Looking for some advice on a longboard skate. I have a 42 inch Sector 9 basic cruising model. It's great for getting around town, and has a real smooth ride. In the right situation, I can do small tail slides, but other than that, its not very performance oriented. I want to get something smaller. Needs a tail flip. I want to maintain the "longboard" style/don't want a traditional skateboard. I also want it to be long enough that I maintain a surfing stance/wide stance. Would like it to be small enough though that I can take it in bowls, do some downhill skating (not for speed), but for slides. Have been thinking about a Carver, love how it mimics surfing. But not sure how they ride in relation to all the other more generic skating moves. Any advice or recommendations on board size, wheel/truck dimensions, and whether a Carver limits you in more traditional skating styles, would be very much appreciated. I am 5'10", and have surfed my entire life (mid-30's), and looking to get more into skating.
i got a 30" Gravity mini long board. awesome all around board. downhill, power slides, street tricks (if you change the trucks) wont work well in a half pipe though.
dont think your going to be able to get something thats a small cruiser that will slide unless you put really hard wheels on it. cruisers are really good if you want something for surf practice. I've got a 33" globe cruiser board. its got a fish tail with a traction pad gives you a nice stance. Can take it in the bowl, it handles downhill really well, nice and smooth soft wheels and pumps really well. would totally recommend it or even a 31"
Thanks. Looking for all of those things, and no intentions of bringing it in a half pipe. possibly a skate park and using some of the ramps like you would a pool or bowl, but other than that.. is the 30" board too small though to mimic a surfing stance? i have a narrow stance to begin with, and i don't want a skate that is going to make a bad surfing habit worse.
thanks. And i would definitely put a smaller/harder pair of wheels on this smaller board, and put a big set of soft wheels on my cruiser.
Haven't ridden a carver yet, so can't speak to them, but i have an Original Custom 35. The trucks flex fully and it's bad ass to carve down hills on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj33eY6ERuU
I have a carver and i love it. THE closeest thing to surfing. However.... Not the greatest cruiser and trick wise it is also a little tricky. Takes some time getting use to but IT WILL improve your surfing, and make every other skateboard harder to ride
Carvers are definitely strange under my feet. I can see how they help surfing with turns and all but I wouldn't get one if you wanna skate a bowl. The board tended to sway a lot when pushing, it is more oriented towards pumping and carving in a small area. Check out the videos on youtube. I have a sector nine sidewinder that I love to death. Its about 33' I'd say and very thin which compliments the turning radius. Not to mention, the trucks are gull wings. Definitely do some research and try to ride anything before you buy it. Cheers!
My current board has gullwings as well. Are they basically the same as what a Carver is? Would you recommend them for the smaller board i am looking for?
Carver C7 trucks can't be compared to anything else. If you want to replicate surf style while you skate, there is nothing better. You literally don't need to push, you can just pump in order to keep up speed, they way you would on a surfboard. I have the 34" Greenroom and love it for cruising down the street and hitting some banks for some surf style turns, cutbacks, etc. If you want to get into pool/bowl riding, though, the Carver will not be a great choice. In my opinion, a traditional truck style will work way better. I have Indy 149's and some 55mm hard Bones wheels. Big soft wheels are great for cruising around town but on smooth concrete they are much slower than some hard park specific wheels. If you want to learn how to pump full speed around a pool and get up to the coping than you will be better off with a more pool oriented setup. You could always get a deck your into, some standard type trucks that fit it well and two sets of wheels. That way you can have big, soft cruisers for the streets and can swap them out when you want to ride a bowl/park. I am really into Welcome Skateboards. They have awesome shapes and sizes with a nice, modern concave and nose/tail on them. Plus the graphics are super rad. I skate the 8.8" Chupacabra, check them out here: http://welcomeskateboards.com/
