Just The Facts, Ma'am:
Actually, I've gotta give Landyachtz a whole lotta credit here: All of the necessary info is right at their website, front and center, available for everyone to see for themselves! Here ya go:
Here she is! The "tester" board had orange wheels, though. We swapped them out with 98mm Abec 11 Flywheels, which worked the tits. Photo courtesy of www.landyachtz.com.
It's this sort of thorough-ness that Product Reviewers (like Me!) just looovvve.....
The Purpose
The DH Race is just that: A board designed for bombing your local mountain road at speeds approaching 70 mph... complete with steep straights, hairpin turns, and rocky shoulders, with cliffs and trees whizzing by your ass... in a relatively "safe and straightforward" way. However "safe and straightforward" you can possibly be at those sorts of nutty velocities, of course...
The main attributes for downhill race boards are: A lowered center of gravity (for stability, and also for aerodynamic reasons); Huge, soft wheels with gigantic "footprints" (for speed, coupled with grip); Wide, cantilevered trucks (again, for stability- no wobs); And, a thick-ass, tough-as-nails, 11-ply Maple construction (weight and bulletproof strength, of course, being positive attributes in downhill racing...)
The Cost
Between about $250 to $300 for the whole race-ready setup. This one was borrowed from one of the Old Indy Skaters crew (Bart), so: Thanks, Buddy!
I'm going to definitely be buying an Evo, having enjoyed the DH Race so much. The price is still in the same ballpark as the DH.
Where Landyachtz Is Totally Blowing It...
The big thing that I noticed in my "testing" is that... well, Indiana doesn't have any mountains, for starters. So: I sort of had to find "alternative" uses for this thing.
So, what "uses" did I find?! Well, it's awesome for walking the dog (the dog pulling my ass around, of course). The dog appreciated the easy-to-roll quality, so he didn't get anywhere near as tired as he usually does. I liked that the big and menacing appearance of the board motivated the dog to keep running his little ass off, which shortened our "walks" appreciably...
I also like to so some really long-distance skating now and again. My favorite trip is down The Monon Trail, between Carmel and Broadripple here in Indianapolis... an 11-mile [or so] one-way trip. The lowered deck totally helps here, as it's a far easier "push" than a normal, top-mounted deck. It definitely reduces fatigue. And, it's way easier to stop when you're getting cut off by a bunch of clueless Hoosiers.
It's also absolutely ideal for teaching "newb" skaters, as again, the lowered platform makes pushing it around a breeze, and the long length, lowered CG, big wheels, and wide-ass trucks all conspire to make this one of the "safest" skateboards imaginable. It's actually quite hard to physically fall off of it, and it's not that far to terra firma in any rate. Thus, this would be the ideal thing to market to Baby Boomers as an alternative-fitness-and-transportation device. And considering that the Baby Boomers have most of our nation's wealth on hand, they're also the ones that would most likely be able to afford one of these...
So: If I were Landyachtz? I'd be actively marketing these, in those "other" directions, as well as to the downhill racers out there.
Kids aren't very compatible with this at all, as it's size and weight are a little too much mass for their little frames to cope with. This is absolutely an "adult-sized" board, and the bigger the "adult" is that's riding it, the easier it is to ride. Landyachtz does make a "grom" sized version of this, for those little kids. Which is way smart.
I wish more companies did this: A good, clear, easy-to-see-everything multi-shot of the complete board. Photo courtesy of www.landyachtz.com
The Wheel Swap
I ended up liking this board a whole lot more with the Abec 11 Flywheels, than the original, narrow Hawgz wheels that it came with. The Hawgs felt kinda cheap, hard, and shitty... but, with Flywheels, it became such a better ride. I'll probably order my Evo with Hawg Monsters, but keep some Retro Rebound-Formula Zig-Zags or Bennett Alligators on hand, just in case.
The Bear trucks could have used a bushing swap, maybe... but, then again, it rode just fine with the OG, stock bushings. No complaints there.
Here's the very-similar Landyachtz Evo that I'm planning on buying. It's clearly a little more attractive, graphics-wise... and, I think that it has a nicer shape to it, as well. Again, photo courtesy of Landyachtz.
Notice the deck angles, where the trucks mount to the deck. This is "wedging" and "de-wedging", clearly illustrated. In the top view, the front of the board is to the right; on the bottom view, the front of the board is facing left. Photo still courtesy of Landyachtz...
Why The Evo...?
I'm buying the Evo, because of the "wedged" deck design. The angle of the board at the truck mounting points changes the way the trucks respond. The front truck is "[positively] wedged", which means that it turns sharper, and is more responsive, while the "de-wedged" rear makes that truck more stable. I figure that these "wedges" will make the board better suited to urban life (crowded streets, human obstacles, crazy drivers, etc) than the DH Race, which is obviously built for the wide-open road.
