Back at the end of April I made the choice to really commit some cash to longboarding. The fact I made this decision to part with some money is a whole other set of posts which would dig into my own personality.
Now don’t be fooled, I was a complete amateur at the time and I had no history of skateboarding. I had bought a cheap second hand mini-cruiser online to toy about with, which was hard work to use, which I ended up taking with me to Bulgaria, India and Thailand but hadn’t really gone full whack up till this point. I am now only a couple of steps above ‘complete’ amateur.
Enter to my life, a cracking deal on the Urskog Stubbe.
Officially: Urskog’s Stubbe is a dropthrough board perfect for freeriding. The Stubbe has a great turn ratio without compromising on its stability. The 8 ply core of Swedish Birch gives a semi-hard flex.
SETUP : Paris Trucks, Moronga Orangatangs wheels 72.5mm / 83a, High Quality Abec 7 Bearings. (Replaced with Bones Reds)
LENGTH: 990mm 37,4″
WIDTH: 225mm 8,9″
WHEELBASE: 690mm 27,1″
CONCAVE: 11mm 0,43″
CAMBER: 12,2mm 0,48″
Freeriding! Core! Flex! Trucks! Durometer! Concave! Man, look at all these skateboardy things my skateboard has……My purchasing decision came down to this, “That is a good price for a board which has nice hardware, good wheels, a strong reputation and a gorgeous wood-grained belly.”
Oh yeah. Look at that woody bad boy.
Now with that out of the way, let’s talk skate boards from a guy who was utterly new to all of this.
The Design & Cosmetics
The Stubbe is pretty wide, giving your feet a lot of platform to rest upon and is quite forgiving with foot placement. The trucks (metalwork holding the wheels to the board) are nice and far forward meaning a stray-placed foot from an amateur won’t flip the board. It has a nice bit of concave to the board (which is where, from left to right on the width, the wood bows towards the floor) allowing your toes and heels to dig in a bit better and find a spot.
I’ve never felt like the wider-up-front-thinner-in-back shape has been a problem or has negatively affected riding. Conversely, I think it looks like Cap’s shield from the Battle of Wakanda and I’m sure it has some good downhill properties to it too.
“Get this man a shield!”
The wood grain effect underneath will turn a head from anyone appreciating a classic design. This is a typical Urskog feature and they range from light to dark wood. I like it a lot; it’s easy on the eye and gives great contrast to the wheel colour.
The Board & Ride
Oh man, wow. Going from a couple of low quality second-hand boards to brand new, quality-made, good component setup was a difference of night and day. It rolled; I didn’t have to push every 2 seconds just to move at all. It tackled bumps and inconsistencies in the road. It encouraged me to push deeper and deeper into the carves.
“No Frank, go for it, I’ll stick onto the road. Carve hard” -Stubbe
For a beginner, this board gave me a lot of confidence in experimenting and forgiveness around being new. As time has gone on and I’ve been on more rides, the board has only responded positively. It was made for downhill and freeride, but on the casual cruises my friends and I have been on it’s been great.
Speaking of longboarding buddies, anyone who’s had a tickle on the Stubbe has only had good things to say. Our longboarding Yoda, James initially wasn’t too sure on it but after a few tries he fell in love. One of James skills is Pumping (a way of accelerating the board without pushing on the ground, but by gyrating your body. It’s real sexy). Long story short, he said he felt he could pump this board faster than his own.
As a rider myself I have a lot to explore and play with and many skills to try out. I’ve scratched the surface of what this board can do, I am sure, but I have every confidence that larger, faster hills, slides, and some funky board moving will be handled admirably.
In my research about the board I also found a guy on Instagram who was going on some travels by land upon an Urskog, using a ‘paddle’ on the ground to push himself along. Sounds like a good adventure doesn’t it?
The Conclusion
The Urskog Stubbe is a fine board. Well designed, pretty, high quality and responsive with a lot to give, but also accepting of newcomers.
I was very fortunate to get this board brand new at the discounted price I found it at. New Urskog boards command a high retail price and this is because of reasons; probably because of the type of wood used, the fact they operate out of Sweden, that they are really nice boards.
Personally I wouldn’t pay full whack for the board; I think my style of board and longboarding would lie elsewhere at that price, but in no way do I regret having this board in my life and currently it is the one I not only grab for every ride, but also am so happy to ride each and every time, from the first push.
“Oh yeah, now I remember, this board is absolutely ace”. -Me,after the first push sends me rolling away.
Got any questions about the Stubbe? Id be happy to answer.
Noice!
Thanks for reading. Stay rad.
-Frank
If you learned something here today, wouldn’t it be pleasant to share that with somebody in your life? I would really like that. I’d like it even more if you told me how it went!
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