endless summer? I hope so

July 25th, 2009

My awesome board has arrived! It's a Rayne Hellcat with Randall R11 180 trucks and 75mm Orangatangs. The wheelbase is a little longer than the Big Red X and the board is a little wider. It is seriously the most comfortable board I have ever stood on. The trucks are incredibly turny, but still stable at moderate speeds. I'll need to tighten them up more for the big hills, but they have been great so far for riding downtown and hitting parking garages.

Look at it...it is glorious.

I love the queen of hearts graphic on the bottom (maybe it's king of hearts, but I'm a girl, so I say queen). It came with a roll of clear grip tape, but I've always hated how clear grip gets nasty and grungy looking, so I decided to go with black instead then cut a design to make it more personal.

Here's a couple shots of the finished design:

It takes while, but it's not too bad if anyone out there wants to give it a try. The trick is to flip the grip over and sketch out your design on the back (in reverse/mirror image), then cut it from the bottom with an exacto knife. Grip tape eats exacto blades for breakfast so have extras on hand. Getting the tape on without ripples can be tricky. I've found that it's a lot simpler if you start at one end and peel away the backing as you go down the board instead of peeling off the backing all at once then trying to get the whole sticky mess to cooperate.

After the grip is stuck down, use your fingers to push it down around the edges all the way around the board. Instead of trying to cut a perfect outline with your exacto knife, run a screwdriver around the edges to score them (use the metal shaft, not the tip). The friction will wear away the grain of the grip tape and you'll be able to peel away the excess leaving perfect edges.

I'm looking forward to another few months of good skating weather so I can break it in properly. It's not a coincidence that I decided to take a week off work the same day this arrived. (^_^)