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Why the new Faltown 4.2 Freeride is our
most sustainable skateboard to date.  We always try our best with our skateboards when it comes to the subject of sustainability and feel it’s our duty to consider environmental impact when designing and producing new stuff. Our other decks, like many other responsible brands, come from sustainable forestry and are made in the same country the wood is felled. So when we caught wind of a company that had recently gone bust was about to scrap nearly four tonnes of maple, we drove in with our ‘eco-police’ sirens wailing, to see if we could stop or at least, reduce the size of the looming giant skateboard bonfire. We took some samples from the warehouse and promptly sat down back at the office with a cup of tea with local skateboard guru Dom Lilly and went about coming up with ideas on what we could do. What we had to work with was essentially a skateboard but was originally to be mounted on top of a snow ski, had no truck holes and was 15mm thick instead of 12mm so was to weighty to be chucking it around any parks or bowls.
At this point extra thinking caps were passed around. Several cups of tea and biscuits later, a moment of clarity revealed itself to Dom. He figured that as the board was so sturdy it would make an excellent carve board that emulates a similar feel to riding deep powder. He suggested by mounting the trucks where the kicks were would create the ideal lowered position for a really responsive skateboard that is really stable and could turn on a penny. After a quick ponder, the logic and genius behind the idea set in and went about prototyping the shape. What's important to us when creating a shape, is not substituting style for performance and insured all measures were taken to get the most out of what we had, although we did manage to blend in some sexy looking hips. Once we had produced and tested the prototype we went on a county-wide man hunt for the most sustainable crafts-men in the South West of the U.K. to transform the disused into the re-used and polish our rough diamond. It just so happened such a man was right our doorstep. Well, just around the corner at least. “We just chopped the ends up a bit and stuck some bloody wheels on it.” The previous quote is not quite how the new 4.2 Freeride from Faltown was created, but is however, how the skilled shaper and craftsman Tristan Harris of Alternature U.K. sarcastically recalls the precise and careful process of transforming once redundant maple wood into a beautifully crafted longboard. “My company had never done anything like this before, so it was a welcome challenge when the lads from Faltown came to me with their idea.”
Based in the small town of Redruth in the U.K’s South West region, Alternature is a company producing bespoke timber furniture products with minimal environmental impact, with sustainability driving its process and ethics. So when we approached Tristan, proposing that we were thinking of re-using wood, to produce our new board instead of newly manufactured, he was eager to throw his knowledge and expertise into the project. After Tristan was given the basic designs and requirements he set about producing production methods that would ensure accuracy and high performance from the skateboard once it was ready to roll. A precise template was made for the shaping and a millimetre perfect jig for the truck holes. “I am obsessive when it comes to accuracy within my work, so re-shaping the wood to Faltowns precise requirements was no problem.” To shape the board Tristan employs traditional woodcraft with modern techniques to ensure that each board is as of height quality and finish as the next. When we were presented with the first batch off the one man production line, we were genuinely surprised and astounded by how good the finish was and by Tristans commitment to quality control. The boards are then sent to a skateboard graphic printers where the finishing touch is added to what we believe to be the most ecologically sexy longboard we have produced to date. We are proud that we chose to go the extra mile when producing this board, so if decide to get hold of Faltowns new 4.2 Freeride you can feel content in the knowledge that when you are tearing up pavement or even just scooting to the off license for an eight pack, you are contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions, green house gasses and general waste that we seem to be so good at producing. Isn’t that a great notion?
How does she ride? Shorter and sturdier than most boards in its class, the 4.2 Freeride offers a more sharp and responsive ride than its competitors, when carving and pumping and despite its length of just thirty four inches it is still remarkably stable in straight line speed. The responsive deck allows you to take full advantage of the ever reliable Abec 11 Flashbacks’ characteristics allowing you to grip when you need to, but also pump out a slide for kicks. U.K. based Holey provide the quality trucks and abec7 bearings topping off the silk like ride giving you all the longboard you need to boost your eco! Available to purchase on the Faltown website www.faltownskateboards.com. More information on the Faltown website www.faltownskateboards.com Or contact us on
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You can download the boards PR PDF here . Board comes with: - Faltown 4.2 Freeride Deck - 9ply Maple
- Holey Trucks,
- Abec7 Bearings
- Abec11 Flashbacks
- Retail: £174.99
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