6" pneumatic tyre and MBS mounts -ALIEN...

I've been designing and building in the background for quite a while now..and i've put together a super wide 6" tyre board,I'm in talks with supplier for the tyres ,tubes which I hope will be around £10 for both and I have a quote for simpler alloy wheels at £40 each - compared to £20 for a plastic skike wheel i don't think that's too bad but i have to buy a large number to get that price- I am considering going down the China supplier route but I'm a bit hesitant...
I'm going to test it on my current dual diagonal 50mm ( but rear dual is possible) with a slightly shorter gear ratio..Its super wide and i think to be honest the deck could go a lot shorter I like the look of the Maven 35 or the PB super duck.as I thinks its got to be a drop deck..
It uses the standard MBS skate truck and I'm also waiting on some special Low KV 50mm motors from Bruno to test them which will mean I can lower the gearing ratio
The beauty of the new mount is that ill be able to position the motor anywhere i want really - above or below the deck..Ill try to get it all together buy this weekend..I just need to extend the motor wires and make some wheel spacers..

Please let me know what you think guys...... \I personally think the pneumatic tyre is the best ride of all my boards on a day to day basis ..just so super smooth..and i really want to make it available to everyone..but the costs of the wheels are so prohibitive..

Looks good! How's the turn radius with those trucks?

Now this is what it's all about, experimenting and building your OWN designs. Brilliant!

psychotiller said:

Looks good! How's the turn radius with those trucks?

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The skate truck is actually the turniest amongst the MBS' trucks. You're going to need a wide board for this to be able to put leverage on them.

Only had a very quick go outside the house .. No power yet .. Radius is bigger but I think a shorter deck will help

Having them dual rear drive will help with the turning as long as you connect the two ESCs in parallel to the battery. As you put pressure on the wheel during turning, the ESC on that wheel will ask for more amps from the battery than the other ESC, making it go faster and helping you make a smaller turn radius. It actually feels like a cutback in surfing.

Pediglide said:

Having them dual rear drive will help with the turning as long as you connect the two ESCs in parallel to the battery. As you put pressure on the wheel during turning, the ESC on that wheel will ask for more amps from the battery than the other ESC, making it go faster and helping you make a smaller turn radius. It actually feels like a cutback in surfing.

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Really? That's awesome

psychotiller said:

Really? That's awesome

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Yup.

You must have surfer's stance though, instead of a snowboarder's stance....meaning you must have more of your weight on your back foot and not like the 50/50 weight distribution in snowboarding.

They look beautiful! What made you switch to mbs trucks? If I'm not mistaken your original urban commuter was on a normal longboard set up? I know it's out of your hands, but I have to admit the price is intimidating.

What are you using to space your non-driven wheels out along the axle beetbocks? I just used aluminium pipe.

Pediglide said:

psychotiller said:

Really? That's awesome

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Yup.

You must have surfer's stance though, instead of a snowboarder's stance....meaning you must have more of your weight on your back foot and not like the 50/50 weight distribution in snowboarding.

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just like riding powder then? you push the back end around? I did notice that on my rear dual 42mm

drmacgyver said:

They look beautiful! What made you switch to mbs trucks? If I'm not mistaken your original urban commuter was on a normal longboard set up? I know it's out of your hands, but I have to admit the price is intimidating.

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I have had the trucks for a while and i was looking at using some MTB wheels but they would require a chain drive ( although - considering the cost and hardship of getting these wheels to market- i may go down that root) and there perfect for fitting the mount -I have the motor above the deck and it looks pretty neat.. they do ,look at bit odd- very wide ..and out of proportion.. the trucks are a bargain i think also at £25 each..
yep the cost is high because i cannot afford to gamble on buying 1000 from China and be left with 700 sets.. so i get from my CNC supplier in England in batches of 50,.. (that's the plan)..TBH I think this will just be a personnel project..I may look at the 8" roadie tyre and MBS wheels and use the new low KV motors Bruno is sending me.....never satisfied!! :?

daverobson08 said:

What are you using to space your non-driven wheels out along the axle beetbocks? I just used aluminium pipe.

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i machined some 15mm alloy bar and incorporated a speed ring on the end..

I think the wide trucks look really weird especially with the fairly narrow 6" tires and I'm not sure why they need to be so wide?

Also 8" wheels are pretty big (also very wide), and I think I would prefer 6" wheels to keep the board lighter and more portable. Also low kv means less power for the same voltage because the motor will not spin as fast. You could accomplish the same thing by decreasing the voltage on your current motors while keeping the amps the same.

Have you considered machining your own hangers with longer axles? They could be shaped to offer a better place for the motor mounts to clamp to as well as offer a place to insert a bearing inside the wheel pulley like recumpence did with his build.

Looks sweet as always. So the motor mount is attached by two grub screws on the axle? I would try and get away from the chain and keep the belt. The chain slap is annoying after the quietness of belts.
Not that I need another board, but I've looked at the atom boards by MBS which you can get for dirt cheap here in the states. The urethane wheeled version is like $130 and the pneumatic is $170 shipped. I can't tell from the pics if they actually have the brake mount holes or not on these though. It would make it easier for me to use them.
Here's some pics:


Air tire version:


The decks are both 39".

beetbocks said:

I personally think the pneumatic tyre is the best ride of all my boards on a day to day basis ..just so super smooth..

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Hallelujah! ^^

Pediglide said:

Having them dual rear drive will help with the turning as long as you connect the two ESCs in parallel to the battery. As you put pressure on the wheel during turning, the ESC on that wheel will ask for more amps from the battery than the other ESC, making it go faster and helping you make a smaller turn radius. It actually feels like a cutback in surfing.

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I can't argue with how it feels to you, but I don't understand how requesting more amps would make the motor spin faster? I agree that when you put more load on 1 wheel, that motor will need more amps, but it's voltage that defines speed, not amps (edit: at least not in that way).

For my understanding, do you mean putting pressure on the outer wheel when turning? Turning radius would be shorter if the outer wheels spin faster, but that seems like an unnatural thing to do when turning. Is this what people do when surfing?

thepronghorn said:

I think the wide trucks look really weird especially with the fairly narrow 6" tires and I'm not sure why they need to be so wide?

Also 8" wheels are pretty big (also very wide), and I think I would prefer 6" wheels to keep the board lighter and more portable. Also low kv means less power for the same voltage because the motor will not spin as fast. You could accomplish the same thing by decreasing the voltage on your current motors while keeping the amps the same.

Have you considered machining your own hangers with longer axles? They could be shaped to offer a better place for the motor mounts to clamp to as well as offer a place to insert a bearing inside the wheel pulley like recumpence did with his build.

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I agree they do look weird and are taking some getting used to- but the the skate trucks are too short and there's nothing in between that will easily mount a motor. , you need the wider track so the larger wheels don't foul on the deck..or a really thin deck..the narrow tyres are for low rolling resistance which is very important for range..
Regarding the lower voltage as against the lower KV- Bruno has always told me to use the optimum voltage for the motor but I do Know a lot of my customer use a single 63mm motor and a 6s battery ( optimum 10s) - having said that the 63mm motor is rather big and heavy whereas the low KV motors are actually only 50mm but 90 or 130KV.. so a lot lighter and the 7s battery also compared to 10s..- im no expert on motor etc..so any advice would be good.
I have considered using some of the precision truck and just making my own axles..TBH this is just a test of the wheels..if its successful I will buy a dedicated shorter ,wider deck and look at precision truck..
Dirk-
I have hovered over the buy it now on the Atom board several times but i just don't believe the urethane wheel will be any where near as a good a ride as the pneumatic - which i've been riding for months now ( on my commuter board)and love the feel... and the boards are pretty expensive in the UK.. and the pneumatic tyre version just uses MTB wheels - so again back to the chain/belt issue..I feel like im going round in bloody circles!! find a wheel,wont fit the truck,find a truck ,wont fit the wheel..find a wheel cannot get tyres..find a tyre cannot get cheap wheels!! aghhhhhhhhh

Can I ask a (perhaps dumb!) question Beetbocks? Why does an MTB wheel need to have a chain, and not a belt?

well -with current motor KV's the reduction required for the larger 8" wheel is not realistically obtainable with a belt but is with a chain..but with the new low Kv motors form Alien - it might be..I need to test.

Sorry - I am really thick :lol: - do you mean the belts are not strong enough?

no- i mean the reduction you need ie 72T-15/12T is too much for a belt to do as there is not enough teeth in mesh..not if you want the belt to be short as possible.. with chain it doesn't matter..

thepronghorn said:

. Also low kv means less power for the same voltage because the motor will not spin as fast. You could accomplish the same thing by decreasing the voltage on your current motors while keeping the amps the same.

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"this will achieve a lower RPM but does so by not reaching the max power ,which generates more amps and more heat so is not good for the system"... Bruno---

I see. That makes perfect sense, thanks for confirming.

p.s. I ordered some ABS covers from you and they arrived and I fitted them last night. Really awesome, very tough and a perfect fit so thanks very much!

you can also add into the mix the fact that large aluminium timing pulleys (~60t+) cost a lot more than chain sprockets which achieve the same gearing ratios

daverobson08 said:

you can also add into the mix the fact that large aluminium timing pulleys (~60t+) cost a lot more than chain sprockets which achieve the same gearing ratios

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yep that's true- although the 60T pulley gear i've designed to fit on the drive hub will cost about £16 .so not bad and a lot lighter..

How do you find the chain drive on yours dave? is it noisy?
i have been told its a lot better for braking as it doesn't slip..

I'm using a belt drive and it's just fine

EDIT: That's a pretty decent price for a 60T pulley