So here it is, this is the review. It has taken me a week, I've destroyed a pair of shoes, ripped my favorite jeans, dropped my Canon 60D and scratched the screen, numerous failed gopro shots, bruised my ass, blew a hole in my Sector 9 driver slide gloves, driven across state lines, skated ditches and banks, parks and bowls, battled the cold Canberra weather with nothing more than a hoodie from Kmart and had the worst foot cramps I have ever had in my entire life. But for this board, this perfect little board, it was definitely worth it. From The moment I saw Landyachtz Ripple Ridge I knew I would love it, what I didn't know and only know now after spending a solid week riding it every day, literally across the country is just how much I would love it, and I am happy to say that I love it very, very much. The board is 32" long and 9.5" wide with an 18.75" wheelbase, it has a kick tail, rocker concave and rippled edges which form in line with the wheel wells which are actually really functional and allow for a good amount of clearance and carve. By combining the ripples with the concave it creates a pocket for your foot on the board, the ripples also go up to the tail creating a concave pocket on the tail. This is a really nice place to lock your foot in when you want to throw out a quick slide, or even a long slide, it just feels really nice and I would like to see it on more boards with kicks. This board is designed by Phillip Lemire to be nothing more than fun, and that is exactly what it is, it's just lots and lots of fun. Over the last seven days I took the board on street runs to the post office, small downhill/freeride runs, parking garage runs, bowl, halfpipe and skatepark sessions and not once did the board feel like it was out of it's element, not once did it feel like I was asking too much of it. The Ripple Ridge loves being challenged, it was always eager to ride any terrain and even after ramming it nose first into a gutter it didn't chip at all. It is a ridiculously strong board, it just feels solid and it really shows when you kook it and the board goes soaring and lands right onto the tail and it doesn't leave a scratch on it. I put this board through a lot of punishment this last week and it has not even started to wear or lose its stiffness, the only damage is some scratching on the graphic and the tail wear from failed manuals but you will get that with any board that has a kick tail on it, unless you want to pretend it's the 80's and throw some fluro plastic on that tail to match the sweet Powell Peralta shirt you're rocking, but I wouldn't recommend that as you would just be demeaning the board and not letting it live a good life. This board shines on the street just cruising around and having a good time, the kick tail is nice enough to ollie (a bit too long in my opinion but once you get used to it, you're golden) the board is wide and stable and with the Independent 159's and Micro Motion 83a's that the one I tested had, it's a treat to do check slides around a corner and scare the nearest old person half to death. It is also fantastic on the hills, now while I wouldn't recommend you rally down Maryhill on it, I would recommend finding a nice and mellow, smooth hill and throwing some slide gloves on and having a thrash, it is great for that, I was even doing Coleman 180's once I felt comfortable on it. I will say that if you choose to go the Indy trucks, the stock bushings are horrible, while testing the board with these bushings I got wheel bite and death wobbles all the time, swapped them out for some hard Bones hardcore bushings and it instantly got better, try out some of the medium and soft ones too if you can until it feels right for you. The board was stable and didn't really get squirly until around 35-40Kph but that probably is just my doing. I did try it with Caliber 50's, 44's, Paris 180's and Bear 852's but found that due to the short wheel base it was too squirly at the back and just too high off the ground with any reverse kingpin truck and just didn't feel comfortable at all, but that is my opinion and I would suggest you try for yourself if you can. The board is also pretty good in the parks, although it has a low deck clearance, which made me hang up and scratch the deck on a few of the steeper roll ins, once you know about this problem it's simple enough to lift the nose and drop over the bump. When riding in halfpipes and bowls I found it really easy to whip around the transition and pumping was a breeze, hitting coping was fun but because the wheels were a bit softer on my board I would hang up occasionally. I took the board to Belco skatepark in Canberra and it loved the snake run and wave features, I had the most fun I've ever had in any skatepark. I honestly can not think of anything that is wrong with this board, just a few things I would change and add.
1. More deck clearance (made some roll ins feel a bit sketchy but as I said once you figure it out it isn't a problem at all.)
2. Shorter tail (would make some quick decision ollies a lot easier for things like getting up gutters. The current tail isn't bad at all, I just found myself really focusing on my ollie a lot but I'm sure over time will become second nature.)
3. A tiny bit of W concave (while the ripples and rocker make a nice pocket, especially on the kick, I found it to be quite boring on the top of the deck, especially after the stock grip started wearing down it just felt kind of bland.)
4. Perhaps a nose (now I say this knowing the 2013 Ripple Ridge has a nose but unsure if it would ruin the board or not. Over the last week I found myself wishing it had a nose, on the one hand sometimes when I would try ollie down a gutter my foot would just fly off the front as there was no nose to catch it. On the other a nose could completely ruin it so before I say indefinitely what I think, I will wait for the 2013 one, but don't get me wrong the 2012 is still fantastic without a nose.)
Ratings:
Design and cost: 9/10 Has a really nice graphic and is easy to ride, even my girlfriend who doesn't skate liked it.
Brilliant platform, I love the ripples and rocker creating a concave that goes all the way up to the tail and the deep wheel wells which actually work and allow for larger wheels and looser trucks. I paid AUD $115 for the deck and $285 total including Bones reds bearings, Bones hardcore bushings Independent 159's and Micro Motion 83a wheels. Which is only about $65 more than most longboard decks.
Downhill: 4/10 I wouldn't try and break any speed records with this, but on a mellow hill this board will provide a lot of fun.
Freeride: 7/10 Grab some gloves and some butter smooth wheels and this board will keep you entertained until you reach the core. Guaranteed.
Also if you have some banks/drains that are safe to skate near you, I would highly recommend taking this board there as it is perfect for carving and pumping banks.
Cruising: 10/10 If you're ideal board is one you can carve down to the shops or beach, grab an ice cream and bust a check slide in front of some pedestrians to show them how bad ass you are, then this board is all you'll ever need. Just make sure you don't fall flat on your face because that would suck and be a waste of ice cream.
Board size and feel: 9/10 This may seem like a weird thing to rate a board for but ever since I bought the Loaded Bhangra I felt like board reviews should touch on this, at least briefly, because the Bhangra, while a fantastic board and does what it's supposed to, it's about as easy to get around as an elephant with a broken leg. The Ripple Ridge however, is much easier. I took it on buses and fit it in the back of my car easily, it's easy to find a space to rest on a counter while you're ordering your ice cream and very easy to carry around. It really doesn't get in the way much at all and compared to a lot of other boards it's quite light too, so that's a plus. Also fits in some skate compatible backpacks, at least the few I tried.
Overall: 9.5/10 In summary I will say that the 2012 Landyachtz Ripple Ridge is, in my opinion at least, the closest you will get to the perfect board for a little bit of everything. It's strong, light and just a hell of a lot of fun and I can't wait to get my hands on the 2013 one which will be in the next week or 2 hopefully. It is my new personal favorite board, out of all the boards I have ever ridden I would say it's the most fun and when you consider how cheap it is, I think it's also the best value board out there at the moment compared to any other longboard. All I can really say is, if you want to have fun on a plank of wood with trucks and wheels, then look no further than the Landyachtz Ripple Ridge.
Keep your eyes on the page for some photos and footage from the last 7 days.
Thanks for reading, now go skate!
- L
