Santa Cruz/Creature
1. After the gyms closed during last year’s lockdowns, I put on mad weight, and Santa Cruz VX or Everslick decks were the only decks that could withstand my consistent inability to land on the bolts.
2. I finally learned fs lipslides since I knew the VX and Everslick boards weren’t just gonna explode on impact.
3. I really like their shapes/sizes/wheelbases, and now I’ll even buy Creature boards when the SC 8.25-8.5’s are out of stock. Probably one of the last brands I ever thought I would ride but the first street clips I got in 5+ years were on one of the Creature “Stumps” boards.
4. My boy Knibbs rides for them and his boards have all been 8.27’s, so I’m gonna keep supporting.
Krux
After finally understanding the concept of wheelbases (thank you Ben Degros), I was in the market for new trucks, and Kechaud Johnson convinced me to try the new Krux down-low king pin trucks. What I didn’t take into account was the fact I was going from some of the lowest trucks to some of the highest trucks and I do NOT skate with the same amount of power that Kechaud does. My tail almost never touched the ground when I would ollie and I had to ditch them ASAP. They’re in my office with maybe 30 minutes of skate time on them if anyone wants to put in an offer.
Independent
Once they dropped their old logo and released the Indy MiDs, I gave them a shot. As someone who rode Venture Lows for the past 20 years, the Indys were INCREDIBLY FUN to skate. The turning is amazing. I actually felt upset at the fact I could’ve been carving like that for decades but stuck with the slow turning Ventures out of dumb blind loyalty. Additionally (and unfortunately), my muscle memory is so used to the Ventures, that the MiDs are too high and I need to put deliberate intent on popping hard enough for the tail to hit the ground. Ended up going to Tensor Mag Lows but I’ll spare you all a review unless asked.
Mob
I like the Mob M88 grip. It’s right in between regular Jessup and regular Mob.
Ricta
I have Ricta Clouds on my cruiser/filmer board with Indy 149’s. Super fun, smooth, and quiet. But too grippy to do a lot of tricks with.
Bronson
Never tried them.
I didn’t know people on SLAP hated on NHS. Then again, I dont lurk/post here nearly as much as I used to.