Brakes on skateboards are a controversial subject. The focus of this article isn\'t so much whether brakes themselves are good or bad--you can decide that for yourself, but to talk about the up and downsides of the Skatebrake...

I\'ve had the opportunity to ride the Skatebrake board for over a month now. From the day I got it, I was impressed with its ease of use. The learning curve is almost zero. The instructions for the board say something to the effect of \"pump the brake the first time you use it to get a feel for how it works, make any adjustments you feel necessary (in handle tension) and you\'re good to go.\" They\'re actually very detailed, but to get started that\'s all you need to know. Operation is as simple as using a bicycle brake--smooth, controlled and very stable. Everyone who rode it had the hang of it on his or her first run.

Stopping from any speed (I tested it up to approximately 30 mph, though it\'s been approved for 40+ mph) was very smooth. Skidding was minimal--just like on a bicycle, where you can stop in a short distance without skidding, the same is possible on the Skatebrake. My impression was that the stopping distance was comparable to that of a bicycle. We\'ll be doing some extended stopping distance tests with a GPS and post the results here in the future.

The Skatebrake setup I tested was made for speed. It is a long, stiff, wide board (46