Actually you can buy what you
see here.
For more information on what is in stock, please send me an
e-mail
Here's
an example of the setup I am riding these days,
oh well, I need to update this foto |
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Review by Bob Loftin of the now gone bobstricktips.com,
but Bob is still around and actively supporting the Freestyle
scene with his
podcasts
YOYO Schulz Newschool Freestyle deck; How it
all started in 2001.
Freestyle boards have been hard to come by the last few years.
Unless you had an old one, or could shape your own, freestylers
have been limited to the great board offered by Oldschool Skateboards.net
or the Richie Carrasco 360 King deck, or a "mini" street board.
Well, now there is another choice.
YOYO Schulz, German freestyle ace, was not content to wait for
the skateboard industry to make more FS decks, so he designed
his own.
Here are the specs:
Length 28.75"
Width 7 5/8"
Wheelbase 13.25"
Nose length 5.25"
Tail Length 5.5"
concave
mellow kicknose and tail.
Canadian maple -- manufactured in Germany.
This deck is shaped very much like the old World Industries
Rodney Mullen FS deck, which means it is an excellent shape.
It is a larger FS deck, but still in the range that I would
call a "traditional" FS board.
Standard freestyle features
Well, for starters the board is smaller than a normal street
board - about 2" shorter. The nose and tail are shorter, as
is the wheelbase. Flattened tail -- good for doing truck stand
tricks.
Rounded nose -- good for doing rail kickflips.
Progressive features
Unlike the FS boards of the old days, this deck has mild, comfortable
concave. Really nice. If you're like me, after riding concave
decks for the last 10 years, a flat board feels pretty strange.
This concave feels good under your feet, without being too severe.
Kick nose: Yes -- the deck has a nice kick nose, upturned at
a really good angle. Now, some freestylers do not like an upturned
nose. I do. I think YOYO has selected a good angle for the nose.
Great work.
Longer wheelbase 13.5" In the last years of the "old freestyle"
days, Mullen started doing bigger, faster moves. As a result,
he increased the wheelbase of his board. The YOYO deck has this
longer wheelbase. The longer wheelbase provides a more stable
platform for your technical wizardry, but is still short enough
to sling around. Cool.
Other stuff
As you may know from reading this website, most freestylers
use nose and tail skids. Since we're always balancing on the
end of the nose or tail, and constantly scraping it up, you
really need to use skids to make the board last. YOYO has you
covered there too -- he makes custom tail skids for the board!
They fit perfectly. Cool.
Quality: the board is great. High quality.
Wheels:
YOYO recommends Roll-Line wheels for this deck. They are actually
"artistic" roller skate wheels from Italy! However, they are
the same size as the old Powell Freestyle wheels, and also feature
an offset bearing seat (they are not center set bearings). He
sent me a set of these wheels, and I really must say that they
are great. They have a hub with little holes, which makes the
wheels light. At 95a hardness, they are fast but smooth, and
57mm will let you roll smoothly even at lower speeds. Now, since
they are roller skate wheels, they take a smaller bearing spacer
-- which YOYO also has. After riding these wheels, I think they
are probably of much better quality than any American skateboard
wheel I've ever seen. They are obviously manufactured to tighter
specs than skateboard wheels. I asked YOYO about it, and he
said that the Italians are just really amazing with plastics
and molds. It shows.
Summary:
I love my YOYO board. It is a ripping FS board. I think that
most current FS skaters probably want a board that is bigger
than the traditional sizes, and this is it.
So, in closing, a big thanks to YOYO Schulz. You are doing a
great thing for freestyle!