Nord Boards
Archive for July 9th, 2009
GRAVITY longboard company review
Gravity longboards have been in the longboard buisness for awhile now and they’ve put out some pretty nice products that vary from cruising around the streets, bombing huge hills, tearing up the local, turning through cones at 45 miles an hour, transitions, you name it, they’ve got it. Gravity boards litterally have a board for every occasion and they’re great wheter you’re a beginner or you thrash like the pros.
GRAVITY DOWNHILL/SLIDING BOARDS: though they don’t have an actual section for it like sector 9 or arbor Gravity boards are still broken up into divisions and sections. Their downhill boards are actually what they are known for, gravity hosts a skating competetion every year called slidefest where skaters go down a hill as fast as they can and do powerslides. they’ve held this tournament for quite some time now and this is why they excel in these types of boards, in fact I don’t think you can find a better downhill board.
GRAVITY CRUISERS: Gravity makes a wide selection of small cruisers which are perfect for getting where you need to go and for easy storage/stashing because nothing is more painful then having to carry a 30 pound downhill board around a city all day with you. the gravity cruisers also have a small wheelbase for sharp precise turns that can help you get around corners or weave through traffic
GRAVITY POOL AND TRANSITION BOARDS: Gravity also has a wide selection of pool and transition boards which are perfect for grinds on coping and kickturn because of the small wheel base which means you can set up for tricks faster and make sharper turns. these are also great for getting around town, going to school, walking through stores, etc because they can be picked up and taken around easily.
GRAVITY CARVERS: Gravity also has an amazing selection of carving boards, their boards are great for carving because of their 1. excellent snap and flex 2. their amazing base for stability and 3. their long wheelbase for super smooth turning. Gravity carvers are also great for cruising around town, they’re a little bigger than the cruisers and transition boards but they’re still worth buying if you want to get around town and still carve. if you’re not going to carve though i would suggest a cruiser.
GRAVITY SLALOM BOARDS: Slalom boards are great for getting around town, but they are truly great for weaving through cones at high speeds down hills! Gravity slalom boards provide excellent control going at high speeds because of their long wheelbase, however they’re small boards which help keep you from falling yet they’re small enough that you can still get some sharp turns.
Arbor company review
Arbor has made a huge leap for longboarding and I’ll tell you how. In 1995 Arbor was founded and they decided unlike the companies that used wood (Which Arbor does, but they use as little as possible) they wanted to improve the performance of a longboard, and make it environmentally friendly and they’ve done just that. Arbor was one of t he first board companies to even think about helping the environment, and that’s no longer no true.
Arbor makes a lot of their boards out of Bamboo, which is a weed and grows up to 4 feet a week! not only does it grow super fast but it’s super durable and flexible just like wood. Arbor isn’t totally based on bamboo however they bought a certain ammount of land and those are the only trees they use. Not only does arbor make some of their boards from bamboo but they make their wheels with a special soybean based polyurethane rather than normal polyurethane which is not only good for the environment but provides great grip.
ARBOR FLEX SERIES: The flex series is great for carving and getting around town I’ve tried all of the flex series boards, and I was very pleased. All of the flex boards as you might have guessed have an excellent flex. Flex and return gives A great feel for both riding the streets and carving at the parks.
ARBOR CARVER SERIES: The carver series as you might have guessed is excellent for carving! the carving series has a lot of flex and a long wheelbase for nice, smooth long turns for the perfect carving experience. I’m not much of a carver but i tried one board from the carver series and even though i couldn’t go car ve down at the parks (it was a shop demo) they turned so nice i almost didn’t give it back.
ARBOR STREET SERIES: The street series is great for riding over rough street terrains because of the way they’re made, they’re bigger and wider which means you can have bigger and wider wheels which will roll over anything in your path. The street is also great for downhill racing, but they have a whole other section just for downhill these are great arbor longboards.
ARBOR TRANNY SERIES: The Arbor tranny series is great for quarter pipes, bowls, or any transition you want really. The tranny series is great because of it’s small wheelbase which makes kickturns super easy while giving you a wide boardsurface to help keep you from falling. The Arbor tranny’s are also made with a recycled glass grip, like a lot of our arbors but the recycled glass is good for the environment and provides superior grip.
ARBOR MINI SERIES: The Minis are great for getting around town especially if you have to be somewhere where you have to pick up, they’re so small and compact that you can just pick them up and carry it wherever you want! whether you’re going to a store, the mall, or even a friends house you can pick it up and stash it anywhere. Not to mention the pinpoint turning and speed that these little boards can give you.
ARBOR ROLLER SERIES: The roller series was made for downhill racing. The rollers are super huge and have a huge wheelbase which gives you excellent stability at high speeds. the roller series is also great for cruising around town at high speeds. The roller series also comes with recycled glass grip like most of our other exceptional arbors.