one year for each one, I did not fall once or hurt myself at all. So three falls in one week is kind of a downside so far. One which I did not really realize would be a factor.
That said, it's still really fun and all the components seem like really high quality so I'd still recommend it to someone who is a bit shorter and has a lower center of balance. Maybe I should have gotten the longboard for more stability or something, or maybe tall people are not meant to ride electric skateboards, or maybe there's a mechanical issue and when it comes back it will ride smoothly with less risk of injury.
When I told the owner of the company about my concerns he tried to help me fix it over email and when that failed he offered to have me mail it back to him on his dollar so he could try to fix any problems, and if that fails, he would give me a refund. I feel bad saying anything bad about the board, because the customer service has been really responsive and the owner is doing everything in his power to solve my problems, which I appreciate. This is just me being honest about my experience.
I mailed it out today so it will likely be at least another week until I find out what's going on. I'll post an update then.
