This guy and Shane Lai are only people with really detailed and objective reviews. Everyone else seems to focus on production quality more than how to pass all the possible information about the products. More companies should send their stuff to this guy.
So as far as my progression. I have all 3 now of the carvers. The cx and cx5 are my favorite. My wife and boy pretty much ride the c7. I always push start or drop in. I never rock to start. Just cause I like speed. At the park the c5 became my favorite. Got the sun rays cause I prefer 8.5 for kick flipping. The c7 to me in a bowl can keep up to speed like the two cx. And me going from street and park to surf skate, the c5 is hands down my favorite cause my lines are awesome on it and popping that Sun rays into the rails is the best.
Rad! I was just ripping the Streetscape in bowls and slashing coping tonight! Love that skate, still learning to ollie it. Having all 3 Carver trucks and loving the c5, very cool!
@@boisebroncoadventures good luck on getting the Ollie. I can tell you’re almost there. Once you get it and get it on a regular basis while riding, it’ll be a game changer for you. Teaching my 5 year old now to Ollie to bring his progress of boarding to a new level as well.
@@boisebroncoadventures yeah I’m 36. Stopped for 12 years when my first boy was born. When my youngest (5year old) found an old board he asked me to teach him and he picked it up in a week and definitely got me back into it again. Like riding a bike. Once you learn it, you’ll never forget it.
Former surfer who moved to the mainland (not very good). But I ended up getting the C7 as my first surfskate and absolutely loved it. started going over the coping and you’d be shocked how well they do on coping worth trying!!! I’m now riding YOW S5 system with a Chris Christiansen shaped deck. Can’t recommend the YOW enough for parks and bowls. Best surf-skate I’ve ever been on. Just want everyone to give them a try.
These reviews and tests are awesome. I appreciate your candid and in-depth tests and thoughts on the different trucks. They are the most thorough offered on the internet. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the review. I’m 53 and riding that carver with C7s. People trip on it. The C7 get a little squirely at the top. After watching this I’m thinking of getting some c5
I would imagine the 7s to be super snaky on a ramp coping coming back down or even at roll in/drop in. The 5s are much lighter with a lower center of gravity
I had to come back and mention that I think your actually living your revigorated youth. Not trying... I am a new 61 yo follower. I dabbled in transition skating (board, 4x and inline), surfing. Love my C7s, but am still gaining confidence. I've resurrected my longboards in transition parks for a solid 4 years, but man, the C7 is like riding water on concrete. I know what is just as hard some times, but I don't get abraded. LOL Thanks for the inspiration!
Man, you are so welcome! I am so missing skateboarding and surfing. Broke my knee skiing at the end of the year and it’s been one of my worst injuries ever. I can ride bikes and walk but the angles on a board put me in the danger zone still and I don’t have my full range of movement. Ugh can’t wait to get back on the boards!!! Thanks for the feedback and inspiration also by this comment. Stay rad my man!
Nice channel good information coming from an unbiased point of view plus the aging outlook. I'm also in the category of older rider going on 78 although I come from a long background of board riding Surf/snowboarding plus teaching winter sports and flow riding! You stated you are looking to regain some youthfulness, I'm looking to maintain younger body movement through more use of the whole body. I especially like the comment about the C-7 being more directed from the front foot this is a major missing point in many snowboarder! So that tell me that the C-7 is most useable to transferring movement into better snowboarding.
Ha ha but I’m a skier lol - even tho I ski more like a boarder now than ever before even enjoy ditching the ski poles for knuckle drags through the pow. I went to a swallow tail type ski that just looks and skis crazy good. Line Sakana - going back to the skates I would say the c7 with a long wheelbase will give you the closest feeling no doubt.
I have been looking into getting a surf skate, I love the carving and flow feeling of a long board, I would always be very good at carving so hard I could go on basically the two wheels especially when I put the fish balls on with the rounded edges, I can literally get on my side with that board, but I could never make a complete rotation with it because of the longer wheelbase and also not that unique check system of the I think it’s the C7 that has the swivel, I think that would be really good for hitting the top of the ball and carving in and out, but for flat writing as you were showing it looks like the CX is more like a longboard type of feel where you are really in the board rather than just being on top of it. Your footage definitely showed what I was looking for but I would like to try both of them still. It looks like you are kind of pulling the nose of the board with your front foot back-and-forth to carve, rather than using your way to dig in from the back foot at least when it was flat. I would just really like to find some type of awesome snake balls, like the one in Venice California as my style so I’m still not sure what truck to get
Dan thanks so much for the feedback and it sounds like a c7 could be a fun fit for you. I most definitely am using a lot of front foot movements to generate speed and pump, unlike actual surfing where it is so much more back foot. I love the blend of traditional truck and surf truck in the c5; though wish it were longer/wider and didn’t need the flip on the kingpin to grind coping. So the c5 definitely could be improved… I would love a 159 or 169 version without the kingpin hang up lol!
This was epic, best video yet!! That open park had me drooling, nothing like that here! New board too! I would love to try a Carver, fantastic comparison!:)
Great reviews and a sick edit! We have 4 Carvers all have the C7 for that surfy feel and flow and they pump like crazy! I agree, I want to try other surfskates too. I'm gonna pull the trigger on a Swelltech first because according to your bro over at Surfskate Love, they are the most difficult to ride out of all the major players. Then onto YOW and Smoothstar. Btw, who was flying the drone while you were skating? Again, really full of great info on the 3 truck sets.
Thanks man, this took some work to put together and though it’s a bit long I hope it can help people trying to decide what set up is best for them. The drone I use is the Mini2 from DJI so those were the “quick shots” built into the software. It’s challenging to use those as they don’t always track so quite a bit of trial and error to get the results I did!
Can you comment on wheel bite potential on the c5? And what is the wheel size on that fishtail? I really really hate wheel bite. Really. Falling down when you are middle age is harder…..
I am running the stock wheels on all my skates, the streetscape has Carver’s 58mm park wheels, I keep my trucks loose and have not had wheel bite issues on any of the Carver skates, again factory builds Vs a DYI so they are dialed out of the box. Just a matter of your preferences on set up.
Great videography! I'm like you, in my 50s but I skateboarded as a kid on a board very similiar to that Peralta but I switched to surfing and dropped skateboarding but with the advent of surf skating, I want to get back into it. You mentioned it could mess up your surfing. I don't want that. I'm seeing new surf skaters and surf skateboards with these special type surf trucks on the front and back. I'm also wondering if it'd be better to have the surf swivel truck on the back. I'm still trying to figure this out. In what way does it mess up your surfing. I also skate goofy but surf regular if that makes a difference. Have you tried skating with the CX, C7 or C5 truck in the rear ? What else can you say about the impact on surfing as I don't want to screw that up. My main goal is to have fun and keep my legs in shape.
Thanks so much! I’m currently working on making some big cinematic improvements! As per surfing and skating the fact that all the Carver (and most companies) trucks is it requires so much front foot movement. As long as your aware of that, it shouldn’t negatively effect your surfing. So much more back foot when in the water on a wave. Now here is a new thing that just happened late this last summer; Bend Whitewater Park a surfer asks me if I am a skateboarder. When I asked why he asked me that he said he could tell from my surfing. ?!? Not sure if I had ape arms going or what lol good stuff. I skate more than I surf now. Love riding my C7 Greenroom for transportation to and from the wave, but my C5 set up is typically only used in bowls and ramps. That’s where I skate mostly nowadays. Occasionally hit a pump track but mostly focused on learning to ride ramp’s and carving concrete wave’s! Locking in 50-50 stalls and grinds on the C5 is just starting to get solid for me now! Also I will add I’ve only tried a YOW once and it seemed like a c7 but with bad wheelbite in a park. A Swelltech set up would be a blast to try and I think may be better as a trainer though would not hold up and be near bulletproof like a Carver system.
Do you actually get better top pumping speed on c7? Cx for me. I have 6 surfskate setups. I'm about the surfier feel of c7 and got mad respect for the brand and quality. I surf and I still choose cx and c5 for long-distance or short because I love to build my own speed pumping before I nail some carve lines and cuts down banks. I love parking garages. Still haven't been caught yet.
hey, i hope you can help me out . im about 5' 10" about 200 Lbs , I already have a smoothstar and a yow s5 , i want to learn to surf pipes and bowls and i am learning how to drop in . i want to build a park/bowl setup , im not too sure about to use the C7 or the CX thanks
I recommend the longer streetscape set up with C5’s or if you can just get a set of trucks pair them up with a 9 wide Powell Peralta or similar. I have mine on a Ricky Rodrigues 9.25 and the wheelbase is perfect. Check out the Surfskate Love RU-vid channel for Steve’s sizing video’s. Your stance Vs your skates wheelbase is key, and he even breaks it down for specific truck systems
Generating power from your rear foot will give you more explosion. Check out Kale Brock. His vid on speed flow seem to be directly intuitive to many. Love my c7 Carvers (Mayhem 29+ and Kai Lenny Dragon 34), but I do enjoy my Sector 9 and LandYachtz. Carver seems to stick more so less slip for me, but working on it. It's my skill not the boards.
Hello Max. If you are in the Boise area the shop I recommend is Boise Skateboard Supply. However surf skates are not typically stocked in skate shops - as surf skaters we typically buy directly from the manufacturers. The shop did have one… the new pintail collab with Santa Cruise and Carver. It was a C7 and arrived sometime last month so I’m not sure if it’s still on the wall there. If you want to meet up for a session at one of the parks when it warms up and dries out you are welcome to give my skates a good go also!
I did :) and it says 15-17 inch. Actually thinking of the exact CX in your video but it seems super snappy. Never tried it and can’t demo hence my confusion
Roger, my Carvers are different decks but both are offered with your choice of the CX or C7 Greenroom or Swallowtail your choice. The snappy wheelbase on the swallowtail Vs a cruiser feel on the Greenroom is all individual preference. I prefer my C5s on a Powell Peralta 9 wide lol
@@boisebroncoadventures I really just want to see how they perform side by side as far as pump “spacing” and how sharp you can turn, etc, with the only varying thing being the trucks. I’m new to surf skate. I just got my C7 on a Knox deck a few days ago. Pretty fun!
So for skate park / bowls for more control and stability. You recommend the Scape C5? I was at a big bowl today and using the yago skinny goat with cx. It’s not bad but still a little wobbly for a deep pool. My pro skater friend who was with me was saying a popsicle shape board with big nose and tail would be better than the old school shape.
Yep, I agree to some degree with new Vs old shapes. The double concave popsicle design definitely gives better control and especially in the 9 wide streetscape with C5 trucks: they are much lower center of gravity and lighter. But the lower gravity center is what makes the difference. Big time. The CX and C7 trucks are so much taller. I am debating a Proteus with CX for a fat bowl surfer next. Ok going back to old school shapes I would say that depends on what your doing. Say for example I’m working on my Ollie basics and first wheelies. The classic design of my Peralta reissue pops the easiest and seems to offer the better control balance training to manual. The modern progressive design of say the Andy Anderson Flight is a whole different level for my transition skating. I am really focused on riding 1/4 pipes and ramps learning those basics at this time in my progression. Surfing bowls though on a Carver C5 set up tho is my recommendation. Unless your going down a traditional skate avenue. Focusing and skating specific things or features seems to be happening for me too Vs more so than cruising/surfing the entire park and finding those lines. Definitely depends on my mood but a cool pipe and I can pump rock until my legs give out!
@@boisebroncoadventures yeah my cx board is the one I reach for the most for all around. Does depend on what you are doing at the park. I have 3 carvers already. What’s one more? Lol.
@@Dscar1 exactly! I was thinking something like a big 777 with C7s for a cruising blast and unique ride also, but the Proteus just looks so sic. When Steve from Surfskate Love got his he was like “you need one of these” lol
@@boisebroncoadventures what’s the main difference between a regular skateboard truck and the C 5s? Seem like they’re getting so close together that why not just buy a pair of regular skateboard trucks?
@@Dscar1 the C5 is still a reverse kingpin and pump carves well. Standard trucks can carve when set up right too and I find them much better for fakie.
