Woodshop experiences

[Ourladyoftheflowers]

With Black Friday coming up and deck prices rising I figured this might be a fun thread to share experiences with different woodshops. I’ve been a pretty loyal BBS rider for years but considering switching it up for the sales.

Here’s some I’ve ridden.

BBS: feels like home. Lasts me at least three weeks/month. Pop stays good, perfect flex.

PS Stix: feel the best for about two weeks then the flex makes it feel too soggy. Whenever I ride them they’re my favorite but real quick they start to feel toasted.

Clutch: only boards I’ve ever snapped from general skating (not from lip slides/disasters). I ordered some Chapman blanks that I was snapping on the first sesh that came from clutch.

I know there’s a woodshop thread but I figured something more subjective would be fun for people considering different decks. I know some people have great experiences on girl decks and I’ve seen some love for primitive China decks.

[JugeL]

DSM: stiff as fuck, good luck getting board to shin first couple of weeks

Control: the shapes i skated were flat as fuck and got soggy pretty fast. Every other person that ever stepped on my board fucking hated it.

HLC: like every euro company ever. Wood is mid and shapes are limited, though i've liked the ones i skated. Mine always chipped pretty easily but Finland is rough to your board anyway.

Crail: favorite one at the moment. Best catalog for shapes and new wood is really good.

[Xen]

Or, https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=120409.0

[rikki]

DSM: stiff as fuck, good luck getting board to shin first couple of weeks

Control: the shapes i skated were flat as fuck and got soggy pretty fast. Every other person that ever stepped on my board fucking hated it.

HLC: like every euro company ever. Wood is mid and shapes are limited, though i've liked the ones i skated. Mine always chipped pretty easily but Finland is rough to your board anyway.

Crail: favorite one at the moment. Best catalog for shapes and new wood is really good.

Agree on Control decks being too flat and getting soggy fast.

[Woodshop]

.

I linked it from the Woodshop thread too, so here's hoping there are others who can add more to this thread.

This is somewhere people can really let loose on different woodshops, more so than a more information based thread like the Woodshop one.


Always interested to hear how some people rate their wood, or experiences with different woodshops, which might be a bit too much for the other thread.

Who knows, I might even start quoting comments from here, just to spice things up too.

[Ok]

i like this.


i think i just read it in the sci-fi thread, but something about generator being different than bbs.
i thought i had been told that directly, in the distant past, from shop folks.
i seem to remember people saying otherwise, here on slap.
in my memory, the boards that were claimed as ‘generator’ looked like the old (cooler) baker boards: flatter, pointy. love em.

i was stoked on bbs in the early kayo days, early anti-hero/krooked time period.
more recently they haven’t been for me, but i’m hopping back in that pool shortly.

control boards have felt thick, flat, and sometimes sorta weird, but i skate well on them. i like the flat. at one point i was told by someone on here that was were pj got his boards.

don’t worry hunk i’ve tried a clutch.
i’m almost always skating ps stix.


interested in trying a prime, an hlc, anything from pgi

[Musicaldeath107]

Pennswood has been my favorite for awhile. Stiff but not crazy hard. Last a long time and the pop sticks around.

BBS treats me well but I have to buy their stuff in person because of the shape differences.

PS Stix wood is too flexy for me even new. They don't feel soggy to me like others say I just don't love the whippiness of them. Everything feels... Slow?

South Central I have minimal experience on them but everything I've skated I've really enjoyed.  Stiff but maybe slightly whippier than BBS.  Pop lasts the life of the board.

[Ok]

Pennswood has been my favorite for awhile. Stiff but not crazy hard. Last a long time and the pop sticks around.

BBS treats me well but I have to buy their stuff in person because of the shape differences.

PS Stix wood is too flexy for me even new. They don't feel soggy to me like others say I just don't love the whippiness of them. Everything feels... Slow?

South Central I have minimal experience on them but everything I've skated I've really enjoyed.  Stiff but maybe slightly whippier than BBS.  Pop lasts the life of the board.

ps is whippy, and that’s why i like it: feels more lively, and the pop feels better, for me.

i didn’t mention crail, but their shapes are really good. their shape guide should be what the industry aspires too. wood isn’t very lively, but it lasts. and lasts.

[Dong Hanglo]

BBS and Clutch have been my favorite for a couple of years. Consistently good despite the weather being hot or cold.
PS, prime, DSM all feel soggy when it’s hot and brittle in the cold.
Haven’t had any of the other wood shops in over 10 years so there’s that.

[roba]

bbs - the gold standard for me, it’s the best feeling wood. i’m not gonna say much, yall already know.

ps stix - great shapes, but the wood itself was trash in my experience, they snapped like toothpicks. too bendy from the start and never lasted over two weeks.

crail - solid boards, nice shapes and i like the flatter concave. they last a decent while too. not my favorite, but if i had to skate only crail boards i wouldn’t be mad. edit: i forgot to say, they're stiffer than a bbs which is why i like them less.

dsm (resin 7) - pretty good boards, they last long and i think that they keep their shape the best out of all woodshops i tried. that’s not necessarily a good thing though since the shapes are kinda weird, i’m not a fan of the steep kicks. they chip a little easier than others too, but it’s not a dealbreaker, like it’s not that bad. a little too stiff for my liking. don’t bother with the pricepoints.

hlc - even though bbs is the gold standard, hlc has been my favorite recently. great shapes, nice mellow concave, a little more flexy than bbs but definitely stiffer than ps, maybe a tiny bit more prone to snapping but still durable, and usually much cheaper in europe, which is always a plus

quarter dist (germany) - china boards marked as “superply”. mellow shapes, which liked and decent wood, i’d describe the feeling as a premium price point. a little different than your usual skateboard but performs well enough and is fairly long lasting. stiff at first, but gets flexier after a few sessions.

artprint (france) - china boards with interesting shapes. they have a nice short 8 3/8. good quality wood, it’s a little better than quarter maybe, but they’re comparable. these boards feel more like your usual deck. pretty stiff, but they last a decent while.

clutch - alright shapes, but not durable. they chip easily and snap easily. worse than ps stix.

control - i had a few and i have mixed feelings. the worst control board i had was worse than any ps, but the best control board i had felt almost as good as a bbs. i definitely recommend giving them a try to people that like flat boards though. inconsistent, but decent.

nibiru (poland) - awful, but they’re made in a basement, so i still recommend buying one if you get a chance.

here’s a lil ranking

bbs>hlc>crail>control>dsm>artprint>quarter>ps stix>clutch

there’s a gap between quarter and ps though

[Mbrimson88]

That was well written.

I can see how some woodshops get mad at comments online and some brands don't want the association between their brand and woodshop known.

Oh well - everyone has a right to express their opinion.

[logjammin]

South Central are the best boards ever. They felt heavier but they were indestructible. Anyone know if he's still making boards? I always heard it was an absolute nightmare dealing with him but eventually their orders would ship. Pennswood is a close 2nd in terms of durability and quality.

[Musicaldeath107]

South Central are the best boards ever. They felt heavier but they were indestructible. Anyone know if he's still making boards? I always heard it was an absolute nightmare dealing with him but eventually their orders would ship. Pennswood is a close 2nd in terms of durability and quality.

Yeah they are still around I know he presses for a local brand here Kudzu.

[ejazzle]

For me skating ps stix is like that feeling you get peeling off a scab where it kinda scratches the itch while peeling it and you know its wrong but it feels so right for that short amount of time. The window of perfection is something I've been so used to for so long I can't shake it.

Ive skated some bbs and liked them a lot but never got that magic window. Just felt kinda good the majority of the time

I skated a few clutch boards, first couple were ok but felt too stiff to me. Like skating a piece of plywood not an actual skateboard. The last one put me over the edge, I skated it for 2 sessions before I gave it away. I thought it was me but I set up a ps deck that same afternoon and everything was back like clockwork. To me it felt like the noses/tails felt too short on some of them.

[moonordie]

As many already said PS are great for 2 weeks and BBS feels like is the standard that measures everything else.
Crail wood has been rely good to me, same as DSM which is probably my fav.
HLC is just fine for me, never liked clutch.

[Ok]

how long should a deck last?

would you prefer durability, or performance?

[notinternetfamous]

how long should a deck last?

would you prefer durability, or performance?

it depends on how often you skate, type of skating, and the spot.
if i'm only skating skateparks, decks can easily last me 2-3 months (mostly ledge skating; 2 seshs/week)

i prefer performance over durability since as a customer, you have more control in the durability as in where/what you're skating and how you'll be using the product. you can't easily change the overall construction of the board unless you know sorcery to grant boards more pop as razor tail/chipping occurs lmao

[JugeL]

UO: i've never liked BBS boards

Everything i've skated from them is too stiff or concave feels awful

[JM]

UO: i've never liked BBS boards

Everything i've skated from them is too stiff or concave feels awful

I’ve never understood an abbreviation so quickly before just now.