The Longboard Blog

We just added a bunch of much anticipated speedboards to the site this week. The first batch is from Kebbek, including for the first time, a Bamboo Bassi and Bamboo Revenger. The Ian Comishin has been reworked in Bamboo and also sports the name J.F. Boily as well. The new Switchback looks to be true to it’s name, and is a fully symmetrical board, and is using a 2 tone bamboo veneer.

Rayne Speedboards do not stay on the shelves very long, and I would predict the same for the new Nemesis. After receiving a Nemesis prototype last winter, I have been wanting to share this amazing board with our customers. The Nemesis has 6 layers of a darkened bamboo core and fiberglass on both sides. We were only able to get 20 in this shipment, so grab one soon. We also received a new Avenger. The new Avenger is clad with new graphics and a stiff bamboo structure skinned with fiberglass.

I must say, the new Plum Sauce graphic really spices up the Loaded Vanguard. We were also very pleased to pair the Abec11 Lime Bigzigs with the newly retooled Randal 180mm Trucks. To top off, we upgraded the bearings to our new System Abec Sevens. The new graphic is currently available on the flex 2 and 3, with the remainder of flexes available sometime in July.

A new shipment of Comet Longboards just rolled in this week. We are especially excited about the 40″ Crystal Chalice and 45″ Crystal Mountain. It’s not very apparent from the photos, but these puppies are pure environmental tech. They begin with a core of vertically laminated bamboo, add a layer of tri-axial hemp fiber using soy resins, and then cap both sides off with maple veneer. We are working on embedding a video of Comet Skateboards Factory that aired on The Discovery Channel, but here is the link to the video on their site for now.

Sector Nine Race Formula Wheels come in 4 different sizes and 2 durometers for each size. The urethane on these wheels are premium. Rebounding from a depression test show that they will resist deformation under high loads and will have a longer life than common urethane formulae.

We receive about 5 emails a day from customers asking, “Why don’t you carry Sector Nine Boards?”. Well, the questions inbox just got 5 emails shorter everyday, cause Sector Nine boxes showed up on Thursday. We’ve so far managed to complete photos for the 6 Bamboo Series boards, 21 Sector Nine Wheels, and Gullwing Trucks. We should be able to finish 12 more boards in the next 2 days. At first glance, the quality of every board is impeccable. The Carbon Trylam is so thin, and feels amazingly strong. We will add more comments on each board as we begin playing around with them. As always, we will be custom building each Sector Nine Board. Sector Nine Link.

We have a bunch of old skateboards mounted up high in the warehouse, and have always wanted to produce a board that’s just like they used to be, so we did. The new TLS Retro Board is made from solid oak, and we cut a wedged section from the bottom of the tail to make kick turns much easier. A bevel is added to both sides of the board. And to really bring back the memories, we’re using reissued OJ Wheels and Tracker 85mm Trucks.The Retro turned out to be much smoother than we expected. Gordon, our shop manager, managed to pull off some kick flips despite being very narrow. The TLS retro will definitely challenge you to try all those old school tricks.

These limited edition art boards from Flexdex showed up yesterday. They are a very limited run of only 100 each, and feature artwork from Pinky Taylor and Andrew Nguyen. The graphics are applies to the bottom side and also under the clear grip tape on the top side.

Not sure if there’s an official name for this board yet, but we are calling it the Kebbek JimZ Flushcut Universal. This new mounting design will accept just about any truck on the market, and mounts flush from the bottom side. The top side has the Kebbek “K” logo machined into the wood, with a poured resin/recycled material.

Today was my first day back from the Surf Expo trade show, so I wanted to take it easy on myself. What could be easier than photographing a few reissued Powell and Bones stickers. Turns out, there are over 22 of them, and it took 6 hours to shoot, edit, and add them to the site. It was well worth the effort, as every sticker I worked on brought back great memories. Each sticker is just as crisp and vibrant as I remember the originals to be, and appear to be manufactured by the same silkscreening method, which gives them that extra punch.

Hollywood has been on strike for a month now, so you may be bogged down watching The Tonight Show re-runs or depleting what’s left on Tivo. I happen to be watching an old Steven King Film, which reminded me to edit photos of the new Alligators from Bennett. Both 62mm and 71mm versions are now available in blue and orange, and come in slightly changed durometers [hardnesses], 80a for blue and 79a for orange. And you thought nothing new would be coming out of California until next year.