Tried it on someones board at the park and it did not work for me. The grip was strange but managable, something I could get used to given enough time. The pop was weird, having a layer of rubber over the deck dampened the pop, making the deck feel bouncy instead of snappy, the thing I hate the most.
You make a good point about micro-plastics. Vegan leather may be a good alternative if you want to reduce microplastics. It may not look good but I still use shoegoo on my shoes to extend their lifespan, will keep goo-ing up the sides until the soles have holes in them before I toss them out. Also, I try to correct how I skate, less of the scraping my soles against the grip when setting up for tricks.
Yeah, I tried it too. The board was pretty beat up, but I was able to ollie without issue. It definitely felt different, but something I could get used to. I take your point about the softness though, and I'm not picky, but this is *the* thing that bothers me. I want to know if anyone here has bought it, skated it for the length of a deck, and can tell me about it. I guess I want Ben Degros to review it
As for "vegan leather", you are just describing plastics. It's all a petrochemical of one kind or another. The best option there would be actual leather or canvas, and yeah, once you have Shoe Goo on, you're back to square one. This issue, for me, applies more to the sole than to the side of the shoe, and that's always going to be synthetic rubber (again, another type of plastic), which accounts for more microplastic than any other single source