I am looking for a longboard. Right now I am using an 8' Walden and its fine, but I am looking at going more old-school. I would like a log that I can noseride and just sort of swing around. I have seen some kookboxx's and scott anderson's but they are pretty expensive. Are longboards generally going to be up around $1000 or is there a smaller and/or cheaper company that I could buy a cheaper one from. I am 5'8" and 130lbs so I was thinking mid-eights range. Any suggestions or help is much appreciated.
Craigslist bro. You can get a good one for 3-500 bucks. I you really want old school, traditional longboards are 9 feet and up. Nice heavy glassed single fin would be a lot of fun.
Depending on where you are you should be able to find a local shaper selling longboards for closer to $800 or less. I'm in New England and can think of a few good shapers who specialize in noseriders. Standard models start at $600 for a 9ft+ board. That said, I still think used is the way to go!
Yea... check out a couple of local, reputable shapers, and see what they can offer you. Usually, it's $100-$200 cheaper than the same thing off the rack for longboards. Spend wisely, and ask for heavier, clear glass job, and skip the gloss and polish, tail block, 2+1 option, etc. Go with a 6/6 deck, 6 bottom, single box, sanded hotcoat, out of the appropriate single stringered poly "Y" blank and poly resin. As for length, most traditional longboard purists will say 9'0 and up, particularly for noseriding... then it's even up to 9'6 and up. But I've had good feedback with the "three feet longer than you are tall" as a minimum rule, for the most part. I'm 6'1 and my log is 9'3. So at your height/weight, I'd still be recommending an 8'10 if you want it to perform well as a first noserider for you. So if you're at 8'10, why not go to 9'0 for better resale value, or something you can grow into, if you're still growing.
