Longboard Talk - Ref: Tan Tien

Finalllllllly, it drops in Canada. Loaded just released their new board the Tan Tien. Video's sick. Check it out below. We can finally get ahold of them. Here's the link to the board's specs. http://www.loadedboards.com/boards/tanTien.html

So let's talk about putting together the ideal longboard. First things first you need to consider is what you're going to be doing with your longboard. Say you're new to the sport and you just want to get out and cruise and get comfortable on a board, there are a lot out there that will do just that. What makes the difference is something you need to keep in the back of you're head. Consider the other sports you spend the majority of you're time doing. If you're the average Joe who just discovered the outside world and the sport of longboarding, I wouldn't recommend investing a lot into the sport at first. So keeping this in mind while looking for a longboard is important. Our shop for example carries a wide selection of decks. I can go over the differences to help narrow down the best deck for your riding style.
We have planks: long, narrow, comfortable, simple and decently fast. These decks don't have much going on with their design and cut. Typically flat as well, some also include a kick tail to make getting around the city and over curbs much easier.
Pin tails: remotely flat (usually a slight curvature running the length of the board that makes it concave from side to side), wide, stable, usually fast. These boards will perform a little better for you and are usually taken downhill but a lot of riders like them for simple cruising too. Most don't include a kick tail; sidenote: we have a few Gravity's that are pin shape with a kicked tail. This is a nice mix of two styles to accomadate the progressing rider that still needs an all around board.
Street/Pool boards: shaped more like a skateboard, includes a kick tail and some times a tipped nose, range from very short to very long. These boards you can find in almost and lenght and shape. Some will build up nice as an old school board w/ a fat short shape and be easy to handle but more responsive. Some street boards are built up long with kicks at both ends and come usually very fat and drive like a boat. These are the ultimate commuter board.
Finally the last style of board is the drop-through: for more advance riders that can push their board, always includes a cut out in the wood for drop-through mounted trucks, fast and very technical. We carry a drop-through deck by gravity thats spec'ed out pretty nicely but for the best bang for your buck the line up from loaded is your best bet. They've put tons of R&D into developing some of the nicest boards all built with rider assistance to really maximize the performance. One of their drop-throughs is called the Dervish, a fantastic board. New to the line up is the Tan Tien as mentioned in the begining. It's a Dervish better perfected. Not only is it set up like the Dervish with the double-u concave (meaning it boasts a camber shape end to end and a concave shape from side to side), but they shortened it to make it a little more "freestyle" and added kicks at the nose and tail making this board the best built, do-whatever-you-want-it-to-do board on the market. Drop throughs go fast and are designed for sliding. A drop through with small kicks allows it to now be taken from a board designed to go fast and slide hard, to also adding that freestyle element allowing the rider to go from sliding to popping unbelievable tricks. Don't believe me? Check out the end of the video below. That beanpole-360 flip variation that this rider throws down is the most rediculous thing I've ever seen anyone do on a longboard. These boards are usually more expensive but a lot of longboarders know the value of this board and will spend $500 on it (another sidenote: we carry some Comet longboards that are drop-through's spec'ed out very nicely as well for $300...good to keep in mind if you're on a budget). This is why it becomes important, as mentioned in the beginning, to be aware of what kind of rider you are. Sure you can be new to the sport and enter on a Tan Tien. It's not necessarily bad to start off with the best of the best so that way you're already progressing on the ideal board to progress with. You might notice a larger gap in time getting something this advanced dialed down though.
Either way if your looking for something to start you out, or better what you already have, we can take care of you at Elements. We provide a board for all levels of experience.

When it comes to trucks, wheels and bearings, most riders have already developed their preferences. In longboarding, there aren't too many brands of trucks that are actually bad. Majority perform pretty similar and hold up equally well, but unlike skateboarding usually a rider isn't taking too much material out of them by grinding things. Consider the ability to adjust how they perform by tightening the kingpin with the fact that typically they are taken well care of and preference becomes your only distinguishing factor. Some of the top brands that we carry include Tracker, Paris, Krux, Independent, Gull Wing, Siesmic and Revenge. Every set of trucks is essentially different, but if your not a weathered longboarder, it's not going to make much of a difference in the beginning (with the exception of Siesmic and Revenge).

Wheels are super important but pretty straight forward. A rating system in the sport allows for clear distinction between how they will perform. Bigger wheels are going to equal faster due to the amount of contact patch with the pavement. It's all surface area with wheels. So by looking you can tell which wheels will by rights be faster, but that's where the duro system comes into play. Your wheels will have a duro rating providing their good wheels. Only the best do. The smaller the duro the grippier and more designed for downhill slalom. Usually this means it's softer too. Harder wheels duro's will be much faster usually bigger in size and higher in duro. A fast slidey wheel for example would read 83a or 86a. 90's are uncommon but we can get them. Most people would never need a wheel that hard.

Bearings are difficult to distinguish. The majority of people that skate or longboard will never in their life notice a difference in their bearings. Your best bet is to stick with brands you've heard of or know are good because the industry says so. Bearings have their rating system called ABEC, but most people will never hit the weight or speed rating that the lowest ABEC's are rated for. Either way, most skaters you run into will tell you ABEC 5's or 7's are fastest and smoothest. This is neither right or wrong. Stick by that knowledge and then your sure to find a good set of bearings. Oust makes a 9 and other brands have higher ABEC ratings but to be honest, for the price and performance, any true 7 is perfect. You can trust names like Oust, Black Panthers and REDS.

All things to consider when purchasing a longboard. But hey, if your still a little uneasy about the process because your new or just need guidance, join our group on Facebook and everyone at the shop would be glad to help out if you have questions. Our group title is the same as the shop name: Elements Action Sports.