Now, I know a lot of skaters are all hardcore and strictly stick to one domain i.e. Street skating, but this is only a small part of skateboarding as a whole when you look at all the areas we can ride boards in and around. In any case, I’m down for all board sports and all terrain, so when I was approached by Tim over at BeYou, I had to have a butchers.
Instinctively dirt boards rhyme with juggling balls, and boomerangs for me. I know that is a prejudice, but all my prior experience of 180mm wheels, 25 inch wheelbases and 10 ply planks has been hanging from the wall of a kiteshop… Oh well. Tim insisted I try one of his unique Freestyle All Terrain boards and once I read the brochure and watched the demo videos I knew I couldn’t refuse. You see, the special design quality to these boards is the fact that the trucks are fixed on top of the deck with a foot strap behind each axle. This technique means the board is low enough to the ground that you can actually use the concaved tail to pop tricks and slide across surfaces.
When the box arrived, I got permission from my girlfriend (We’re going on holiday soon and sunny beaches and plaster casts are not a good look!) and reconned a forest setting where bikers had moulded bumps and jumps. Visions of Rick Howard from Mouse came flooding back. There was even a natural downhill halfpipe! Along with a the board came distinct instructions to pad up which my frieds and I complied with because needless to say, be it dirt gravel, sand or stone that shit hurts when you slam. It literally took about two test runs each and we were already powering through the undergrowth, popping ollies here and there, rotations but no slides. Sorry but we were so stoked to get my mate to leap a huge tree stump that we were all tired out by the time we got to Nature’s birch handrails. Next time I guess.
Before I sign this off, I must say two things: The Freestyle All Terrain board leaves you with a bizarre sensation of snowboarding at times. I don’t know if this is intentional, but seeing as the board is slightly shorter than a snowboard, this makes carving and sliding a lot more fun. Secondly, I think you might want to watch out for your back foot and leg which when you twist and turn can make contact with the wheels. This may result in undesirable effects, but this is mainly a design remark. Overall these boards have a great and functional design and a lovely finish to their 10 plies. Look outside the box children and be unlimited.
For more info visit email Tim Paddock at timpaddock@ntlworld.com
Or
BeyoU Ltd. Registered Office: 109 Westbourne Rd. Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, U.K. CF64 5BQ
Company No. 4683123
For the UK
Contact: –
Shiner Ltd.
Church Rd,
Lawrence Hill,
Bristol,
UK.
BS5 9JB
Tel: – (UK) 0117 955 6035
E-mail: – chris@shiner.co.uk
8/10
Ralph Lloyd-Davis
13/07/2006
