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I’ve skated Alien Workshop for a couple years and I’ve basically stayed on the Agile 8 shape the whole time. Not trying to start a hate thread, but I’m honestly bummed on the consistency of the recent decks I’ve bought. The shape and how they skate is mostly okay but they wear different.
What I keep noticing is the finish feels different than it used to. When they use the nondyed/natural plies, especially on the bottom veneer, the board wears different and that bottom ply just feels different in hand compared to the dyed ply boards I am use to. The way it scuffs and chips seems different too. Could be cost cutting, but it’s happened enough times that I’m not imagining it.
I know Habitat shares the shape and I have skated plenty of Habitat as well, which is part of why this has me bummed. I just grabbed a Toy Machine that’s almost the same shape and it has three colored plies and it honestly feels more solid straight out of the wrap. Same with a FA I had a couple months ago.
Anyone else noticing this with recent AWS/Habitat decks?
What do you mean wears different? I got my first aws in a while I like it so far, bummed it doesn’t have a middle colored ply but I noticed the way the tail wore seemed a bit fast just off a couple Ollie’s and kickflips. Enough for me to notice I guess
I have definitely noticed it on another brand, between what I would call the "pro board" with the dyed plies, compared to the cheaper wood of a "price point board" with natural plies, as the natural plies just seemed to wear twice as fast and I don't usually wear out the noses or tails of boards that fast or that often for most of my skating.
It could be a number of things though, including a not so dense wood veneer being used, but overall, if you are buying or getting what is said to be a pro board, then it should perform like one, compared to a budget board, especially if it happens to be at a pro board price.
Some series of decks I have not bought or skated purely because I just didn't like the look of the wood, but I think I am a lot more picky and weird with that sort of stuff than some people, even though I never really break boards or wear them out before passing them on, if I see a board that I don't like the look of, I don't even want to set it up now.
It might be harder if you can't see them in person, or you have limited access to whatever decks you want, so they might be the only boards you can get right now.
On the plus side, most brands are really good with helping their customers, so taking some pics and sending them a nice polite email about the boards could also be a good idea, even if you think it is not worth it. Never know you might get a good reply at worst, or a new deck at best.