Terrell Robinson is straight outta Compton, paid his dues and deserving of his first pro-model and Darkstar have totally pimped his ride. The technology behind these decks is actually a work of genius – nothing like Powell Peralta’s attempts with “Bonite” (cardboard layer that went soggy!) way back in the day.
Armor Light has a carbon composite layer that runs down the core of the board allowing the other plies to be really thin – combined with new resin glue it comes out super stiff. The stiffness gives it a deceptively brittle feel and at 7.5″ it’s a little smaller than my usual ride, so I thought I’d hit up Meanwhile 2’s new banks and blocks to test it out.
This thing has pop – actually, it’s not like normal pop, it’s more like a snap – and it’s such a crisp feeling. The concave and tail angles are all pretty deep and aggressive, so for sticking to your feet this is perfect, shifty ollies are a breeze and the big nose is spot on for popping nollies, especially as the concave runs full length so your back foot sticks on switch tricks. The board kept its shape 100%; a lot of decks with deep concaves tend to straighten out a little as the ply is battling to return to its pre-pressed shape – but the bonding is so tight, it didn’t sag a bit, maybe due to it hardly flexing.
There is something I never understood about Darkstar. The products they put out are super tech, the wheels have advanced cores and formula, and the decks are years ahead of most wood shops, plus the team are bang up to date and on point street technicians. So why are the graphics so gnar? This deck has Terrel getting snuffed out in an electric chair – what’s up with that? I don’t know who the company is aiming at but the quality product and team are going to attract the Transworld reading street crowd, rather the slash-dawgs from some backyard pool session.
Darkstar wood is unique, and fun to ride – and has the added bonus of a warranty. If you break this deck in 30 days, they will hook you up with a fresh one – I rode their last wood and snapped one on an ollie to rock on a ¼ pipe – to be fair, most decks would have snapped with the bad landing – I went back to the shop (Halfpipe) and they just took the date I bought it down, my receipt number and gave me a new deck right off the bat! With such a confidence in their wood you can happily go out and push it to its limits knowing that the warranty has got your back
Go get some, shit’s tight!
9/10
Philip Procter