Longboarding and Skimboarding Commentary and News » Longboarding

Downhill Skateboarding Tips

Boardie — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:00:13 +0000

Skating those big gnarly hills can really put your skills to the test and being properly prepared is vital to being safe and having fun. You need to be comfortable on your board and know how to do the basics such as carving and footbreaking (sliding certainly helps too). Once you start feeling confident about bombing hills, follow these short guidelines to help defeat that big hill you’ve had your eye on.

1. Proper Safety Gear – Having adequate safety gear such as a helmet, gloves, knee/elbow pads is crucial to being confident on hills and can really help prevent injury. At the very least you should be wearing a helmet (full face for high speeds) and slide gloves as these areas are the most prone to injury. Slide gloves also help with cornering and sliding to help kill speed, so it really is a no brainer to have a pair.

2. Scout the Road – Make sure to walk the whole downhill run to look for areas of loose gravel and big potholes that may send you flying off your board. It’s important to make sure you have enough space to ride out your speed at the end (especially if you are unable to slide or footbreak at high speed).

3. Proper Downhill Gear – Not all skateboards are made the same and some are just not adequate for doing downhill skateboarding safely. Generally downhill boards are much stiffer as having flex in the board makes it really squirrely at higher speeds. Longboards such as the Loaded Dervish are notoriously flexy and should be avoided at all costs for downhill skateboarding. Shorter wheelbases will also make the ride more unstable and generally the lower the board the more stable it is at higher speeds.

4. Inspect Your Gear – You must inspect all your gear before bombing that big hill, simple things like a loose axle nut can really ruin your day believe me. I’ve had two separate instances of finishing a downhill run picking up my board and having the truck hanger just drop off my board, pretty scary to think if that happened at high speed. Also make sure your trucks are tightened/loose enough for what your doing. Too lose and you may get speed wobbles, too tight and you may not be able to carve enough which again can cause speed wobbles. Also make sure your bearings are clean and lubed, the last thing you want is a bearing to sieze up while at 40 mph (yes it can happen).

5. Avoid Traffic – If the downhill run your thinking about doing has a lot of car traffic on it, then think about finding a different hill. Cars are your number one enemy and obstacle and people in cars really don’t understand longboarders so try and avoid them at all costs. If you do decide to skate a high traffic road, make sure you know how to shutdown slide and footbreak effectively.

6. Play it Safe – On your first run make sure to try and play it safe, try taking the hill from halfway up instead of the full thing to see how you handle the corners and turns. Many times I’ve went to bomb a hill only to end up going way faster than expected. Make sure to just take it easy and airbrake and footbreak before corners to shave speed off so you can make the turn safely.

7. Follow Car – Having a follow car is certainly a nice thing to have but isn’t as necessary as the other steps. A follow car can stay behind the skater blocking any traffic from riding up behind the skaters dangerously as cars often love to do. I definitely recommend having one if the option is there (its nice to have a lift back up the hill too!)

8. Blind Corners – Always make sure to STAY in your lane when taking a blind corner and make sure your at a safe speed. Always try to be conservative when it comes to cornering as it’s very easy to get runover if your not paying attention completely.

9. Have fun – Downhill skateboarding is all about having fun so get out there and bomb those gnarly hills. Just make sure to do it right and safely and you will become much more comfortable on your board at those high speeds. Remember having the right gear is vital to being a successful downhill rider.

Loaded Boards Recalling Orangatang In Heat Wheels

Boardie — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:16:01 +0000

Loaded Boards Inc is now recalling all Purple (83a) Orangatang 75mm In Heat longboard wheels purchased between 2/27/09 and 4/29/09 as well as all Orange (80a) Orangatang 75mm In Heat wheels purchased between 3/14/09 and 4/29/09.

Loaded has recently determined that a small percentage of the cores (produced by a third party vendor) used in these batches are not up to our rigorous quality control standards and may run the risk of shearing the bearing seat (blowing out the core and possibly causing the wheel to separate from the truck while in motion), creating a safety hazard to the user. This is a voluntary recall: Consumers should stop riding these wheels immediately and return the wheels (along with date of purchase so we can ascertain that it’s from this batch) to an authorized Loaded Boards/Orangatang dealer or to Loaded Boards, Inc. for a FREE replacement set. Loaded and all Dealers will gladly exchange the wheels for any wheel of choice, including the new Freeride wheels, provided the wheels are in stock or accessible.

The silver lining is that, while these cores have worked well up until this batch, we will be switching over to a new 3rd generation core for future In Heats that provides better wear and slide characteristics. We encourage the performance use of these wheels and do our utmost to ensure that they will hold up to the rigorous use and abuse that they are designed for. We are fully committed to every product we build and we hope you will love them as much as we do.

RETURNING YOUR WHEELS

Remember you can return your wheels to any Orangatang Dealer. The EASIEST and quickest would be to exchange the wheels at any skate shop that carries Orangatang. It does not matter if you bought the wheels from them, you still can exchange there. If you don’t have a shop near you that carries O’tangs, you can return them to the online stores on the web you bought them from or Loaded Boards.

Good call on Loaded for stepping up and admitting their wheels had a problem before someone got injured.

Get the full story

Longboarding Video: Downhill Freeriding

Boardie — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:22:26 +0000

Check out this new video featuring the Rayne Longboards team tearing it up on the west coast. This video has sliding, carving, bails and some gnarly downhill runs. If you can longboard like this your officially steezy. Riders include Chris Dahl, Adam Auger, Kevin Reimer, Kyle Martin and Mark Short to name a few.

View on Vimeo.

Longboarding Tips: Stopping

Boardie — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:08:00 +0000

Stopping on a longboard is one of the most crucial steps to becoming a better longboarder. It may take awhile to learn some of these techniques but it’s well worth it for your safety. Besides who actually likes getting road rash?

1. Air Braking – Standing straight up with your arms out to increase wind resistance and lower your overall speed.

Wind braking is a very effective technique to decrease your speed (to about 25-30mph if done properly) and is extremely useful when doing downhill. It’s nice to be able to shave some speed off so you can take a turn easier or avoid a potential obstacle.

2. Footbraking – Taking one foot off the skateboard and dragging it along the pavement to increase friction and decrease your speed.

Footbraking is one of the most effective ways to stop and is fairly easy to learn. You simply take your back foot off the board and press it down lightly increasing the weight slowly on your dragging foot so you don’t eat asphalt. I recommend learning footbraking as soon as you start longboarding, it’s extremely useful and can save you a lot of skin.

3. Carving – Turning across the road back and forth.

Carving is probably one of the first things you’ll learn when first starting to longboard. It is one of the best ways to reduce speeds but is pretty hard to come to a complete stop when going fast. The more aggressive and wider the carves the more your going to slow down.

4. Running it off - Jumping off your longboard and trying to run off the speed.

This is probably one of the worst and most dangerous ways to try and stop when going fast. For a new longboarder this is the first thing you think of doing when you start going beyond your limits. It’s very easy to underestimate how fast your going so be sure to know you can actually run the speed off. I certainly don’t recommend this method and your sure to eat some pavement if you make a habit out of it.

5. Sliding – Breaking the skateboard’s wheels out in a controlled movement.

Sliding is hands down the most effective way to stop when longboarding and learning how to do it will make you a much better rider. It is the hardest method to learn but it is well worth it if your going to be going fast. The most popular kinds of slides are the Coleman, Bert and Standup.

6.Rolling off the road - Rolling from the road to another surface to cause friction.

This method involves rolling off the road onto some other surface such as grass or dirt to try and kill off any speed. It certainly is better than running off the board but it can be a bit risky and should only be used as a last resort.

7. Ride it out – Staying on your longboard till the road flattens and coming to a stop naturally.

The best and usually easiest method of stopping. When doing any downhill runs always make sure to scope out the bottom and make sure you have ample room to ride it out and slow down.

So get out there and start practicing these ways of stopping.

Landyachtz Hawgs Longboard Wheels

Boardie — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:30:44 +0000

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.

Landyachtz Evo Review

Boardie — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:25:23 +0000

The Landyachtz Evo is a 11 ply drop board that is super stable yet very responsive at the same time.

Taking the Evo on the first hill of the day felt great as I busted some hard carves and felt just how fast she could go. This thing just begs to be taken fast with such a stable platform. Dodging obstacles like potholes and rocks were no problem on the Evo and I was actually very surprised at how nimble it felt for such a heavy board. Did I mention this thing is super low? Pushing is a breeze on the Evo thanks to how low it sits.

Flex on the board is pretty much non-existent since it is designed to be a downhill board. The Evo sports aggressive concave to help keep your feet locked in and it certainly felt good for me. Tucking on the Evo and taking some tight turns was no problem and felt smooth as butter the whole time. I did get to take it for a parking garage sesh and it handled it really well, just had to loosen the trucks up a tad.

The setup I was riding had Bear Grizzly (10mm axle) trucks, Abec11 Flywheels 83mm (78a) and Venom bushings. Keep in mind that using Flywheels on the Evo made it super drifty, so be warned if your looking for a really grippy ride. Since the board sits so low sliding the Evo is a dream with its concave keeping your feet locked in the whole time.

: Landyachtz Evo Concave Shot

The Landyachtz Evo has won more downhill skateboarding races than any other speedboard out there and for good reason. This longboard isn’t exactly the best commuter thanks to its heavines. Sure it is possible to commute with the Evo but it is heavy and does lack a kicktail for going over curbs. This board really craves going fast on some steep grade hills so don’t dissapoint.

Whether your slashing your way through allies or bombing that monster hill, the Landyachtz Evo is sure to fit the bill.

Loaded Vanguard Review

Boardie — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:09:36 +0000

The Loaded Vanguard is an absolute carving machine. This board is hands down one of the most comfortable and energetic rides you can find out there today.

The new Vanguard sports a core full of bamboo goodness. This gives the board a snappy, responsive flex while reducing the overall weight as a bonus. As soon as you step on the Vanguard you’ll realize just how much flex the board has. Carving is awesome on this thing since the bamboo makes the board super snappy and responsive when coming out of turns almost like your snowboarding.

My Setup

Trucks: Randal RIIs 180mm
Wheels: Abec 11 Lime Bigzigs (75mm, 80a durometer)
Riser Pads: None

No riser pads are needed for the deck as the wheel cutouts on either end take care of any chance of wheel bite that you may experience. I’d recommend sticking in the 66-76mm range for wheels.

For trucks I’d recommend sticking with the Randal 180mm trucks or Paris 180mm trucks.

This thing is super easy and enjoyable to pump along on the flats. Pretty much any longboarding style can be handled by the Vanguard. Whether your commuting to work dodging pedestrians or wrecking havoc pumping and carving that parking garage, the Loaded Vanguard can handle it all.

Now downhill is where the Vanguard starts to struggle. Since the board has so much flex the board simply can’t remain stable at higher speeds (30mph+). Although you might be able to ride the Vanguard at a higher speed, it simply isn’t as energy efficient as using a stiff board.

Loaded Vanguard Flex

Sliding on the other hand is no problem for the Loaded Vanguard to handle. The board can break into a controlled slide no problem with Abec11 Bigzigs on my setup which means taking on those steep grade hills should not be a problem. Taking on bigger hills for me wasn’t an issue as speed checking and shut down slides were a breeze for the board to handle.

Sliding On the Loaded Vanguard

Overall the Vanguard is a great freeride board and it should be treated as such. If your looking for a longboard with some flex and an extremely responsive ride, then look no further. The Loaded Vanguard is hands down, the most similar ride to a snowboard I’ve experienced. Carving, pumping and more carving is what this board is all about.

Amazing all around board. Definitely worth the $280-$300 hit to your wallet for the value you get with the Vanguard.

Loaded Dervish Longboard Review

Boardie — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:33:28 +0000

I thought I’d give my take on the ever popular Dervish by Loaded Longboards. The dervish is a drop-thru style, desgined to accomodate the Randall R-II, Paris, Holey, Bear, Gullwing Charger and Tracker Fastrack Trucks. The dervish is also available in two flexes depending on your weight. The guys over at Loaded Longboards really wanted to create a great all around, fun board when they created the Dervish and they certainly did a good job.

The first thoughts on riding the dervish was how similar it felt to riding a snowboard. I think that’s really what the design was going for and it feels extremely lively. The dervish can take on lots of stuff you throw at it, whether it be carving and cruising or sliding and a little downhill action. Keep in mind it is not a downhill board and the flex on it makes the Loaded Dervish very hairy at high speeds (45mph+). Sure there’s some people out there who have gone faster on one but there’s a reason all the best downhill boards are stiff. I personally took it to about a max of 35mph on one of my runs and although it felt fine, the Loaded Dervish definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable at a higher speed.

Anyway overall the board felt solid and was super easy to ride. The dervish sits nice and low thanks to its drop-through design, so pushing is a breeze. Speedchecking with 75mm Lime BigZigs was not a problem and coleman sliding was a blast. The board is definitely fun to just ride around and do some hard carving. Pumping around the neighborhood on the Dervish was really fun and the longboard just felt super lively under my feet. I did take it to a parking garage longboard session as well and it handled the 5-story garage no problem.

The setup I was on had Paris 180 trucks that were setup extremely loose with Venom bushings. I feel like the Paris trucks really make this board come alive with some aftermarket bushings. The Dervish is a bit on the expensive side with a complete running about $230 or so which is comparable to other high end longboarding manufacturers such as Rayne and Landyachtz. Also note that a drawback to the Dervish is it lacks a kicktail, so keep that in mind if your needing a board to ollie lots of curbs and ledges. I personally don’t own one but it would certainly be a nice addition to anyone’s quiver if your looking to carve, slide and just cruise around. The Loaded Dervish is a definite great choice for someones first board as long as their not looking to do serious downhill.

Check out this great video of the Adam’s brothers ripping it up and making it look easy on the Loaded Dervish.

Longboard Buying Guide

Boardie — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 05:12:01 +0000

Getting your first longboard is a big deal. Theres so many different kinds of boards it definitely can be overwhelming trying to choose one. This guide will go over all the basics to longboarding tech such as flex, concave and length to help you make a good decision when the time comes.

So a longboard is super long right?

Wrong. Longboards come in all shapes and sizes and some are even shorter than your regular short board. It’s more about a combination of things, especially the wheels which are soft and usually larger (60mm+). The larger size allows you to go faster and roll over cracks and rocks easier. The trucks are also important since there wide and can turn a lot better than a shortboard.

You have to figure out where your going to be riding and what size longboard will actually be practical. If your looking for a campus cruiser definitely look at something under 40 inches as the smaller size will be easier to carry and ride around pedestrians with. Longboards under 35 inches are going to be super responsive and twitchy which is great for thrashing about but can be a pain for a beginner to learn on.

Board Characteristics

Flex: Flex is basically how much the board gives underneath your weight. There are longboards that range from completely stiff (the Landyachtz Evo and the Sector 9 Bomb Hills) to super flexy (the Loaded Dervish and Vanguard). Flex is a personal prefrence and really depends on the type of longboarding your going to be doing. If your looking to do downhill then go for a stiff board and if your looking to pump around town then go for a board with some flex. I personally love a board with a nice snappy flex to it such as the Insect Mosquito or Rayne Hustler, which are great fun to carve and pump with.

Deck Design: The design of your deck greatly how it rides. Topmounts such as the Sector 9 Cosmic series are great for carving and getting around the city on since most have a kicktail making it ideal for riding the sidewalks. Also know that the wider the board is, the more leverage you’ll gain for turning making it easier to slide.

Concave: Most longboards are either flat or concave. A board with concave has a U shape to it when looking at it from eye level. This shape allows you to keep your feet locked in while doing hard carves and slides. It’s definitely a nice thing to have concave, I feel it really allows you ride more aggresively especially when carving and doing downhill. (Some boards with concave are the Landyachtz Evo, Sector 9 Kommi, and Rayne Nemesis).

Basically there are lots of great boards out there to choose from. It all depends on what discipline of riding your interested in and how comfortable you are on the board. Definitely go for a longer board starting out, it’ll make learning go that much easier to keep you stoked. Remember you get what you pay for so don’t skimp out on a cheap board. Also many local skate shops don’t carry a good selection of longboard gear, usually it’s the basic Sector 9 or Gravity longboards which are good but it’s nice to see what else is out there too. I recommend looking at online retailers such as Daddiesboardshop, Pipelinesurf or MileHighSkates to name a few.

Anyway heres a basic list of categories and the longboards I feel would excel for that situation.

Campus Cruisers: Loaded Ceviche, Ladera Purple Heart, Sector 9 Rasta N8V, Sector 9 Juel Tudor, Gravity Bruce Logan, Landyachtz Bamboo Dingy

Carving and Cruising: Loaded Dervish and Vanguard, Gravity Hypercarve, Landyachtz Urban Assault, Rayne Hustler, Rayne Timeline, Rayne Nemesis, Sector 9 Goddess of Speed, Earthwing Superglider, Earthwing Widerglider, Insect Mosquito

Downhill: Landyachtz Evo, Landyachtz DH Race, Rayne Nemesis, Rayne Hellcat, Rayne Demonseed, Rayne Avenger, Sector 9 Bomb Hills, Sector 9 Kommi, Insect Lightning Bug, Insect Firefly, Kebbek (all of them)

Sliding: Earthwing Bigfoot Drifter, Earthwing Corchia, Gravity Segio Yuppie

If your still having trouble picking the right longboard, give me a shout and I’ll see if I can help.

Sector 9 Longboards

Boardie — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:02:45 +0000

We all know how popular Sector 9 longboards are these days. Based out of San Diego, CA, they have been manufacturing longboards since the early 1990s. In addition their the biggest longboarding brand in the game and have a large variety of boards that cater to all the disciplines. Whether you want to carve or cruise or downhill, Sector 9 probably has a board for you.

It seems they have gotten a somewhat tarnished image recently from being so commercialized and being available in all the malls. Just because a lot of people have them doesn’t make them bad boards. Every Sector 9 I’ve used is great and I have quite a few buddies who rip theres no problem. One of my buddies has the Sector 9 Kommi which is an awesome downhill board and is really great at carving. If your a beginner looking to longboard you can’t go wrong with picking one up.

One of the models I really enjoyed was the Goddess of Speed which is part of their carving series. Its nice and long and the concave is great keeping you locked in for hard carving and slides. It’s one of the many pintail style boards Sector 9 has and it’s an extremely responsive board. If your looking for something shorter in length definitely look into the Joel Tudor model or the Cosmic Sun. Both are great for city riding where you need to make tight turns to avoid those pedestrians.

Now I’m going to be honest here and say I’m not a huge fan of Sector 9’s wheels. There are some that are great such as the race formula series and the goddess of speed. When it comes to choosing longboard wheels I’d try and stick with some Zigzags/Bigzigs or even the recent orangatangs by Loaded. Also if you picked up a stock setup from a store like West 49 or something, definitely think about changing out the bearings for Bones Reds or something of similar quality. Decent bearings along with wheels will really help improve your ride.

Overall it’s hard to find bad things about all the Sector 9 longboards I’ve tried. If your a newbie looking to get a board check em out because they are cheap yet good quality. It’s a great buy if your not totally sure about longboarding yet and don’t want to drop the money on a more expensive brand.

Sector 9 Cosmic Rider

Sector 9 Kommi