Skateboards have no suspension to talk about, but they do not need any. That did not stop YouTuber personality and inventor, Colin Furze, from creating one with suspension anyway. Furze responded to a fan’s comment after he made a bike that has magnets for suspension. The YouTube user asked if Colin could make a skateboard that has magnets for suspension, too. Being the mad inventor he is, he of course did, and so the magnet suspension skateboard was born.
The magnet suspension skateboard is what happens if the timeline of Back to the Future II had been awkwardly cut short and somehow got stuck between a futuristic future and a futuristic present time. You know, instead of a Mattel Hoverboard that magically hovers off solid ground, it has a steam engine that makes it hover. No, Furze did not create an actual hovering board. He invented a double-deck longboard.
The lower deck is a custom transparent deck that rolls on regular trucks with regular skateboard wheels. The upper deck is where all the magic happens. It is suspended by two sets of repelling magnets, much like the magnet suspension bicycle. However, this is not a sci-fi movie. It has two square tube guides to ensure the upper deck stays aligned and, well, restrained.
The result can be completely unnecessary, but it will let you experience hoverboard-like longboarding, since you will not directly feel the bumps the trucks and wheels are receiving. The only thing the rider feels is the floaty feeling.
Not every invention needs to make sense. This one is precisely that. It feels very much like carrying coals to Newcastle, and yet, it is strangely awesome. Perhaps one could say this is the closest anyone will get to an actual hoverboard that hovers near the ground and goes everywhere. Check out the video after the break.
Images: YouTube (@colinfurze).
