This Isn’t Your Average Skateboard - What’s the Backfire NALU?

[@DrewElia]

**UPDATE UPDATE!!** backfire has issued a post on their website stating that they are making changes to this board becuase of airline restrictions and regulations becoming stricter they are changing this battery from a 99wh to a 134wh thus making it not airline friendly anymore. Check out their website for more information!**

[@Vladi_Pisarski]

So Sad.... I think it will be for some of us a deal braker... at least my main reason to get another board(got Tynee Explorer already) is to take it on a plane...

[@paulr3556]

Small, compact, light, flight friendly, and surfskate?!😮 They've nailed it, even their deck rim light, that's crazy. Ultimate short commute board, sharp turn friendly. Good on Backfire for getting a modern board in an old school size.

[@DrewElia]

I totally agree with all of that!

[@Vladi_Pisarski]

My favorite points will be: Weight: you can carry it everywhere Stealthmode: not look like e-scate at all Airplane-safe: So many trips and a lot less tiredness from walking The Carviness is must for me..> And finally the best commuting board ever.

[@DrewElia]

Absolutely agree with all of this!

[@Abe_SSB]

I've been reading more and more about surfskate before getting my recent electric board. Moving away from wanting to do tricks and just wanting to ride more makes it even more enticing for sure! That board looks like a ton of fun, I am glad I found your videos and look forward to the next one!

[@DrewElia]

Thanks so much for checking out the channel! Make sure to subscribe as well! I’ll be putting out more content on this board definitely!! Surf skate has been around for a while and like I said recently has grown even more in popularity, no kick flips or grinds on this but more about flow! Just like riding a wave it’s as much or as little as you want to do, that’s why I love it! And it gives just riding around in flat ground so much fun as well a few cones on the ground you can just enjoy doing fast turns on them with little slide outs! Definitely for this price you should grab one to add to your quiver!

[@arranwilliams2523]

heck yea dude well done! I love that you put a spotlight on SurfSkate and what it is! I worked at carver skateboards making trucks back in 06 for a summer and rode them for years! I Picked one of these up because i still love and ride my carver board all the time! This will be perfect to teach my daughter on and a fun little throw around board!

[@DrewElia]

Thanks so much for checking out the video! That’s crazy you worked for carver! Glad you got one of these it’s perfect for kids or lighter riders as well

[@rayraytub1000]

I liked the front truck footage. Favorite feature: Surf Style Carving looks so fun! Can't tell when you are using the motor

[@DrewElia]

Yeah, those trucks are seriously fun! I

[@willfullyinformed]

Absolutely love this! Great review. Went ahead and preordered. I've got the Nyx 3 Elite, but having something super simple and easy to throw in the truck or travel with sounds great. It's less intimidation as well traveling downtown or around other people. I can't really ride around people in the Nyx, it's a bit too much board in close quarters and attracts a lot of attention. Cheers

[@DrewElia]

That's awesome! The Nyx is a beast so the NALU will be a perfect companion!

[@g12antch0ng]

My favorite part about the Backfire Nalu is how the battery, motor, and trucks are so stealthy-integrated into the board. People that are unfamiliar wouldn’t know that it’s actually electric. ⚡️

[@DrewElia]

I agree! It’s truly a stealth option! And the airplane friendly battery gives it even more perks in my opinion!

[@g12antch0ng]

@@DrewElia Yeah! I agree! And I’m glad that they printed 99Wh on the belly of the board.

[@aresdiaz5537]

Ohh sweet, I’ve been eyeing this board for a while since they’ve previewed it. Your video is the first actual review I’ve seen. I have an e longboard but I’ve been wanting a lowkey and easy to travel with board. The price is very competitive and relatively cheap so I might just pick it up

[@DrewElia]

Totally agree with you! When they announced the early bird price i literally was like that’s the price of a normal push board from carver!! That being said its just as fun as their set ups as well! What color you thinking about getting?! 👀

[@albertrobinson6018]

What don't I like about this board? I love the deck! I love the lights and it's travel friendliness. I'm not the biggest fan of hub motors. If this board had direct drive I wouldn't have anything to dislike. I don't think anyone would want to carve that hard for 10 miles. Thanks for the review! Good stuff.

[@DrewElia]

the hub motors are more of the street style wheel feel anyways. it always reminds me of the push board feel. so anyone coming from that style to this board will feel right at home. though if you're tried direct drive or any other drive at that face you'll know why it s a little more rough. but otherwise it is a near perfect board

[@ElectricCarves]

Awesome review!! Love the lights on it and a beautifully produced video 🤙🏽

[@DrewElia]

Thank you so much! Truly appreciate it!

[@tjchad1]

That is a sweet little electric board. I remember being fascinate with the Boosted Boards when they first came out but they're just so big and expensive. I hadn't been looking at electric boards in a long time and just happened across your channel and, yeah, that thing is pretty damn cool.

[@DrewElia]

Dude thank you so much for checking out the channel! I agree boosted has definitely paved the way and they were massively expensive but the tech has gone up and the price has come down tremendously! Worth checking out my reviews on the channel and ask some questions!

[@DTraviesoP10]

Thank you for explaining everything on surf. Looks dope for my daughter. I have a backfire g3.

[@DrewElia]

Glad to help! Stay tuned for more!

[@AghilesGACEM]

The fact that it's airplane friendly is Awesome !

[@DrewElia]

Right!? Being able to get around a new city, or explore new areas on a board is always fun, and being able to travel with it is awesome!

[@djwardlowentertainment9098]

Cool looking board. I have a Mini Hub board that i ride alot. Lightweight hub boards definitely are super fun and nimble. The only concerning thing is the 240 lb weight limit. Im pushing that if I have my backpack on.

[@DrewElia]

It is definitely a fun ride for sure!

[@MichaelWagner-z4k]

My favorite part about the Backfire Nalu is how they somehow incorporated the esc into the rear baseplate making it sleek. I’ve never seen it done on any other board.

[@DrewElia]

So there are a few boards even backfires that have made thin lightweight board. Exway wave is one of the boards that also have incorporated the esc in the rear truck. Pretty amazing

[@sandorszabolcsi]

Drew, great video! Your surf skate skills shine. I share your love for hub drives and kick-pushing. The Backfire Nalu’s stealthy design and surf trucks make it a top pick that’s what stands out to me, just have to decide on the color 😂

[@DrewElia]

Thank you so much for the compliment and I Agree! I Love the look of this green one the blue one is also cool! This board is just so much fun to have and it’s not to horrible on the bank account compared to your standard carver board set ups as well!

[@taison10]

lovely travel/shopping board with good looks and LED for a tiny price!?! backfire do some great things with their previous models and this is such a nice addition. well done

[@DrewElia]

I agree! Such a fun board for just enjoying the cruise and ripping around!

[@Dismyusirname]

Been waiting for this one. Such a cool board and I can take it wherever I travel to?? This is a huge dub on backfires part.

[@DrewElia]

yes its airplane friendly at 99wh! so travel with where ever!

[@TememiHedar]

Very unique board. Great addition to any quiver.

[@DrewElia]

It sure is!

[@elaponte]

Best thing is it’s airline friendliness….heading to Aruba in Dec, hope to get one in time.

[@DrewElia]

Oh dope

[@kbEskate]

My favorite part of the board are the trucks, great review drew!

[@DrewElia]

Thanks so much, yes the trucks makes the world of difference!

[@fnztakedown]

Thanks for your review! I have one on order for the $300 mark. About the same weight as you so hearing real world is nice. Was considering cancelling it but i want a fun carver board.

[@DrewElia]

Great pick up! Yeah if you mix it up with kick pushing and keeping it in e/s mode you’ll get some decent range out of it. Like I said in my video this board is more about shredding than a distance cruiser.

[@fnztakedown]

@@DrewElia main reasons I bought it was for that last mile, toss in the trunk, or take with me to CA or NY. Just a fun lil board to carve on I was hoping for and it seems like it. Will be a nice change over the Z3s weight 😂

[@ians1153]

Love how lightweight this board is! Can't wait to get mine

[@DrewElia]

What color did you get!

[@ians1153]

@@DrewElia blue for myself and green for a friend. You know when they are going to start shipping?

[@DrewElia]

I don’t know when they are shipping exactly but I believe they said end of month

[@ians1153]

@@DrewElia Sweet!

[@esk8jaimes]

Very glad this shares the current strongest 75mm hub motors (used by Exway Ripple) sadly it's 2mph slower at 16mph due to the 80mm wheel sleeves.

[@DrewElia]

Honestly I don’t care about the top speed it’s so much fun just whipping it around.

[@wolfheartoutdoors7444]

I tossed some Waterborne surf adapters on my Meepo Flow and pretty much has the same effect

[@DrewElia]

yeah, you can absolutely get the same effect by doing that!

[@wolfheartoutdoors7444]

@@DrewElia but there most definitely would be a weight difference between the two

[@NateDogg2448]

Airline friendly. Love that.

[@DrewElia]

Me too!

[@eBoard3R]

*"Surf! Surf! Surfiiin"!* 🤙🏽⚡️🤟🏽⚡️👌🏽 Stealthy, small, light, surfy/carvy af... perfect last mile PEV!

[@Esk8ologist]

Looks absolutely beautiful. I'm still waiting for my discount code from backfire. Nice rev bro 🤙

[@DrewElia]

Thanks so much for checking out the video!

[@Hosieee]

Don't believe you still need it. Just type 'nalu' as a discount code. ordered two yesterday and I'm also still waiting on the email

[@sebastianblatter7718]

Need to get one at some point! However i noticed a big flaw imo. Why is the charger in the front truck? Let people put their own surfskate front trucks on it like a C7 Carver!

[@DrewElia]

For stealth purposes I suppose. The rear truck houses all of the ESC. I like it though and I don’t think you’ll need any upgrades per set to this truck, CNC machine it’s really nice and snappy maybe some rip tide bushing upgrades pending your weight

[@TosinAtWork]

How would you say the nalu surf truck feels compared to the waterbourne adapter? I have a waterboune adapter on my exway ripple. Is it worth it also getting the nalu?

[@DrewElia]

I love my waterborne adapter cause of the adjustability on the FIN system. This feels like a carver set up over the waterborne style there is a different pivot point to it. I love it though it feels great over all and the sleek design with everything integrated is just gorgeous. I have the ripple as well and love that board too!

[@esk8jaimes]

It's cool to see slimline designs

[@DrewElia]

Agreed! It’s so light weight and just a blast to ride

[@chavsny1578]

This does look beautiful but my biggest gripe is that, for a small battery, there is no fast charging. That really limits my possible uses for commuting to only real close ones.

[@DrewElia]

So backfire just mad an announcement saying thy die to stricter airline regulations they are going to make a larger battery so that you can’t bring it on a plane. They made a post about it

[@chavsny1578]

@DrewElia oh that's actually great. I think people would get more use out of a bigger battery than use for flying with one.

[@DrewElia]

Yeah check out their website for more information in my link

[@in4kdaysaroundtheworld380]

@@DrewElia Something doesnt sound right to me. They apparently increased the volume of the battery by over 30%, yet the range increased by exactly 0%. Idk. This bothers me

[@DrewElia]

Yeah that doesn’t seem right, I imagine that they haven’t tested the new battery yet to make the proper claims? This has all happened very suddenly and without warning for us as reviewers as well.

[@streetfightersdontcry]

I have the Nalu ordered and i already have a ripple. A question I've had is, does it do anything negative to hub motors kickpushing them? I know they're able to be kick pushed and feel practically like a normal skateboard. But i always get paranoid ill damage the hub motors if i do it too much wirh the board on.

[@DrewElia]

You’re totally fine! I kick pushed the ripple and the NALU for miles and no issues with either of them at all! It’s basically free spinning the motor so you’re good to go! Kick push away

[@ewrestler305]

The airline friendly bit is what’s really selling me.. the amount of times I’ve flown to a city and been like “man I wish I could have my e-skate/onewheel with me” 12 miles isn’t too shabby either for a little urban assault vehicle. And the price is low enough to justify one for my gf and I 🤷🏻‍♂️😅

[@DrewElia]

Right! $350 is a steal for any eskate in my opinion, and your right, going to new city’s and just enjoying taking it slow through and exploring is why I love this board. Plus the surfskate aspect of it just so much fun! Grabbing one for you and your girl friend is like a 2 for 1 deal 😂

[@thenewme79]

This is nice! Do you know when it launches? I plan on getting one.

[@DrewElia]

Preorders are going now! Check my link in the description!

[@thenewme79]

@@DrewElia Do you know when they begin shipping though?

[@DrewElia]

I think in the b next few weeks? Maybe mid November, it’s outlined on the website I believe.

[@arranwilliams2523]

lol ill probably have watched this video like 1000 times by the time my board gets here! so stoked!

[@DrewElia]

Yewwwww that’s what’s up!

[@ChrisLopez-wv2wl]

Can you put cloud wheels on those hubs?

[@DrewElia]

no, its the smaller wheels so you can't upgrade these

[@MichaelWagner-z4k]

Ordering one tomorrow while the getting is good. I got you fam. 😉 Cube or jungle… hard one for me.

[@DrewElia]

Ohhhh I love the green glow on the jungle and the “natural” wood coloring but the cube is dope as well!

[@MichaelWagner-z4k]

I didn’t realize I couldn’t use the drew code since I was already using code Nalu. I tried ! Lol I went with jungle, it seems they are hiding the fact that the red led isn’t as bright as the others. There’s no picture of it on their website in the dark and on the backfire video with the 4 of them at night, don’t include the cube red led but two purples instead. Both the video and the website lead me to that conclusion. They don’t want people not to buy it because the light isn’t as bright. Sorry my comments are so long sometimes.

[@slalomflex28]

Is there a setting where you can just have the lights off?

[@DrewElia]

💯 when you turn it on it glows green but than remains off, only when you double tap the power button will it turn on! Than when you double tap again it will cycle through the different modes.

[@thenewme79]

Just an update for everyone: Backfire updated the battery from 99Wh to 136.8Wh and the NALU is longer advertise as airline friendly 😢

[@DrewElia]

Thank you for this, I’m actually going to make a post and pin it!

[@nathancordova4618]

💙 Nice review and cool board, cheers!

[@DrewElia]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@esk8windsor]

I wonder what cells and esc they are using. 8s at 15A. Id assume HW, with maybe 50s cells? Scratch that, probably a custom HW esc with 40t cells.

[@DrewElia]

It’s a lithium polymer battery so it’s a flat pack battery. No 21700 cells

[@esk8windsor]

​@DrewElia that makes a lot more sense in a 8s configuration. I'd love to see a belt version in the future, just for more wheel options.

[@scienz0220]

That would be my grab for the ritual ride to the convenience store to munch a candy bar. It tastes better when you ride to get it

[@DrewElia]

Correct. What’s the go to candy bar?!

[@scienz0220]

@DrewElia Reeses Fast break is the highschool sweetheart you have always loved but the other reeses are always tempting too haha

[@DrewElia]

Haha solid choice

[@gamukin]

lovely! nice review. it's time to wait for a shipping. ToT

[@DrewElia]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@Esk8_Flo_Ryda]

Dude! The Whale! 😮

[@DrewElia]

RIGHT?! how perfect was that?!

[@willforregister9773]

Thinking about getting one rn. What’s your recommendation on someone who never tried surfskate before? I own a electric longboard now

[@partypolice2762]

You can use your existing longboard and add a Waterborne surfskate adapter kit. It adds more “playfulness” to the ride as it makes the lean & carve more dynamic.

[@DrewElia]

It’s so much fun! The reason why this is awesome because it’s electric. You’ll get the hang of it quicker than having to kick push and learn to use the surfskate trucks. Plus breaks help as well! Starting slow in a flat area is my recommendation and working your way up to just moving around cones and hard turns! I’ll be doing a follow up on this as well!

[@DrewElia]

I’ve done videos with my waterborne adapter on an eskate as well! Love the feel of that too!

[@zorkblat3858]

Appreciate this video. I also kindly request that you have a curled moustache like in your profile picture, but at all times. Thank you.

[@DrewElia]

Great suggestion!

[@Disten]

What's about overheating?

[@DrewElia]

I honestly didn’t have any issues with that, I was pleasantly happy with draining the battery and no issues, I also wasn’t using the throttle as much as you’d think becuase You can pump it and get your momentum going, so the throttle was really just to give a little push every now and than. Overall very fun board to have in the line up

[@eskates]

Insta buy just because of that 99 Wh battery ✈

[@DrewElia]

If you want to travel it’s an easy choice

[@robras2850]

Nice vid bro 🙌

[@DrewElia]

Thank you!!! Yewww!

[@ProfessorHamer]

Is it possible to hold a straight line without speed wobble though?

[@DrewElia]

💯 yes, if you have your center balance in the middle there are no issues. Like when I kick push or go 15 mph

[@JesseKollins]

Love this!

[@DrewElia]

Yewww 🤙🏼

[@davidheath2427]

Surf skate has taken far too long to electrify . Clean traditional look , with all the modern features . Backfire is back with a bang.

[@DrewElia]

I agree, this was a knock out of the park!

[@loud134]

can you turn the light off?

[@DrewElia]

Yea it starts with the lights completely off you have to double tap the power button to turn them on

[@timotheeangeloleong1698]

The kicktail is short 😅

[@DrewElia]

it is usable, but it is just a tad short

[@rue23]

Can you replace the wheels in this (Cloudwheels)?

[@DrewElia]

I don’t think so cause of the hub size and potential wheel bite!

[@rue23]

@@DrewElia makes sense, thank you

[@davidcarbon9771]

Nalu is the Hawaiian word for wave. It's pronounced nah-lu

[@DrewElia]

Appreciate that! My friend from Kauai ripped me apart already 🤣 I apologize deeply!!

[@jaromraymond1349]

Sherdable

[@DrewElia]

agreed

[@esk8jaimes]

First comment support *

[@DrewElia]

You are the best

[@michaeldietz8108]

Xxl-T

[@CraigTaylorYT]

So well done and such a nice package. Great review mate. 💯🛹

[@DrewElia]

Thank you kindly, always appreciate you