- Hey, thanks for watching this review.
Before we get started,
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- To date I've invested over $16,000
on more than 60 surfskates from 27 companies
in 11 countries around the world,
and that includes 28 different surfskate trucks.
Now I've done this for one reason only.
When I got into surfskating a couple years ago,
I realized how hard it is to choose surfskates,
especially when you're a non-surfer beginner like me.
You have no frame of reference for any of this.
And all the companies really do to market
is just make videos of great riders, riding their board.
And as you know
any great rider can make any board look great.
And so that wasn't helpful to me at all.
And I live in a location where I didn't have a local shop
where I could try some out.
And I think that's actually the vast majority
of buyers out there.
And so I was just left to my own devices,
just researching online and watching videos.
And so it's just been a process of trial and error for me
to really figure this thing out.
Now to answer the question,
what are the best budget surfskates?
I don't look at it from just the perspective of price.
I actually look at it through the lens of
three different variables.
First of all is price.
But secondly, I look at versatility.
By which I mean, as you improve as a rider
will you be able to stick with that original system
or are you going to want to upgrade it as you improve?
Because in my mind, if you have to do that
you really haven't saved any money.
You've actually wasted money on your first buy.
And then the third variable I consider is
quality and longevity.
How long is the board going to last you?
And that to me is the same reason for the versatility
because if you have to upgrade your board
because it's bad quality,
well in my mind again, you haven't saved any money,
you've actually wasted money.
So what's the point of that?
So after trying out all those
28 different surfskate truck systems,
I boiled them down to what I believe are the top 10.
So the first thing I'm gonna do in this review
is walk through these top 10
and point out what I believe are the best budget options
in the top 10.
After that, I'm going to move on to some of these other ones
that didn't make the cut for the top 10 in my mind,
but they may be good budget options for you
as a beginner starting out.
Okay. So let's start at the top of the first variable
of price.
Starting with SwellTech.
You're going to invest anywhere from $219 to $279 US
for a SwellTech.
Curfboard is very expensive.
I pay about $380 US for my Curfboard.
SmoothStar is also very expensive.
In the US you're gonna pay about $350 to 3$60.
The Aquilo, I paid $310 for this system.
SpiceSkate is one of the more expensive options
on the market.
They have options ranging from $369
all the way up to their new OKTO System
which is $519 for a complete system.
The Waterborne Surf Adapter
you can actually buy just the adapter itself.
The front adapter for as cheap as $59.
You can get a full kit with the surf adapter
and the rail adapter on the back for $79
or they have complete bamboo systems
that range between $222 and $242.
They also have some carbon options that are more expensive.
Yow is similar to SmoothStar.
I think you're gonna pay about $350 to $360 US for a Yow.
The Carver C7 system.
Carver actually just raised their prices,
and so the C7 system is now $285 for a complete system.
And the Carver CX system you're gonna pay $270 US
for a complete system.
And now we have the Slide at the end
where you're gonna pay about $220 US for a Slide.
So in terms of just price alone,
that leaves us with the cheapest options
on the top 10 trucks
with SwellTech, Waterborne, Carver CX, and Slide.
So now we get to the next question, which is versatility.
As you improve as a rider,
will you be able to keep these original systems
or will you have to upgrade?
Now I'm gonna say, on every one of these systems
you absolutely can improve
and you can take your skills all the way to advanced
on any one of these boards.
However, it should be pointed out that
SwellTech are very difficult to ride.
So to me, even though SwellTech
is actually one of your cheaper options,
it's not something that you're gonna want to start out with.
It would be something that you upgrade to over time
if you don't have experience with surfskating.
But on any one of these systems, these are not systems
that you will have to upgrade over time.
These are systems that you can really have
a lot of versatility with
and really take your skills to any level that you want to
on any one of these.
And so then that leaves us with our final variable
of quality, longevity,
and also in that I include ease of maintenance.
How much hassle is the system
going to create for you over time?
Now out of these options, we have two bushing-based systems
in the Waterborne Surf Adapter and the Carver CX,
and two spring-based systems in the SwellTech and the Slide.
With my experience a bushing-based system
is going to cause you less maintenance hassle over time.
Anytime you get springs involved
you have the possibility of them breaking.
Now on both of these options, the SwellTech and the Slide,
they're very easily replaceable,
and you can get those replacement parts.
And it should also be noted that
just because you have a bushing-based system
that doesn't make it foolproof.
You can have maintenance issues on those trucks as well.
But in terms of just pure quality and longevity,
aside from maybe replacing some replacement parts,
I think that any one of these systems are fantastic.
Of all of these systems I would probably say that
the Slide has the lowest quality component parts.
I've broken a spring on one of my Slides.
Now, again, that's not a huge issue
because it was very easily replaceable,
but it's just something to be aware of.
But now that we've seen these options
there's something I haven't told you yet about Carver CX.
And that is that they offer a Triton series,
which is a Carver CX system
but they just have cheaper decks and cheaper bearings.
And so you can get a Carver Triton for $170 US.
And so that means out of all of these options
a Carver Triton is going to be your cheapest.
It's cheaper than the Slide by $50.
And so what are you getting in the Triton?
You're getting a Carver CX system,
which in my mind is one of the highest quality systems,
that's going to last you the longest
with the least maintenance hassle.
And as I said the only difference between a Carver Triton
and all of their other CX models is simply that
they use different wood on the deck that's cheaper
and the decks are just not quite, in my opinion,
as good as some of the other Carver decks.
They're on the flatter side.
You don't get as much concave on them,
and on the bearings, you don't get built-in bearings
like you do on the other systems.
But in my mind, a Triton is a Carver.
So to me, my bottom line conclusion,
out of everything I've ever tried
the Carver Triton is your absolute best budget option
that checks all of those boxes.
It's the lowest price of any of these.
It's going to give you the versatility as a rider.
You can do anything you want on a Carver Triton.
You can take your skills anywhere from beginner to advanced
and it's also a very high quality system
that's going to last you a very long time
with very little maintenance issues.
So if you're asking me,
this right here is the best budget surfskate on the market.
Let me take a minute and just talk about
the Waterborne Surf Adapter Long,
because of all of these options,
obviously your cheapest way to get into surfskating
is going to be just buy a Waterborne Surf Adapter
for as low as $59.
Or if you get the complete system with the rail adapter
I think you're gonna go up to $79.
And what I would say about that is,
well first of all, you have to have your own setups.
A skateboard or a longboard.
So that works if you come from a skateboarding
or a longboarding background.
The second thing I'm going to say about that
is that the Waterborne Surf Adapter
has a very deep dive lean and a very wide range of motion,
which to me makes it harder to learn
if you're a beginning rider.
So if you have experience with board sports
and you're more of an intermediate to an advanced rider,
then I think that the Waterborne is a great option for you.
However, if you are just new to all board sports
and starting out, I'm probably gonna say,
start with a Slide or a Carver CX system over a Waterborne,
because the Waterborne's gonna be a little bit harder
for you to pick up initially.
And then the other thing I would say about
just getting a Waterborne Surf Adapter is,
will that work? Yes.
But a surfskate system is a complete system.
There's a lot of moving parts and there's a lot of
relationships between all the different parts.
So my humble opinion is that
if you don't know anything about surfskating
and you're just going straight to a Waterborne Surf Adapter
the likelihood that you're going to be able to build
your own complete system without a lot of experience
is probably fairly low.
At least in terms of comparing it to other complete systems.
I just don't think it's going to have the same kind of feel
as you can get out of a more complete system.
But having said that,
I do believe that the Waterborne is a great budget option
for just starting out and can save you a lot of money,
especially if you're unsure how much time and effort
you want to even invest in surfskating.
If you want to just try it out
then absolutely grab a Waterborne Surf Adapter.
And it's not something you're gonna be wasting your money on
because if you like the Waterborne Surf Adapter
then you're gonna want to keep investing in surfskating.
In which case you can keep that surf adapter
and you can use it on any setup you want.
And it's always gonna be a great option in your quiver.
So once you've chosen the system that you want to go with,
at that point it's just choosing the specific model
you want to go with.
And on that, I'm going to invite you
to get my Ultimate Surfskate Selector at www.surfskate.love.
All you have to do is answer eight questions
and it's going to spit out exactly the models
that you should be considering
based on eight different variables.
So now that we've got the top 10 trucks out of the way
let's discuss some of these other options
that I've purchased.
And I have these arranged in order of the cheapest
to the most expensive down the line.
Now before I get into these specific trucks,
let me just state as a general rule
that in my experience anything less than $150,
in my mind, is not worth it
because you're going to want to eventually upgrade
over time.
So in my humble opinion, it's going to be a waste of money.
So with that said, let's just take these on one at a time,
starting with Charger-X.
You're going to find options on the Charger-X
on Amazon ranging anywhere from as cheap as $69
all the way up to, I believe, $199.
I think I paid about $139 or $149 for this particular board.
Now my bottom line on the Charger-X is
yes, it's cheap but it's cheap for a reason.
In my opinion you're not going to be able
to grow as a rider with it
and you're not going to get the quality out of it.
Now it's a Carver CX clone.
It's a bushing-based system
so I don't think that you're going to have really
any long term maintenance or quality issues
on the truck itself,
but all of the component parts are very cheap.
The wheels are incredibly slow.
I'm going to say the exact same thing about the NKX system.
I've paid $99 for this board, and that's very cheap
but it's cheap for a reason.
It's essentially a cheap kids' toy.
Now we get to the Flow
which is also one of the cheaper ones on Amazon.
You can find Flow options ranging from between $85 US
and $125 US.
Personally, I think that the Flow system
is an absolute waste of money.
In my mind it's actually the worst performing truck
out of anything that you're going to see on this side.
Flow is funny because they're actually marketed
for beginners, but in my mind,
they're actually horrible options for beginners
because they're very hard to pump.
You get extremely limited range of motion on them
and you 100% are going to want to upgrade a Flow.
Now we get to the Decathlon Carve 540.
You can watch my full review on this.
I'll bottom line it for you.
I'm not a fan of this.
I think right now they have this priced at $149 US.
And I'm not a fan of it for two reasons.
Number one, I think the truck
is just not a good system at all.
You have a very limited range of motion
compared to the Carver CX.
And I just really do not like this deck at all.
It's just a really flat slab of wood
with nothing special to it.
So to me, the Carve 540 is definitely something
that you're gonna want to upgrade
if you improve as a rider.
In which case, in my mind, it's a waste of $149 bucks.
Now we get to the TailorShape, out of Israel,
which is a Carver CX clone.
And you're going to pay anywhere from about $149 to $169
at the moment, I believe for a TailorShape.
I feel like the TailorShape is a good enough system
that you can actually grow as a rider.
My biggest complaint on the TailorShape
is the component parts and specifically the wheels.
I really do not like TailorShape wheels.
They're very low rebound and therefore very slow.
So could a TailorShape work?
Yeah, but I do think that you're gonna wanna do
some upgrades to it.
In which case I more lean towards
just getting a complete system.
It's going to work better for you
without having to replace any component parts.
But that's just my take.
Now we get to the Mindless
and I believe they have this priced at $169 US right now.
It's a Carver CX clone.
Does it work well?
Does it pump well?
Yes. I really like the feel of the Mindless.
The only problem here is you just have the one option.
This is just a very short board.
I believe it's only 30 inches long.
So this is not going to fit most riders out there,
so you just have limited options on the Mindless.
Now we get to the Landyachtz.
They have a couple different surfskate options.
You're gonna pay basically $200 bucks for this, $199 US.
You can watch my full review on the Landyachtz.
I am not a fan of this system at all.
I think it's much harder to pump compared to a Carver CX,
to some of these other systems.
It's really hard to pump from a standstill.
You do not get the same range of motion at all,
and I'm not a fan of this deck at all.
It's just flat.
There's really nothing special to it.
So I don't know why they charge so much for this board.
In my mind, this is like a $149 to $$159 board.
Personally I think this is a waste of money,
and I think that you're gonna want to go with
a Carver CX system much over a Landyachtz.
The Hydroponic is an interesting system.
I believe these guys are out of Spain,
and this is another Carver CX clone.
And of all of the Carver CX clones you see behind me
I think that this is actually the best system.
This is actually a really great system.
I like the Hydroponic a lot.
It's a great ride.
It feels very similar to a Carver CX.
My challenge on the Hydroponic is that
you're going to pay similar to a Carver CX system
in which case I'm gonna go with the Carver
over a Hydroponic,
so it doesn't make sense to me.
Now we get to the Z-Flex.
Z-Flex did a partnership with Waterborne,
where they use a Waterborne Surf Adapter on their decks.
You're gonna pay $199 US for a Z-Flex.
And in my humble opinion that's not worth it
basically because I don't think that this is a great,
high-performance deck.
I think it's a limited deck
that you won't be able to grow with as a rider.
It doesn't give you a lot of different versatility options.
You don't want to use this
for park and bowl riding for example.
It's just really kind of a basic cruiser.
The other reason I'm not a fan of the Z-Flex is the wheels.
These are small, hard wheels, which they work fine,
but you just don't get versatility out of 'em.
You can't ride on rougher surfaces.
And so you're gonna wanna upgrade the wheels
in which case it's like,
well why don't you just go get a better system
from the get go that has all the component parts
that you're gonna need without needing to upgrade them.
Now we get to the WoodDetail
which is another brand out of Spain.
My take on the WoodDetail,
and you can watch my full review on this,
but I think it is a very high quality system.
You're gonna pay,
I believe they have these priced at 189 euros,
So I think that's about $200 US.
So it is a high quality system and it's priced well.
I just don't like the system.
Watch my review on it.
You don't get very much rail-to-rail lean on this at all.
The axles are also very narrow, which makes it
more of like a, almost like a pumpable skateboard.
So the WoodDetail has a unique feel,
different than anything you're gonna find out here.
And in my mind, it's just not a good budget option at all.
Now we get to the 66, out of China.
This is a Carver CX clone as well.
They have made some changes to it,
but at the time of making this video,
you're gonna pay anywhere from $219 to $239 US
for a 66 system.
And in my humble opinion,
I would much go over a Carver Triton over a 66.
And finally, we get to Hamboards,
which are also one of the more expensive options
you're gonna see on the market.
This is the Pescadito.
I think I paid somewhere in the $300 range for this
but you're gonna find options for Hamboards
ranging from I believe $199, all the way up to $699 US.
Now my take on the Hamboards is simply that
it's such a unique system.
In my mind, it's a completely different category
than any of these other surfskates.
And to me it's not something
that you're going to want to start with.
I would recommend on Hamboards,
don't ever invest in a Hamboards, unless you've tried it.
Go find a shop where you can try it.
It might be something that you like and want to invest in,
but definitely not something
that you're going to want to buy without ever trying.
And just based on the price alone
compared to some of these other options,
I just don't think that it's a good budget option.
So I hope you found this review helpful
as you're trying to choose the best budget surfskate option
for you.
And to save even more time, money and hassle,
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 exactly the models
you should be considering based on eight different variables
so that you don't have to waste $16,000 on surfskates
like I have.