Ride, Redesign, Repeat

Beta 1 Testing Progress

During the last 3 months, we've been testing our beta boards with Kickstarter backers of all ages and skating backgrounds who reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Beta riders at Golden Gate Park

Our riders use the boards for daily commutes and errands as well as recreational solo and group rides. They've been kind enough to record their usage patterns to give us an idea of real-world performance and endurance.

A sample of our actual ride data submitted by our beta tester Dan

With their help, we've been able to identify problems, tweak the design if needed, and install a new part quickly to solve their issue. This iterative process is crucial to reach production. We've seen issues ranging from minor software bugs to finding out that our 3D-printed prototype remotes will melt if left inside a warm car.

Despite these issues, our beta testers have been patient, and their amazing feedback and help is making the production boards more reliable, more fun, and safer. Here are some of their comments:

Mike Dodge (age: 27) says, "It's been my go to vehicle to use on my daily commute to and from the company shuttle as well as meeting up with friends on the weekends in the city."

Bernie Schneider (age: 43) says, "I take my board everywhere I go including work. It is so much fun! I'd rather spend 10-15 minutes riding my Boosted to pick up my lunch even if it's quicker to drive there in my car."

Dan McDonley (age: 35) who has never ridden a skateboard before but logged over 100 miles in the first 2 weeks says, "For commuting it is fantastic! Before I had to wait for the next bus or train if it was too full to store my bike. Not a problem with my board."

New Beta 2 Batch

For our second beta batch, we improved the motor controller, electronics cover, software, and drivetrain design using lessons learned from beta 1. For more technical details on the motor control electronics check out our blog post, "Technical Progress Part I: Electronics".

The progress of our electronics from beta 1 (middle) to beta 2 (bottom)

In addition to building boards, we used this new beta batch as an opportunity to develop and test our assembly line, inventory management, and operations. We tripled the production size while increasing build quality and decreasing time spent per board. We will keep increasing our production batch sizes as we finish the beta and start production.

Want more technical details...?

We've blogged about our electronics, and soon we'll have more info on our custom battery pack, new motors, drivetrain, and board graphics. Stay tuned!

45 responses

Looks like you're doing a great job. I can hardly wait to get mine. BTW. I fly RC and I'm familiar with brushless motors and ESC's and know soft starts aren't all that soft.

— Peter Schug

Your update is most welcome, and I can't wait to step onto my Boosted Board! I agree with the guy who suggests a means of keeping the remote and the board connected to one another, possibly via magnets. Also, have you considered a wrist-strap on the remote - or a solid connection point for one? I'm thinking I'm gonna fall off at least once (lucky if it's only once) and when I do, I'd hate for the remote to roll into traffic, into a sewer drain, or into some other remote-killing event. Thanks! Full speed ahead, guys!

— Stephen Maynard

Hi! Awesome progress! I would like to make one suggestion (it may not be new to you). I think it would be great if you could de-couple the wheels manually from the motors somehow to have "no" drag when pushing after the battery is depleted. Something like a click button in each wheel. My commute would be around 8 miles... And I don't mind pushing 2 of them, but I'm very concerned about the additional drag of the motors. If I could just switch to "normal" longboard drag...that would be awesome.

— Andy

This board looks bangin!!! I live in NYC would love to try one out here.

— Ruben Cruz

live in Melbourne and can not wait to try it there :))

— irion

You said that the parts of the board were cheap. But it might be a little expensive. If you can cut down the price,more and more lovers will buy it without any consideration.I hope you can take my advice.

— 蒋晔

i so very strongly agree with making a wrist-strap for the remote, making the wheels somehow free-spinning when zero drag is desired and cutting down the price for those who pay their bills via a fixed-income. To me, it seems as if building of the boards is very costly for the very small production team at Boosted Boards!! I live in the United states. I need longboarding to alleviate intense physical pain. However, my annual income is only $12,000 US Dollars!

— Emily

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