Evolved - Hub Drive vs. Belt Drive

We see your questions and we hear your feedback! Belts on electric skateboards are fast becoming a thing of the past and let us tell you why.

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Light electric vehicles such as e-boards, e-bikes and scooters have been around for about 10-15 years. During this time, each individual industry has gone through its own phases of growth and change. Particularly, e-bikes, serving as some rider’s primary mode of transportation. E-bikes, like electric skateboards, started out as belt or chain driven. The very first popular production level e-bike used a short belt that was suspended over the rear wheel which powered the bike. This chain suffered from excessive wear, loss of tension and on some occasions, complete failure.

The natural progression of engineering and technology lead to hub driven motors. These motors feature brushless, internally geared hubs that are neatly contained within the wheel of the bike. Fast forward some years, and this technology is now filtering through to forward-thinking electric skateboard manufactures like Black Hawk!

There a large list of aspects that are improved with hub drive motors such as:

  • No linkage wear (belts wearing out)
  • No tension issues (belts losing tension)
  • No drivetrain breakages (belts snapping)
  • No added rolling resistance or friction (belts create a large amount of drag)
  • No loud whirring noises (belt driven motors make a very loud noise)
  • No consumable components within the drive train (belts need replacing often)
  • No exposed moving parts (belts and gears pose a significant safety risk being spinning out in the open)
  • No jerky’ movements or rough controls (belt tension decreases smooth operation)

ALL of these traits are instantly removed with a powerful, hub driven system that requires zero maintenance, adjusting or replacing consumable components.

We’ve spoken to hundreds of new and old electric skateboard customers who are loving our hub-drive technology. Some have experienced anger and frustration at their older-tech boards, some have even sent us photos of belt-related failures that look catastrophic!

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The Black Hawk Electric range consists of hub driven motors ONLY. It’s our guarantee to every Black Hawk customer that every effort is made throughout our research and development stages, to ensure our boards perform at a high level; While being reliable and easy to use.

Thanks for reading! 

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one our friendly e-board experts for any questions or customer service related matters. Contact us here

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