Your "bike mode" point is one I hadn't thought of, and I find interesting. For the record, I don't hate on longboards in any way. My point was that it seems th

Your "bike mode" point is one I hadn't thought of, and I find interesting. For the record, I don't hate on longboards in any way. My point was that it seems that eboards take away from the actual skating experience. It's not a matter of doing tricks and such, but more about the act of skating. The balance of body with the board against the force your body exerts, the feeling of the momentum gained by said force, the ground feel between you and the board in combination with the pushing foot with ground, and the control and freedom that comes with it. My feeling is that electric skateboards take away from the feeling that comes with skating, which is what makes the experience for most who do. But from observation it also seems to handicap some (not all), seeing that many appear to be off balance and unable to really control their electric boards when needing to come to full/immediate stops. But again I do like your counter point of it being a mode of transportation that's like a bike in terms of speed and energy costs, but allows for the rider the convenience of picking up and moving along