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Comment by mahyarm | Hacker News Reader

Are they waterproof? Could I ride this in Seattle & SF rain all the time without damaging it? Otherwise it's just a fair weather vehicle and it's not something I can rely on.

If not, why would I choose this over all the other electric skateboards?

Is it safe to use on the steep downgrades you have in SF? Is it useless to use when going uphill on those same hills?

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The electronics will be somewhat water resistant, but we don't recommend riding in the rain. A big reason for that is the wheels (from standard longboards) are slicks and are somewhat dangerous in wet weather.

It is very capable at uphill climbing and downhill braking. Our ability to stay standing on it is usually the limiting factor.

As for why you would choose this over others, it's the lightest, has way more power than most, and has a fantastic design and riding experience.

It's unfortunate nobody has made a waterproof electric skateboard yet, it's what makes me stop buying any of them. How would it perform with knobby all terrain tires?

Reread the statement you are commenting on. The reason that you don't want to ride this board in the rain is inherent to longboarding, not to electronics. It is entirely possible to design the mechanical enclosures of electronics to withstand rain, it is simply a design choice. If people shouldn't be longboarding in the rain, why design for it?

Don't underestimate design (and the constraints which the BoostedBoards team have solved to achieve such a design).

http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/boosted-...

compared to

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0119/3292/t/4/assets/slide_...

http://i.imgur.com/QjhIM.png

I had these exact same questions: riding in Seattle/SF and Cleveland.

I don't think there's any way to make a safe powerful brake system for skateboards unless you're ready to do the stale fish maneuver, i.e. hit the brake button and grab the board, which, if there's a kiteboard-style handle, seems plausible

OTW, you have to learn power slides to make drastic decelerations, or bail off the front and kick the board behind you, but I almost got run over a few times in SF doing that. This also only works if you're not going faster than you can run. I found that out empirically too

Not really relevant, but i saw somebody a couple years ago ride a shopping cart full of bottles (probably weighed a couple hundred pounds) down the steep hill on Haight st from Baker to Divis. He's my hero

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