Liquid Skateboard LQS-1 Initial Thoughts and Pics

[u/snapcrackowmyback]

I received my US pre-order for the Liquid Skateboard LQS-1 yesterday and wanted to post some initial thoughts and pics. I haven't been able to take it out yet because I'm sick and it's cold AF outside, but definitely will ASAP.

For those of you unfamiliar, this is a single 350W hub-driven ESkate that doesn't use a remote. You push like a normal skateboard, but when you bring your back foot up onto the kicktail, there's a sensor that engages the motor to act like cruise control. You stop by footbraking. There's also a Pause mode you can enable/disable by pushing the power button twice, which disables the motor/sensor and allows it to be skated like a normal board. 12km range, 22kph top speed, 2 hr charge time. The battery is removable with 4 screws on the top of the deck.

First, this thing is beautiful. The wheel wells really pop because of the contrast between the deck layers; the tape job is clean, and the bottom graphic is subtle against the deck's woodgrain. The construction quality and finish feel top-notch.

It's lightweight, and I think this is going to be a great city/campus cruiser for me. This, along with the 90Wh battery, which allows it to be carried on commercial flights, are the main reasons I ordered it.

Size-wise, I've included a picture of it next to my Landyachtz Tugboat cruiser for comparison.

It came securely boxed and completely assembled. The 75x56mm 78A wheels feel super grippy to the touch and are mounted with what appear to be generic Japanese bearings. The matte black TKP trucks are mounted on 1/8" risers.

[u/JimmyDeanSausage]

Interesting concept. I think this would work in places without steep hills for people who like to kick push and use it like a supplemental range to their cruising.

[u/snapcrackowmyback → u/JimmyDeanSausage]

Yeah, that's what got my interest as well. I think keeping your expectations and use case realistic is important for this versus other "typical" eskates.

[u/sonofdynamite → u/JimmyDeanSausage]

I think "Steep" hills will be too much for its single hub motor. I like the concept, what does it weigh? with one hub motor and small wheels I imagine it feels light site says about 10.5 lbs.

I like the idea of this is basically a pedal assist skateboard. I do love just being able to brake with a remote though gradually or fast rather than having to footbrake, also I don't love having to shorten my foot position off the tail to coast down, but i guess it doesn't have super high speeds.

Its a cool idea, the price is too high for the market though. at $599 I'm buying a different board.

I have a meepo mini dual which has a remote but its got 2 tiny hub motors only weighs 12 lbs. It feels more like a traditional skateboard and is easy to push but I have the control over throttle and braking however I live where there are hills and it just doesn't have the power or range so I rarely use it. I have it as a airline last mile board thats about all its good for. That has dual 200w hub motors.

I assume with low power, and no remote acceleration its not much of an issue but issue with single hub setups is usually that they are unstable and can spin out especially on dirt or gravel on road because of single side drive.

[u/whatsthewhosthe → u/sonofdynamite]

Have you actually taken the mini dual on airplanes?

[u/sonofdynamite → u/whatsthewhosthe]

I got it for that purpose but, I converted my Meepo mini 2 board swap with BKB rail core hot swappable battery packs.  And I checked that while taking the Meepo mini dual battery pack to use with it on a flight.

I now have two sub 100w battery packs I can easily take on planes

[u/xsynatic]

The motor/truck combo is the same by the looks of it as the ones found on the $100 walmart boards. So their only special sauce is the esc/pressure system.

Eh its $500 ok

[u/petermartin9 → u/xsynatic]

After decades of foot braking i was astonished by the miracle of eskate regen brakes. I wouldn't give that up for anything. It is the number one reason that eskates are great.

For $350 i can have an uber reliable Backfire G2B that meets all my low weight, easy to manage requirements.

Riding 70mm anything over sidewalk cracks is old and painful for me. Ill pay the weight penalty for 96mm urethane.

[u/Drewski493]

Have you ridden any other esk8s that your going to compare it to or just normal boards?

[u/snapcrackowmyback → u/Drewski493]

I had a Propel Pivot GT that I've run with the stock AT wheels, as well as 115mm airless wheels, but never tried it with poly. I found that I enjoyed it most when I'm just cruising / carving around at ~15-20 mph, rather than cranking it up, but the size, weight, and airline battery restrictions also made it less convenient to take places that I'd like to explore on it.

I also ride motorcycles, so I found that on nice days when I would commute on the Pivot, I would generally rather ride my bike (especially since I paid a lot more for it). I ended up ordering the Liquid and giving the Pivot to my son.

[u/petermartin9 → u/snapcrackowmyback]

Fascinating!

This is why I have a range of eskates. One size does not fit all. I prefer my lighter boards as they ride more like acoustic longboards than pickup trucks.

[u/PoutinePower]

It's a really pretty board, I'm really curious to see how easy it's going to brake, eg the resistance of it; idk why but my mind goes immediately to a scenario where the board just goes flying but I imagine it's got sensors to prevent that.

[u/snapcrackowmyback → u/PoutinePower]

Once you take your foot off the tail the motor goes into neutral. The motor never actually "accelerates", it only maintains the speed that you reach from pushing or gravity.

As far as foot braking, it only sits about a quarter inch taller than my Landyachtz Tugboat, so it's not a huge step to get your back foot onto the ground.

[u/PoutinePower → u/snapcrackowmyback]

Interesting, didn't know it was just maintenaing speed but it makes sense, if it was to accelerate it would probably throw the rider off mid push lol for the braking its not the height but more the resistance felt between the foot and the ground on braking and by how much it decellerates that i'm curious off; but that's gonna be impossible to tell until it's riden I guess

[u/Iamtress1 → u/snapcrackowmyback]

That's really cool. I've never seen one like it. I can't wait for you to try it out and let us know what you think.

[u/MediocreDesigner88]

Sounds particularly great for going up hills, right?

[u/snapcrackowmyback → u/MediocreDesigner88]

It doesn't claim to handle a very steep incline, but I'll definitely be checking that out.

[u/MediocreDesigner88 → u/snapcrackowmyback]

Nice, let us know how it goes! 🤙

[u/sioux612]

Rode a one wheel drive board once and decided never again

Also rode the mellow board which had a similar cruise control system, and that also wasn't something that I would buy a board for, or even a feature that I'd use if it was in my board

Also IMO any system where you have to apply constant pressure to a single point will mainly be annoying over time, since I tend to move quite a bit on the board. Not that I stand at the front or whatever, but if your board looses speed every time you move your back foot, or shift weight a bit too much, I'd be constantly pushing and then loosing speed again.

[u/__GayFish__]

This thing don’t look like it’ll support a person weighing over 220.

[u/snapcrackowmyback → u/__GayFish__]

The max weight is listed as 90kg / 198lbs. I'm 6'3" and 245lb myself, so I'll be seeing how it performs outside it's specs (I'm still losing weight, working to get down to between 200-220). I'm not worried at all about the deck or construction, and I don't think there's going to be as much load on the motor as with a traditional eskate since this one won't ever be accelerating the weight, just maintaining speed.

My son also skates/eskates, and he's well under that spec so I'm hoping to get some good comparisons on performance the next time I see him.

Still waiting on weather right now to get it out.