I purchased my first Comet longboard in 1999, at the Purple Skunk skateshop, in San Fransisco. It has been a favorite board for 10 years, and I still ride it. Since then, I’ve acquired several other Comet boards.

First, a little about Comet Skateboards. Comet one of just a few skateboard manufacturers that attempts to minimize its environmental impact. They have been at the forefront of this effort too. They use solar power in their manufacturing process. They use a lot of highly renewable materials in their boards. They don’t finish their boards with toxic paints and coatings. They even recycle their wood scraps. Check out their site for more about there sustainability efforts.

OK, now, about the Comet Pagan. The Pagan is one of Comets downhill/speed boards. They make it in two configurations — a drop-through (where the trucks actually drop through the deck, lowering the entire board), and the flush-mount (on which the trucks are mounted in a recessed area, lowering the board by the thickness of the baseplates). Both of these configurations have the effect of increasing the stability of the board by lowering the center of gravity. I decided to get the drop-through deck.

One of Comet’s early innovations for downhill riding is their “spoon concave”. I don’t know if they still use that terminology, but since it is highly descriptive of the product I continue to use it. The entire riding surface of the board is bowed slightly down toward the middle of it’s length, producing a rocker (there have been many boards with rocker before). In addition, the board has a nice concave. Combining the two – rocker and concave – creates a nice “pocket” for your front foot, just behind the front truck. This feature increases the feeling of stabilty provided by the drop-through truck mounting.

The spoon concave has one other effect. It changes the angle of the front truck just slightly, as the truck is actually tipped up just a bit. This changes the turning geometry of the board, also increase stabilty somewhat.

Why is stability important? Because this board is made for going very, very fast. Faster than I will probably ever go. However, as you’ll see in my previous post, stability can help you even at lower-fast speeds if your course is on crappy concrete or is particularly technical.

As you can see, the board is shaped to minimize the potential for wheel bite with larger wheels. I’m not going to say wheelbite is impossible, but with my 72mm wheels and Randal trucks it isn’t a problem. I realize that these days 72mm is not considered that big. But I don’t really like huge, bulky wheels. Maybe if I were racing, but for my kind of riding I like agility and fast acceleration.

The Pagan is 10″ wide, at its widest point, and 42″ long. This is good size for me. I’m 6′ tall, and a little over 200 pounds. For smaller riders, or those who prefer a shorter board, Comet makes a smaller version called the Loki. It looks killer too. The Pagan is a nice, big platform. Easy to move your feet around, but the spoon concave lets you feel locked in when you need it. It allows a nice variety of stances — from wide to narrow.

Comet’s earliest boards were pretty flexy. Their newer downhill boards, like this, are not. Under my 200 pounds, this board is just flexy enough to absorb a little shock. It is really a very stiff board. Again – it is made for going at the higher end of downhill speeds (people are hitting 50mph + these days), so most of the flex has been eliminated.

I ordered this board as a complete setup from Milehigh Skates. It is set up with Randal-II 180mm trucks, and Retro Freeride wheels (72mm, 80a). Mark, the owner of Mile High, sets all the boards up himself. He is probably the only person I know from whom I’d buy a complete. He is the only person I really trust to do it right. Mark doesn’t just slap the components together. In particular, he customizes every set of Randal trucks he sends out. He “faces” the hangers (check his website to find out what that means), puts in better king pins, and installs better bushings and flat washers.

Don’t get me wrong — a stock Randal is great. Mark just makes them better. Mounting trucks on a drop-through deck requires some little washers and the right hardware to make it work well, and Mark does all that too. He also uses really good bearings and good bearing spacers, so the wheels are set up just right. No slop. A totally solid setup, right out of the box.

I think my previous post does a good job of describing how well I think this board rides. I think the drop-through and spoon rocker really make a big difference when you are turning at a good rate of speed. Especially when you are making a 90 degree turn around a corner at 20+ mph. I have a lot of boards, and I can tell you this board just handles those situations better. Lower is better.

Since that first session on this beast, I’ve had a chance to ride the Pagan on a mellow, longer hill with nice smooth asphalt. I was just blown away. On the crappy, patched concrete around here, I feel like the Pagan allowed me to get down the hill and make a hard turn in one piece. It drifted a bit, but any board would drift on the surfaces in my area. However, on smooth ashphalt, this sucker rides like a formula-1 race car. Fast fast fast, and just hugs the ground, but still turns and carves all buttery-like.

I need to get it out somewhere and try a few slides. The pavement here is really really bad for sliding, but I’ll find some.

OK, to wrap up this review, as you can see, I’m pretty stoked about this board. I think it is a very versitile board for riding hills, suitable for relaxed carving or free riding, as well as fast hill bombing. Just really a superior board, made by a company that cares about the planet.

the Loaded Dervish

A couple of months ago, Loaded Longboards sent me this killer setup. Well, actually mine is a little different. I stole this image from Mile High Skates, where you can purchase this fine beast.

Loaded has been making some of the most innovative boards around for a couple of years now. Having the Adams on their crew hasn’t hurt either. The Dervish is the most recent addition to their line.

Like all their boards, the Dervish is built from Bamboo and Epoxy/Glass. Its a totally environmentally friendly board. The Bamboo/Glass construction gives it a really snappy flex. Not bouncy at all — but responsive.

As you can see, the trucks actually mount on the top of the board, dropping through. This lowers the board, making it more stable while carving and ripping your favorite hill, sidewalk, or parking lot. With the cutaway nose and tail, you can run pretty much any size wheel you want and have not worry at all about wheel bite.

My board came with the new 10″ Gullwing Charger trucks. They are great trucks. I’d recommend either them or a standard Randal-II 180mm trucks. I set this up with 72mm Pink Powerballs and Biltin Bearings.

The first thing you’d notice if you picked up my setup is how light it is. Even with big wheels, the sucker is light. That’s because the board itself if really light.

Like their other boards, the Dervish comes in a couple of different flexes. A softer flex (Flex 2) for you lightweights, and a harder flex (Flex 1) for big tubs like me.

If you’ve ridden any of Loaded’s other boards, like the Vanguard, you will find the Dervish is very different. It has less camber, straight rails, and is just a little more predictable in any riding situation. However, like the Vanguard, the Dervish is bi-directional. You can ride it either way — both sides are exactly symetrical.

A huge and special thanks to Loaded Boards for continuing to support Bob’s Trick Tips, longboarding, and innovative thinking.

Here is a rad video of the Adams riding the Dervish. These guys are just the worlds absolute masters of this kind of riding. Makes you want to buy a Dervish. Well — do it!

Sometimes the simple things are best. Sure concaved, cambered, vert-lam bamboo, carbon wrapped hi-tech goodies are cool, but a few plies of flat Baltic Birch can be Nirvana. Case in point…the GarageBomb 44.

The GarageBomb 44 is 44″ long (duh…), 9″ wide at it’s widest point, and sports a 29″ wheelbase. Cut-aways at both ends allow for pretty much any wheel you wanna run. It’s shaped from 1/2 Baltic Birch, which gives it a nice spring. GarageBombs are handmade one at a time in San Antonio, Texas. Our boy Blaster, the brains and builder of GarageBomb, slaps an immaculate finish on them too, pictures don’t do it justice. Blaster offers custom finishes and graphics as well. The attention to detail and craftsmanship is second to none. That crazy old man from San Antonio makes a damn fine board.

I initially set it up as shown with Randal 180s and Abec 11 Retro 70mm 80a Zig Zags. I’ve had in this set up for about 9 months, and it was good…great even. Blaster actually designed the board to run the Randals. The bounce of the board coupled with Randal’s legendary turn? Ooh Mama! The usually forbidden phrase “Just one more run” is repeated over and over whenever I take the 44 out.

Then one day a box was waiting at my front door..

Tracker FasTracks!

The FasTracks have 7” hangers and 50-degree pivot angles. Like Randals you have the ability to flip the hanger to make for a more stable ride. Did I mention the Stimulator 3 bushings? No I didn’t. These things are huge! Word has it that when all is said and done there will be 3 different duros available, the orange are medium. The Stim 3s won’t fit on any other truck, but Tracker designed the FasTrack’s hanger to accept common size bushings too. Top and bottom bushings are both coned. Grade 8 kingpins, and not a cup washer in sight. The brains at Tracker sat down with the brains of some of the top longboard companies to hear what this planet needed in a truck. It appears they listened. Lock, stock, out of the box, they’re ready to rock. (but you’re gonna have to wait awhile before they hit the market…methinks very soon though.)

But do they work? Yes, yes they do. Those big ol’ honkin’ bushings provide a stable ride in a straight line, but are ready to turn when you are. I roll in at about 190 lbs. the medium duro works well for me. My 10 year old grom weighs more than a 100 lbs less than me, obviously they’re not gonna react the same to him, but he was smiles and thumbs up coming back up the hill. I’ll be picking up the softer duros as soon as available…’cause loose trucks save lives, and with the GB 44s cut-aways…wheelbite won’t be an issue.

Did the GB 44 lose it’s zing with the truck swap? Not just no, but HELL no. Still a platform of Heavenly goodness.

Do yourself a favor and support this DIY company. Blaster and GarageBombs are both completely humble bad asses. If you get a GarageBomb complete, Blaster takes care of all those little tweaks for you…swaps out the king pins, and throws flat bushing washers on the Randals etc.

Check ‘em out and tell ‘em GOB sent ya.

http://www.garagebomblongboards.com/

I know everyone here is an Adam Colton fan.

Adam was kind enough to send me his new DVD, Make You sMile, for review on Bob’s Trick Tips. Check out the review here.

Review submitted by B1 member Chris “gorillabiscuits” Doan.

After riding the Mini-Carve for a couple of months, I was in search of a more responsive flex. After some internet research and talking to different people, it came down to the 44? Fibreflex Pin or a Motion Comet 49. Well the Motion was a lot more expensive and harder to get so I went with the 44? FF Pin from MileHighSkates. Well, all I can say is I am not disappointed with my decision. The deck is 44 x 8.6, slight camber, vertically laminated Aspen and Mahogany.

When I first pulled it out, I immediately loved it. The pintail has the classic look, shape, and multiple wheelbase options. Naturally I mount my trucks on the widest wheelbase for maximum flex because I?m a lightweight but I?ve noticed good reviews from the heavier riders too. Now the trucks am I using are Crail Trucks from Brazil I also got from MileHighSkates. They are Randal-style trucks on a 45 degree baseplate. I also have Pleasure Tool sealed bearings and 77mm 78a Abec11 Strikers. The wheels do stick out a tiny bit due to the sideset wheels and wide trucks, but no wheelbite. I put risers on mine even though I probably didn?t need it but I put risers on everything regardless. I threw in some soft bushings and off I went.

I started pushing down the street and immediately started feeling the flow of this board. The flex allows me to pump this deck on the flats and mellow carving but down the hill is where it really shines. Going down the hill about 20mph, digging into the carves felt great. It lets me compress hard into a carve and flexes back out when you are coming out of the carve. It isn?t so much where you are ?fighting? the flex or where it throws you off. Great board for freeriding, garages, downhill carving. The only possible drawback to this board is that it is only 8.6 inches wide. Might not be so good for people with bigger feet. I wear a 9 and the board feels fine with more a surf stance.So if you are looking to add a pintail to your quiver or if you are like me and need a change from all the concave, definitely check out the Fibreflex Pin.