Hey eSkaters, I’ve got the Maxfind FF-AT electric skateboard
to review today and I am becoming more and more impressed by the Maxfind line up lately.
The FF-AT is a well designed electric skateboard packed with features and comforts that make
your riding experience really enjoyable.
I’m talking quick-swap battery, puncture-free tyres and auto-start, among a bunch of others
that we’ll go into throughout this review.
The Maxfind FF-AT is the perfect commuter electric skateboard because it is extremely
comfortable to ride and tackles imperfect paths without any worries.
If you’re into riding off-road, the FF-AT is great for you because the all-terrain tires
can handle most surfaces including compact gravel, dirt and grass.
If you’re not into all-terrain riding but you like all the features that come with this
board, you can check out the FF-Belt which is almost the same eboard, except it has belt
motors and urban street wheels.
Or the FF-Plus which has hub motor urban street wheels.
The Maxfind FF-AT deck is 42” long and made of Polyphenylene Sulfide and fibreglass which
makes it durable and really flexy.
The deck houses all of the electronics which is great because it helps to protect those
fragile components from debris and is makes the board look stealthy and like one cohesive
unit.
The top of the deck hasn’t got your regular sand-based skate grip tape.
Instead it has a rubber grip tape that is great.
At first I thought it was a bit gimmicky, but it is actually very functional.
It’s just as sticky as regular grip tape, but it has the added benefits of not ripping
up your hands, or getting stuck on your clothes and it is super easy to clean.
There’s this very useful handle at the nose of the deck that you can use to roll the board
around, because it is heavy and cumbersome to try and carry around.
The only downside to it is that the tail doesn’t extend past the rear wheels so you can’t
easily lean it up against a wall.
So, if you do get this eboard, I highly recommend you also invest in a guitar stand like this
to prop your board up.
There’s one other awesome feature of the deck I want to show you here and that’s
the quick-swap battery.
You unlock this latch, pull the plate up and you have easy access to the battery.
Change the battery over and you’ve got yourself some more range.
How much range that is, we’ll talk about in just a sec.
The Maxfind FF-AT has 11.4” double-kingpin trucks which feel amazing.
They are well balanced, in that they are very carvy but also maintain their stability at
high speeds.
I only felt a slight oncoming of speed wobbles right at the top end of the speed test.
These trucks are a little hard to configure because the deck side bolts sit too close
to the top hanger so you can’t get a regular skate tool around it.
You’ll have to use a spanner or a shifter.
Maxfind do supply a spanner, however, I felt like it was just a tad too small.
I really had to work hard to get the spanne on and off the nut.
The Maxfind FF-AT has 165mm rubber tyres which are not pneumatic, meaning you don’t need
to pump them up with air.
I love this because it removes any possibility of getting a puncture and you don’t need
to check your tyre pressure ever!
As for rideability and how they feel, they’re actually really great.
They soak up almost all of the vibrations form the roads and they take on off-road terrain
effortlessly.
When you’re riding on the road or footpath, I nearly can’t feel a thing.
It’s just so comfortable.
The most interesting thing about the Maxfind FF-AT is that it is running hub motors inside
it’s all-terrain wheels.
We’ve seen other manufacturers try to attempt this, but none compare to the quality and
performance of the FF-AT.
It has dual 1500W hub motors which are expected to hit a top speed of 28mph (45kph) and climb
hills of up to a 35% hill grade.
Out on my top speed test, I was able to hit a top speed of 24.7mph (39.8kph) which is
slightly lower than their marketed speed.
I do feel like the board was still accelerating before I backed off, which I did because as
I mentioned earlier, I started to feel some wobbles.
For the hill climb, I’m really happy with how it performed.
Starting from the right side of this graphic, I hit the steepest part of the hill which
was 14% and the speed steadily decreased down to 19kph.
After that it sarted to pick back up to 25kph as the hill flattened a little to 10%.
For hub motors, that’s pretty good considering it’s only just below what some belt-motor
eboards will get.
The majority of riders aren’t going to have any issues climbing hills on this electric
skateboard.
The battery in the Maxfind FF-AT is 12S3P 376Wh pack that is marketed to get a range
up to 17 miles (27km).
On my range test I managed to get 13.8 miles (22.3km) which reall, isn’t that far off
the specced range.
Generally I get a lot less than the marketed range because of my weight and that I tend
to ride a little harder for testing purposes.
I also did a bit of off-road riding which will decrease the potential range.
All things considered, I’m happy with the range.
But the great thing about the Maxfind FF-AT, and one of my favourite features is that it
has a quick swap battery system.
So, you’re not limited by the standard range of the eboard because you can pack extra batteries
in your backpack and extend the range up to as far as the amount of batteries you’re
willing to carry.
You’ve got the ever-trusted Hobbywing ESC in the Maxfind FF-AT and it’s great.
The acceleration is smooth and powerful while the braking is strong and safe.
In mode 4 it took me around 13 seconds to finish a 50m sprint.
I don’t have any hard data on how this compares to other eboards, because this is the first
time I’ve started doing this test.
But based on feel alone, the acceleration is very smooth and completely manageable.
There isn’t any jolting at the take off and it brings you up to top speed quickly
yet safely.
You get a Hobbywing remote with the Maxfind FF-AT but it has it’s own unique mould,
similar to the other FF series eboards.
I really like this design because it makes it much harder to accidentally hit any buttons
while you’re riding.
The display is great and shows your speed, odometer, trip length, speed mode, direction
and the battery levels for the remote and the board.
It has 4 speed modes, 1, 2, 3 and 4, reverse, cruise control and my favourite feature auto
on/off where you just flick the remote on and the board also automatically turns on
ands pairs to the remote.
No more bending over to awkwardly fiddle around for the power button on the remote.
You also can’t change the speed mode while you’re accelerating, which is a welcomed
safety feature.
I rode for over an hour and I didn’t get any fatigue in my legs or feet.
Usually, I’m starting to feel it after about 45 minutes of riding but the combination between
the deck flex, soft bushings and rubber AT tyres soaked up almost all of the vibrations
and kept me feeling fresh the entire time.
I think the double kingpin trucks and the concave on the deck made turning so easy that
I hardly had to use any energy at all to control the board.
The carving is really good, it was probably what I enjoyed most about riding this eboard.
As for high speed riding, it did a pretty good job, I did get a little wobbly at times,
but that’s nothing a little tightening of the trucks can’t fix.
My only major gripe with the Maxfind FF-AT is the inability to tighten the trucks with
a single tool.
It doesn’t affect performance or rideability, it just means you have to carry an extra tool
in your backpack when you head out.
Overall, I am loving the Maxfind FF-AT.
It’s a great all-terrain electric skateboard that gives you the freedom to pretty much
ride anywhere.
It’s comfortable making it perfect for commuters looking for an alternative option to their
car or walking.
And it carves really well, so you can have a lot of fun on this electric skateboard.
That’s it, that’s my Maxfind FF-AT electric skateboard review.
I hope I’ve helped you on your journey to find the best electric skateboard that’s
right for you.
Ride safe out the eskaters.
See you soon.