Decks: LOADED Pintail...review in progress

The people from LOADED Carving Systems asked me to check out one of their decks... It arrived early January 2005 and is ready to be tested to the max !!!

The review crew:

Mark, furry animal, ultimate box checker.

Toothless, blurry animal, weird tech weirdo.

Kenny, dready animal, fab builder and tester

The Box:

I received a well closed box early January and was pleased to see that it contained the complete deck the people at LOADED promised me... Inside I found stickers, leaflets, a packing list and some sweets...I hope they didn't drop out of some one's lunchbox! The deck was wrapped in bubble wrap and survived the trip from the States to Europe without a scratch... MARK went on checking for softness errors in the box and deceided to confiscate it...stayed in there for another 2 hours...told me it was a delight !

First impression:

After taking away the wrap, I held in my hands a complete pintail deck...what struck me straight away was the superb usage of triaxle fiberglass as mentioned in the tech section of the LOADED website...more so was the transparent grip granulate incorporated into the composite...Next was the Oak Core...a bucnh of vertical laminated stuff that is a biuatifull to look at...well made and very effective !

The underside has the LOADED logo underneath the composite, same thing as on top...simple design that does the trick...no mre noless should be on there...this also lets you have a look at the vertical laminated oak...

Another feature that caught my eye straight away was the fact that washers are mounted underneeth the truck bolts heads...you might think "So what?" but these are the small things that add to the looks of the deck and emphasisze the shear quallity of what is presented here... Overall , this looks like a wel engineered deck, made to high standards...well gripped... nice wheel and truck setup... The only question I have would be why there are no pads between the deck and the trucks...some severe city use might clear this up...loads of cobble stones to ride over here... And I saw a litlle flaw on the edge due to usage of a router to shape the deck...but that's a detail...

Technical Info:

Size: 89cm long 22cm wide 73,5cm wheelbase 8,5mm thick

Setup: Randal RII 150 trucks Max abec 5 bearings Abec11 Gumball wheels

Tech: Core built with vertical laminated Oak, covered on top and bottom with a layer of triaxial fiber glass, transparent incorporated grip, straigt angled edges and rail. The deck has a nice curve and concave, with a nice flex and bounce

First time out:

I went out for a spin over here in Antwerp (Belgium), which has a mix of asphalt and couble stones. Because of those Gumball wheels the ride was very smooth on all surfaces, and there wasn't too much speed loss. Turns are sharp and snappy but as soon as you get the feel of the deck you find out that it's ideal for cruising the roads and pavements. Pumping the deck to speed is easy and the nice flex and bounce does the trick together with the huge turn rate the pops out. You can sure try some slalom with this pintail! The deck size makes it light and easy to carry into shops...unlike dragging a Supflex 140... Overall: an ideal deck for city use, to wizz around with and to govern people, obstacles, dogs (and dogshit)... Only drawback for me is the riding hight, the Randal and Gumball setup causes this...and that's maybe why no padding was added between deck and trucks...