Still Stoked Longboard Skates For Surfers

summer skate

This entry relates to: [ Skating ] [ Surfing ] [ Travel ]

Wednesday, Sep 02, 2009

A mean summer and lean time for waves was made up for with some great longboard skate sessions. I've been pushing the carving limits in July and August at Hells Mouth, North Wales. Endless onshore winds and lack of groundswell really tested my patience this summer and the still stoked mantra of "when the surfs flat ride the tarmac" was put fully to the test. I have to say that the tarmac ride was gloriously full of stoke.

I have been riding the retro carve on 60mm OJ orange 79a wheels on Independent 136 trucks loosened till they're about to break free. The carving potential in the carparks is just awesome, the laid back backhand carve is virtually on the pin.
The other summer test has been on Gavin Surrey's Holeys. I have to say I have never seen the point of Randalls 150 and 180 trucks over the traditional geometry and they are just too bulky, setting the deck too far from the ground for my liking. After problems getting Abec 11 Flashbacks from our supplier and a tip off from James at Ocean Sports in Hove, I contacted Gavin after a long break and just had to give his awesome looking and highly finished Holeys a proper go. My humble verdict is these trucks just rock like no other. I have worked them out on the Mk2 Travel Board with 70mm Zigzags and tried all the bushings and right now I'm carving hard on the 75a pinks whilst keeping a stable downhill descent. Silverfish says it all on these trucks and I am absolutely converted. Next up will be some tests on the 5ft Cruiser. A trip back down to Brighton is on the cards real soon this autumn to try out some new ideas and new hardware setups.

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 02, 2009 at 16:45:38