Finishing in the upper portion of the group, we originally had high hopes for the Riptide R1, thinking it had some serious potential for claiming a Best Buy Award. Unfortunately, this board didn't quite live up to our expectations and fell a little short. In particular, we felt the controls were a little on the oversensitive side, and this board noticeably struggled with hills when the battery level dropped below 50%. However, it is decently speedy and does an acceptable job of stopping. Overall, we would usually recommend saving up a little more for a slightly better board when shopping on a budget, but if you absolutely can't spend more, then the R1 is a decent option.