Never Summer Soldier review by Laurie Barnes

Laurie Barnes (our top longboarder) has done a series of reviews of the Never Summer range. This is the first in the series and Laurie has gone for the brand new downhill demon - the Soldier. The release of this board has been much anticipated worldwide and we are glad it is here.

Never Summer 09' Soldier longboard

Reviewed by Laurie Barnes

Where to start... from the bottom up I suppose.

The wheels

"Inferno" 77mm in size and a 77a compound with a wide profile that makes turning at high speeds a predicable and controlled experience, these are definetley going to be able to compete with the wide cryptonics or Abec11's used by most stand-up guys in terms of acceleration i.e the smaller the wheel the faster it accelerates, and the larger it is the higher the top speed. The 77a compound gives them a controlled drift on smooth surfaces and grip on rough.

Trucks

Custom Randal 180mm trucks with sick looking blacked out RII 180mm hangers on a 42 degree D.H. base plate. They come with downhill barrel bushings which give more contact than normal and a stable progressive turn. Randals are a standard amongst the down hill skate community, this truck combines the best of both worlds in terms of wide hanger from a R11 carvers and a custom downhill baseplate that starts performing at high speed and does what skaters have been doing for years without buying two pairs of trucks.

Deck

40"x10" wheel base-33" Rockered /concave with a drop-thru truck mount design for a lower centre of gravity and stability, hickory hard wood spine, full carbonfiber laminates and the stiffest STS/SK8 fiberglass. This board is stiff as well a board, but feels alive under your feet in a good way. The concave is just right, steep enough to keep you locked in when speed tucking but not too harsh as to feel too much when standing sideways carving it up.

Conclusion

So to sum it all up this is a serious piece of kit right out the box and as there have been lots of little tweaks made to it development.

There is so little that is needed to be done to this board in terms of customization, the thing is race spec! Tighten everything up, adjust the trucks and go.

How about nice die cut logo in the grip? nah it already has that.

So apart from some stickers, actually scrap the stickers the graphics are pretty fresh.

Find out more about the Never Summer Soldier

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