The Landyachtz Hawgs were developed as a freeride wheel to slash, carve and bomb your way to your destination. The 77mm 78a set of Hawgs I tried gripped when I needed it and broke into a controlled slide when I needed to.  The wheels are center-set as well so your free to rotate them when they begin to wear.

Running the Hawgs on my Rayne Nemesis is working extremely well since I love how well the wheels grip yet drift when needed. The wheels also tend to drift really nicely around corners as opposed to chattering like some wheels did. Landyachtz really built a durable wheel with the Hawgs, chunking hasn’t been an issue at all for me which tends to be a problem when riding wheels hard. With such a durable wheel you definitely get what you pay for.

If your looking for a fun, versatile longboarding wheel then check out the Landyachtz Hawgs, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by these unique wheels.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

So I just came across a great skimboarding video from this year’s Skimdulgence contest in Australia. Theres some really amazing spots and waves there and I can’t wait to go skimboard there myself someday.

Nixon is pleased to announce Joel Parkinson as the winner of the fourth and final stop of the 2008 Nixon WTA, after winning the Vans Triple Crown.

Parkinson made a solid showing in this year’s three events, kicking off with a fifth place finish at both the Reef Hawaiian Pro as well as at the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing. He rounded out his performance with a ninth place finish at the Billabong Pipe Masters. Hailing from Australia’s Gold Coast, Parkinson has been a key player on tour all year with perhaps one of the most memorable achievements when he scored the first ever 20 out of 20 at Pipeline.

“It is great to award this very special watch to Joel. Not only does he represent the spirit and drive of today’s top surfers, he also has a serious sense of humor and will be showing off his new watch to all the boys,” stated Chad DiNenna, Nixon co-founder and Marketing Director.

Parkinson will be rewarded for his win with a custom Nixon 51-30 tide watch with nearly two carats of white baguette diamonds on the bezel crowned with a black onyx countdown timer marker. The one-of-a-kind watch also features three crowns to commemorate the event for which the watch was commissioned: a triple gasket screw crown, an easy adjust button to set the tide subdial, and a final crown which houses a compact screw driver to make band adjustments. This timepiece also features a custom-engraved case back along with the names of the three locations of the Vans Triple Crown events etched into the side of the case wall.

This year’s WTA has schowcased unique talent with Ryan Hipwood (AUS), Taylor Knox (USA) and Royden Bryson (ZAF) claiming victory for the previous three Nixon WTA titles. Their respective wins were for heaviest wave in Teahupoo this past May, highest heat score at J-Bay in July and longest tube ride in Mundaka in late September. Competition for the Nixon WTA will resume once again next year in May at the Billabong Pro in Tahiti.

Video content of each of the WTA stops and winners is available to view on billabongpro.com

[Source: EXPN]

Wow, so some really bad news for ASR recently as Quiksilver said it will be pulling all their brands including Roxy, Quiksilver and Rasins out of the show in January. It is confirmed however that DC Shoes will be there.

Looks like ASR is in a bit of trouble with this happening, Quiksilver is a huge name in the industry and this will only go downhill from here. I would not at all be surprised to see other retailers follow suit and pull out with the economy as it is now. Most companies are simply not making what they need to with retail sales being about 30-60% off this year.

It really is survival of the fittest in this world and the strongest will survive.

So the guys over at Stab Magazine have come out with quite a few juicy rumors to keep us busy.

- Andy Irons will take next year off to chill and do some surf trips. He will aim for a wildcard in 2010. Billabong is backing him all the way, and has just given him a new five-year deal. (Parko’s just signed up for another five, too.)

- Wonder why Bobby Martinez has been shredding Pipe with no stickers on the nose of his board? He’s no longer riding for Reef. Despite the tough economic times (and his management persuading him to put ink on paper), Bobby walked away from an offer that was three-quarters of what he’d asked for. When he simmered down, Bobby went back to Reef, saying okay, I’ll take the deal, but Reef had withdrawn. It’s gonna be tough trying to find a company with $500k kicking round in its marketing budget right now. But Bob has signed some of the smarter deals in surfing. Remember seeing huge Monster energy drink green and black “M” on the bottom and deck of his board? Rumours suggest this nets him around $US300k.

- As always, Dane’s endorsements are the subject of constant speculation. The latest has it that the golden child is going to break his deal with Quik to join Analog. With Burton’s backing, Analog’s certainly got the cash. But Dane has not suggested he’s even thinking about moving, so the rumour remains unfounded.

Should certainly be an interesting year with the economy being the way it is right now. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing lots more issues with sponsorships like we see between Bobby Martinez and Reef. As for Andy Irons taking the year off, I think its great and personally can’t wait to see what comes of it. With Billabong backing him fully we’ll see some sick footage of freesurfing for sure next year. The time off will hopefully do him some good like its done for past champions such as Slater and Curren.