I own a Smoothstar and my friend owns a Yow, my opinion: Smoothstar: Turn with body weight (like surfing). Turns Smoother. Much much much Better Wheels. Better Deck design, shape, concave, but weak deck material. Yow: Turn with ankles (like a skateboard). Turns Sharper, faster. Stronger Deck Material, but no concave. Both are great but if I had a Yow I'd have to replace the deck and wheels...
Interesting. Which YOW board does your friend own? There are a few options with concave now. And I thought Smoothstars wheels were not that good?^^ But not too important prob anyways, cause u can easily change them of course.
Hi, great video, but I would love to see a comparison with another YOW which has more similar specs like wheelbase (and concave). Especially since Smoothstar's wheelbase is measured differently. Like the YOW Kontiki (similar concave and deck lenght), La Santa (similar deck width and wheelbase on old model at least) , Padang Padang (similar wheelbase and deck length). Or maybe Arica or even Snappers...there are so many choices with YOW ^_^
Hey, thanks a lot, that really helped me to decide, will go for the YOW as a beginner, later I can maybe switch to the the smoothStar - great content, niece channel! Cheers David
Hope this help. I am surfskater and I own these 2 systems, with the SMOOTHSTAR you make the line as you want and turn like surfing with body amd ankles, while the YOW system guides and teaches you itself which is the line to do, definetively the YOW is more beginner oriented (but also good for all levels). YOW has 2 types, the original and older system (4 and 5mm hardness) and the new YERAKI. Personally, I prefer the older because it feels more friendly and free, similar to the SMOOTHSTAR. I prefer the SMOOTHSTAR wheels over the YOW as all rounder (park and street). YOW has better decks quality, they are harder and not so easy to break, but they have less concave than SMOOTHSTAR where the concave is great and you feel like more connected in order to launch different maneuvers. The YOW bushings are also better and durable than the SMOOTHSTAR.
You compare two boards that might look the same (they’re black, almost same size), but the real deal on surfskates are the WHEELBASES- and the wheelbase of that Yow you chose is way wider than the one of the Smoothstar. So it’s not surprising the turns aren’t that sharp as the Australian brand. If you chose a smaller WB board from Yow it would be more comparable. This clip is just good work by you and your camera guy - but it makes no sense ;) compare to the Yow Snappers.
Thanks! Very useful. Now I am learning the basic technique with a Yow Malibu 36 '(I am 6.4 feet tall) and thanks to this video I am thinking about the Smoothstar Manta Ray.
Cool video, very interesting. The distance between the trucks are more important on the Yow, i think it plays a lot on the comportment of the board. It will be very interesting to test the trucks of the Yow on the deck of the smoothstar to see a perfect comparison. (Sorry for the faults, i try to write english without corrector for progress)
Very good idea speeding up the videos for comparison... I just got my SmoothStar and waiting for a Swelltech to arrive. Hope to have lots of fun confined to my parking space downstairs. ;-)
Nice video, you should look into a lavaler mic for a cell or something like a h4n zoom to help your audio come in sharper and clearer. Thanks for the vid.
Great vid man! I run a hybrid Holly Toledo deck with Meraki & CX dbl cone rear on an angled riser, both on cheap 65mm 80A round edged wheels. Rides like a dream 😎
IMO whenever you say you prefer the YOW, your surfing actually looks better on the Smoothstar. Just that little bit more snappy and realistic. Good vid. Thanks
Hi Shane , great video. Very informative. Do you have experience with the YOW Kontiki? I read it has a deeper concave. Perhaps better in the bowls. It could make a good match up with the Smoothstar.
I have the Kontiki. It has a deeper concave, High Concave as the site says. I think Performance is the shallowest of the three concaves. Haven't taken it to a bowl yet though.
Both of the decks are flawed. If you were to compare only the adapters, I think smoothstar turns more smoothly but yow can dive faster (more ankles and less on upper body). Both adapters seem robust enough, smoothstar requires a slightly bigger wheelbase. It's a matter of whether you want slightly more dive or slightly more resistance to engage upper body? Yow more like a waterborne adapter I think in terms of resistance to turns (dive fast and lean)?
Hi. Great videos. I’m after a board to ride bowls and transitions…. If you had to pick one board to drop into bowls with what would it be? My friend has a carver but interested in your opinion… cheers
Hi Shane ! I love your videos! Can you please make a carve grind tutorial? Is it a good trick to try after getting comfortable in the skatepark? regards from Chile
@Shane Lai would you say its possible to go downhill or on longer trips with speed (speeds at a close lvl to chilled driven inline skaters for comparision) with the Yow Pukas? I'm searching for sth on which i can improve my surfskills, but sth thats not too wiggly at the same time when im forced to go a bit faster. Would love to hear your opinion!
Yeah, thats what I tought as well, but the Snappers has even a shorter WB doesn't it? I think the WB has more impact on the board than the concave. Comparison with YOW La Santa or Padang Padang maybe?
Thanks a lot Shane, amazing content, as always! You really operate the #1 surfskate channel out there :) I've seen that you also own a 30.75'' Carver CI with C7 trucks. Do you think that the Carver would be better pick for me vs. the boards in this video, knowing that I: - Plan to use it in a relatively small area, to practice tricks and maneuvers - Am 1.70m / 65kg - Would ultimately want to bring it in skateparks once I improve - Already own a 31'' surfskate, with a CX-like truck, which is fine, but I find snaps hard to do on it (maybe because it's a cheap sub-100$ board) Thanks in advance and tranks again for your great vids!
Salut Gauthier ! Thanks!🤙 My experience with the CI flyer. Since it was my first surfskate, i did not know what to expect. But when i got my smoothstar 77 I realised wider and longer is better, specially for stability and performance when doing tricks in skateparks. C7 will be an amazing surf cruiser but i tend towards smoothstar/YOW/ SpiceSkate to ride in small area
@@shanelai2515 Merci beaucoup Shane, t'es le meilleur !! Je viens de commander un Smoothstar, encore pas mal d'entraînement pour arriver à ton niveau ;)
Thanks! I’m now leaning toward the smooth star as I like the tail kick to lock in feet for surf training. I went from beginner on my carver to intermediate basically studying all your videos. Much thanks you are the best! I’ve decided against waterborne because of instability for slides but it’s a fantastic street board no doubt. However I’m still waiting on swell tech. I think it’ll be a decision of smoothstar vs swell tech for my surf training. I’ll reset my carver for power and stability.
Yeah defo smoothstar for surf training ! I like wb rail adapter for the Lean but it's too much to ride in bowls and parks. But awesome for flat cruising. Swelltech's front truck is the sickest of all! So what did you end up with ?
Hi Shane, Great video, i really appreciate your in depth reviews and experience, amazing dedication. Im curious how the waterborne compares to these 2 boards, and if the spring rebound is better than the bushing in the waterborne, I wonder if the lean on the waterborne & rail adapter might be too exaggerated as a surf trainer, i've only tried the waterborne but I really enjoyed the experience. Cheers
Hi. I really enjoy the lean of waterborne. You can really feel you are digging deep into the rail. I think spring rebound better mimics the rebound in water, not sure.
Very helpful video. I was wondering; do you tighten up the front truck on the smoothstar before skateboardin in bowls/halfpipe. I skate mine very loose on street but it feels a bit wobbly on drop ins.
Thanks for the detailed review. Definitely helped my comparison on picking my first surfskate. I think I would go for smoothstar for a more better carve
Depends what you are after. Smoothstar can allow bad habits to form because it's so easy to turn. My fish surfboard feels more like a CX.4 than a smooth star. A surf board just doesn't turn that easy
tu peux prendre nimportequelle roue a la dimension et dureté similaire. les deux wheel de devant font 62mm x 45mm et une dureté de 83a, celle de derriere 64mm.
