Hybrid seems to be the word of the year! Except this time it isn’t talking about a car. It is however a means for transportation. The hybrid is also a longboard produced from arbor which is a company based out of southern california that makes snow and skateboards using environmentally friendly products. This board is called the hybrid as it serves several purposes; longboard stability and speed as well as flat ground and skate park performance. The hybrid board is super stiff with lots of pop and great concave. It is a great mix between skate and longboard.

The arbor hybrid longboard wasn’t designed for bombing hills or hard carves. It is a cruising style longboard that can also be taken to the skate park. So if you are going to be taking this board to the park make sure to get a harder wheel. However if you are looking to get this board primarily as a cruiser and commuter board set it up with some standard trucks and some 65-70mm sized wheels. An abec 5 bearing will do just fine on this board.

The 2009 line up of arbor longboards has brought about several new boards. My favorite is definitely the new mindstate board. It is a compact flex styled longboard that is great for cruising and carving. This board was designed to create fun carves at you generate energetic rebounding turns with the flex pattern of the board. It has four plies of hardrock maple and reinforced with fiberglass to create strength and also give it the flexible feel while keeping the board light weight to maximize performance! The top layer of koa wood also helps add pop out of the turns giving it a very unique feel unlike any other longboard.

I prefer to keep the arbor mindstate longboard light weight as that is what it was designed for. A light high performance longboard truck is the randal r-ii downhill styled truck. A nice soft gushy grippy wheel from 65-70mm in size is perfect for this board and will help for optimal turns. Bones bearings are the best on the market and the bones reds are a great product for a great price so that is what I recommend for this board!

The kelly slater longboard has been discontinued and remodeled with the new 7-ply maple wood and koa top grain with a fish tail or swallow tail cut-out. This new styled board is very fast and provides the sharpest hardest carving board in the arbor carver series line-up. It offers the shortest wheelbase which allows for the harder carving sharp turns. The board is lightweight and high performing! The artist Jake Pickle desgined the board to represent Kelly Slaters life as a surfer, which is all about surfing, music, travel, and friends.

Don’t cut yourself short on the arbor kelly slater longboard. Make sure to equip this board with some good parts. Gullwing charger trucks in the white and blue color match up nicely with this board. Also add some 65mm arbor longboard wheels. For bearings I wouldn’t recommened anything lower than abec 7 and would prefer bones swiss bearings in this board for myself!

I would have to say the #1 most popular all time arbor longboard has got to be the koa fish longboard. It’s a compact sized pintail shape. It is great for downhill, carving, and cruising around. It has 7 plys of hardrock maple wood and a top layer of the popular koa wood that is imported from hawaii. It makes for a nice stiff board which helps stabilize it when bombing  hills at high speeds and gives you great control while turning. The clear grip is perfect on this board as it really allows you to enjoy the koa wood grain. Every single top layer of koa wood is unique and varies so much in color and grains that it makes it an amazing piece of artwork. It also features a hyper extended wheelbase for maximum stability and smooth turning.

The set-up for the arbor koa fish longboard can vary greatly depending on what you typically will be using the board for. Beginners can get a standard truck with some 65mm wheels and some abec 5 bearings which helps to keep the cost down and still be able to enjoy the board for its art and crusing abilities. If you are wanting high performance get some gullwing chargers or revenge alpha 1 trucks with some bones swiss bearings and some solid 65mm wheels!

One of the most popular arbor longboards is the bamboo pin. The deck is a classic tapered carver shape. The wheelbase is extra long for good stability and lots of speed. It is built with six plies of maple wood and a top layer varied shades of bamboo wood. This longboard is light weight for the size and very durable. Something I think is very interesting is the clear grip on the top of the arbor longboards. They are all gripped with recycled crushed glass! Just another way arbor is trying to help the environment. The asian style graphic on the bottom was created by, Jake Pickle one of arbor’s artist’s. It’s a great new graphic that lots of people will enjoy.

The arbor bamboo pin longboard isn’t just an art styled board. It truly is a performance driven longboard. It has a great shape and design for maximum speeds and can be used for downhill riding and is also a true style carver longboard. Make sure to set this board up with the 70mm arbor wheels and some good bearings such as bones reds or abec 7 or higher rated. I would also recommend gullwing charger trucks for maximum performance on this longboard!