Original Skateboards Freeride 41

41" long.
10.25" at its widest point.
9 Ply NE Maple
0.620" rocker concave with 0.25" W concave.

I received this deck thanks to the generosity of Scott Imbrie, Co-owner of Original Skateboards for my efforts prior to this boards anticipated release. When I was contacted by Scott and asked if I wanted any Freeride of my choice on the house, I happily obliged and opted for the 41W.

Never having owned a W concave board before and had been using my Robot 41 for a few months, I was very keen to give this board a whirl!
My first Impression of the board when opening the box was simply WOW. This thing was an absolute BEAST, hence its nickname funny enough. The Stag graphic is beautiful and my favorite of the bunch.The large kicks caught my eye first, followed by the W. The kicks are massive on this board, which is a Love/Hate deal for myself. While i love the kicks for freestyle, making it easy to flick around, it leaves less of a standing platform which is a shame, because my stance is very wide. But that didn't stop me one bit!

I started riding this board straight away, on Caliber 50s and found my Cult Classics were the best match for freeride, and man did it work! This thing shredded like nothing I've used before, in 2, 1 hour sessions I had my standup's dialed after never trying them before. I was shocked at how fast I would progress with no only the time, but the right gear.

The W concave locked me in beautifully, i only have to keep part of my heel of the rail and the W does the rest. Having size 12UK(13US) feet, means i need a wide platform most of the time, and this was perfect. However as mentioned before I have a wide stance.....which meant i had to adjust a tad. My feet were on the screw when i was freeriding which isn't very good, so i made my stance shorter and locked into the W more, and I was set.


The board itself is surprisingly light, being about the same weight as the Apex 40 Double Concave which made this board quite easy to Early Grab with. However the durability of this board is not great. I have banged it into a curb about 5 times, and chipped both ends into crumpling piles. The noses may be weak but the rails are not, I flipped this board at around 60km/h and it slid for about 50m without any kind of rail damage!

Being a drop-through board, Its quite a low, which makes it easy to push and a feature I prefer on a board. It means my center of gravity is better and I can focus on my slides a lot easier.
I would give this board a 5/5 for freeride, 5/5 for looks 3/5 for durability and 4.5/5 for All Round stoke production!



-Adam

Original Skateboards Apex 34

INSANE. this board is crazy!!! It's super light (with bears and stims) and is the best freestyle board I've ever ridden. Flip tricks are a breeze and taking it to the park is great too! Kickers, bowls and launch ramps are a blast with the '34.

While stll being light and stiff, the slight flex is all you need to throw some hard carves and sharp turns. The kicks are great and in my opinion shov-its and manuals are tricks that practically come with the board. All in all great board would recommend for anyone looking for a freestyle, commuter, campus cruiser, or gnarly shredder.

-Lewis

Original Skateboards Carbon Apex 37 2011

This was my second Original board after the Pintail 40. At first i absolutely adored this board!
It was just what i needed to progress into different disciplines of Longboarding. I had s8 trucks with Big Zigs 83a on this board to start with. It was the best carver EVER, even better than my Pintail 40.
Then when i started freestyle i switched to Randal 180s. This board is light as a feather and stiff as! I had the middleweight and i weigh 140 pounds, and it didn't flex much at all which I loved! It meant i could use it for speed, as mentioned before hitting 50km/h or 30mph with supercarves 81a/85a. I learned shuv-its in the first day and ghost-ride and old-school kick flips in a few weeks.

I would recommend this as a first board, to get into freestyle, but not for freeride. I'm 6"1' and it has too short of a wheel base IMO. However its a great freestyle/cruiser mix, but if you want a more all round board, then get the Apex 40, and more freestyle Orientated board, the Apex 34.
5/5 for Freestyle, 5/5 for Looks, 3/5 for Freeride and 4/5 for all round performance.

-Adam

Bustin Ibach

Length- 40 inches
width- 10 inches

I have had this board for a solid 2 months. It has held up very well to repeated abuse. For DH, this is the best board you could ask for. Having a 3/4 inch drop in the platform makes it a bit lower to the ground, making it extremely stable. You get the stability of a drop through, and the traction of a top mount. You can wedge your back foot up against the drop when you are in the tuck, making it an extremely comfortable board to ride. For free ride, this board is pretty decent. In the end. this board gets a 4/5 for performance. It misses one point because for me, it isn't that good for free ride IMO. But if you are looking for a dh deck that can handle anything you can throw at it, this is your board.

~Eric

Original Skateboards Apex 40

Ok, so I actually had the chance to have both concaves right next to each other, and I used the opportunity to make some video reviews.

Here's the double concave review. Please note, I didn't get to ride it, so this review is strictly for clarifying what double concave is:

Here's the AvRocker concave review: 

Here's my video comparing the concaves: 

If you have any questions, just post them in the comments on youtube and I'll be sure to answer them!

~~~Stefen


Apex 40 Double Concave
I have had this board for 2 weeks, and i absolutely love it. It is an amazing board for all around riding. Pretty good for freestyle, and decent for dh. I love this board for free riding. because of the nice and tight wheelbase, you get a lot of torque when sliding. All in all, this board gets a 4/5, because it is a bit on the heavier side, it looses one point. for more freestyle than free ride, look into an apex 37.

~Eric

EDIT: After having this board for about 6 months, i have been able to try many different setups. All i have to say is that it is absolutely amazing. So happy i got it. All my opinions are the same.

Here is my review on youtube:

Sector 9 73mm raceforms red 82a, centerset.

I had heard a lot of good things about the race forms but since having a shitty Sector 9 cruiser as a first board, I was skeptical about Sector 9's products. But after such good reviews I thought why not give em a shot!

These wheels were a nice predictable wheel but not a fan of them for freeride. They have quite a lot of grip, although a freeride shaped wheel. On my Bustin Robot, they were heaven, easy to speed check at 30km.h no problem, but were a tad chattery.
Now with them on my Original Freeride 41, I find them even noisier!, they do slide nicely, but have that jumpy squeal noise which i hate.
Downhill, these wheels are, excuse my horrible language, LUSH!
The grip is sufficient enough to take corners but there for the speed control, for the serious stuff!
Freeride wheel, a 3.5/5, dh wheels 4/5 and looks, which i love, a 4.5/5.

-Adam