In Part 1 of my DIY electric skateboard build series, I’m kicking things off the way I actually build boards: by going through the parts I bought and showing you how I put the mechanical drivetrain together. The whole goal here is to help you piece together something that rides strong and reliable—something that can hang with (or beat) a Boosted-style setup—without guessing your way through the hardware. I focus on the physical side of the build in this video: what components you need to get rolling and how they fit together when you start assembling the drive. If you’re new to esk8 DIY, this is the foundation—getting the drivetrain sorted before we move into the next steps in the series. I also shared a full DIY parts list so you can copy my shopping list and spec out your own build without hunting everything down one-by-one. If you get stuck on any part of the setup, drop your questions in the comments—this series is made to get you rolling faster and safer.