What it is. The “Bigfish” is Motion Longboards’ premier standard pintail shape, and they make with a vertically-laminated core of aspen and maple, sandwiched between layers of fiberglass and “scratch-resistant” TPU. It’s thin, with a concave contour and striking graphics laid under the TPU on the underside of the deck. The pattern shows through crisply enough that some of our reviewers argued over whether it was above or below that glossy, outer layer of the deck. The Quebecois call it a “medium flex” and you’ll see from our measurements that it’s well suited to lighter riders, although our heavier riders didn’t find it to be too soft or springy. The concavity of the deck provides a progressively stiffer feel as it flexes, and the ‘glass over v-lam dampens the flex to some degree. It comes pre-drilled with four rear truck positions to choose from. We’ve used the shortest wheelbase option for our review.

Chameleon Fish? If you order this deck as a complete, Motion will sell it to you as a “freerider” with Crail 180’s and Kryptos, or as a “slider” with old-school trucks. We also used various setup with this deck, but using either the ubiquitous Randal 150 or the Holey trucks. We’ve raged the hills overlooking the Pacific with hard, 62mm Pink Polkadots, carved the same stuff with grippy 72mm Pinks, rolled both 78a and 96a 60mm NoSkoolz under the big pintail for comparison rides and ripped parking garages with Gumballs. We find the deck performs well capably as a slider and ripper, and excels in fast, hard carving for our light and midweight riders. It’s easily adapted to different riding styles and setups, although our low-riser setup did cost us a melted rail after a session with a larger rider on those Gumballs.

The Bigfish on the Streets. Our light and midweight riders fell in love with this pintail for carving and cruising. Light and fast-feeling, this board continued the “conversion” of several of our more aggressive riders to aficionados of the pintail shape. The wide foot bed and concavity are secure in hard maneuvers, and spacious enough for all our riders to get “down into” the board for drop-knee cornering. The flexibility of the Bigfish absorbs deformations in the road without feeling unstable. One rider commented, “I felt that the deck seemed to counter the shock of the hits and flex in response yet didn’t bound around like some decks do.” We also managed to capture a “pintail trait” on film that our testers appreciated without actually feeling it too much: the narrowed tail allows some torsional flex that keeps the rear truck flat in corners and counteracts the vertical flex which might otherwise give a “rear steering” feel to the board. The Bigfish doesn’t feel like it’s “twisty”, but the photos don’t lie and it handles great for all but the heavier riders in our group.

An alluring ride. Our women riders found the Bigfish to be a very responsive and fun longboard to push around, commenting on how smooth and responsive the ride is. Smaller, lighter riders were occasionally put off by the width of the Motion –before they rode it. After spending some time on the Bigfish, however, they were unanimous with their praise for the broad camber and mild, controlled flex in the deck. One woman, using the deck to develop sliding and carving technique among the aggressive Ninja Bomb Squad crew, commented to us, “…I found the shape to be perfect! It has the right amount of raised edge to perch my toe on for turns and the concave held my feet really well during laybacks and hand carving.” Another praised the board for how light it feels, compared to its wide appearance and length. The mild contour of the concave is very easy to become accustomed to for riders more familiar with flat decks.

One of our riders switched to the Motion from a carbon fiber Sector Nine and immediately commented on the “power in the flex” of the Bigfish. As opposed to the pressure needed to drive the rails of the S9, he found the Canadian pintail to be flexible and power driven, exclaiming how well it stuck to the line as he edged it over. Our campus cruisers loved the Bigfish as a commuter: it’s flexible enough to provide a smooth ride even with some of the smaller wheels we tested, and more agile than it might appear to be from afar. With 60mm, 78a wheels on Holey trucks, the Bigfish is a tight-handling utility board, albeit just a little too large to tuck under most classroom seats.

Low drag and high speed. The hard carvers and shredders in the Ninja Bomb Squad found the Bigfish to be a high-performance pintail, too. With the larger, softer wheels on it, we feel the Motion is an excellent carving board. “It’s got enough flex to powerfully drive through carves and to pump for speed,” reported on rider. Another added, “The wheelbase and contours were great for flatland pumping and using the back truck to drift with hard carving. I never charged out of a line with a slide and hard powerful corners were always a reliable drift, without any sudden surprises.” In fact, the Bigfish has become a garage and big-hill champion under the capable feet of one reviewer that paid for the board, outright, just to keep it in his quiver.

Cast your nets. Motion’s Bigfish is a well-built, light-feeling, easily controlled and highly adaptable pintail. We think it’s an excellent choice as an all-arounder for any longboarder under 200 lb. With ¼” risers and a switch of wheels it could fit almost any bill for any such rider. There aren’t a lot of these around, so if you want one of these hand-laid Canadian delicacies call ahead and prepare to wait for availability. If you do, we think you’ll find it’s well worth your time.