Another 1st longboard

[P06781]

Hey All,

I am a old-school skater from the 80's and old-school carver too! I still have one of my old park/pipe boards but I am thinking of getting into a longboard. I might do a little commuting to work on this and/or whatever turning I can learn. I used to skate in Portland at the burnside park under the bridge but might try Mt Tabor longboarding and screwing around with my daughters who like my old deck. I guess someone told me that I am in the "dads in pads" group now:o

Anyways a coworker showed my this local built board....

http://www.eastsidelongboards.com/SK.html

Any comments helpful.

Jim

[Dan]

I'm no expert on skateboards, but Eastside Longboards have done a lot to build a longbuilding community in Portland, so they're definitely worthy of our support. A few summers ago I hit some of their group rides, and though there was some of the "who is this weird old dude who keeps falling off his deck" vibe, overall they were pretty friendly and welcoming.

I didn't grow up skating and only got interested in it as a summer replacement for snowboards, so I tend to lean towards the more carve-specific decks without kicktails like the <a href="http://www.eastsidelongboards.com/ZionCruiser.html">Zion Cruiser</a>. If you actually know what to do with a kicktail, YMMV.

[Gecko]

for an adult park board that looks good but if you are interested in carving big hills I would suggest something over 40" long with a 31"-34" wheelbase medium to stiff flex, depending on how fast you want to go vs how much you wanna turn

[P06781]

Thanks for help. I guess I looking for more of an all-around type board that can used anywhere like a atv or axis or 4x4. Not sure if I am ready for doing a zoo ride yet .

Yes Dan I can use a kicktail and even ollie a little. I grew up street skating in college and built a large wood 1/2 pipe on the farm I grew up in Wisconsin. ! 10 years ago I used skate Bside with another old school cooworker and learned to pump and ride bowls , nice long grinds, and rock n rolls. Never learned any flippy tricks like the kids now.

Thanks Gecko as I can tell you do some serious downhill stuff. Might slowly work myself into that ... The boards I am used to were like 31 x 10.5 ? I guess they dont make them that way anymore ...

Jim

[Gecko]

I don't do super serious downhill (I leave that to the young kids like Sofa), though I do like to go fast, my fastest is just over 50mph and while I was comfortable there I'm not eager to go much faster. I prefer 30-40mph carving on my freeride board to tucking on my speedboard. Lately I've spent the most amount of time skating on an Earthwing Supercharger, good for everything but park skating and super fast skating. Other similar boards would be a Gravity Hyper Carve, Rayne Pug, Rayne Hustler or Landyachtz Drop Carve to name a few that I have tried...I just prefer my Supercharger

two examples...I'd choose the Brooklyn if I was doing it over again

http://www.milehighskates.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=1438

http://www.milehighskates.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=1420

for pure oldschool park boards look at

http://www.smaskateboards.com/

edit: while skating home today (20 miles) I came to realize what it is about skating that I most enjoy, interestingly it's the same thing I love about snowboarding...drawing lines. I love that feeling of leaning into a turn, holding a line for all it's worth before transitioning to the next turn to repeat it again and again down the hill