Product Blog: Armkandy – Swirls

February 18, 2018 by MartinB. | 5:15 pm

Last week I´ve received a letter from Fresno, California. California seems to be the latest fingerboard hotspot of the world so it´s not a huge surprise that something really new came up from Cali. Fingerboarder like evolution. They try to build new stuff and create great products. From wooden decks to urethane wheels everything seems to be possible in these days.

Talking about urethane fingerboard wheels, this is nothing new in our scene. Since Ricardo hits the market with Oak urethane wheels are really popular in our scene. One main reason is, it´s realistic because skateboard wheels are made from urethane too. And thats the point we got something new over here. Recycling old skateboard wheels and creating fingerboard wheels out of bones, spitfires or rictas?! Thats what ARMKANDY did. He took old skateboard wheels and made fingerboard wheels out of them. So lets have a look at a set of Armkandy fingerboard wheels:

As far as I know, and I´m in the fingerboard business for a long time, nobody took real skateboard wheels and created fingerboard wheels out of them. If I made a mistake just let me know :-D

Shape:

More:

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I´ve mounted the wheels on a set of YTrucks and the roll round without wobbeling. Because these wheels are single bearing wheels without a backwall, you could use them on every truck system on the market without glue, washer, spacer or something else. The bearings are fast and the material is grippy. To ride these Armkandy wheels feels different to other urethane wheels. You really feel that these wheels are cutted out of a block of urethane and not poured into a form. To be honest, the craftmanship – as you can see on the pictures – is not perfect. The wheels need still some improvements I think. Todays fingerboarding standard is pretty high. A few years ago I would not have mentioned this I think. BUt think about these wheels are way cheaper than other and you get so rough urethane and even more street credebility.

Always keep in mind, fingerboarding is pure evolution and every company has it´s own evolution. So this is the same at Armkandy. There are a sets of better looking wheels on his Instagram. Just hop over and show some love @_armkandy. And if you are interested in buying a set of recycled skateboard wheels, hop over to the Armkandy webshop: Click! The wheels are about 22/23 $. This is really cheap compared to other brands.

THANKS a lot for this set of wheels. I´m really looking forward on whats coming next and the evolution of Armkandy wheels.

All images are hosted on my flickr: Click!

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Product Blog: Winkler Wheels – Fatman Signature Wheels

January 29, 2018 by MartinB. | 2:48 pm

It feels like more than a decade since Winkler Wheels have released a new set of wheels. The last big step in the history of WW was adding a graphic print on professional fingerboard bearing wheels a few years ago. Don´t get me wrong, that must not be bad! I´m a Winkler customer since the first hour. I had a set of WW of every cut and generation. From the metal core to the first bearing, I bought them all. A decade ago WINKLER was the person with all that mindblowing stuff. He changed the whole fingerboard wheel game. BUT, to be honest, there was silence around WW the last couple years. And the competition is much bigger now. Especially if you watch all the “new” things the other companies blow out on the market. Fingerboarder always search for new products and evolution. If you don´t change your products or create something new, the people will check out other brands and buy their latest creations. This is normal in the fingerboarding scene and our world.

What to tell you about Fatman? Well he is some of the nicest guys I´ve ever met in the fingerboarding scene. And he is a great fingerboarder as well. I would love to be like him or if I were a girl I want to get fucked by him. Thats all I can say.

So I´m really happy to tell you, Winkler Wheels dropped a new shape. The Fatman signature wheels are out for a few months now and these wheels are hot like the person behind the name of these wheels. Lets have a look at the Winkler Wheels Fatman edition wheels:

Shape:

“The Fatman’s signature wheels are characterized by a wider contact surface compared to the other signature wheels and also to the Big Daddy’z. They can be used for any styles and surfaces.” This shape is big, no wait it´s hugeI This is up to date. Every fingerboarder rides bigger decks with boardrails and stuff like that and a lot of the establihed wheels are to small for this trend. So it makes sense to produce some bigger wheels. Now you can ride your wide trucks and 35mm+ decks without looking stupid.

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Ya all know Winkler Wheels. And ya all know these are some perfect round and roll and roll and roll. These wheels are, as the other WW, single bearing wheels. They fit perfect on Blackriver-Trucks and for other kinds of trukcs you need the world famous FBS spacer. The wheels last long and work superb under all conditions. The new cut is the most up to date shape they offer at the moment. Hopefully these wheels will be dropped in more colors. I think the Fatman shape could be the topseller of the product range. I´m really excited about these wheels and really recommend you guys to get a set of this wheels. You wont regret buying. Get yourself a little bit Fatman. These wheels are in stock right now. Get them right over here: Click!

This product blog wouldn´t be possible without Fatman. Since Blackriver and I are not in contact anymore – because Martin and I have different opinions on different topics – I did not expect a Blackriver related product blog on this site again. I still share everything they do, but as I said, there is no contact anymore and I think there is no interest in some close collaboration anymore. So BIG THX Fatman for sending me this set of wheels. You are right, these wheels feel sexy and really need attention.

All images are hosted on my flickr: Click!

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Product Blog: Greasy Fingerboards – Exotic 35mm

January 17, 2018 by MartinB. | 2:20 pm

Some couple of days ago I´ve presented a 35mm Greasy Notorious BIG fingerboard deck to you right over here: Click! I directly fall in love with this deck and made it my actual setup. Today I will show you the second deck of this awesome package from Canada. It´s a 35mm Greasy deck again but this time we have some shiny exotic bottom ply over here:

To be honest, it was really hard to take pictures of this deck. The lacquer is so fucking shiny and refelcts the sunlight all the time. Lige a high polished piano or something :-D

Shape:

Greasy fingerboards are available in three shapes:

G1: low concave, low shape
G2: low-med concave, med shape
G3: med concave, med-high shape

Just to let you know, this shape is in the G3 Shape with a width of 35mm (!!!).

More:

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Greasy Fingerboards are made in Banff, Canada! Canada is growing more and more to some worldwide fingerboarding hotspot and I really like this. And you guys should like this too. As I allready told you, this deck is shiny as f*ck and there are a lot of improvements done since my last Greasy review. The decks are made in a 4 tons fingerboard press with industrial glue. The top ply got some laser engravement. This shit is hot! The bottom ply is some really nice veneer –> good choice! You got solid colors and I really like the G3 shape as well. The workmanship on the first deck I had was allready outstanding for a company that was founded in 2015 and it´s even better on this deck!

Graphics are available at Greasy as well. Now with real wear graphics featuring the latest high standard method. Something like vinyl real wear and the “foil” is super thin. I don´t know all the facts but this deck is my actual setup and the graphics performs super realistic. At this point I would say the real wear foil on my setup could be the best I´ve ever had. No joke.

Every deck includes one sheet of riptape and one sheet of griptape. In these days griptape is getting more and more popular again, so that’s up to date! And all the decks are available in 35mm. So you guys should get some YTrucks in 34mm and set up a Greasy. This is so much fun to ride.

You can get a Greasy fingerboard deck right over at the webshop. Graphics and more will be restocked on Jan. 18 (tomorrow): Click! Buy something! You won´t regret! The shipping from Canada was really fast. To be honest I was really surprised how fast. Even faster than some of the bikes made in Canada! So don´t wait, order something on the Greasy website!

Check out Greasy on:

Instagram: @greasy_fingerboards
Website: Click!

Thanks a lot Vinny for these decks and your support for me and the fingerboard scene. I´m in love with my actual setup. And I really have to mention that this new deck made me fingerboard even more again.

All images are hosted on my flickr: Click!

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Product Blog: Greasy Fingerboards – Notorious GFB

January 11, 2018 by MartinB. | 3:09 pm

“Biggie Biggie Biggie can’t you see
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me
And I just love your flashy ways
Guess that’s why they broke, and you’re so paid
Biggie Biggie Biggie can’t you see
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me
And I just love your flashy ways
Guess that’s why they broke, and you’re so paid”

How to start a product blog about a deck featuring a Notorious BIG graphic!? Well, with some lyrics for sure. And these lyrics fit perfect to this deck because since I´ve seen this in person the very first time I´m hypnotized by the width of 35mm. So let’s have a look on super fresh fingerboard deck made out of some of the finest woods from Canada by Greasy:

Shape:

Greasy fingerboards are available in three shapes:

G1: low concave, low shape
G2: low-med concave, med shape
G3: med concave, med-high shape

Just to let you know, this shape is in the G2 Shape with a width of 35mm (!!!).

More:

Footage:

And one more:

Greasy Fingerboards are made in Banff, Canada! Canada is growing more and more to some worldwide fingerboarding hotspot and I really like this. This deck is shiny as f*ck and there are a lot of improvements done since my last Greasy review. The decks are made in a 4 tons fingerboard press with industrial glue. The top ply got some laser engravement. This shit is hot! The graphics are now real wear graphics featuring the latest high standard method. Something like vinyl real wear and the “foil” is super thin. I don´t know all the facts but this deck is my actual setup and the graphics performs super realistic. You got solid colors and I really like the shape. The workmanship on the first deck I had was allready outstanding for a company that was founded in 2015 and it´s even better on this deck! Every deck includes one sheet of riptape and one sheet of griptape. In these days griptape is getting more and more popular again, so that’s up to date! And all the decks are available in 35mm. So you guys should get some YTrucks in 34mm and set up a Greasy. This is so much fun to ride.

You can get a Greasy fingerboard deck right over at the webshop. This graphic is not in stock at the moment, but a few others: Click! Buy something! You won´t regret! The shipping from Canada was really fast. To be honest I was really surprised how fast. Even faster than some of the bikes made in Canada! So don´t wait, order something on the Greasy website!

Check out Greasy on:

Instagram: @greasy_fingerboards
Website: Click!

One more product blog about an excotic Grrrrrreasy will follow soon. Thanks a lot Vinny for these decks and your support for me and the fingerboard scene.

All images are hosted on my flickr: Click!

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Product Blog: Level Up Fingerboards – Beta Bushings

September 10, 2017 by MartinB. | 7:15 am

Two weeks ago I´ve received a letter from Level Up Fingerboards. I´m really sorry the first review took so long, but if you are a daily reader you´ve maybe seen a few product blogs in the last few days and I try to get the done “in order of appearance”.

So today we will have a look at Beta bushings made by Level Up Fingerboards. I was really looking forward to this package because I really love good bushings. The package came up really quick and was filled with a lot of happiness for your fingerboard.

I´ve received 4 different colors of bushings and two different types. Check out the overview:

Type one fits perfect into Blackriver and Dynamic Trucks:

Type two fits perfect into Ytrucks:

It doesn´t matter what type, Beta bushings are always molded urethane rubber bushings. Check out this comparison between the type for Blackriver-Trucks and Ytrucks:

Beta Bushings are designed to look and feel like real skateboard bushings. Different shapes for different truck systems are available. This makes a lot of sense to get the right type of bushings for the trucks you use. These bushings are available in a lot different colors = get the matching color for your personal setup. I took the blue and red ones for the pictures because the neon bushings are more than just neon. Pure bushing brightness!

These molded urethane rubber bushings are excellent for loose to medium responsive tuning (on both types of bushings). They have been tested to fit on every set of up to date pro fingerboard trucks as well as on all China trucks. On some sets you need that little washer but it´s included.

You remember the sentence “Do not overtighten nuts”? Well, it´s the same on bushings. To have cool medium or soft responsive bushings you should not overtight them. If you prefer a tight and hard setup you should take other bushings.

Each set is available for 4$ directly at the Level Up Fingerboards website: Click! On the website you can get more information on the bushings and more products than just bushings.

THX a lot for this package. I´ve mounted a set on my Y´s and they feel great!

All images are hosted on my flickr: Click!

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Product Blog: Rool Wheels – Red Stamp

September 7, 2017 by MartinB. | 5:43 pm

Two parts of the Planktoon package are still left. Today we will take a look at something new from Rool Wheels. The brand new “Red Stamp” single bearing wheels made from the finest urethane:

Shape:

The size of these wheels is about 8mm and the cut of the wheels is the flat shape.

More:

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These wheels are single bearing wheels. The color is nice, solid and clear and the Planktoon website says they glow in the dark. In da fuckin´ dark! The wheels are made from the finest urethane and the package is a Rool Wheels classic.

The front of the wheels is stamped and painted. As you could see on the pictures the Rool wheels letters are stamped “into” the material of the wheels and the letters are painted red after stamping. For me it´s the first time I got stamped wheels like this. This is a nice and new feature and the wheels are still perfect and round after the stamp.

This colorway is not available on the site at the moment. Get maybe red/white ones? Click! The wheels are available with colored letters on solid white or as fully swirled wheels. Just take the combo you like right over here: Click!

These wheels fit on TOP Trucks and Ytrucks with the classic fingeboardstore.de wheel extender. BTW you could get this great item right over here: Click! Every fingerboarder should have a set of them! On Blackriver Trucks you don´t need this extender, because these wheels are single bearing wheels.

THX a lot for this package booooooois! The last part will follow within the next feew days.

All images are hosted on my flickr: Click!

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Product Blog: Teak Tuning – Tye-Dye Swirl Bushings

July 8, 2017 by MartinB. | 2:09 pm

Some weeks ago I´ve joined the Teak Tuning instagram raffle. Aaaaaand as the lucky bastard I am, I won a set of the latest Teak Tuning swiiiiirl bushings. I´ve received the package within 5 days after the notification. This is pretty quick for a letter from the USA to Germany. But now, let`s have a look at some sexy ‘rubber’ for your trucks:

Shape:

These bushings got a pretty clean cut! The bubble bushings are handmade bushings that are modeled after realistic skate bushings. Each bushing is handmade = look at the perfect shape!

More:

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Teak Tuning offers handmade and machine made tuning that is durable, tear resistant and high quality. The brand was created in New York in 2014 with one goal in mind – to provide a wide selection of high quality and low priced tuning to the fingerboard scene. You can choose a shit load of colors, swirls and more on every set of bushings you would like to get. 25 colors are available now!

These bushings are perfect made for Blackriver-Trucks. Probably I will try them on YTrucks too!? I really like the solid colors and the perfect cut. While checkin instagram the other bushings from Teak look solid as fuck too. I think you won´t regret some cool color for your setup because these are about 5 $ only.

Go and check out Teak Tuning:

Instagram: @teaktuning
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/iEatFingerboards
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teaktuning/
Webshop: http://www.teaktuning.com/

THX a lot for this set of super dope bushings! You guys should follow Teak everywhere!

All images are hosted on my flickr: Click!

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Product Blog: Cruiser Joy – Piglet

June 25, 2017 by MartinB. | 1:57 pm

“Limited fingerboard decks with focus on oldschool, cruiser & fun shapes only. Handmade with love in Slovakia.”

From Slovakia with love and the first time for me to receive a letter from Slovakia. For you people outside of Europe, Slovakia is a landlocked country in Europe. It´s bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. Pretty central, huh!? I think this letter was sent from Bratislava which is the capital of the Slovak Republic.

I´ve seen the company Cruiser Joy on instagram a few weeks ago. The veneer and the shapes of these oldschool and cruiser decks on the pictures looked that good, so I´ve made a post on this website and shared the brand. A couple of days later I´ve received a message from Šimon Kožička on facebook asking me if he should send me a deck. For sure I said yes and just a few days later I´ve received my very own fingerboard deck from Curiser Joy. I´ve talked about hot shapes and cool veneer, so lets have a look on the deck:

This is the 5th deck in order of productuib and its finally mine. The Codename of this shape is “Piglet”, but call it whatever you want :-D So check out the shape:

The shape is a really nice cruiser shape with a modern and upot to date concave in a size of 34x99mm.

The graphic on this deck is some kind of a realwear/paint graphic. You can see the bootom ply threw it and it´s bright and shiny, even as the bottom ply:

Some more pictures:

Footage:

And one more:

First you will notice the different shape, but that’s what it makes unique and that’s what Cruiser Joy is all about. Apart from that it has modern concave and nose is bit longer with slightly different angle than tail, just like real skateboard does, so you will be able to shred all your favourite tricks right away.

This is like the holy grail of a fingerboard cruiser deck. I can´t stop staring at it, just because of this super nice bottom ply. The width of 34mm work perfect with the new and wider YTrucks and the deck is completely hand shaped and made with five plies of exotic veneer. When I looked at the deck at first I thought this could be a four ply deck because it´s super fine and thin, but it´s made of super thin five plies:

The lacquer makes the deck super shiny and the paintjob is just perfect. And this wood is just L O V E ! The holes are perfect as fuck so the craftmanship is a 10/10 in total! Really good job Simon!

Go and check out Curiser Joy on:

Instagram: @cruiserjoy_fingerboards
Facebook: Click!
Webshop: Click!

The decks are about 28 Euro. A few deck are available at the webshop now. You should be quick to get one. If you have a shop = distribute Cruiser Joy!

THX a lot Simon for this deck and your donation. You´ve made a TOP fingerboard with this one and you should keep that great work up!

All images are hosted on my flickr: Click!

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Product Blog: YWheels – Y3 DualW 65D

April 27, 2017 by MartinB. | 6:54 pm

This is the second part of the Yellowood ultra deluxe 34mm package. After the trucks yesterday, you new some wheels, right!? The new Y3 DualW 65D fingerboard wheels. Check them ooooooooout:

Shape:

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The new Y3 DualW are harder. These wheels are now about 65D. If you know the other versions of YWheels these are soft. If you ride a lot on concrete or marble surfaces, the soft version is just perfect. But I agree if you don´t like to ride the on wood because these wheels got so much grip. Not a bad thing at all, but every fingerboarder got his own opinion.

– New Urethane Formula, Hardness 65D. The hardest wheels we made so far
– Optimized relation grip/slide for better performance.
– Realistic wheel design.
– Dual bearings have more contact in the axle, making the wheel more stable, with less wobbles and no jamming.
– Dual bearings with lubricated cream. Shield on one of the sides.
– Designed to fit perfectly on Ytrucks.
– Professional lathered for smooth ride.

And I can tell you again, I felt the difference. I´ve mounted these wheels to my new 34mm ship and the wheels feel harder than all the other YWheels before. The performance on wood and concrete is perfect. These wheels still got the urethane feeling. I really like them on Hitting The Streets and on my Blackriver Playgrund. Again a big step forward for YWheels!

Get them right over here: Click!

THANKS again boiiiiiiiis!

All images are hosted on my flickr: Click!

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