Meepo Voyager 2023 Edition Electric Skateboard
[Intro]
This is latest upgraded and updated version of the Meepo Voyager. I'm calling it the Voyager 2023 edition because it's very different from the previous iterations, all in better ways of course. Honestly I think this is one the fastest and best value boards currently out there. How has it improved? What awesome freebies do you get if you buy it now? Is it worthy of your wallet in 2023? Let's take a deep dive now.
[Dimensions]
The Dimensions 38.6" in length x 11.7" W x 5.7" tall.
The Voyager I s slightly longer than the Meepo V5 by 0.5 inches but much longer than the Meepo mini 5. Width is about the same as the V5. you can see here that it's got that standard long board footprint as the V5. It weighs in at 23 pounds vs the Meepo V5 at 17 pounds. Just about 6 pounds heavier. 23 pounds is still pretty light in my book. Especially for the performance it brings to the table.
[Speed, Acceleration]
This board can accelerate from 0 to 25 mph in just 2.5 seconds. And hit a top speed of 40 mph with the right gearing and wheels size. In my testing, I got up to 36 mph top speed. I think someone lighter than me can probably go faster, but honestly, 30+ mph on street wheels is straight up suicide. So personally, I think it's got more than enough top speed and torque. All I know is that the Meepo voyager still feels like there's plenty of room to push even at 30 mph. Pair it up with the Meepo Cyclone 105s that comes with Voyager for free. You should be hitting high 30s easily.
[Going Turbo]
Last year in 2022, The Meepo Voyager was known for being way too powerful in turbo mode. And as a result of that, it used to feel jerky and not very smooth. Many reviewers complained about it in the past. But, I am happy to report its now perfected in this edition. It is SUPER incredibly smooth as it should be. The acceleration curve in turbo feels consistent and yet still extremely powerful. And it's just such an exhilarating experience to ride it on full blast. And yes, it's so fast, that you need to place your body in a 45 degree angle when you accelerate on max, if you don't, the board would just leave without you. And honestly this kind of acceleration is enough for most people and would probably scare even intermediate riders. I rarely feel the need to accelerate pedal to the metal. But if you are a speed demon, I think the Meepo Voyager is going to hit the sweet spot.
[More Acceleration]
Personally, out of all the premium mid-range boards I've tried. The Meepo Voyager has the best Power to dollar ratio. In other words, value. It has the best value. There's just so much power jammed packed into this medium sized package. On top of all that power, Meepo includes a second set of pullies, which increases the number of teeth from 32T to 36T. This increases your acceleration by quite a bit on top of what I already thought was insane for a board of this price. The only way I can describe changing the pullies to 36T is that it feels as if the batteries and motors all got instantly upgraded. I don't think I've ever complained about board having too much power on this channel. But yeah, if you put on these higher teeth pullies, you are going to have some extreme torque experiences and get your face blasted away by the wind. If you are looking for something thrilling and have long range and safe batteries but at the best price possible? I would have to say that it would be the voyager. But wait there's MORE.
[Freebies and Upgrades]
So let's do some quick math here. Right now Meepo is running a limited time promotion which gives you a free set of Boosted 105 Wheels I mean Mad 105 Wheels, oops I mean Cyclone 105 Wheels! These are worth $120 dollars and they really change how the board feels. These are exactly the same as the premium Boosted 105s. When compared to standard stock wheels, they are smoother, they grip harder during turns and emergency stops. The current edition of the Voyager also comes with the fast charger for free. That's a $100 dollar charger if you buy it separately. It's a 4.5 Amp charger that will charge your board from empty to full in 3 hours, as opposed to the 6 hours of a normal charger. And then the board comes with extra set of kegal pullies that has more teeth -> I just talked about this, so you can swap out your 32T pullies for 36T pullies. This will increase the already monstrous acceleration even more , These pullies usually cost about $50 with the extra set of belts if you were to buy them separately. But that's all included in the box. Lastly The board also comes with bash guards already installed, that's worth another $10 bucks. So in total, You are pretty much buying the board for $720 bucks if you count the value of the free stuff they include in the box. Which is an absolutely steal. I am just going to say it. If you are looking for the fastest acceleration on a boosted style board long board and get tons of high value freebies that are actually accessories that you want to buy? The Voyager is one the board for you.
100+120+10+50=280
[ESC]
A feature I noticed about the LingYi ESC is that when you pull back the remote knob to slow down and then push the nob back to where it was before, exactly where it was before…the board wouldn't just accelerate back to its original speed. It would drastically increase in speed and acceleration. This is by design and is characteristic of the LingYi ESCs, this feature is designed so that you can accelerate faster without the need to push the dial all the way to the end. However I found out about this the hard way when I was making a turn, slowing down for the turn, and then accelerating to where I was at before, but it was A LOT Faster this time around, almost threw myself off the board. But the Good thing was that, I was in a parking lot and there's plenty of room to rebalance and slow down. Again, This is a feature. Some people like it some don't. But there's definitely a soft learning curve here and I feel like everyone should know about it and not be surprised while you are on the board.
[Motors]
Okay let's talk about these motors. These are big and heavy 6358 motors at 2775 watts. That's quite impressive. What I love about these motors are the cooling fins. These fins can help dissipate heat more effectively than a smooth surface, which means you can ride more aggressively for longer without the fear that the board will cut off on you. This is a feature that I think more eskate manufacturers should adapt as I don't see lot of companies doing this for their motors. And Also, The motor scream is pretty unique as well. I absolutely love how they sound from low rpms all the way to the max.
[Braking]
I am dedicating a whole section on brakes because the Meepo Voyager has the best brakes and braking curve out of all the mid-range boards I've tried. The entire deceleration process is so linear yet so powerful, I feel super confident about pulling hard brakes this board. Normally, other eskates starts out the braking curve too light or too hard, and that braking strength changes as the rider slows down more. This means you have shift your body weight to counter balance the changing force of the brakes as they change when you are coming to a stop. But Meepo's entire braking curve from beginning to end is so uniform. The force of the brake remains unchanged throughout the entire deceleration process. And as a result, I find myself able to stay in the same position without the need to shift my weight while hard breaking to a complete stop. That is very rare. Because it's perfect. That's why I love Meepo's brakes so much. But wait there's more. The motors produce a different sound when braking. It's almost like a buzzing type of noise that's not there during acceleration. And this buzzing actually sounds pretty unique which is something I found to be a great differentiator from other motors.
Lastly, the voyager also locks its motors when you pull on the brakes if you are not moving. This is especially helpful if you are stopped on a slope and don’t want your board sliding everywhere. It's incredibly powerful feature that most other boards just don't have.
[Deck]
The deck has a shallow but noticeable concave. Which is my personal favorite. Other aggressive concave decks just really hurt my feet after a couple of miles. The concave here enables the rider to still access that sharp and responsive turning capabilities without killing your feet. The deck is also more flexible than some other boards I've been on. Yet it's not too flexible to a point where it will compromise stability. It's tuned to be in a place that's just right.
I'm 200 pounds, if I jump maybe 2 feet in the air I can bottom out the board. This flexibility is actually amazing as it acts as a dampener and drastically reduces vibrations on your feet. The difference is huge. when I got back from a quick ride on the Meepo v5 vs the Meepo Voyager. the voyager is just so much easier on your feet.
The grip tape is super special too. I wanted to call this out as this is my favorite grip tape right now. The traditional grip tapes you would see from other brands would absolutely destroy your skin if you dare to touch the surface. The Meepo grip tape has larger and smoother granules on the surface, which would be much easier on your skin and your clothing but still retains the same level confidence inspiring grip. I don’t think anyone has mentioned this grip tape before but I absolutely love it. So yeah. Koodos to Meepo for making these available. If Meepo is selling these, I would definitely be getting them for my other boards for sure.
[Trucks and bushings]
The trucks on this board are Forged 50° reverse kingpin trucks. I love RKP trucks over TKPs for their stability at higher speeds. However, a 50 degree truck instead of 45 degree means that the trucks will be able to provide some of the best carving experiences as well as being stable. It's paired with the standard bushings for Meepo, the board feels great when turning and carving, it feels responsive. Bushings feel fine, they support tight turns without losing balance. It carves well when loose and is very stable when tightened. I have no major complaints about the bushings.
The flexible deck really activates the bushings making this one of the my favorite carvers. The deck stores energy during a turn and rebounds the rider in to the next carve almost effortlessly. I didn't get the urge to rush out there and purchase a set of bushings just for this board. It works it's fine. It allows the rider to turn sharply and still offers stability and support. But I think getting some 3rd party bushings like Venom or Riptide would only improve the experience.
[Range]
The claimed range is 36 miles. I got roughly 24 miles before I completely drained the battery. Which is pretty good and within my expectation. For my weight, at 200 pounds, I found if I take off 30% of the marketed range, that usually backs out to how much real life range I can expect.
The Voyager has a 12S3P 518Wh Samsung 40T Cells. 40T cells are highly respectable premium cells that provides higher voltage than other cheaper batteries. This means less voltage sag as you use up most of the charges.
The Voyager also charges using the same plug as the Backfire Zealot X. T
[Remote]
Cool thing about the remote is that it's a different color. Bright orange. So it stands out amount the piles of black remotes. Easier for me to locate. What I like the remote is that it's tiny. If you are wear eskateboard gloves, which you should all the time, the remote is super easy and comfortable to hold in your hands. As opposed to some other giant remotes. The other cool thing is ever lose your remote, you can pair any LingYi ESC remote to your board. So I can pair my Mini 5 or V5 remotes to the Voyager at any time. Cool stuff love the flexibility here. The down side of the remote is more like a nitpick for me, it feels kind of cheap. I know this board is really well priced so they have to cut somewhere. But I feel like the remote is something you are touching all the time, and it should feel premium.
[Gears and Wheelsizes]
Since the Meepo Voyager came with extra set of higher ratio pullies and an extra set of larger wheels I just to have test them all.
For 90mm Wheels plus 32T Pullies, everything feels extremely balanced. You get great acceleration on the smaller diameter wheels while still outputing respectable high top speeds.
For 105mm Wheels 32T Pullies, the immediate thing I felt was a decrease in acceleration but an increase comfort. The wheels are bigger, and the wheels are softer. It just creates a much smoother and more relaxed ride.
For the 90mm Wheels 36T Pullies, everything becomes monstrous. The wind seems top punch you in the face as you accelerate. Top speed is reduced slightly, but if you love acceleration, this is the setup for you. Since I love acceleration, this will be my setup moving forward.
105mm Wheel 36T Pullies. Remember when I said I felt a decrease on acceleration when using the 105s? These 36T pullies completely offsets that. It no longer feels lazy or slow in acceleration, in fact it feels extremely responsive.
Overall, I'm super impressed that Meepo is including these pullies options along with your board, so you can really customize it to however you like
[Conclusion]
In conclusion, if you want to maximize the value of every dollar you spend on the fastest board on the market at $1000, the Meepo Voyager sits on the throne. With its whole suite of high value freebies, and insane performance right out of the box. I would chose the Voyager over any other board right now at the $1000 range. And yes, I would even choose the Voyager over the Backfire Zealot X if I had to spend $1000 of my own money. And By the way, I got a Zealot X vs Voyager video coming up be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on that!
[Score System]
Here are my ratings for the Voyager:
Rough roads 6.5 default (bigger 105s)
Aftermarket Compatibility 7 (no Abec pullies)
Turning/Carving 8
Acceleration/top speed 8.5
Breaking 10
Range/charging 8.5
Head Turning ability 5.5
Quality/Premium-ness 9
Unique Selling Points 8 best in class power to price point value
Value 10
[8.1] Total Score
