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Landyachtz Longboards Review – A beginner’s guide To The Brand

Have you been eyeing out a Landyachtz board?  To help you decide if this is the brand you want to buy your next board from I’ve created a comprehensive review. You’ll learn about their more popular models as well as the overall quality of their boards and parts. Furthermore, I’ve also added a short paragraph about some alternatives to Landyachtz, in the bottom of this guide. After all, they’re not the only fish in the sea.

3 Best Landyachtz Longboards

1. Landyachtz Dinghy 28″ Complete – Think large penny board, but a lot cooler. Will be best for small commutes. (View on Amazon.com)
2. Landyachtz Switch – Great for speedy downhill runs. (View on Amazon.com)
3. Landyachtz Ripper – Comfy cruiser. Well made and has a cool graphic. Will work great for a girl. (View on Amazon.com)

Landyachtz –  The Brand

Landyachtz, have been in the longboarding game for a long time. For over 18 years Landyachtz’s humble beginnings start back in a Basement of the Blackcomb Ski Club by two friends. Since then Landyachtz have grown to over 60 employees and now have opened spaces in East Vancouver, LA County, retail and arcade space in Strathcona in Vancouver. Including a manufacturing facility in Kimberley.

Landyachtz believes in “making quality skateboards that will improve your life. Landyachtz also believe in being environmentally sustainable in their operations as they “will plant one tree for every board we produce and sell”.

Landyachtz also produces wheels, trucks, apparel and accessories. As well as everything in between. Their line of skateboards is diverse. Ranging from mini cruisers to downhill speed boards. To everything in between. No wonder they’re ranked as the #1 longboard produced in our list…

Types Landyachtz Longboards

Landyachtz Mini Cruisers

Landyachtz mini cruisers are “mini” boards with nothing but cruising in mind. Easy to take around with you due to their smaller size and therefore are agile and lively. Ideal for city and urban landscapes. Landyachtz has a big range to choose from here, with also a wide price range. From low-mid to very high prices. Deck lengths range from “24” inches to “32” inches and widths ranging from “6” inches to over “14” inches.  If you’re curious to try one out, I’d go with Landyachtz Dinghy Mini Cruiser. (Link to Amazon.com)

Wheel bases range from 14 to 21 inches, hence mini cruisers come with much narrower trucks, which in turn mean less stability. None the less, they are supplied with pretty decent “Polar Bear” trucks. With various width sizes such as “130” and”105” mm.

Mini cruisers do come in different set ups, for example, the Landyachtz “Tugboat” (Link to Amazon.com) mini cruiser features wheel flares and kick tail in a small and compact package. With an eye catching and colourful graphic. As well as “Hawg” wheels.

Another popular example is the Landyachtz Dinghy Sasquatch. I know this because…you, my dear readers can’t stop asking me to review it.

Like other mini cruisers Landyachtz provides, it is top-mounted. It has 105 mm Polar bear trucks and the deck is made from Canadian maple, making it durable even for someone who’s heavier.

Features include, concave, a kick tail and wheel wells. Also, I do love the Hawgs wheels that come with it. That said, It’s still a small deck measuring at 28.5 inches in length and 8 inches in width, so as with all the small boards it will work best for cruising.

 

Here’s a quick rundown of the things you should consider before getting Dinghy Sasquatch:

Agile: Top mount truck system combined with its small size, wheel base, and narrow trucks make it an agile, turny and lively board. Exactly what you want for a mini cruiser. That said, the top mount system is more suitable for intermediate or experienced riders compared to drop throughs. As drop throughs can be more comfortable for beginners since they are more stable and easier to push.

Small size: The small size deck makes it great for moving it around, and getting around. Won’t be heavy compared to other decks and makes it easy to store.Keep in mind though – it will not be suitable for any sort of fast riding like downhill or free riding. This is definitely a board for those who just want a casual and simple ride.

Maple construction: The maple construction helps make it sturdy which is needed for a smaller board like this. As faster speeds will likely cause speed wobbles. Maple is also more prone to getting chipped over time as well as being waterlogged than other materials such as bamboo, fibreglass, carbon fibre.

Value: Whilst it could be considered expensive it comes with good value. The complete is comes with aftermarket wheels, bearings and trucks. Rather than generic cheap components. Also the small deck comes with concave, wheel wells and a kick tail. Giving additional value. You can find it’s price an pictures on Amazon.com here.

Landyachtz Cruisers

Cruisers, like the mini cruisers, are built for carving, cruising and commuting. However, they are of larger sizes, providing a greater foot platform as well as stability. Providing a range of shapes and features. Making them more ideal for higher speed riding, freestyling or carving. There is a large range to choose from here.

With prices in the high range.  Lengths range from 32 to over 40 inches. Most boards have a width around 9 inches. Some included features such as Rocker, kick tails, wheel cut outs and flares. As well as drop-through mount options. Most cruisers come with “Bear Grizzly trucks” and “Hawgs” wheels, which does contribute to the overall quality of the board. If you’re into cruising Landyachtz Bamboo Battle is a board worth trying out.

Landyachtz Downhill Free-ride Boards

Landyachtz – Switch 35

Landyachtz also provides a large range of downhill and free ride boards in the high to very high price range. There is a large variety of shapes from directional shapes to symmetrical shapes. There are top-mount and drop-through boards to choose from, with lengths ranging from “35” inches to over “40” inches. One such example is Landyachtz Switch 35 (Link to Amazon.com).

Widths range from mostly around “9” inches and wheel bases around “27” is common. Some of the boards feature advanced materials such as carbon fibre and foam. As featured in the “triple beam” and Landyachtz’s “hollow tech”.

Making them very lightweight and giving some board’s a strange and unique translucent appearance. Most boards in this range are supplied with “Bear grizzlies” and “Hawgs” wheels. There are is also a wide range of features incorporate such as rocker, wheel flares, cut outs, w concave to be found in this board range. The “Landyachtz Switch 40” is a good example of one of Landyachtz offerings. A combination of fibreglass and maple. Featuring a dropped platform and a top mount system. With concave. Making it a good board for high speed freeriding, cruising and downhill.

The “drop Hammer” makes another good example. With a drop through mount system and a fiberglass and bamboo mix for its construction, it will make a great first complete for someone starting out. You can check out it’s price, pictures, and reviews on Amazon.com.

Other Landyachtz Key products

Wide Variety of High-End Trucks!

Landyachtz provides a range of cast trucks such as the “Grizzly trucks” in a range of colours and widths. Other truck options include “Polar Bears”,” Precision Grizzlies” trucks, and the “Kodiaks”. Prices range from low to high. Therefore there is something for any budget.

All the trucks are of good quality and deliver solid performance. However this depends on which type of deck you use.

Polar bears are more suitable for mini cruisers and cruisers whilst precisions and grizzlies are more suitable for downhill.

Landyacthz offer a range of bushings to choose from and usually will supply a set in their trucks with completes. Such as Venoms and Bear bushings. Shapes on offer range from cones, barrels to eliminators. There is a wide range of durometers to choose from giving riders a wide range of options to customize setups.

Decent Built-in Bearings!

All completes come with Landyachtz’s built in ‘Space Ball” Bearings. Since these bearings are built in’s, it removes the worry about losing spacers or speed rings which can easily happen( I speak from experience).

The bearings are satisfactorily ABEC-7 rated. Though I would still recommend getting a set of “Bones Reds” or another set of complete bearings that have a faster rating. In order to enjoy a faster and smoother roll speed.

PRO Level Wheels!

Like with almost all their products, Landyachtz doesn’t hold back on providing a range of wheels. Ranging from round lipped free ride such as the “Zombie Hawgs” wheels to square lipped downhill wheels such as the “Biggie Hawgs”. There are some well-known and local favourites to be found such as the “Hawgs Tracers”.

Known for their smooth slide and massive thane lines to be left on the ground. However not very durable and therefore not recommended for beginners. Wheel sizes range from relatively small “57mm to large 76 mm “Monster Hawgs. Wheels range from low to high in prices.

Check out some of these videos. Showcasing the “Hawgs Tracers” in their Thaney glory.

Landyachtz has also helped create cool events like this.

The Good About Landyachtz

Value:

Landyachtz use various materials such as bamboo, fibreglass, foam, and maple and carbon fibre in their boards as well as techniques. Providing good quality and therefore durability. Landyachtz also supply completes with their signature wheels, not generic no name wheels like other companies may do. Usually supplying appropriate wheels for the respective type of deck. Trucks and bushings  supplied are of good quality. Most boards are also packed with a range of features.

Range:

Landyachtz has quite a range up their sleeve. Chances are they will have something you will like whether you are a beginner or intermediate rider. As there are mini cruisers, cruisers, downhill and free-ride boards to choose from. Each having at least a dozen of options to choose from. This also applies to not only boards. Wheels, bushings and trucks have a range to choose from as well. Since there are so many boards made of different combinations of materials and features. There is a lot to choose from, to the point of being overwhelming.

Environmentally friendly:

The “One board, one tree” program also means that you are supporting an environmentally sustainable company and product.

Features

Most boards, particularly the downhill and free-ride range will also have lots of built in features such as w-concave, wheel flares and wells, kick tails, “Hollow Tech” construction, rocker, foot pockets and gas-pedals. There is a diverse range of graphics as well. With artistic, floral, animalistic and scenic like graphics to choose from.

A large amount of Landyachtz boards are made of a mixture of materials such as fibreglass, bamboo as well as carbon fibre, maple, and foam. Making lots of boards durable, water tight and light. Even simplistic maple boards are included. Such as the mini cruiser,s are found to have features included such as wheel flares, wells and tails and concave.

Some Considerations Befor Buying Landyachtz Products

Price:

Whilst you are getting good value, good features and a wide range, the boards can be quite expensive. Landyachtz boards sit in the mid to high price range, therefore for a beginner might be too expensive as a first option. Particularly as you are prone to damage boards or lose them when still learning downhill or free-riding.

Bearings:

Whilst they are actually decent bearings, they could be faster, as they are only ABEC-7 rated. Id recommends a Set of “Bones Reds” as they are a relatively inexpensive replacement. They will provide a better roll speed. Though to see other viable options I’d suggest you to read our guide on top longboard bearings.

Bushings:

Landyachtz likes to use the same bushing set up in a lot of their completes. Whilst the bushings themselves are not of bad quality, they will likely not be suitable for you in the get go.

You will most likely need to get something more to your preference to get the most out of your trucks. Most of the bushing setups seem to have hard green “Venom” bushings. They may need to be switched out due to user preference as they can be too hard.

 

Alternatives

Landyachtz is not a unicorn by any means. The longboard market is saturated with many similar brands. Some more known, some less.  If you’re just staring out and don’t know which way  is up you can be just fine with an entry level longboard such as this Atom drop through on Amazon.com. That said, if you want something sturdy and that will last for a long, long time I’d go with something more premium, such as Loaded Icarus. It can be found on Amazon.com here.  Something in the middle would be one of Sector 9’s all-arounders, like this one.

All of the boards mentioned are general purpose boards. If you want something more specific, say a freeride/downhill board, you can’t go wrong with this Loaded tesseract.

Is it the right brand for you?

If you are looking for a beginner board or a good quality board that provides a good amount of features as well as durability. Then this brand will suit you, as long as you are willing to spend a bit of money.

However if you are a beginner with a budget simply trying to get something to work towards building a skill set towards free-riding or downhill riding, you are probably better of starting out with a cheaper brand such as “Sector 9”.This is because as a beginner you are prone to making mistakes and might not decide that longboarding at high speeds is for you.

The low down.

With a wide range of products that both give you good value and quality, as well as being an environmentally conscious company, Landyachtz is a great brand to buy your first board from. Although it is more recommended to go with cheaper options as a beginner. You will still be getting your money’s worth here if you decide to buy something expensive from the get go. Since a lot of the boards use either a mix of fibreglass, bamboo, bamboo, maple, foam and carbon fibre constructions they can shred for a long time.