attack of the $69.99 longboards...

[AJ]

This is a shame.
just another bunk product out of China.
killin' all of the small timers that make good products in NorthAmerica....and EU.

[hanksurf]

daaaamn, google Starlite Longboards, it's like a cancer.

[RipTide]

Strangely enough, crap boards like these at a low pricepoint get a lot of people interested to try the sport. One thing leads to another and these boards falls apart. The flame has been lit in that person and they seek out better equipment.

Embrace the cheap, they bring sheep to slaughter.

[msk]

Well this just shows that longboarding is becoming more popular if Asian factories are doing production runs.

This has been going on for some time now. I have a 44" Chinese deck that I bought about 9 or 10 years ago...

[loafmeat]

ugh... this makes me sick. it's hard enough to make a buck selling longboards without these guys convincing retailers that the price needs to be lower. i got a phone call recently from a guy who was interested in selling my boards... we have met several times and he is a good enough guy, but i'm not sure why he thought it would be a good idea to call me and tell me about the 100$ longboard completes he is selling and how fast he is selling them. He says he put out a huge sign on the road that says "100$ LONGBOARDS".
UGH extremely frustrating!!!

keep sharing the info, skategeezer!

david
miramarlongboards.com

[KJ FiveTwo]

Is it cheaper to make harder bushings or something? Cuz whenever I see these boards, the bushings are always crazy hard! Whats the point of a longboard coming with trucks that wont turn?!!?

[phil7153]

wait.. this isnt a joke?

[kraffft]

I would ride one of those.. 70$ is kind of steep though.

Replace all stores with buying clubs.. cut out the retail mark up. Replace the commercial real estate with community centers.

So 35 plus 7 for some reds.. 42$ board.. that's getting there for me. At 2$/hr I'll only need to work half a week to get one..

Moving to China now..

[Qoose]

Strangely enough, crap boards like these at a low pricepoint get a lot of people interested to try the sport. One thing leads to another and these boards falls apart. The flame has been lit in that person and they seek out better equipment.

Embrace the cheap, they bring sheep to slaughter.

I kinda agree. My first longboard was not a very high quality product, but it wasn't cheap. Titan skateboards anyone? Only after it got stolen did I spend a few hours researching a new longboard, and guess where I am now.

I would still shoot the person who stole it though.

[killerzombie163]

Reminds me of my friend's "longboard" that he said he bought off ebay for less than 70 bux. I tried it and it was a terrible ride. It did get him wanting for a better board, a derv.

[Looptail]

Reminds me of my friend's "longboard" that he said he bought off ebay for less than 70 bux. I tried it and it was a terrible ride. It did get him wanting for a better board, a derv.

A Dervish?

So... your friend went from paying bottom-dollar for over-hyped Chinese crap, to...

...er... paying TOP dollar for over-hyped Chinese crap?

Is that what's called a "Learning Curve"?
Or not?

[rawls]

this is what happens in a market like now. the technology and manufacturing costs to copy the "real Mccoy" is just too easy. Its typical mainstream. the looks are there, but the performance and functionality aren't. the problem is this. As the mainstream begins to copy the higher end products/designs, by default the mainstream capability and functionality will increase, nearly to the point of rivaling the specialty market.

this is exactly what happned in the popsicle market. They stayed stagnant for so long (with respect to design) that the mainstream was basically able to duplicate construction, design, and functionality.

If you notice, cutting formed wood veneer into shapes is really a no brainer. They are using existing mainstream truck design, and the same longboard wheel mold they have been using for a while. there are typically two molds. The centered bearing 70mm and the krypto design.

Its just like everything else, the specialty shops will carry real equipment, the mass markets will carry lookalikes. Once lookalikes are able to perform like the specialty boards, the market will go thru a meltdown. It wont be near as bad as the popsicle market, simply because the advertising backed support, brands, and pros are not in the public eye. So it will always be "generic" thing. the maisnstream market turns things into commodities. It has no choice.

[WeekendxCarver]

Yes a can get a starlite 10 pack for the price of one good board /fail

[luftywaffles]

It sort of aggravates me when people abbreviate a dervish as "derv" or called their loaded dervish, "the dervish". It's "a" dervish; it's not that special. But then I realize I'm crazy and I chuckle a bit and I ride my Starlite Longboard away straight into a pole because I can't turn.

[Rich Nelson]

A kid up at my school had one of those and it was pretty awful. the trucks didn't turn (those type of crap trucks actuality turned me off of indy/tracker style trucks for quite a while). the wheels seem almost like a black rubber (not sure if they're urethane). I cant say much about the deck.

"So 35 plus 7 for some reds.. 42$ board.. that's getting there for me. At 2$/hr I'll only need to work half a week to get one.."
the bearings are probably the only thing on that board I would want to use.

[enemy combatant]

Yes a can get a starlite 10 pack for the price of one good board /fail

You pay $350 for a good complete? Lame.

[enemy combatant]

It sort of aggravates me when people abbreviate a dervish as "derv" or called their loaded dervish, "the dervish". It's "a" dervish; it's not that special. But then I realize I'm crazy and I chuckle a bit and I ride my Starlite Longboard away straight into a pole because I can't turn.

Nothing a set of replacement bushings won't cure.

PS - there are no correct articles of speech that apply to the word "Dervish." Some adjectives are however acceptable: saggy, Chinese, narrow, shoddy, easily split, overpriced, etc...

[Rouleau]

TGM Skateboards - Longboard Completes

[kraffft]

Nothing a set of replacement bushings won't cure.

Rider's attitude > quality of the board.

My friend was looking for a short, slalomy, banana board type thing, so I gave him this old plastic Varitek board, some roller skate wheels and some clean abec 1's, and he's been more stoked than anyone. Rode the thing until the bushings fell apart, and the yoke of a hanger broke, and is still riding it that way.

It's great watching him skate around his house all energetic, constantly making u-turns in the space of 2 feet and almost crashing into things.. then we go skate some hills or garages. There's this one epic entrance spiral ramp (Providence Place) that he can bomb flawlessly where anyone who can't slide is bailing and crashing on their longboards.

Another benefit of mass production (that I was kind of alluding to while half asleep) is that it makes skating more accessible globally. Skating could approach soccer or basketball in how easy it is to get into. And you need those longboard wheels for that global pavement.

An AK-47 only costs 25$ from the factory.. how much could a skateboard cost?

[Slippery Bean]

ha i pulled my old ebay Starlite pintail out threw some pink randals and orange freerides and went to town!!!
I had a blast despite all the "Better" boards i ride now i still enjoy it. the original trucks (180mm sraight kingpins) are currently on my ed economy with bustin bocas (and better bushings) and they are doing fine as well. now the wheels and bearings those are toast

But at least it got me stoked when i first got it
and if it was not for that deck i would not be riding the boards or with the fury that i do today