Review on Experience Smooth Cruising With Volador'S 40Inch Maple Longboard by Mark Fleming

For a first time cruising board, this is full of potential. The only real letdown is the bearings; none were amazing on my board, but some were better than others. Still, $15 for some decent bearings vastly improved the glide, but if you're doing really short trips around a small-ish college campus, you might not notice.The trucks are "okay" - not bad, certainly not great either, just middle of the road, probably not worth upgrading unless you really get into longboarding. If you loosen them up they provide enough flex for decent carving without being noisy, which is about as much as you could ask for.The wheels are also fine; pretty soft, but still quick enough and good for rolling over most stones, cracks, and seams you'll find in/on pavement or concrete.The one standout is the deck - it's a decent maple ply with a nice combination of flex and rigidity. It's slight concave shape isn't too shallow or too deep, kind of just right for providing a comfortable amount of grip. The choice of geometric designs and solid colors all look good (I went with the teal and salmon color low-rider influenced chevron and pinstripes) and the screen printing is done well. After a few months the design has held up well and I'm sure it will age nicely, too. The grip tape is good and it's nice having the white outline drawing on top, though I'm not sure why it's a whale. Still, looks good, doesn't hold on to dirt too badly, serves its purpose. The 40" length is a nice compromise for making most turns and feeling not-twitch while cruising. Honestly, if they just sold the deck I'd be into that.For $40-50, it's a hard to beat for a starter board. One thing I dislike was that they installed the trucks while the board was still covered in plastic shrink wrap. Not a huge deal, and retaining the plastic it does admittedly protect the printed design during shipping, but it means you have to take the trucks off to get absolutely all the plastic out that gets trapped between the truck and the deck. I rode it like that for a while but it bothered me - most people probably won't care, though.Overall, really solid package, so long as you don't mind getting your board from China (Volador is a nice-sounding brand name, but it still comes from Shanghai Biong Industrial, Ltd., sooooo.).