There are a lot of good longboard trucks out there these days. I like Randals.

In 1999 there weren’t many longboard trucks available. When I first saw Randal Trucks back in 1999 I didn’t think much of them. I’d had various trucks of similar kingpin-under-the-axle type design in past years — Gullwing split axles and Variflex Connextion trucks come to mind. Neither one sucked, but frankly neither was great either.

Sometime in 1999 I took a trip to San Diego for a conference and had the good fortune to skate with Chris Sturhann, who at the time ran a site called nosewheelie.com. Chris took me to the public skatepark at Temecula, California. He mostly rode longboards, and I had a chance to inspect Randal-II 180s first hand and try them out.

My mind was instantly changed. The trucks tracked the ground much better than a standard truck design, and offered a much deeper turn, useful for boards in the 45″+ range. When I got home I ordered some, and have continued to ride Randal trucks ever since. I still have that first set. They’re a bit ground down for grinding them in ditches, but still in really good shape and totally rideable.

At some point a few years ago Randal was reported having some quality control issues.  I’d never had any such problems, but I think the reports were probably accurate.

Then a few years ago Randal Trucks was purchased by Gravity Skateboards. Gravity, along with their creator, used modern computer modeling and prototyping techniques to re-work the R-II. They sent me this set (see below) of black limited edition trucks, and I was blown away by the quality improvements. Much better casting on the trucks. Better everything. Since then, they’ve improved the stock bushings, begun using higher quality grade-8 kingpins, and continued the high quality manufacturing.

I see a lot of threads on the web debating what trucks to get. Like I said, there are a lot of good trucks available. I have nothing bad to say about any of them.

But when in doubt, go with Randal.

Randals turn. If you skate parks, ditches, or street, Randals grind. They grind GREAT. The round hanger grinds perhaps better than any truck I’ve ever ridden.

Randals are made in the USA. They are owned by an American company – Gravity Skateboards. Why should this matter? Well, you know where they came from, and you know where to go if you have a problem. Randals are easy to modify if you want longer kingpings and bigger bushings. Real easy. For general riding and good grinding the stock setup rules.

They rip on hills, street, ditches, or parks.

When in doubt, or even when not in doubt, I say go with Randal.

My black Randal 180s, modded with extra thick bushings (I got these before Randal came up with their improved bushings).

Milehigh Skates Bearings — the absolute best deal on bearings you can get. Great bearings.

Here’s a video review of the Gravity Kalai and blue Gravity High-Grade wheels.

The higher quality video file, about 65 megs, is available here. Better than this youtube crap. I shot this using my Sony Bloggie, in 720 HD.

My friend Sean got a Kalai last year, so I already kind of knew I’d like the board. I am used to Comet downhill boards, w have a lot of rocker. I love ‘em. But the Kalai is just such a nice board for turning. Really sweet.

This is another older review that I’m republishing here because the topic is still extremely popular…

the Loaded Dervish

A couple of months ago, Loaded Longboards sent me this killer setup. Well, actually mine is a little different. I stole this image from Mile High Skates, where you can purchase this fine beast.

Loaded has been making some of the most innovative boards around for a couple of years now. Having the Adams on their crew hasn’t hurt either. The Dervish is the most recent addition to their line.

Like all their boards, the Dervish is built from Bamboo and Epoxy/Glass. Its a totally environmentally friendly board. The Bamboo/Glass construction gives it a really snappy flex. Not bouncy at all — but responsive.

As you can see, the trucks actually mount on the top of the board, dropping through. This lowers the board, making it more stable while carving and ripping your favorite hill, sidewalk, or parking lot. With the cutaway nose and tail, you can run pretty much any size wheel you want and have not worry at all about wheel bite.

My board came with the new 10″ Gullwing Charger trucks. They are great trucks. I’d recommend either them or a standard Randal-II 180mm trucks. I set this up with 72mm Pink Powerballs and Biltin Bearings.

The first thing you’d notice if you picked up my setup is how light it is. Even with big wheels, the sucker is light. That’s because the board itself if really light.

Like their other boards, the Dervish comes in a couple of different flexes. A softer flex (Flex 2) for you lightweights, and a harder flex (Flex 1) for big tubs like me.

If you’ve ridden any of Loaded’s other boards, like the Vanguard, you will find the Dervish is very different. It has less camber, straight rails, and is just a little more predictable in any riding situation. However, like the Vanguard, the Dervish is bi-directional. You can ride it either way — both sides are exactly symetrical.

A huge and special thanks to Loaded Boards for continuing to support Bob’s Trick Tips, longboarding, and innovative thinking.

Here is a rad video of the Adams riding the Dervish. These guys are just the worlds absolute masters of this kind of riding. Makes you want to buy a Dervish. Well — do it!

Here’s another older review that I did for the old version of bobstricktip.info. I’m going to alter it just a bit to make it fit in better here, but the board is pretty much unchanged, so the review should still be relevant. I’m finding that there is just a lot of interest in product reviews, so I want to get all the good info up here.

A few notes: Since the time I originally wrote this, Loaded has changed the setup a bit. First, they ship with Paris trucks, which are quite excellent. Also, Loaded came out with their Orangatang brand of wheels, which have become very popular. Their website addresses setup advice quite well.

Here’s the review…

I recently acquired the 42″ Loaded Vanguard. The Vanguard is an amazing board. I got the board as a complete. They offer a couple of different versions — one with Kryptos and one with big, green, ABEC-11 Gumball wheels. All come with Randal-II 180mm trucks.

I’m often pretty skeptical of completes. Its been my experience that a lot of companies stick cheap trucks and wheels on completes in order to keep the price down. Not Loaded. Both the regular and premium builds come with top-notch trucks and wheels.

Loaded also engineered this board to work with these components. They didn’t just design a board and then scatch up some components. A lot of thought went into the design of this deck and how it will work with good components.

OK, looking at the picture, the first thing you might notice is that the board is symetrical. Same both ways. I loosened one truck a little and marked that end as the front. You could very easily right this as a bidirectional board, and pay no attention to which way it is facing.

Loaded Vanguard with current (2010) setup of Paris trucks and Orangatang wheels. Sweetness. Click for full-sized image.

Grip: Loaded uses a clear grip coating on top. It works pretty well. I’ve tried some clear grip systems that just weren’t that grippy, but the Loaded grip is good. Combined with the concave, the grip works well enough to make the board feel solid under your feet, but you can still walk the board pretty easily.

The shape: The Vanguard is wide where your feet go, narrow in the middle, and the nose/tail areas are shaped so there is absolutly NO CHANCE of wheel bite. I’ve tried. Its impossible to make it wheelbite. With the Randal trucks and 76mm Gumball wheels, and no risers at all, the board simply will not wheelbite.

Why is this important? Because with no risers needed, the board rides like a formula-1 race car. Wide, tall, grippy, super fast wheels, wide trucks, but an overall low ride. Very, very stable.

Camber and Concave: This board is cambered, but also concave. The concave is just right to make your feet feel dialed-in and steady, and really help you do some nice fast carving turns. The Camber makes the board, which is flexible, nice and snappy. As you carve around you can really snap out of a turn and gain speed. Awesome.

Adam S., doing the seemingly impossible (to me) -- a G-Turn on a board with no nose!

Flex: This board comes in 2 flexes — Flex 1 being for heavier riders, and Flex 2 for lighter riders, or heavier guys like me who like a flexy ride.

Material: OK, here’s why this is an expensive board. It isn’t your average 7-ply maple deck. It is made of vertically laminated bamboo core, with epoxy and triaxial fiberglass on the outside. Because of this construction, the board is not only incredibly responsive but also very, very light.

Eco-friendly: Loaded has made a committment to make its boards environmentally friendly. Bamboo is a very renewable resource, and they use other good stuff in the boards too. Read more about it on their website.

I’ve tried to do some video, but I’m afraid none really turned out. That’s OK, because Adam Colton did a really good one called “Fly”. Check it out. There’s a bunch of other good vids on the Loaded site, where Adam has a section. The Get Loose video is also good.

Price: These are expensive setups, for sure. But worth every penny. It also comes in a 38″ version. I’d go with the 42″, unless you are fairly short. Anyway, the “normal” build costs $264. The Premium — the one with Gumballs — costs $298. Seriously, if you are going to spend the money in the first place, go ahead and get the Premium for $34 more. The wheels are soooooo much better – they really make the riding experience perfect. Don’t just get the deck and put some shitty components on it — that would be cheating yourself and the board out of some fun riding.

This may seem like a lot to pay for a board, but keep in mind these boards will last a long, long time. I have boards of similar construction that I’ve had for 7 years that are still in good shape. I expect this Loaded Vanguard to last, well, maybe my whole life.

I really can’t say enough good things about this board. I’m just beginning to really appreciate everything you can do with it. As you’ll see in the Adam Colton vids, you can do cool, stylish tricks on these boards, but I think the incredible flowing ride is the real selling point. This is the kind of board that reminds you what the real essence of skateboarding is.

So, a huge thanks to Loaded for supporting Bob’s Trick Tips, and to the Adam Colton crew for showing me how to ride this board properly!