BMX, skateboarding, e-bikes, and flat-track motorcycles—what do these all have in common? Well, they’re all what many people would consider “extreme sports.” But for people like you and me, it’s more than likely that we have experience with at least one of these sports.
But what if you loved all four of these disciplines so much that you wanted to do them all at the same time? Well, this is where this odd yet extremely exciting-looking thing enters the picture. It’s called the Dryft Board, and it’s an odd contraption that might look like a kid’s toy to help them learn how to balance and eventually ride a bicycle.
But in reality, something completely different.
Dryft1, the company behind the Dryft Board, says that it has created a bold new ride form called the Hybrid Board Cross (HBX). And while we’re used to hybrids being an amalgamation of two things—on and off-road for bicycles, and gasoline and electric for cars—the Dryft Board aims to blend much more than just two disciplines.
The way it works is simple and is something I’m sure a lot of kids have already mish-mashed into existence out of an old skateboard and a standup scooter in their garages. Up front, this thing has handlebars and a front wheel that looks like it was ripped straight off a bicycle. But instead of a frame, saddle, and pedals, it gets a flat floorboard like that of a longboard. The rear wheels are made of a special polyurethane blend like those you’d find on a skateboard, but there aren’t just two of them.
There’s a third caster wheel (like what you’d find on a shopping cart) that sits in the middle of the board, allowing for some pretty sick skids, slides, and spins. So yeah, it’s definitely for the more daring riders out there—not exactly something you’d use to commute to and from school or work on the daily, or would you?
Dryft1 says that there are essentially two ways to ride the Dryft Board. One of them is Slide Mode, and in this configuration, the caster wheel is released and can freely pivot, allowing you to execute smooth slides and maybe even a 360 here and there if you’re feeling frisky. Meanwhile, Carve Mode locks the caster wheel in place, allowing you to take corners aggressively and with more stability.
The Dryft Board is powered by a 500-watt hub motor housed in the front wheel and features a swappable 48-volt lithium-ion battery pack. Top speed is set at 20 miles per hour, which is plenty fast for what this thing’s capable of.
The price tag for this Frankenstein's monster of a personal mobility device? A rather steep $3,500 USD.
So here’s the question: who is the Dryft Board for? Well, it’s clearly more of a toy than anything else—and a rather expensive one at that. I don’t think it legally qualifies as an e-bike, especially now that California is rolling out new, stricter regulations surrounding e-bikes. As of the moment, it would seem that the Dryft Board’s main purpose in life is to just be a fun thing to ride around and do stupid shit on—presumably within the confines of your local skate park or in a secluded area in your neighborhood.
What about you? Would you take this thing for a (literal) spin? I know I’d be more than happy to.
