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When I first got into surfskating almost two years ago
the first thing I noticed
was how hard it was to choose a surfskate.
I personally spent months researching
before I bought my first surfskate.
And so when I started my channel
my primary goal was to help non-surfer beginners like me
to save time, money and hassle
by choosing the best surfskate for them.
And to do that, I went out and purchased
every surfskate I could get my hands on.
It was just one giant research project.
So at the time of recording this,
I've invested over $16,000 on more than 60 surfskates
from 27 companies and 11 countries around the world.
And that includes 28 different surfskate trucks.
And many of those have been purchased from Amazon.
So in this review, I want to answer the question:
What are the best surfskates on Amazon
and what are the surfskates
that you should avoid in order to save some time and money.
And a quick note on this,
I've received a lot of feedback from people who say
that we should be buying from our local dealers
and not from Amazon.
And my response to that is that would be really nice
in the ideal world
but the reality is that the vast majority
of surfskaters out there today
don't have access to a local dealer who sells surfskates.
In my town, when I first started,
there wasn't any surfskate dealers.
Now there is one dealer who carries Carvers and that's it.
And so, unfortunately that's just not possible
for most buyers to go out there and look at a local shop.
And so we're left to either buy from the companies directly
from their websites or from Amazon.
So in this review,
I'm gonna put all of the surfskates I've purchased
from Amazon in four different categories,
the good, the okay, the bad and the ugly.
And when I categorize these,
I'm looking at three different variables; price, versatility
and quality.
Price is obvious
because we all want to save money.
By versatility I mean,
as you improve your skills as a rider,
will you be able to stick with that original system
or will you outgrow it and need to upgrade?
In which case, in my opinion,
that's a waste of money
because you should have just bought a better one
in the first place.
And I consider quality for the same reason
because if you buy a board that's just not going to last
because it has poor component parts
or you maybe even have to upgrade some parts.
In my opinion, that's also a waste of money as well
because you would've saved more money
by just buying a better one up front.
And one final note
before we get started is I'm going to state it
as a general rule of thumb.
In my experience, you don't want to invest in a surfskate
that's less than $150.
All of these ones that I've tried
that's kind of the cutoff point for me,
where I personally, from my experience in trying all these
I would not recommend any surfskate that I've ever tried
that's less than $150.
Okay. So with all of that said,
let's start at the top of the list of the surfskates
that I categorize as "good".
These are the ones that I've tried
and feel like I can confidently recommend them
as surfskates that tick all of those boxes of price,
versatility, and quality.
At the top of the list,
I would recommend the Waterborne Surf Adapter.
Now you've got a complete system here.
They don't sell their completes on Amazon
but they do sell just the Waterborne Surf Adapter
with the Rail Adapter as a kit.
At the time of making this
you can get the front surf adapter alone for just $59
or you can get the package
with the additional rail adapter on the rear for $79.
I think the Waterborne Surf Adapter
is a fantastic way to start surfskating
especially if you're just dipping your toe in the water.
You're not sure you wanna invest in it.
It's by far the cheapest way to get into surfskating.
Although the caveat there is
you have to have your own complete setup from a skateboard
or a longboard to put it onto.
So if you don't have any skating experience
and you don't have any completes laying around,
well that's not going to work for you.
You'll have to get something else.
And even if you try the Waterborne Surf Adapter
and then get into surfskating and want to try new things,
the Waterborne isn't going to be a waste of money
because it's still something that can stay in your quiver
and be just an additional ride for you
even if you get into some of the other systems.
The next surfskate that I would recommend
as a good surfskate to buy on Amazon is the Slide.
You can get Slides on Amazon for about $220 US
which is $50 cheaper than a Carver CX system at 270.
You can watch my other reviews on Slide
but I think that the Slide is a fantastic system
especially for beginners starting out.
It's a stable truck for beginners
but it's also very functional and versatile.
You can do anything you want on a Slide
from pure surf training to just street cruising,
to even trick skating or park and bowl riding.
And the Slide is definitely something
that you can grow with
as you improve your skills as a rider.
Now, I don't find it to be the highest quality system
but that's reflected in the price.
The next one I would recommend as a good surfskate
on Amazon is you'll find a collaboration between
Arbor Collective and Carver.
Now, I personally haven't purchased one of those
Arbor Collective boards but it's very obvious
that those are very high quality boards.
And the Carver system is fantastic
from anyone from beginner to advanced.
Now you're gonna pay about the same as you will for a Carver
for one of those collaborations.
So it kind of just comes down to the aesthetics of it
if you like those boards.
And then the final surfskate
that I categorize as "good" on Amazon
is the Hydroponic System.
Now this is a Carver CX clone,
and I'm going to say that as a rule,
if you get a Carver CX clone
will it function as a surfskate?
Will it pump in a carve? Yes.
Will it give you the same performance
and range of motion as a Carver CX? No.
However, of all of the Carver CX clones that I've tried
to me, the Hydroponic is the best
and I really really enjoy this Hydroponic ride.
It really honestly feels like a Carver.
This is definitely a board
that you can improve as a rider on and keep forever.
Now let's move on to the Amazon search case
that I categorize as "okay".
And at the top of the list, I would put the Z-Flex system.
So Z-Flex did a collaboration with Waterborne
where instead of coming up with their own surfskate truck
they just put a Waterborne Surf Adapter on the front.
And I believe you can get this on Amazon for $199 US
and personally, I wish that it was just a little bit less.
You can watch my other review on the Z-Flex.
And I'll just say, I like it but I don't love it.
The reason being is because
I don't think that you get a great versatile deck.
It's really kind of a basic cruiser deck.
And my other kind of complaint about the Z-Flex
is these small, hard wheels.
They're not a deal breaker and they work just fine.
They're just not very versatile.
They're not great for going longer distances
over rougher surfaces.
So if you get a Z-Flex, I think that you're gonna want to
at least upgrade the wheels.
And in that case at a price point of $199
I think that you may be better off
just upgrading to something from the start
that has better wheels.
The next surfskate system on Amazon
that I would categorize as "okay" is the TailorShape.
They offer three or four different models
and their prices range from anywhere from I believe
$149 US to $169 US.
Like the Hydroponic this is also a Carver CX clone.
And to me, it's one of the better ones that I've tried.
You don't get the same range of motion as the CX.
And it's also heavier than the CX.
I'm not a fan of the TailorShape wheels at all.
They're very low rebound and therefore very slow.
So this TailorShape to me is about the cutoff point
about like, this is like the lowest quality that I would go.
But if you wanna save some money
and you want to have the confidence that you're on a system
that you can grow with as a rider
I do think that the TailorShape works great.
I also like the TailorShape decks a lot.
I think that they're much better than like that Z-Flex.
I think that you get a lot more versatility
and performance out of these decks.
You could do a lot more with them
than you can with some of the more basic cruiser decks.
And the final surfskate on Amazon
that I would categorize as "okay" is the Penny High-Line.
Now I don't have my Penny High-Line anymore
because I gave it away in a giveaway last year.
Now Penny did the same thing as Z-Flex
where they created a deck
and then did a collaboration with Waterborne,
put a Waterborne Surf Adapter on it.
And I like the Penny High-Line.
I call it the "Volkswagen Bug" of surfskates.
It's small, it's zippy, it's nimble.
You can have a lot of fun on it.
It's like a fun little college campus cruiser.
The two biggest caveats
that I would say about the Penny High-Line are number one:
It's a very short board
so it's not going to fit the majority of riders out there.
It's only gonna fit you if you're fairly short.
And then the other thing I would say about it is that
like the Z-Flex has very small and harder wheels
which just makes it not as versatile.
You don't wanna ride the Penny High-Line
over rougher surfaces or for longer distances
but in terms of price and quality, I think it's fine.
It's definitely something that's gonna last you forever.
I don't think you're gonna have any issues
with the component parts but you just wanna make sure
that it's going to fit your stance with.
Now, let's move on to the category of Amazon surfskates
that I categorize as "bad"
and anything moving forward are ones that I recommend
that you don't waste your money on.
And the first thing I'm going to say is
refer you back to that rule of thumb
of to me and my experience.
Anything under $150
is not something that you wanna waste your money on,
because if you improve your skills as a rider
you're definitely gonna wanna upgrade your system.
And you're not going to get the long-term quality out of it.
And the first one I'm gonna start with is the Landyachtz.
Even though the Landyachtz is priced at $199
and that's above that $150 mark,
to me, I don't recommend the Landyachtz at all.
For starters, I think that the Landyachtz truck
compared to the CX or any other better systems out there
is just not nearly as functional.
You don't get the same range of motion.
It's actually quite hard to pump
and it's especially hard to get started pumping
from a standstill.
It kind of has this mushy feel to it.
You're not going to get a lot of performance out of it.
I've also said on multiple occasions and other reviews
that I just am not a fan of this deck at all.
It's just very flat,
which means that it's kind of a basic cruiser.
The next Amazon surfskate
that I'm gonna categorize as "bad" is the Charger-X.
I think that you can actually find Charger-X options
as low as $69.
I think I paid about $139 or $149 for this particular model.
This is also a Carver CX clone.
I don't find it to be nearly as functional
as the original CX.
You don't get the same range of motion.
The wheels on the Charger-X are very slow, very low rebound.
And it's just a classic case of you get what you pay for.
Are they cheap? Yes.
But they're cheap for a reason.
You're not going to get the quality
or longevity out of this.
The next Amazon surfskate I categorize as "bad"
and don't recommend is the NKX.
This is also a Carver CX clone.
I paid $99 for this board.
I honestly would call this NKX, a cheap kids toy.
I think that the Charger-X truck is better than this one.
These decks are very flat and basic.
You don't have really any wheel base options.
So they're only going to fit shorter riders.
I think you're definitely gonna get things breaking down
over time on this.
So all in all, personally,
I find the NKX to be just a waste of money.
The final surfskate that you can get on Amazon
that I would categorize as "bad" is the Surfeeling.
Now, I also don't have my Surfeeling anymore
because I traded it with a guy in Netherlands
who wanted to look at the truck.
You can watch my other review on this
but personally I did not find the Surfeeling truck
to be very functional at all.
You don't get a good range of motion out of it.
It's a lot harder to pump than some of these other systems.
So all in all,
I just am not a fan of that Surfeeling at all
compared to some of these other systems.
And I really just think it's going to be a waste of money
on for you.
Now, moving on to the Amazon surfskates
that I categorize as the "ugly".
These are the ones that I think
are an absolute waste of money that you want to avoid.
And at the top of the list is the Flow system.
Of the 28 different surfskate trucks that I've tried,
to me, the Flow is by far the absolute worst.
Now you can get a Flow for as cheap as $85
but that's for a reason, you get what you pay for.
It has a very limited range of motion.
It has a hard stop to it
that when you pump aggressively
actually will kind of toss you off the board
when you hit it.
It's actually very hard to pump
compared to a lot of these other systems.
So it's not great for beginners,
even though it's marketed to beginners
and everything that you see on the Flow
is just very, very poor quality.
This is definitely a system
that you cannot grow on or improve on as a rider.
You can only do the most basic kind of cruising with it.
And it definitely doesn't give you the long-term quality.
You're gonna have stuff breaking on this.
This is not something that you wanna waste your money on.
And to finish off the list
of what I think are the "ugly" surfskates on Amazon
that you want to avoid.
I'm just gonna give you a list of brands
that I actually haven't even purchased any of these,
but I don't feel like I even need to
because you can just visually look online
at how they're made
and realize what they're doing here.
To me very clearly, all these companies are doing is
just going to say an Alibaba.com
and they're just buying a bunch of cheap component parts
and throwing something out on Amazon.
So I'll just give you a list of these brands.
Now, I imagine
that there's going to be a lot more popping up over time,
but the time of recording this,
this list of brands for me includes Ferrari, Boilgon,
Losenka,
Rekon.
Now you could argue that I haven't tried these
and I shouldn't be recommending this, but honestly
I mean, you do your own research and look at these.
And I think that you can just visually look at these
and look at the pricing on them and just say,
yeah, you're gonna get what you pay for.
You are absolutely
not going to get the quality out of these.
They're just honestly, cheap kids toys.
Now to finish off this review,
let me talk about Hamboards,
because I haven't discussed these yet.
I haven't categorized them in any of the categories.
You can get a number of Hamboards models on Amazon
ranging from, I believe $199 all the way up to $699.
So I'm not gonna categorize these as
in any of those other categories to,
because to me Hamboards are kind of just a unique category
all their own.
They don't feel and function
like any of these other surfskate systems.
Now my recommendation on Hamboards is
it might be something that you like,
but don't invest in it until you've actually tried it.
Find a dealer that has some demo boards and give it a shot
because these are more expensive boards.
And if you don't like it
it's just gonna be a waste of money for you.
So that concludes my list of the best
and worst surfskates on Amazon.
And if you want even further help
to save time, money and hassle
in choosing the best surfskate for you
then I invite you to get my Ultimate Surfskate Selector
at www.surfskate.love
All you have to do is answer eight quick questions
and it's going to spit out the best surfskates for you
based on those eight different variables
so that you don't have to waste $16,000 on surfskates
like I have.