The Landyachtz Loco Express will be screeching into MOBO on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 2 p.m.
Landyachtz has been carting around the EH Team riders in a refurbished retro red van, taking them to locations like Albuquerque, San Francisco, and Berkeley for different events and filming along the way. Follow their adventures at http://www.locoexpress.ca
If we are lucky, they might bring their mascot, Chewy the African Pygmy Goat.
The EH Team will meet with our very own MOBO team to rip some local hills. Lookout for footage to come. In the meantime, check out this video of the team’s latest adventure: LOCO on the Road Update #4.
1. Kiteboarding is dangerous-Not true if you take lessons and learn all the techniques to keep you safe. Kiteboarding is only dangerous if you go out in unsafe conditions or try to learn on your own. The gear is actually quite safe now and uses redundant systems so if you need to detach from your kitesurfing kite, you have multiple methods to do so.
2. Kiteboarding takes a lot of muscle-Most people don’t realize that the sport doesn’t require hardly any arm strength. A kiteboarding harness is worn around the waist or hips so the force and pull of the kite is targeting those areas instead of your arms and shoulders.
3. Kiteboarding is expensive-Actually, since the sport has been around for little bit now, there’s lots of used gear available on the market so you can save a lot of money. However, take caution that you shouldn’t purchase gear that is more than two or three years old since major safety improvements have been made in recent gears. You can also save money by purchasing a package with a kite and board together.
4. Kiteboarding is hard to learn-Believe it or not, the gear has improved so much over the last few years that the sport is easier to lean than ever before. Often times, people will be up and riding proficiently within their first few times out on the water. Some people even pop up on the board during their first lesson, especially if they have trainer kite experience.
5. You have to start with a kiteboarding trainer kite-Trainer kites are a great place to start and will allow you to learn the fundamentals of the kite flying skills necessary to kite board. They help to build muscle memory that will really benefit you when you take your first lesson. While trainer kites are extremely helpful and will likely save you money in the long run, it’s not required to have trainer kite experience.
Stay tuned for 5 more kiteboarding myths tomorrow!
We consider ourselves to be super lucky to have snagged a good amount of the first produced batch of Abec11 Centrax wheels that came out just days ago. Perfect timing too! With the Maryhill Festival of Speed just days away (June 29th-July 4th in Goldendale, Washington), they couldn’t have arrived at a better time.
We’d gotten a glimpse of the wheels at different races over the last year as prizes given away for podium spots. Last year at the Festival of Speed, we got a chance to scope out a few of the prototypes for these longboard wheels and couldn’t wait for them to hit the market. After almost a year of anticipation they’re finally here!
So far, they’re only available in the popular lime, 80a durometer right now. With a 68mm contact patch and a 77mm height, these longboard wheels use of more thane than all other wheels out there combined! Their center-set hub and uber wide contact patch make for the grippiest of all grippy, sticky wheels. That means when you’re taking a hairpin turn on a technical course at high speeds, you’ll be able to keep your traction.
There’s no doubt in my mind that these wheels will fly off our shelves, especially since we featured them in our latest newsletter. So snag a set quick at our Seattle longboard shop or on our online store, there’s no telling how long it will be before Abec11 can crank out some more!
We posted a Holesom Longboard Review not too long ago and got a huge amount of interest from that. This deck is just one of those boards that sparks people’s interest and they want to know more about it. Truly, there’s nothing else like the Street Sweeper deck on the longboard market these days. Big ups to Holesom and Longboard Larry for coming up with a unique design in an industry populated with copycats.
We’ve been selling these longboard decks like hotcakes, we can barely even keep them in stock! I think the demo deck at our seattle longboard shop that we keep around at all times really helps solidify how bad-ass the street sweeper deck is.
To follow up our review, we decided to crank out a little video to really show you what the deck is all about. Afterall, if picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth a bazillion words. We decided to do something a little different this time though. Instead of just filming in the shop showing you the ins and outs or each product, we decided to hit the streets a little bit. I hope Nate and Spencer show you how this deck rides on the streets in case you’re not in Seattle to try one for yourself.
Looking for a versatile commuter? MOBO rider Nate Blackburn says the Fullbag Foboo Longboard Deck is a great campus cruiser. If you’re in the market for a board that can carve and bomb hills, than this board is for you. As much as we love decks like the Evo and Demonseed, they’re pretty heavy to carry around during the summer time as you’re hitting the roads and cruising to the beach. A nice light-weight board is where it’s at.
“It has a solid, mellow concave, a wide wheelbase, and is a really light weight board,” Blackburn says. The bottom of the deck features a sweet bamboo veneer. So you’re able to have a deck that looks as nice as bamboo, but is actually made out of maple so you can keep the stiffness you need to be able to bomb hills. It has a mild torpedo shape, similar to the original Topmount deck from Fullbag.
The Foboo is also a great board for garage and downhill riding. This deck is 38 inches long by about 10 inches wide, providing plenty of foot space. It has a top mount with wheel cut outs perfect for lower trucks.
We recommend pairing this board with a nice turn-y truck such as the Randal 180’s, Bear 852’s, or Paris 180’s.
If you want to longboard Seattle, then get your Fullbag Foboo Longboard Deck at MOBO for $149.95.
Leading kitesurfing brand Cabrinha will host the first annual Cabrinha Northwest Race Series kiteboarding competition at Jetty Island in Everett on June 26 and 27, and July 24 and 25, 2010.
Kiteboarding, the new age golf for many, is a sport similar to windsurfing. Instead of a sail, a large inflated kite towers 80 feet above a rider to power their board through water.
With a strong community of kiteboarders frequenting its local restaurants and hotels on weekends, the sport has brought new life to Everett’s waterfront. Sponsoring partners Motion Boardshop, in Lake Forest Park, and the Everett Yacht Club organized the competition to give the local scene at Jetty Island national exposure.
Jetty Island is a backyard playground for many kiteboarders in the Northwest. Dubbed the “Steady Jetty,” the area is known as one of the best locations for the sport because of its warm, shallow waters and smooth, predictable winds.
“This race is a big deal for the local kiteboarding community,” Walter Young, race director said. “It will be the first of its kind for the area.”
Spectators are encouraged to attend the event. The start time of each race will be wind dependent, beginning as early as 2 p.m., and lasting until 8 p.m. Parking is available at the 10th Street Boat Launch and Marine Park for $3. The Everett Yacht Club will provide free transportation from the boat launch to Jetty Island.
The race area will be set on the Northwest side of the island. Two classes will be held for racing; an open race board class, and a twin-tip, surfboard and skim board class. An awards ceremony will be held on July 25, the final evening of the race series.
Competitors interested in racing can enter by registering on race day, or online at http://pskite.org, in General Kiteboarding Discussion under the topic 2010 Cabrinha Northwest Race Series.
Kiters must be entered in the Season Series to be eligible for season scoring and cash prizes. Participants must pay a $60 entry fee for the Season Series or $25 per Night Drop In, in addition to a $25 jersey fee. A mandatory skippers meeting will be held at 4 p.m. each day of competition to review the race start time, race course, safety, rules and regulations. Rules of the competition will be defined as in The Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) in ISAF Appendix BB-Experimental Kiteboarding Competition Rules (available from http://www.sailing.org/28163.php).
The event is sponsored by Cabrinha, the Everett Yacht Club, Motion Boardshop, The Kiteboarder Magazine, PSKite.org, Dakine, Hyperflex Wetsuits, Transcend Apparel, the Port of Everett and the Everett Parks and Recreation Department.
For more information about the event, contact Motion Boardshop at (206) 372-5268 or Walter Young, race director, at walteryoung1@comcast.net.
Motion is a local authority on kitesurfing with a huge variety of kitesurfing kites and a renowned kiteboarding lesson program. We carry manufacturers such as Best Kiteboarding, Slingshot, Cabrinha, and Wainman Hawaii.
Here at MOBO we toss the word “great” around a lot. But the Earthwing Supermodel fits our definition of the word. It’s a great board with a great concave. Best of all—it has a great price.
“It’s a ridiculously cheap price for how nice it is,” MOBO rider Ryan Vanderveen says, “especially for being a downhill freestyle board with a ton of features.”
This twin-tip, symmetrical, drop through deck comes in two flexes: 8 and 9 ply (go for 9 ply if you want a stiffer deck). It’s also got a big grab rail, ready for locking you in.
We recommend turny trucks, like Randal 180 trucks (with a 50 degree baseplate), Bear 852 trucks, or Paris 180 longboard trucks. Vanderveen says he’d suggest a pair of Indy’s. Keep in mind that pretty much any truck on the market comes with stock bushings that are sub-par. Venoms are the way to go to dramatically improve the way your trucks feel for only $14. Not sure what durometer combo to go with? Hit us up on Live Chat and we’ll help you dial it in.
Get your Earthwing Supermodel deck at MOBO for $100. With free shipping, what more could you ask for?!
**Update-The 8 plys have sold out for the time being but we have a few more of the 9ply decks still left in stock. It’s an awesome board for a heavier rider or anyone who doesn’t like any flex in their deck.
MOBO team riders Spencer Smith and Max Wipperman placed first and second in the 16 and under group at the 2nd Annual Gold Rush Challenge 2010, a downhill longboard skateboard race in Britannia Beach, B.C., on May 29 and 30, 2010.
“It’s one of the best organized races I’ve been too,” Smith said.
The 2.2 mile downhill course featured 10,000 vertical feet with three hairpins and five hay bale corners. According to UNKLE.ca, the Gold Rush course is “building a reputation as one of the most intense and extreme longboard skateboard races in the world,” and in North America, known as one of the most aggressive.
About 120 riders competed. Reigning champ Kevin Reimer from Vancouver, B.C., took first overall. Unfortunately, a lot of riders hurt themselves during qualifying and had to drop out for the final heats. Despite the wet pavement, Gold Rush was surprisingly fun in the rain, race participant and MOBO rider Chip Wood said.
“Max was rippin’,” Smith said. “He killed it in the juniors and was keeping up with the guys in the rain.”
Smith said the pavement was a little more worn than Washington’s Mary Hill, which made sliding and drifting easier.
His setup for race day? A Rayne Longboards Killswitch, handcrafted trucks made by his father, and Abec11 ZigZags, helping him pre drift and grip corners.
“Lee put on a pretty great event,” Smith said. Smith took home a deck, an Arson sweatshirt, and his first fatty check, for $250.
Look out for upcoming races, including Mary Hill, Seattle Slope Style, and the World Cup IGSA.
MOBO Teamrider Spencer Smith took first in 16 & Under in the Gold Rush 2010 Challenge.
MOBO Teamrider Max Wipperman took second in 16 & Under.
MOBO Teamrider Liam Kearney also participated in the race.
Father’s Day is coming up this weekend, but what to get dad?? My dad is one of those guys that already has everything he could want so I always have a hard time finding a good gift for him. If your father is anything like mine, you could use a little help in the gift-giving department.
Has your dad been talking about how much he’d love to learn how to kiteboard? If he’s really serious about it, you could always purchase him a kiteboarding lesson where he can really get a feel for the sport and see if he likes it. If nothing else, it’s just a fun day on the water where we can guarantee he’ll have a great time.
Another way to introduce him to the sport is with a kitesurfing trainer kite. It’s something that we always recommend spending some time on before getting into lessons and we have a wide variety of trainer kites to choose from. But one of my favorites is the Slingshot B4 Trainer Kite. It’s more powerful than the rest making it super versatile so you can use it for snowkiting or landboarding as well. The power of a B4 is going to help give you a really good idea of what the power is like in the larger kites we use on the water.
At $319, its a great value for a kite that you can have enormous amounts of fun with.
However, if you’d rather spend a little less, we have trainer kites ranging from $119-$250 as well.
We just posted an unreal Slingshot Rev2 sale last week and some RPMs that we were dumping prices on. Well we were able to get our hands on the only remaining Slingshot Octane kites that were left in the warehouse. Once these babies are gone, that’s it folks. Til next year at least.
With the light wind season kick in, you’ll want to take advantage of these 13m Slingshot Octanes for ridiculous prices. Only 2 9m Octanes left in stock and a handful of 13s. That being said, you can score a sweet deal on pretty much any Slingshot kite we have in stock right now. Don’t forget we price match too in case you find anyone with a lower price. We won’t be undersold! : )
Keep in mind these prices are for a complete Octane with the hottest item on the market, the 2010 Comp Stick Bar from Slingshot. It’s the safest, most versatile control bar you’ll ever own. Even if you have other kite brands in your quiver, chances are you can use this bar on those kites as well. If you have any questions about the compatibility just give us a shout and we’ll let you know.
“Characteristics such as massive boost, unmatched range, light bar pressure, quick turning, kite loops without consequence, and solid surf performance are what define the design and engineering behind the 2010 Octane. It has a unique ultra compact stablilizing bridle and comes complete with the NEW Comp Stick control bar setting the performance level at the peak.”
Ahh, time for some spring cleaning. For us, that means blowing out out last years gear to make room for the latest and greatest 2010 has to offer. Right now, we’re dropping prices like hot tamales. We still have a few remaining Slingshot kites from 2009 that we need to move. So if you didn’t think you could afford new gear this year and you’d have to settle for someone else’s sloppy seconds, think again! With our latest package, we can save you over $1149 all together on a brand new kite (with new bar!) and board as well.
Need a harness too? We’ll cut you a deal and throw in either a Dakine Renegade harness or a Best Waist Harness for only $100 more, that saves you an extra $50 right there.
This particular package features the Slingshot Rev 2 from 2009. A major improvement on the original, the Rev2 is solid with unparalleled stability, relaunch and responsiveness. You can ride this kite in any condition from flat water to big waves, without having to sacrifice any performance. You also get to snag a top of the line board from Slingshot’s lineup, such as the SX, Misfit or Lunacy
This Slingshot Rev2 Kite and Board Package is an in-shop special that we’re making available for only our favorite customers. You’ll find this package online but if you really want the good pricing, you’ll have to either call, email or hit us up on our LiveChat.
**Must purchase kite with board to get the SUPER SUMMER SAVINGS!
Board (complete with straps, pads and fins)
SX (originally $599)–$400
Misfit (originally $650)–$425
Len10 (originally $750)–$500
With summer kiting season upon us, we’ve got some gear worth mentioning—Motion Tested and Approved! Here is just one of our picks for 2010. Keep your eyes peeled because we’ll be reviewing TONS of gear over the next few weeks. I love this time of year!
Mystic Star 5/3 Wetsuit
Last summer the Motion test crew gave lessons in the Mystic Star 5/3 Wetsuit everyday. Even after the repeated thrashing of lessons, these suits reigned true to their flexibility and durability. We didn’t have any of the damage that wetsuits with heavy use typically sustain such as zipper breakage, seams coming apart or blowouts in the material. If you have questions about it, please let us know so we can gloat about this suit. We like it. A lot. Best of all, they are one of our lest expensive 5mm wetsuits at only $219.95. If you’re a big fan of them as well, please leave us a mystic wetsuit review on our website so more people will know what a great suit it is.
“The Miniglider is an urban assault deck, good for city riding where you need to be nimble, agile and ready for curbs,” Blackburn says. “Its kick tail allows riders to ollie up or down curbs with ease.”
The board is a smaller deck, with wheel wells, and a short, compact wheelbase. Blackburn says the concave works well for human slalom as well, by giving you lots to dig your feet into. This deck is also excellent as a campus cruiser because it’s small enough to strap onto your backpack during class and weave through the crowds like a dream.
We’ve been selling these longboard decks like hotcakes, no joke. If you’re a taller or heavy-set person and the miniglider looks a little dainty for your size, then the superglider is your deck. Think of it as the beefed up version of the Earthwing Miniglider 33. Looking for a good setup? Look no further than randal R11 180s on 50 degree baseplates with 66mm Retro Zigzags and Bones Reds bearings for a combo you can’t go wrong with.
Friday afternoon the highly anticipated shipment of Cabrinha paddleboards arrived and practically stopped traffic in it’s wake. The freight truck had to shut down traffic in the far right lane in order to unload the 10 stand up paddleboards into our shop. Pete Cabrinha is a legend in the big wave surfing world with the likes of Laird Hamilton and he brings his expertise to the paddleboard industry now.
We’ll have some of these decks available for demo and rental. For a Seattle paddleboard rental the costs are….
$25-4 hour rental with paddle
$50 for a full 24 hour period with paddle.
Cabrinha makes three different SUPs ranging from 9′8″ to 11′6″ but we’re fully stocked on the 11′6″s which will be perfect for people just getting started in the sport. It will provide a nice wide platform making balancing a breeze. This board is specifically designed for the flat-water touring that Lake Washington is suited for. However, you can totally take it into small waves and have a blast. Because this board is nice and stable, it’s great for touring long distances where you want to bring along a small cooler or any gear. If you’re looking for something to get you over to Jetty Island and cross the channel safely with all your kiting equipment on board, this would be a winner.
With the mast track, you can even attach a windsurfing mast base when the wind picks up a bit. You can also use that track as a carrier. For a more detailed look at these stand up paddle boards, check out Cabrinha’s new surf website.
At $1279 for the Cabrinha 11′6″ Touring paddleboard, they’re also a great value.
Holesom Longboards is a new, green-friendly company based in Laguna Beach, California. The company uses fresh bamboo, hemp and 8 holes along each side. Holesome joined up with legendary custom longboard shaper, “Longboard Larry” to perfect the shape and construction. The idea for the Street Sweeper longboard deck was inspired by everyone’s favorite youtube classic, the Whirling Dervish, with Adam Colton.
It took about 15 months of going through 16 different prototypes and playing around with various hole placements before they finally agreed on the final product. Wonder what the holes are for? They decrease weight, add extra grip for your feet, lock in your feet during standies, and make for a snappy rebound.
Nate says the board rides similar to a Dervish but is able to carve more. Top mounting gives more vertical leverage to your wheels during turns, increasing grip, and really powering you out of the turn with its balanced flex pattern—which means the board doesn’t want to slide as much.
“It’s a super nice, versatile board,” Blackburn says. “ Multiple wheel base options also makes it easy to customize.”
“Sector 9 Slide Gloves are badass,” Motion Boardshop’s Nate Blackburn says. “And since they are black, they go faster.”(kidding of course!) If you already have a longboard deck, getting slide gloves is the next logical step, especially if you’re homemade ones aren’t holding up.
Blackburn says the Kevlar reinforced fingertips make the gloves great for dragging fingers right across the pavement. The Landyachtz gloves are great too but boarders who are using gloves for the first time tend to drag their fingertips instead of curling them back and end up wearing a hole in the tips super quick. A softer wrist strap makes the gloves feel more natural and flexible, in addition to being lightweight and breathable. These are comfy gloves with big removable pucks for a great value….only $39.95!
Glove features:
Delrin Pucks for smooth slide and speed control
Neoprene comfort knuckle panel and cuff
Reflective print on top panels
3mm Anti-vibration foam under palm puck Velcro
Sonic weld patch and strap detailing
Extra strength twin needle at stress areas and palm Velcro
Thirty riders packed the house at Motion Boardshop for the Shoreline Outlaw at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 22. Luckily the sun was out all day for some Downhill and Old School races.
The race was held locally in Shoreline on Andrews, Sherrill and Ya Gotta Listen Hills. After warming up with two practice runs, riders took to the streets for seven heats of downhill pavement. Each heat featured four riders, with six riders in the final two heats.
The final heat standings:
Max Wipperman
Trevor Preston
Gabe Trainer
Nate Blackburn/Ryan Heffrenan, Kaleb Haddish
First place rider Max Wipperman walked away with a brand new Comet VooDoo Doll longboard deck. Other prizes included a set of Lime 70 mm wheels, and set of bushings. Prizes were hooked up by Motion Boardshop
We’re super excited about introducing a few new products to our shop. The way I see it, both of these products from Advanced Elements are the answers to some of our customers problems.
#1. The Friday Harbor Adventure Kayak-This solves our local kiteboarding conundrum of “How to get to Jetty Island?” After people go through our All-in-One Kiteboarding lesson, the next step is for them to get geared up and go out there on their own. The Everett Parks Department offers a free ferry to get people over to Jetty Island which is an awesome option for people. However, the ferry stops bringing people back to the mainland around 6pm, and us kiteboarders like to take advantage of that late afternoon wind that can linger on until 7 or 7:30. So to provide an alternate transportation option, we now carry this inflatable kayak that’s big enough to carry your quiver over to the island. Best of all, it packs down nice and small so you can keep it in the trunk of your car. Plus, it retails for only $149.95, making it a no-brainer!
inflatable kayak
#2. The Hulu 11 Inflatable SUP- Let’s face it, not everyone has a car big enough to haul around a big ol stand up paddleboard everywhere. Or, maybe you don’t have the room in your studio apartment to store it safely when you’re not using it. Then there’s always the issue of using an SUP in a rocky area (like those guys who are paddling down white white rapids, or even just on a flat but craggy riverbed) and potentially damaging your fiberglass SUP. The Hulu 11 is an 11ft stand up paddleboard that you can inflate with a double action hand pump. It packs down into a bag that’s about 1′x2′x3′, only slightly bigger than a kite bag. And for the record, you could use one of these to get you and your kite gear over to Jetty Island as well. Traveling with an SUP has also been a major battle, but you can easily check this SUP as baggage to take with you on your next coastal vacation.
We do, everyday! Here’s one of our most recent videos featuring two of our local teamriders, Erik “EK” Kristjannson and Jordan “Uberbombs” Lemmel, shredding it up. Erik is riding one of the Black Dog Longboards. These are two super talented riders that represent our shop well and we’re stoked to have had them on our team for the last year. Even the best riders take some spills though. Watch through all the way til the end where one of them hits a man-hole cover going about 40-45mph. It ain’t pretty!
On another note, we’re fully stocked on Black Dogs and lots of other longboard skateboard decks. Tis the season to be skating! The sun is out and the pavement is dry. Huzzah!
Thanks for being so patient! We’ve been working hard with long hours at home to keep pumping out the videos. It’s not uncommon for Jason to stay up until 2 in the morning working on the latest vid. We have so many manufacturers these days knocking on our door to make a video showcasing their products. Can’t complain though, it’s actually a lot of fun.
Black Dog Longboards is our newest brand and happens to be a Motion Exclusive product. You can’t find them anywhere else.
Some of the names have been updated so the lineup now is the Chica Esquela (with or without wheel cutouts), El Pescador and the Pussy Gato. Duane (Black Dog shaper) has also perfected the big boy model that we call the El Gordo. It’s basically a 12ply tank that’s perfect for the guys over 220lb. It’s been put to test by getting abused by our biggest riders and it passed with flying colors!
The Pussy Gato deck has been a unanimous favorite longboard deck out of the lineup and best of all, they dropped their price to only $120 with grip!
Woop woop! Yeah that’s right. Bear Grizzlies are in the HOUSE! We got a huge shipment from Landyachtz and unpacked a case of their improved 2010 Bear 852 Longboard Trucks. Our teamrider Trevor said it best: “Landyachtz is one of the few companies that’s always moving in the right direction with their products. They listen to what people say and make the improvements.” Amen. These trucks are super sexy too, even the new baseplates look like the hourglass shape of a woman’s body.
According to Landyachtz, “The new geometry and bushing seats will give you the best combination of lean, rebound, and response possible. All the goods of the 2009’s are still here, including the sweet-spot 181mm axle width, flipable hanger for cruising and bombing options, and a baseplate shape/hole pattern to mount to just about any board out there today including drop-through’s.”
Skate[Slate] did a comprehensive report on the trucks (here) and found that they are….
-10 grams lighter than before
-twice as strong (less chance of bending your axles)
-wider bushing seat to accommodate any bushings
-thicker pivot cup wall
-graphite impregnated pivot cup
-oval shaped bushing seats for better turning and less restriction
The best part is that they’re still only $47 for a set of these longboard skateboard trucks.
At Motion Boardshop, we’re on a constant mission to find the best products available. We look for longboard gear with amazing performance, long-lasting durability, a great warranty, and an affordable price. Our latest and greatest find are Surf-Rodz trucks and we’re super stoked to carry them in our shop. They’re one of the few companies out there using an eco-friendly manufacturing process to create technically advanced and innovative products.
I was surprised to find out that they also make highly technical parabolic snowboards designed specifically for serious carving. Not only that, but they also produce classic 9′ and 10′ longboard surfboards. Most of you probably know Surf-Rodz by their axle extension products which will transform your average randal longboarding trucks into wide, stable, downhill machines. You can also convert that dusty pair of slalom trucks into something more useful now too.
Surf-Rodz are precision, CNC’d trucks made in the US of A. With 6 different colors, various finishes, 8mm or 10mm axles, and 3 different baseplate degrees, the combinations are endless!
Here’s what Surf-Rodz and Motion Teamrider Trevor Preston had to say about their trucks:
“Surf-Rodz are cranking out of Seymore, Connecticut and model themselves on their motto, “performance, adjustability, and availability”. When I got a hold of their product, they did just that. The performance was fantastic. Created by some of the greatest engineers and machinists in the country, with a mind set on skateboarding and skills worthy of Dragster racing parts (which they do), they have created one of the highest performing trucks on the market. They are one of the first companies to create a precision truck that has racing in mind but is actually designed for carving, freeriding, and aggressive skating. With this all-around skating mentality, Surf-Rodz has created a truck that is not only stable, high traction, smooth and predictable, but FUN. They have the turning radius of your favorite carving trucks, and the stability of your favorite downhill trucks. With bushings seats that are set deep within the hanger you get unparalleled rebound out of your bushings, making high speed cornering feel extremely comfortable. The axles of the trucks are incredibly true and the pivot cups are 100% slop free, leaving no room for error and giving the rider’s wheel full contact on the pavement which results in superior traction. Whether you’re a downhiller or a soul-carver, these trucks are you!”
If not, you’re missing out! Our Youtube Channel has 35 videos and just under 175,000 views so far and that number is growing every day. We try to offer a mix of all things related to longboard skateboard. You’ll find instructional videos to learn more about precision trucks, bushings, wheels and decks. There’s also videos dedicated to specific products like the Rayne Demonseed and the Eastside Rocky Bomber in case you’re thinking about buying one and want to learn more about it. And then of course you’ll find lots of action-packed videos of our teamriders bombing local suburban hills at 50mph, freerides and events at the famous Maryhill, and our team cruising down Alpental’s mountain roads. So there’s obviously something for everyone. We encourage comments and try to get back to everyone who leaves specific questions.
Subscribe to our channel and you’ll be the first to know when our latest longboard videos drop!
Here’s our video documenting last month’s Maryhill Freeride:
We are so super crazy stoked to finally reveal the latest MOBO Exclusive! Drum roll please…… Black Dog Longboards! These decks are made by Seattle shaper Duane Boschee who loves surfing and skiing along with his passion for longboarding. He’s been handcrafting and pressing these boards for a little over a year now, using his background in surfboard shaping to good use. Duane has worked closely with our teamriders to tweak and perfect his designs.
Not only are these boards practically a work of art but each deck is absolutely one-of-a kind. Everyone is really stoked on the topmounted Swallow Tail Longboard but my personal favorite is the Chica Esquela (School Girl) which is a comfy cruiser with a nice drop to it. I think it’s the perfect longboard skateboard for anyone getting into the sport that just wants to roll ride around without getting too extreme.
Oh and did I mention they’re only $130 for the deck AND they come with Gnar Grip. Hmmm, sounds like a no brainer to me! If you’re local, come by the shop and demo some out firsthand.
We’re working on finalizing the editing of our Black Dog Longboards Video so you can expect to see that soon.
The new Rayne Isis longboard is quickly becoming a Motion favorite here in the shop. Why? Here’s some of the features on the Isis:
Slim-cave (a downhill concave specifically developed for smaller feet), a 1/2″ dropped riding platform, it’s topmounted like the avenger for tons of traction, and it has a “flat top pleasure dome” which is specifically dialed in for stand-up slides and cornering high speed turns.
With such features, the Isis longboard is a perfect board for just about anything. Being a Rayne longboard, it obviously features that famous Rayne construction of a bamboo core and fiberglass sandwiched on top and bottom, giving it that perfectly stiff ride, and an incredibly durable board.For those riders who are looking for one board that does it all, this board will surely make a good addition to the quiver.
I’m sure you have all heard about the Killswitch by now, nut if you haven’t, it is time to hop on to the downhill board of the future. The Rayne Killswitch Longboard is the brainchild of Rayne team rider, Kevin Reimer. As Kevin says, the Killswitch longboard is designed to work around the way a human goes downhill skateboarding. Kevin has taken the time to think about every movement that happens while you are downhill or freeriding longboarding, and put a feature to make that movement easier and more comfortable while riding this board, giving the rider that “locked in” feeling at all times. Some of the features include:
1: 3/8″ Radial Drop Platform: subtle drops in the front and rear so as to cradle the life that it is stealing you from regular monotonous board design.
2: K-Rimes’ own Pleasure Dome concave with a subtle feel that is enough to lock you in, but not enough to become bothers ome on long bombs or pushes. The W concave also allows for butter toe-side pre-drifts and heel-side stand up checks by keeping your rear foot in place.
1+2 = 3: Where the small drop morphs into the flat-topped Pleasure Dome concave, you place your foot in that “special spot” where the two lovers meet. You will find your foot and toes are dropped into an aggressive forward facing stance that is similar to that of a runner on a starting block. This allows for pushing bad’assery and major comfort when you’re out on the track.
4: Three-dimensional wood bending was used in this deck to give a full, cupped feeling for the front and rear toes. This allows the body to lean far away from the board while still maintaining full contact of the front foot. The rear foot will find a pocket specially designed for those who tuck, and tuck fast.5: The “Drop-Lock”. When you stand on this s deck your front foot will naturally position itself into the “Drop-Lock” where the toes sit beside the drop rather than behind it. This makes for a complete and total lock of the front foot for toe-side drifts.
Along with those futuristic features listed above, the board features a 38-inch deck, with 10 inches of width at its widest points, and alternate wheelbases of 31 and 32 inches. With its functional nose and tail, the board truly maximizes the amount of deck space that useable for you feet while you are bombing your favorite hill or cruising to the grocery store. Not to mention the construction, with a solid bamboo core, and fiberglass sandwiched on top and bottom, this board is one solid downhill and freeride machine! All in all, the Rayne Killswitch is one board that you have to see to appreciate the truly genius design.
Earthwing Skateboards finally released the new, highly sought after, batch of the Supermodel Longboard Deck. It’s still available in an 8ply and 9ply version, depending on if you want a soft, flexy ride or a stiffer deck. Of course, your weight and riding style will determine which ply will suit you best. As you can obviously tell, this latest batch is much lighter in color but still has the same routered channels for torsional flex, drop through cutouts, deep concave and wheelwells. In the picture below you can see there’s a faint brown outline around the channels and wheelwells. The decks come with either brown, red, green, blue, or purple. We only have a few Supermodel decks left at this point and Earthwing themselves are already sold out so we won’t be far behind! We found they ride especially nice with the new Venom SHR bushings.
Sorry for the long blog title! I’ll have to figure out how to shorten that up a little bit for the future. We’ve been cranking out more episodes of our 60 Seconds of Tech Series. This one features the Rayne Demonseed Longboard. Nate talks about it’s specs and how to optimize this speedboard as a downhill longboard, especially if you’re a heavier rider that can take advantage of the premium footspace on this deck. At 44″ long with a 1″ drop, this board is as stable as it gets for bombing hills. Here’s some of the components we recommend but obviously you may way to customize it to better fit your size and riding style.
I know, I know. We just had a Rocky Bomber Longboard video just a few posts ago. BUT, that was the one made by Eastside Longboards, the manufacturer. That one’s a lot more fun to watch since it’s action packed with Eastside’s team riders. This one’s a little different since it’s a video that we produced ourselves. It’s actually the first of many videos we’ll be pumping out as new products hit the market. For all of you longboarders out there without a skateshop nearby where you can touch and feel things firsthand, this is for you. We want you to feel like you’re right in the shop with us and you can see the concave, rocker, drop etc. instead of just looking at a picture of the deck’s graphic.
We’ll try to offer some insight for you on how to complete the deck for different riding disciplines. For the newly redesigned Eastside Rocky Bomber Longboard, we recommend:
Randal RII 180mm Trucks (42* or 50* depending on if you’re using this super versatile deck for downhill or freeriding)
Let us know what you think about the video. We’re totally open to suggestions on what we can do better. These videos are to help you out afterall, not us. Check it out on youtube, give it a quick rating and leave us a comment. We do our best to respond to all of them.
Ahhhh, springtime! That means the arrival of all the hottest new gear for 2010. The Best Kahoona V2 was one of our favorite kites in 2009 and they’ve managed to improve on it for ‘10. This is one of those rare kites that appeals to riders of all skill levels.
Beginners will love it for it’s super easy auto-relaunch, beefed up construction, and stable progression platform. Wave hounds will love its downwind drift, improved unhooked handling, and auto-relaunch. Free-style riders will go crazy over it’s low-end power, unbelievable hangtime, improved high wind handling and stablity.
One huge selling point for the Kahoona V2 though is it’s PRICE! For a new kite, it blows other kites out of the water at under $1000.
We’re also completely stocked up on Best Trainer kites, which we love because they’re a high-aspect, fast-turning, durable trainer kite that comes with it’s own instructional DVD for $199.00
The first of many Best Surfboards just arrived too. In this photo you’ll see the white, Best 5′6″ ShortStick. Designed to be ridden strapless, this swallowtail board excels in mushy waves, choppy conditions or light wind. We have a demo of the 5′11″ Spacekraft surfboard here at the shop if you want to try one out for yourself.
Here’s the latest video featuring Eastside Longboard’s release of the redesigned Rocky Bomber. This symmetrical downhill/freeride board is only $104.95 which makes it one of the most affordable decks in our shop. I thought some video eye candy would be a good way to end the week.
One of our bestsellers, the Dakine Kite Compression Bag, has been sold out for months now. And unfortunately, it was during the busy winter travel season that this occured. Even we couldn’t get a few bags for ourselves when we flew to La Ventana in January. I’ve blogged about these bags before. Basically, the biggest benefit is that you don’t have to take your heavy stock kite bag with you. That way, you can keep your stock bag nice and clean looking to keep your resale value high. Also, since it’s nice and light, you can cram more into your golf bag without going over the 50lb weight limit. On our last trip, we were stuck with 4 golf bags which could have easily been negated if we had compression bags to allow us to fit 4 kites in each golf bag.
Mark your calendars! Saturday the 20th, the newest Orangefiist film release, “Drop: My Life Downhill” will be premiering at South Puget Sound Community College at 8pm. We’re helping sponsor the event along with Orangatang and a few others. Come check it out, it’s only $10!
Thanks to Brandon Montesano for putting this all together for the crew.
We just received our box of ‘zines from SBC Kiteboard Magazine. They feature the 2010 Kite Showdown and Slingshot cleaned house, just as we predicted. Here’s what they had to say about the new Comp Stick Bar:
“Slingshot also receives top marks for the beefy and easy rotating, front line swivel, which keeps the lines untwisted and also houses the mini fifth line leash system which connects below the bar and ensures 100 percent depower… Overall, the Comp Stick represents a solidly designed and streamlined set-up that rivals the best on the market for safety and simplicity.”
“Intermediate riders that value versatility over top-end performance in a specific discipline will gravitate towards the Octane. It has enough performance to carry a rider from the early stages to advanced levels. It’s versatile character will encourage intermediates to push the limits and experience new levels, styles and disciplines of riding”
The 2010 RPM really takes the cake though with this bold statement:
“The new 2010 Slingshot RPM is the most tunable kite in the SBC Kiteboard 2010 tests.”
“The RPM has tremendous amounts of pop and great pull unhooked, giving good drift and loft with smooth landings on unhooked jumps. It could also easily compete against the full-on wakestyle realm with its smooth unhooked pull and good amounts of control. It has enough depower and good quick steering to make it a versatile travel companion in your quiver.”
If you’re local, stop by the shop and we’ll give you a free issue of the magazine! Mention that you read the blog and we might even hook you up with a t-shirt too. : ) The PSKite Spring Fling party is going on tonight at the Pyramid Brewery across the street from Safeco field. We’ll be giving out lots of swag and hope to see lots of familiar faces, and new ones too!
I love springtime! Not only is the pavement drying out enough that we can start to skate around here, but all the longboard companies are releasing their hot new products.
Earthwing (one of our favorite longboard makers out of Brooklyn NY) has been tweaking their manufacturing process to lower costs and make their products more affordable. As of now, they are the only brand we carry that offers a drop-through deck for $100! It’s the new Earthwing Supermodel deck that comes in two versions, 8-ply and 9ply Supermodels. It offers a deep elliptical concave, routered channels on the bottom for a little torsional flex (though still super stiff) and even weight distribution. The channels are also perfect for grabbing rail. I still can’t get over the price though!
After much anticipation and a looong wait, we finally received our first shipment of Fullbag’s latest deck the Elise. It’s Fullbag teamrider Patrick Switzer’s pro model deck. We also received a couple more of The Topmount decks and Speedstylers should be the next to arrive. The Elise P-Swiss Model deck is the longboard that helped Patrick Switzer to his first place finish at Maryhill in 2009.
These decks won’t be in stock long so get one before they’re gone!
The board is made of 2 lb extruded EPS foam core with resin research clear high grade epoxy resin and 8 oz hexcell fiberglass all around giving that traditional custom surfboard look. The biggest difference is in the weight , or the lack of it. Being markedly lighter than traditional surfboards but paradoxically much more durable.
The board is in great shape. It has one very minor ding on the tail end, some light cosmetic scratches on the rail, other that that the board is in awesome shape. We brought this board at the end of the summer for our rental fleet needless to say it only got used for the tail end of the season. As you can see by the pics it’s clean and in great shape.
It’s well worth 900.00 but will take 799.00 for it. We’ll throw in an over the shoulder carrier for it as well.
We’ve just released our latest informational longboarding video. We made a deck video about 6 months ago but there’s so many new brands and decks that have recently hit the market, not to mention the new technology they’re using now, that it was necessary to put out something more up to date. In this latest vid, MOBO teamrider Trevor Preston goes over some of the new brands that we’ve started carrying like Insect and Subsonic and also talks about the characteristics of the latest decks like the Comet FSM Mini. It’s about 10 minutes long so prepare to get schooled!
NEW PROMOTION: Buy a complete and get a free venom bushing upgrade, your choice!
We just brought in a big box of compression kite bags from Dakine and it’s a product we’re really excited about for 2 reason. They’re cheap and they’re functional! Compression bags are made out of a super lightweight nylon material so you can get rid of your heavy stock bag that came with the kite. When you’re traveling with a golf bag, space and weight are the two big concerns.
These bags cinch down really tight around the kite so you can fit more kites into your bag, and you save a ton of weight you didn’t realize the stock bags had. So, you don’t have to worry about tipping the scales at the airport check in station.
Or, you can use the cheap black compression bags to replace your stock bags so that you can keep the stock bags looking clean and new. That way when you go to resell your used kite, it will look a lot fresher than some dirty, torn up bag. We’ve found you can fit at least two compressed kite bags into one stock bag so you can easily throw more kites on your back when walking to the beach.
We just got in a shipment of accessories from Hyperflex wetsuits. We recently acquired them as a brand and we couldn’t be more amped about the quality and price of their products. The Playa Jacket is one of our favorite, must-have items for winter kiting. You’ll see pictures of Dmitry Marimendes wearing one in most of the Hyperflex advertisements lately. It’s super warm, stylish, well-made and low-priced.
We brought in some of their 3mm Mesh Skin Gloves which are only $19.99. We were really impressed upon trying them on. For under $20, they are comparable to gloves we’ve seen that cost 20 or 30 dollars more! They’re really warm, flexible, have pre-curved fingers and won’t cut your circulation off. We’ve tried gloves with dry seals on the wrist but they end up being so tight that not only do they keep water out, they keep your blood from flowing to your fingers too!
The Cyclone 5/3 Split Toe Boot is going to be our choice bootie for the fall/winter kiting season. It’s on sale from $47.99 down to $39.99. The lower strap is a great feature and it has an external split toe with a connection piece to keep any lines from getting snagged around your big toe. They’re sized more true to our standards too since they’re an American company. The 5/3mm thickness will keep your feet plenty toasty, even in 45 degree waters.
After a successful teaching and demo season over the summer, it’s time for us to drop pricing on all of our personal kites to get them out of the shop and make room for exciting new 2010 gear like the Best Nemesis NXG and the Slingshot Octanes.
Most of the used kites we have at the moment are Slingshots, like the REV2s, RPMs and even some ‘09 Fuels. However, we have an 09 Waroo and a few Kahoona’s left that are aggressively priced and won’t last long! Here’s a quick breakdown of what we have, all are priced as kite only unless stated otherwise.
The HD GoPro POV cameras (point-of-view) are being released at the end of the month and we couldn’t be more giddy with anticipation. They just leaked the most killer video to showcase the clarity of this camera so I had to share it with you. The cameras will be available on October 31st but we’re taking preorders now so you can be sure we don’t sell out before you get yours. At only $299 for the HD HERO Helmet camera, it’s a steal of a deal.
We just got our first shipment of the new Rayne Isis which is the pro model for women’s downhill longboarding champ Brianne Davies. So far it has exceeded all our expectations. It’s like a smaller, but topmounted Demonseed. The Isis has a really comfortable downhill feel to it when tucking. It’s less expensive than the Killswitch and the drop locks you in really nicely since the drop extends the full width of the board.
The w-concave is a little bit more correctly positioned for freeriding and downhill (it starts further back which feels really nice for pushing). It also has more mounting holes so you can shorten or lengthen the wheelbase and really customize your ride. One of our longboard pros describes it as a deck he would actually pay full price for and not just nab the shop demo.
Insect just unveiled their new Mosquito Drop deck. Now the Mosquito has a .5″ drop for even more stability. Plus, it has a full radial concave to really lock your feet in during slides. They’ve improved their mainline construction to make the decks stronger by laterally distributing the energy and allowing more of that energy to be transferred through the nano instead of the wood. The concave is a little bit deeper and the slight camber creates pockets between the drop and the camber so you always know where your feet are. They now have a gloss finish over the nano to help protect the composite and make it look extra pretty.
We are in the process of putting together a video with Steve Hopper, the mastermind behind Insect Longboards, explaining the new construction and design behind the Mosquito Drop. Watch for that to be released soon! For now, come by the shop and try out our demo so you can see what the hype is all about for yourself.
After much anticipation, Orangatang finally released another duro for their freeride wheel family. This time, they’ve produced a super slidey yellow 86a durometer for the freeride longboard junkies out there. So far, only the 75mm Durian and 70mm Stimulus wheels are available at the moment but the 66mm Fat Free isn’t far behind. If these 86a wheels are too hard for your liking, you may want to try the original 83a purple Freeride wheel.
Unlike the Retro Freeride wheels, the Orangatang Freerides come pre-broken in so you don’t have a long break-in period. We haven’t had a chance to try them out yet but a review will be on the way soon! We only have limited quantities at the moment so get ‘em while they last!
Concrete Wave Magazine (the longboarding/skateboarding Bible) just released their annual DVD called Evolutions. This is the fifth one they’ve done. They compile 4 minute video clips from skateboard manufacturers, shops, teams, communities….basically whoever wants to get on the video can do so for a small chunk of change.
After seeing last year’s Evolutions DVD, we’ve been counting down the days until we could have our own installment, especially since videos are such a big part of what we do. We have a small stack of DVD’s available for free with your next order but only while supplies last! For now, you can at least watch the Motion Boardshop video here:
Just spreading the word about the Push Race in Tacoma this Sunday September 27th. It starts at 9am at Point Defiance in Tacoma and will consists of 2 laps through the 5 mile loop. This is a chill event for riders of all skill levels to participate in. Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers and those prizes are donated by Bentley, Roe Racing, and Five Mile Longboards.
So the AWSI industry trade show last week allowed us to try kites and boards from about 90% of the manufacturers, from all the big companies to lesser known up-and-comers. After trying almost everything that was available, along with a team of other retailers around the country that we work with, the consensus was that HANDS DOWN the most impressive kites were the Wainman Rabbit Series.
They have a different name for every size, like their 14m is the Big Mama and the 9m is The Smoke. They only make one style of kite and then they tweak each size individually to perfect it (as opposed to making a perfect 9m and then sizing it up or down like other manufacturers do)
It’s a delta shaped kite that performs like a mix of the RPM and Fuel with fast turning and Slingshot-esque durability. It’s one of the smoothest kites we’ve ever tested and the design is the future of kiteboarding in our opinion. It’s low aspect ratio makes it good for users of all skill levels. It will likely be our school kite of choice because of it’s excellent relaunch, stability while flying and the fact that it won’t oversheet. So beginners learning to put the board on their feet won’t find it sneaking off to the side of the window. It also has small tags on the pigtails which clearly label “more power, less power, better upwind” etc. making it easy for even a former blonde like myself to tune their kite to the conditions and their riding style.
Some features include:
-above the bar sheeting
-colored line sets (good for kook proofing and snowkiting)
-a plastic sheath over the chicken loop (to ensure minimal wear on the sheeting line)
-push away chicken loop release
-suicide ring option on chicken loop
-beefed up LE with Dacron which goes into the wingtip itself for extra durability
We also carry the Kahoona which is a delta kite and you may wonder what the main differences are…The Wainman kite is a little more expensive but that’s because the construction on it is so beefy. It’s also created on more of a freestyle riding platform, so even though it will loop good, it’s not as fast turning as the Kahoona. Both have excellent relaunch.
NOW ONTO THE BOARDS…
The Wainman boards are out of this world. They have great upwind capability, surprisingly so since they have insane concave on the bottom and added rocker too. This concave allows for the feeling of a larger volume board so you can get away with riding a size smaller than usual. Very predictable, excellent pop and is probably the lightest board we’ve ever tried. Squishy, soft, comfy footpads are great for hot landings and long sessions. Just like the kites, the boards are very durably made with high quality. Overall, we wouldn’t tweak a thing on the boards.
The Wainman surfboards are something we weren’t able to try out first hand but they’re so beautiful they could be mistaken for a piece of art. They are shaped and finished by renowned board maker Jimmy Lewis and have a distinct gun shape making then good in heavy surf. Oh yeah, and they also come with a padded board bag to make sure it stays in good condition.
FOR DEMO we have a 9m and 12m Rabbit Kites and a Blunt 130 twin tip and the Surfboard. This is what we were able to snag at the trade show and more will be arriving shortly. But you can consider us your Wainman connection. After talking with other shops around the country, I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more about this brand in the very near future.
Here’s a little video Jason whipped up featuring new and old footage of some of our teamriders. We have lots of other videos on our video page but you can also subscribe to our youtube channel to see everything we’ve made. We’re pretty good about answering questions on there too.
We are super pumped to be carrying the line-up from Hyperflex and the 2mm Playa Jacket happens to be our favorite product at the moment. It’s great for throwing on before or after sessions, warming up in the car, wearing while you’re waiting in the boat for your turn to wakesurf or whatever it may be. You’ve probably seen some ads with Dmitry Marimendes wearing his. They are not too bulky, yet are still stylish while being wind and waterproof.
They come in two different design options which you can see Jason & Joaquin wearing.
While we were in Hood River for the AWSI Trade Show this weekend, we had a chance to go to the Monster party debuting the new line-up from Major League Kiteboarding. The American Apparel MLK tee shirts are super soft and comfy and have a dope graphic to boot. They’re available in black and white. They also have regular MLK hats and MLK trucker hats, both in FlexFit, in the same colors. Remember, free shipping and we have tons of MLK stickers to dish out too. Here’s some pics of us partying with some of MLK’s founders, Suds and TJ.
Here’s the latest video from Slingshot featuring teamriders Erik Volpe and Ben Wilson in the waves as well as flat-water freestyle. They push the 2010 Slingshot Octane to the limits and show what it can do when put to the test by the pros.
The new 2010 Control Bar is really what sets the ‘10 Slingshot line-up apart from the rest. With the center line swivel, below the bar sheeting, & a push away chicken loop release, this bar is in a league of its own.
See what all the hype is about and demo one yourself.
After much anticipation, Five Mile Longboards are finally in production and available for sale. And for the time being, you can only get them here at Motion Boardshop! Lucky us. : ) Five Mile made a big showing at the Maryhill Festival of Speed this year and their demos gained a lot of attention. We love Five Mile for their support and participation in the Northwest Longboarding scene, as well as their overall infectious stoke of riding.
Their freeride deck is the A-10 Warthog, which is everyone’s favorite board at the moment. It’s 39.5″ long with a little bit of drop, rocker, camber AND concave if you can believe it.
The downhill model they’ve produced first is the B-17 Fortress. As you can tell, their boards are all named after attack aircraft. It’s 37.5″ long with spooncave and shape-tapered cave. Here’s what Micah Bartel had to say in his review of the Fortress on our website:
“It has very deep concave that locks your front foot in, as well as a “gas pedal” edge on the back to keep your back foot in that “sweet spot” every time you go back into a tuck. It is a very comfortable feeling speed board. However, my feet are on the bigger side so when I am out of a tuck and my feet are sideways, it feels a bit funny, although I don’t plan on using it as a carving board.
The top mount design and the convace make for a board that corners like a dream. That “gas peddal” in the back locks your back foot in so it’ll never slip on either heel or toe side cornering. I’ve always felt that top mount boards can corner really well and presise, and this one meets that description.”
We’re working on an informational video featuring Cody Shea, boardmaker and teamrider for Five Mile so keep a look out for that in the near future.
We just received a shipment from our favorite Eastern Canadian longboard manufacturer, Sayshun. They’ve introduced a few new decks to their line-up including the symmetrical freeride decks, Compass & Polar, which are the same shape but the Polar deck is 2″ longer. For the Speed and Crisis decks, they’re now making them with a dyed red veneer sheet on the top and bottom.
They’ve also started using a CNC machine to cut out the wheel wells for extra precision. We have demo boards in from Sayshun as well so you can come try them first hand. The Plasma O+ wheels are also available to demo.
We just completed the latest in our line-up of informational longboarding tutorials. After the success of our wheels, trucks and deck videos, we decided it was finally time to make a video on the different bushings available and how to select the right set for you. Bushings are particularly amazing because they are by far the cheapest way to drastically change the feel of your ride. However, the different combinations available can give you a headache if you think about it too hard. In this video, we focus on Venom bushings which are by far our personal bushing of choice.
Still not sure what combo is right for you? Just call the shop to talk to a bushing expert. 206.372.5268
After a long wait, we just got a small shipment in for super-custom Oregon-based Subsonic Skateboards. Not only do we love Subsonic for it’s chill owner, Scott Moore, who goes to pretty much every event in the NW but they have some sic boards to boot. We hope to get all of the Subsonic decks in at some point but for now we were at least able to get a few of the Buckshot 41 and a Barrage 40. With small, custom board builders it’s harder to stay stocked up on items so get ‘em while they last!
We just got stocked up on some of the latest and greatest accessories from our favorite up and coming company, GoPro. They make the worlds smallest and most affordable, waterproof POV (point-of-view) camera that you can mount to just about anything. Whether you bmx, windsurf, or skateboard, the GoPro Video Camera is awesome at capturing your session. We’ve even used them inner-tubing behind a boat!
We’re super stoked to be linked with the private manufacturer of the GoPro Kite Line Mount which can only be found on our website! It’s only $39.99 and can be hooked up to your center kite lines so that the camera is pointing down at you for a really cool point of view, especially when you’re jumping and doing tricks. Here’s a video showcasing this angle from Jim Stringfellow (creator of the mount).
Did I mention they’ll be releasing an HD version in later October for under $300? Stay tuned!
Tis the season when the ‘09 gear gets discounted to make room for all the new ‘10 stuff trickling in. We’re marking down prices early so you have time to get that directional surfboard and still be able to use it before fall kicks into gear. (Although the swell from fall storms is also super fun with a directional!)
Keep an eye out on our website because in just a few days you will see amazing packages on the Rev2, RPM and Fuel when packaged with an 09 kiteboard like the Misfit.
Wondering why kiteboarding is the fastest growing watersport? We can help you figure out why! We’ve taught thousands of students over the last 10 years w and have perfected our program to get you up and riding in no time. This video is designed to give you an idea of what to expect from your All-in-one Kiteboarding Lesson with the Seattle Kiteboarding Center.
During the day you will learn the basics of rigging, safety, kite flying, body dragging, and water relaunching to name a few. We hope to get you up on the board and riding by the end of the class so you can get a taste of what kiteboarding is all about.
Our lessons are all one-on-one with an instructor so you can get the most personalized attention possible from your certified instructor. Waverunner support allows us to take you away from the crowded beaches so all you have to worry about is flying the kite and getting up on the board.
Looking for more information on our lessons program? Check out our lessons page. Click HERE to contact us directly. If you’re not ready to take a lesson yet but are still interested in the sport, a trainer kite is a great place to start. Our beginners page will explain why.
We carry a product called the Banshee Bungee that is a 10ft or 20ft long bungee that stretches out to 3 times that length. Once stretched to it’s maximum, it will fling you at 35mph in just seconds! It’s perfect for all board sports, whether it be skim, skate, wake, or snow. No more hills, ramps, winches, or boats needed. These big, tough bungees are designed for one purpose: hucking willing human beings across their surface of choice, be it asphalt, concrete, rails, snow, ocean spray or river current.
Just like their devotees, Banshee Bungees love a little abuse. With three strands of vulcanized rubber providing their tough demeanor, the bungees are ready for just about anything. Drown them in saltwater, freeze them in Minnesota, drag them around the concrete jungle: they’ll still spit a speed freak out at 35 miles per hour, for hundreds of feet – launch after launch.
We carry the Federal Offense Bungee, Urban Assault Bungee, and Outlaw Bungee along with all the necessary accessories like the handles, anchors, and release system.Prices start at $149.
The downhill model they’ve produced first is the 
