Author Topic: Electric Skateboards - Meepo Campus 2  (Read 104980 times)

surfcowboy

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Electric Skateboards - Meepo Campus 2
« on: September 09, 2019, 08:15:39 PM »
Started skating again at 53. Just needed a dry land hobby. Too far to the beach to get out enough and flat days can leave me off the water for 2 weeks. Bought every pad you can wear and a helmet and humbled myself on my local sidewalk.

Got comfortable after a week and then noticed my Achilles on my push leg was killing me. Did some research and found Meepo boards. Checked craigslist and found a used Campus 2 for $225 and grabbed it. They are $300 new.

Here’s the first takes after 3 days of tearing around the empty streets of my hood.

These things are waaaay too fast for a sane adult. Mine has the smaller battery and a single motor and hits 17 mph. I’m comfortable up to about 10-12. There are 4 modes and I’m rocking #2 and unlikely to go beyond that unless I’m being chased.

The range is 10 miles. If you’re an adult, good luck with your calves and shin muscles holding up for more than may 2-3 miles at first. This has been great for my lower body since I’ve not been paddling much these days.

Having brakes and removing the need to push takes most of the hardest parts of skating out of the equation. I cannot see why brakes aren’t on every regular skateboard made. I’m going down hills I wouldn’t have taken with less fear. (Note, you still need to know how to stop as these things can fail of course.) and know that the Campus 2 doesn’t have the smoothest breaking, that’s the main place I see the lower price.

The carving feels exactly like snowboarding. I’m literally snowboarding down my empty street every evening after work for 20-30 minutes. I love it. I’m now working on mellower elbow pads and maybe switching to slider gloves instead of wrist guards so I can get in and out of errands quicker. My lunch trip today was an adventure and I’m surf training at the same time. (It’s crazy the difference swinging your shoulders makes in your turning radius. Btw)

Cons? Cars have no idea you are on the planet. I’ll not be riding this thing anywhere but a super quiet residential street or bike path. But the sidewalks are fine on this thing so who cares. And this little dude isn’t going to power up serious hills with the single hub motor so flat land only unless you’re upgrading to dual motors.

I love it and love having an electric vehicle. These things have hit the magic spot where the cheap tech is as good as the average person needs. If you’re looking for a fun goof off board, this one is a lot of fun and for $400 there are versions that will blow your mind.

PonoBill

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Re: Electric Skateboards - Meepo Campus 2
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2019, 07:15:48 AM »
That's a pretty low price, I built a dual-motor 60Volt one and your board cost less than just the mechanical parts kit I bought to build it. I would probably have spent somewhere around a thousand bucks if I hadn't already had a lot of drone stuff I could convert. Rode it once and took it apart. I should have scattered the pieces to the four corners of Hood River because now they are calling to me. My mistake was probably too much power. That and the dynamic braking issue is tricky. The faster you are going initially, the stronger the braking force is. Absent some fairly complex algorithm that understands Newton, the end result is getting pitched off at high speed. Which I did. Several times.

53 is probably fine, 72 might be a bit too crispy. I've broken my collarbones too many times to count. I don't need to do that again. Still... I know exactly where those parts are, and I have a OneWheel sitting at the shop mocking me. Which reminds me, I need to get rid of that thing before my daughter sees it. For a gal who is an EMT she's pretty wacky about risk/reward. She recently grabbed the Big Kahuna which was the original testbed for my AWD skateboard and apparently is riding it all over Coeur d'Alene with, I suspect, minimal safety gear. I've also got a set of offroad trucks, wheels, and brakes for that thing. I need to ditch all of that.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2019, 07:17:46 AM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

surfcowboy

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Re: Electric Skateboards - Meepo Campus 2
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2019, 07:51:46 PM »
Braking is the thing, and that’s all in the esc. They’ve really worked that stuff out better now.

That’s the benefit of the lower power single motor. Less acceleration and gentler braking. It won’t stop you if you’re bombing down a hill but that’s why you want to keep some skate skills.

I’m seeing that 12 mph carving feels pretty good and keeps me in the zone where I could run off the board or roll and deal with the slide with my pads. Just gotta keep out of the way of the cars.

But dude, the “real” ones are terrifying to me after riding this one. lol

surfcowboy

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Re: Electric Skateboards - Meepo Campus 2
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2019, 08:39:16 AM »
Ok a month in, here’s the take.

Still fun, definitely like snowboarding. If you are a boarder, this is the best cross training you can do.

Loosened up my trucks and now can just barely do a U turn on 2 lane streets.

Cars can’t see you, just go to the sidewalk if it’s busy. I live in a quiet area and can carve side streets alone every afternoon and I’ve found the quietest route to all my local spots.

Lunch is an adventure now. I didn’t drive my car for 4 days last week.

Not sure if I’ll be able to light this thing up enough to ride after work this winter but I’ll report back. LED’s are pretty good now and I have one hell of a battery near me lol.

And I know you’ll ask. I’ve fallen once this whole month, coming out of my drive I didn’t have enough speed to hop a crack (giant wheels, this isn’t like when we were kids btw.) I went with it and naturally rolled like you should and my pads kept me from being skinned up. Got up, never felt a thing. So that was helpful. I’d been wondering what it would feel like.

I’m about $350 in with shoes and pads and helmet. Cheapest sport yet I think. Also in about 2 years of lunch runs and errands I’ll actually pay it off in gas saved, though we will see how my batteries hold up (should get 500 charges at least, yes?)

Of course now I’m looking to hack it a bit. Want to change out the board for more flex to ease the bumps and then maybe make Fiberglass/carbon enclosures for ESC and battery (removable) so I can fly with it on biz trips and vacations. Actually I just realized that there’s my first 3D printer project, molds for those.

TallDude

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Re: Electric Skateboards - Meepo Campus 2
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2019, 09:59:30 AM »
A neighbor of mine is the biggest kid I know. He's probably in his mid 40's and races his RC cars up and down our street. He's really good too. He'll be a good 100 yards from his RC car and drive around (weave through) the traffic on our street at around 20 mph. He has something like the Meepo Pro longboard that he carves around the neighborhood on. His has lights too, and he rides it around after dark sometimes. Not for me anymore. I don't bounce like I used to.
It's not overhead to me!
8'8" L-41 ST and a whole pile of boards I rarely use.

surfcowboy

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Re: Electric Skateboards - Meepo Campus 2
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2019, 02:55:24 PM »
RC guys blow me away. I never adapted my eye to it.

And yeah, my size helps a lot. Little guys roll and slide easier for sure.

 


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