Name: A Step-By-Step Guide to Choosing Your First Surfskate
Uploaded: 2021-06-29T09:16:55.000Z
Duration: 19 min 11 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Steve Palmer with Surfskate Love here, and in this  video I'm going to save you a ton of time and  

money by giving you a step-by-step process for  choosing the perfect surfskate for you. I started  

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my website and channel because when I first got  into surfskating and fell in love with it, I was  

really surprised by three things: 1) how  few people know about surfskating, 2)  

how it's primarily focused on surf training  specifically for surfers, and 3) how hard it is  

to find good information to make the right  decisions. And in my opinion it's that third  

one that's holding surfskating back from fully  exploding. People don't even know what a surfskate  

is let alone how to choose one. And because I love  surfskating so much, I set out to do something  

about that. And the first thing I did was buy  every surfskate I could get my hands on from  

all across the world. I've been buying boards for  months and all told to date I have spent over  

four thousand dollars on surfskates. And in this  video I'm gonna share my experience with you so  

that you don't have to waste four grand dialing  in on your perfect specs. If you go through this  

process, you could get into the perfect surfskate  for you for as little as $79 and no more than  

$400. So as you can see, I've tried all the major  brands and almost everything out there including  

Smoothstar from Australia, YOW from Spain, Carver,  Waterborne, Hamboards, the Curfboard from Germany,  

the Mindless from the UK, and a whole lot more. And there's a handful out there that I haven't  

been able to get my hands on yet, but I think  I have a pretty good grasp of what's out there.  

To cover all the details that I need to in this  video, this is going to be a longer video. But Im  

going to help you navigate it by using timestamps  in the video description. So I'm going to start at  

a high level and then you're going to dial in on  where you should focus and then you can just use  

the time stamps to get the relevant information  for you. I don't sell boards, I don't represent  

companies, I don't use affiliate links. My loyalty  is to you, the surfskater out there trying to  

make an expensive decision that you don't want  to get wrong. Believe me, I've been through this  

process. Okay so let's dive into this step-by-step  process for choosing the perfect surfskate for you.  

The first step is to choose which brand to  buy based on your budget, your riding style  

and purpose, and the experience you're looking for.  And once you've chosen the right brand, then you  

start zeroing in on your specific board specs for  your height, weight, riding style, environment, and  

purpose. I'm not going to go into a lot of details  on specific brands in this video. If you want to  

learn more about any of them I invite you to watch  my other review videos. So here's the bottom line:  

for reasons that you can learn about in my  other review videos I'm going to right out  

of the gate eliminate every other company except  for five: SwellTech, Smoothstar, YOW, Carver, and the  

Waterborne Surf Adapter. There are other systems  out there that may be a better fit for some riders.  

But I really think that those five brands are  gonna be the best option for about 90% of riders  

out there. So let me give you an overview of these  then so you can hone in on the right brand for you.  

But first let's talk budget: the Waterborne Surf  Adapter is by far the cheapest way to get into  

surfskating. T's just 79 bucks on Amazon. SwellTechs range from $199 to $245. Carvers cost between $240  

and $260. And for Smoothstars and YOWs you'll  pay anywhere from $300 to $400 depending on your  

shipping options. So depending on your budget that  might eliminate some options for you right there.  

Now let's talk about each of these systems and  who and what they're good for. SwellTech is by far  

the most sensitive and hard to ride surfskate on  the market. It's for one rider and one purpose  

only: that's very advanced riders and advanced surf  training only. Honestly, in my opinion, SwellTech  

is for maybe three percent of the surfskating  population. And for most people I would probably  

recommend to start with a Smoothstar anyway. But  if you're a very advanced surfer and you really  

want a challenge, then use the time stamps to skip  to my SwellTech section. Now Smoothstar and YOW.  

These are what I call the Mercedes and BMW  of surfskates. They're the best, smoothest, most  

luxurious feeling surfskates on the market  and they're very similar in terms of their  

smoothness and range of motion. Aside from   SwellTech, they have the widest  range of motion.

In my opinion Smoothstar is smoother and glidier  but it's built more for surf training specifically.

And I don't ride bowls but I would be willing to  bet that most bowl riders would probably prefer Smoothstar over YOW.

Smoothstar decks have a much deeper concave and a sharper kicktail than YOW decks. I'm just a street cruiser and for that YOW is my favorite.

I love my Smoothstar for tight spaces and shorter distances but it's not great for long distance cruising So I'm going to bottom line  

it and say, If you're looking for surf training  specifically, go with Smoothstar. But if you're  

really just looking for more of a street cruiser  like I ride, then go with YOW. And you can click  

on the timestamps in the video description below  to skip to either section now. Now let's talk about  

Carver. If you're not a surfer but you come from  just a skateboarding or a longboarding background  

and you want to get to get into surfskating,  then hands down Carver's the brand that I'm  

going to recommend you start with. And if that's  you, go ahead and skip to the Carver timestamp  

below. And that leaves us with the Waterborne Surf  Adapter. The Waterborne is a great surfskate truck  

and its range of motion and feel I would say  is somewhat comparable to even Smoothstar and  

YOW. And it's also the best truck for long distance  pumping that I've tried. The Waterborne is perfect  

for two people: first and foremost the person who's  budget conscious and you don't really even know if  

you want to invest into surfskating. Well you can  just spend 79 bucks on the surf adapter and you're  

into a surfskate. And the second person it works  well for is the rider who loves to customize  

and tinker and fine-tune your ride. And if that's  you then click to the Waterborne timestamp below.

All right, so if you think SwellTech is your best  fit, then let's go deeper into how to choose  

the perfect SwellTech for you. SwellTech is  actually fairly easy to choose because they  

offer only seven models with five different  lengths. I got their Austin Keen model because  

it's 33 inches long and on any other deck 33  to 34 inches is my sweet spot for my height.  

But on the SwellTech it's totally different. For  my height, I should be in their longest one the  

40 inch Premiere Blackout. So honestly, I would say  that there's not a whole lot of difference in the  

SwellTech models. The single biggest determining  factor in the SwellTech is the right length for  

your height. So really the only guidance I'm going to  give you there is just really pay close attention  

to their guidelines on their website and go on  the longer end. If you're used to a 31-inch board  

then you're gonna want probably their 36-inch model in the SwellTech. But again, follow  

their sizing guidelines on their website. And  that's pretty much all I'd say about SwellTech.

Now let's talk about choosing the right Smoothstar for you. If you've decided that Smoothstar  

is the brand you're looking for, if you go to their  website you'll see that they basically offer seven  

different models. They have some variety within  those models but it really is seven models ranging  

anywhere from 26 inches for kids all the way up to  this 35 and a half inch Manta Ray, which I got for  

my height. So with Smoothstar, you're not gonna  get really any variety as far as the deck goes.  

Any deck you get on any model is going to be  that deeper concave with the sharper kicktail  

than any other deck you're going to find on  the market. And the way that deck rides  

really is a significant difference in a Smoothstar compared to any other brand out there. So  

if you're not comfortable with a deep concave  deck then right out of the gate you're probably  

going to eliminate Smoothstar and go with the  YOW. So with that said, there's really just two  

variables when it comes to choosing your Smooth star and that's the deck length and the width of  

the wheelbase. And Smoothstar makes it easy for  you. Go to their website, they have a page called  

"Choosing Your Smoothstar," and they give you really  clear and specific sizing guidelines. And like the  

SwellTech, I'm going to say really pay attention  to those and trust them. And the way Smoothstar is  

built, you're probably going to want a longer deck  than your typical sweet spot length. In my case,  

34 inches as I've said is the perfect length  for me in any other deck. But on the Smoothstar  

the Manta Ray is 35 and a half inches and that  is the best fit for me. I was considering this  

and the Felipe Toledo which is I think 34 inches.  But I know from riding this for a fact that  

anything shorter than this would be too short for  me and wouldn't be the most comfortable ride. So  

follow their sizing guidelines and err on  the side of longer when it comes to Smoothstar.  

And that's really about it when it comes to  choosing your Smoothstar model because they don't  

have variety in the decks they don't really  have variety in the wheels or or any of those  

other component parts. It really is just that deck  length and that wheelbase based on your height.

Moving on to YOW. Again, YOW is for the person who  wants the most luxurious, highest-end surfskate but  

you're going to be more focused on street cruising  than surf training. So let's help you choose the  