Custom Loaded Terrasect Waterborne Surfskate (Breakdown)

Pros

• High quality setup
• Carving machine

Cons

• Expensive
• Large wheelbase

Deck

Length: 39”
Width: 9.5”
Wheelbase: 24.5” (or 26”)

The deck is a loaded tesseract which I’m using at the smaller wheelbase option of 24.5” – still pretty massive for a surfskate but I’ve found the waterborne adaptor gives so much agility it’s never been a problem and I feel comfortable with the added stability.

The deck was designed to be good all round but with a focus on downhill, this means it has no flex and the additional grip from the concave and extra grippy grip tape means my feet stay really locked in on tight turns.

I love having a massive kicktail as it gives a lot of control. I can switch my back foot position around as I transition between pumping etc.

The nose has admittedly been rendered pretty obsolete for me because of the waterborne adaptor so if I were setting this up again I would probably go for the truncated tesseract which only has a tail. I bought this board a while before getting the adaptor though!

Hardware

I’m using a mix of different hardware. I bought some 1 inch bits for the original setup but when I added the surfskate adaptor I had to switch some of it around so nothing would catch.

Trucks

The trucks are Paris V2s 180mm which I’ve always found great, they also look sick.

The Waterborne adaptor was what has made this board really fun to ride again. Even though the deck is huge I’ve been checking out all the skateparks in my area and it’s never felt too big or unwieldy.

I can pump from a standstill and just about uphill. The long wheelbase means I can get a nice big carve radius which makes going along the flat fun. I find I can get a better rhythm than with other smaller surfskates I’ve tried.

It does raise the deck up a lot which can be annoying when pushing but you get used to it. I like the extra clearance you get when actually riding so I wouldn’t say it’s a massive downside.

It also stops you from bottoming out so much in parks.

Bushings

I use the Paris 90a urethane bushings which came with the trucks which I like, although with the surfskate adaptor they probably don’t make a whole lot of difference.

Wheels

I bought the Pink Powerballs in blue (81a) because they were meant to be alright for sliding but still soft – I’ve found them fine but would probably get something grippier in the future. 

The round lips mean they break traction quite easily which is occasionally annoying when turning at speed.

Bearings

Bones super reds – I love this board so pretty much never let it get wet, and as a result these have lasted me ages and haven’t shown any signs of slowing down.