I think I can safely say now that kiteboarding with boots is a trend that is here to stay. I think a lot of people are turned off initially by the fact that boots can be hard to get into. However, that’s the same thing that draws most people to boots in the first place: they’re hard to get out of so you lose your board less, allowing you to spend more time practicing tricks and less time body dragging upwind for your kiteboard. Kiteboarding magazine recently published this article which breaks down the pros and cons of riding with boots.
If you’re into wakestyle riding, boots will improve your style and performance. If you find a good pair of boots, they’re usually more comfortable than straps and they will allow your feet to connect with your board like none other. You don’t have to worry about having one or both of your feet some out of your straps while you’re mid-air. That fact also makes it safer for hitting sliders too. Since you can load up with a lot more power when you’re rocking boots, you can explode off the water for maximum wakestyle performance.
The downside, like I mentioned before, is that they can be hard to get in and out of. Most companies make an entry-level boot without laces but since they’re designed to be snug on your feet, you will have to work to get locked in. In the event that you have a really gnarly wipeout, there’s a chance that one or both of your feet may come out of the board. It’s even hard to get boots on in the water than it is on land because you don’t have a solid surface to push against. Since boots come up to your calf, it can restrict your mobility making it harder to do grabs.
At the end of the day, we love boots because they’re a whole new aspect to the sport of kiteboarding. Just like riding strapless, it’ll be a new challenge to reinvigorate your love of kitesurfing. If you want to get into wakestyle riding, we recommend a kitesurfing kite than can perform well unhooked, like the Best Taboo kite.
We got a request from one of our Youtube Channel subscribers to do a special review on the Roger Bros DH 36 longboard deck and how we would set it up if money wasn’t an option. Well, if you’re looking for the most badass topmount speedboard and you have all the money in the board, this is what Nate recommends. With 16 different truck mounting options and CNC precision on the deck, it’s a versatile longboard that’s super responsive. Munkae precision trucks are the way to go, and since it’s a topmount you won’t have to worry about being too low to the ground. The DH36 already comes with some gnarly grip tape and munkaes come with venom bushings already so they’re all ready to go. All you need is some longboarding wheels and we recommend something with a nice wide contact patch like blue Mini Monsters.
Here’s the latest longboarding video showcasing our teamriders, the Motion Boardshop “Mobots” riding all around the state. From Maryhill to Alpental to wind tunnel testing at the University of Washington. Trevor, Nate, EK, Spencer, Ryan, H., Rain, Jerica, Max, Connor, Ryan, Newman, Liam, Danny and lots of others make an appearance. Make sure you watch it all the way through to the end for some crazy gnarly falls and blood. You can even see Max’s broken wrist all mangled and out of place. This is just a teaser of many more team videos to come. We’re hoping to get our teamrider page up online soon too but we’ve just been too busy with the move and eating Krispy Kreme donuts.
In future videos we can hopefully get some of our talented freeriders like Connor to show you some tricks you can do on your longboarding deck, like tips on doing a nose manual.
Wanna win an Avenger from Rayne Longboards? I know I would. All you have to do is play a game of S.K.A.T.E. put on by Kyle Martin. He’ll be picking a winner based on the video submitted with the most GNAR, which he will determine by your style and the number of tricks you complete in your video. Just get your buddy to shoot some video of you sticking a pendy, stalefish, early grab, or whatever you do best. Then upload that video to the Facebook “Game of S.K.A.T.E. Video Page” and get all your friends to “like” it. The top ten video entries with the most likes will then be evaluated by Kyle to see who has the most gnar.
He’ll be monitoring the page so if you have any questions on how to do a certain trick, he’ll try and give you some pointers. Just like our video contest, you have to wear a helmet, and Rayne wants you to wear gloves too. You have until October 7th to make your video and pimp it out to all your friends so get going! That Avenger longboarding deck could be yours!
Time to graduate from those grippy pink bigzigs to something a little more slippery, but stumped on where to start? Well if you’re looking to do more freeriding and start throwing down big ‘ol standies then you’ll want to get some nice, round-lipped wheels (we call ‘em freeride wheels). With so many choices on the market, we try to break it down for you with some of the most popular freeride longboarding wheels on the market.
In the latest of our longboarding videos, Nate covers everything from Earthwing Floaters to Sector 9 Race Formulas to Abec11 Freerides to the our best sellers, the Orangatang Durians (and stimulus and fat frees too). The rounded lip will help your wheel break free into a nice, smooth slide unlike a wheel with a 90 degree beveled edge which is more for grip and cornering.
Nate Blackburn sits down and tells us about the latest longboarding deck to drop from Black Dog Longboards. This time, it’s the Black Dog Shallow Drop that’s turning heads everywhere. After lots of testing and tweaking, Black Dog created what we call the “pocket drop” because of the cradling feel you get from the drop combined with the waist of the board. Even though it technically doesn’t have rocker to it, you still get that nice “centered” feeling.
It’s a freeride board and obviously has a shallow drop, only 3/4″ all together. So you’ll get more traction than on a Rayne Nemesis or Landyachtz Switch. The concave is 1/2″ so you have just enough to hold your feet in for repetitive slides but your feet won’t feel sore if you’re riding for a few hours at a time. One of our new favorites!
We helped sponsor the Spokane Showdown Outlaw Race put on by Nate Braks by sending out some longboard wheels and other goodies. Here’s what he had to say about the event:
“Everybody was REALLY stoked on th race and all of the prizes. People loved the motion boardshop package. RipCity Skate’s team and Cody from Five Mile came out and ripped the local Spokane hills like they were nothing in the race. Cody from five mile took 1st in the DH, local Spokane Rider David Uhlenkott from Dopamine Longboards took 2nd, and Jay from RipCity took 3rd.
After the Downhill race we all went out for lunch, picked a hill to ride, and went free riding on a local hill. Using the Dan Dengler Longboards van, we shuttled 13 skaters up and down a great hill and got a ton of runs and footage. On Sunday, everyone met up out at the location for the push race, which was seven miles of hard pushing and fast hills. The push race ended up being an all Spokane podium with Nick Boyd taking first, Nate Braks from Dan Dengler Longboards (me) taking second, and Stan Dumbrouski taking 3rd. After that we all played a large game of ninja, which Garai one, and went to Dan’s to chill and watch footage. “
Since the event was such a huge success, we hope to make it out for the next one! Hopefully we’ll have some longboard decks to donate to the next outlaw too.
We’ve been working closely with the Ian Tilmann Foundation to support their cause for helmet safety. If you’ve seen any of our longboarding videos on Youtube then you’ve probably heard us mention at the end that if you can’t afford a helmet, contact us and we’ll help to get one in your hands. Well, that’s all thanks to the Ian Tilmann Foundation, started by the parents of a young skater who lost his life after a skating accident without a helmet. Remember you don’t have to be going fast or get hit by a car to have fatal injuries if you’re not wearing a helmet!
We are totally stoked to be a part of this year’s King5 “Best of Western Washington” competition that lets local Northwesters vote on everything from the best burger joint to the best auto body shop. And guess what lies between those two categories? BEST SKATE SHOP! In fact, our Seattle longboard shop just happen to be in the #1 position so far….but who’s counting.
All our favorite people rallied behind us to inch us past the corporate behomth Zumiez. We still need your votes though! Cause when the guys over at Zumiez find out that we snuck ahead of them to snag 58% of the votes, they may opt for guerilla warfare tactics. In all seriousness though, we are still blown away by the support we get from not just our local skate scene, but people all over the world that watch our longboarding videos on our Youtube Channel. Moving into the new shop was a huge milestone in our lives and we couldn’t have done that without you all. And we wouldn’t be the #1 skateshop without all the MOBO love either. So give us a vote please!
We’re officially ten days into the first-ever Motion Boardshop Video Contest and it’s time for a little update. When we first decided to do a video contest, we expected maybe 25 entries. That’s what everyone told us to expect. What a bunch of skeptics. By the time midnight on August 31st rolled around, we’d received *60* entries, and most of them kicked totally @ss.
We made the brave decision to allow entries from all over the world, which for us meant the possibility of a heft shipping shipping tab in addition to the already expensive prize. Longboarders from Spain, Norway, Sweden, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, and our own backyard in the Pacific northwest all entered. It’s amazing to watch them all and see the common thread of longboarding throughout the world. Continue Reading →
After 9 days of building walls, painting, polishing floors and moving in shipping containers (not to mention moving hundreds of longboard decks, wheels, trucks, kites, kiteboards, standup paddleboards, wetsuits, and a heavy-ass flat screen TV) we are finally moved into our new Seattle longboard shop! We tripled the size of our old building and the parking lot which will be a huge bonus for customers. Plus, we’re easily accessible from the 2 biggest arterials in Western Washington, the I-5 freeway and Aurora Avenue (aka Highway 99), along with being about 4 blocks from Greenlake.
We’re super excited to have the space to expand our inventory to offer our customers all the latest and greatest new products including skateboard decks and accessories. Plus, Black Dog Longboards will be manufactured at our shop which means if you want a custom Black Dog longboard with a specific wheelbase, width, or length, we have a direct source to getting you your ideal deck.
