"You'll be fine," they said. "It's much harder to fall off this than the RipStik Electric." The PR people obviously remembered that a year ago at the London Toy Fair I'd tried riding that device, but spent most of my time falling off. This time I was about to venture onto the RazorX Cruiser Electric Skateboard, a new lithium-powered board from the same firm.
While we've seen plenty of electric skateboards at New Atlas, the RazorX Cruiser is somewhat different in terms of its target market and price. The fact that it's on show at the London Toy Fair, and aimed at riders aged from nine-years-old shows that it's going for a different market to high-end boards like the Evolve Carbon GT. So does the £230 (around US$290) price tag, which puts it firmly at the budget end of the electric skateboard market.
However, the RazorX Cruiser looks like it's not going to compromise on fun, which is exactly what you'd expect from the firm behind the Crazy Cart XL. The electric skateboard is one of two new ride-ons in the Razor line-up to use lithium power batteries. The other is the Razor Power A scooter, which unfortunately was only on display at Toy Fair 2017 as a non-working prototype.
The RazorX Cruiser Electric Skateboard has some good looks. It features a bamboo deck and chunky wheels, and from the top you wouldn't know this was an electric board. But, flip it over and you see the big plastic bulge which houses the battery and geared rear-wheel drive. This obviously makes the RazorX Cruiser considerably heavier than a tradition skateboard, and the 750 x 270 x 145 mm (30 x 10.6 x 5.7 in) board comes in at around 4.5 kg (10 lb).
There's a row of LED lights under the deck which show battery life, and you'll apparently get around 40 minutes of use out of a fully charged battery. Spare batteries will be available for £60 ($75) each, if you want to carry a hot swap and keep riding for longer.
For control, the RazorX Cruiser Electric comes with a wireless joystick-style remote, and this is the same one as is used with the RipStik Electric. After turning on both board and remote, sliding the joystick forward increases speed, pulling back reduces drive, but does not apply a brake.
Before offering my opinion on the RazorX Cruiser it's worth pointing out that I'm by no means a regular skater. In fact, this is the first skateboard I've stepped onto in about 25 years. Despite this, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the board was to get the hang of, though it's hard to fight the urge to kick off manually as you would on a normal skateboard.
Within a couple of minutes I was able to weave between obstacles on the show stand, with the loose ride of the board allowing surprisingly tight turning circles. The remote control joystick is also very responsive and offers smooth acceleration. Though the top speed of 10 mph (16 km/h) is modest compared to higher-end electric skateboards, it felt plenty fast enough to me and my wobbly legs.
The RazorX Cruiser was great fun to try, and promises a much easier entry to the electric board fun than the RipStik Electric from last year. As such, we can see it being a popular addition to the Razor lineup when it launches sometime around August. Given it has a maximum rider weight of 100 kg (220.5 lb), we're sure there will be one or two parents jumping on for a go when their children aren't looking, too.
Source: Razor
