Houyet Trip 2011

Kami & Alex headed off to Belgium, driven by the lovely Christine, for a weekend of skating hills with the UK's Downhill Community.

Appearances from many crews & riders are on display in the video.

Rockin' Rookie

This board has magic powers! As quoted by the Legendary Ozzy shredder Craig Bond, It really does, it makes you instantly more STEEZY! It's surfy shape and jazzy colour, just encourage you to have fun on it. As for the technical bit, it is nearly 10 inches wide so great for bigger feet, I'm size 11 (uk) and it feels perfect, I like the way the concave starts flat and kicks out towards the rails, just hugs your heels and toes perfectly, so you can throw big standies and feel locked in. I (as with all my boards) whack in a 3d concave, and 'w' cave at the back (using layered grip tape), because I like to tailor my concave's slightly and the simplicity of this board allows for that. The wheel wells are cut nicely, and I have no wheel bite issues with it. It's also solid maple so it's going to last forever. I threw it straight on the smallest wheelbase (27') when mine arrived, so you have a bit of a tail to play with (can be drilled even shorter or chopped if you wish)

It also saw me through 2012 Bo Peep IGSA race (wet and dry), a week of Epic freeriding in the Pyrenees, and Peyragudes Never Dies World Cup. Pascal Jean (who this pro model is based on) is a great guy, who has designed a great board.

Altogether it's R.A.D, and I'm stoked on it, you won't be disappointed!
Josh Monk 

http://www.newtons-shred.co.uk/decks/kebbek-skateboards/kebbek-rockin-rookie-pascal-jean-2011.html

Rayne Avenger

Aidan Fyans

• 
  Rayne Avenger:
  
  If you like concave and topmount speedboards look no further. The amount of concave on the front foot is unreal. IT feels like your feet are glued to the deck. The W concave at the rear lets you know exactly where you foot is at any time without taking your eyes off the road and gives you the confidence to slam into toesides with ease knowing that the deck will be there under your feet. Using the shortest wheelbase there is just enough tail on the back to do kick turns and any other wrongboarding manoeuvres you like and the hole cut in the tail makes getting your board back up the hill easyer as you dont have to carry the deck. Which isnt a problem either as the board only weighs about as much as a rizzla. Buy this board!!!!!
  
  
  
  
  http://www.newtons-shred.co.uk/decks/rayne-longboards/rayne-avenger.html
  
  
  
  
  
  

2011 Kebbek Hairpin / Switchback review

When my spooky was stolen I inherited a beaten, chopped and de-lammed Switchback from Alex with the instruction to skate it into the ground and that I did! After snapping one end off coming short on an early grab I re-drilled it and added a sick tail. It turns out that wasn’t a great idea as I pulled the bolts through the chewed up remains of ply. As I was determinedly abusing this crippled old board I was all the time falling in love with it’s concave. When it finally earned it’s right to a retirement hanging on my bedroom wall it was unceremoniously thrown onto a BBQ when we ran out of coal. Thankfully a crazy Polish dude lent me his girlfriend’s kilima (bro’s before hoes!).

So the kilima got me from A to B but all the while I was skating less as I was yearning for some deeper concave and a shorter wheelbase. After finally saving enough pennies I pushed my way over to Newton’s HQ and got myself the beautiful board you see above.


I instantly felt back at home on that deep HP ‘cave and the slight camber had me popping off every little bump on the street. All this gaiety ended briefly as I met the ground with a crash, turning the tight corner onto my street. I looked back for the offending article that must have thrown itself in front of my wheel but found nothing. However, I did find the tell-tale kiss of wheel bite in one of the wheel wells.
I overcame the wheel bite by using a riser and the longest wheelbase, however I knew it was there, waiting for me to forget and get thrown arse over tit getting carried away with a silly standy. I couldn't really get the lean I wanted on a topmout so I swapped it in for the very similar (but drop-through) Hairpin.

WOW! My first impression of this board was very positive; the same sweet concave but not the slightest risk of wheel bite. I felt like superman pushing this low rider (almost a whole inch lower than the previous set-up) home and blitzed the corner into my street with the back wheels skipping across the tarmac to keep up with the front truck. This board wants to drift, all the time, the long wheelbase and drop-through mounting see to that. Kebbek’s thinking has created a shape that will fit almost any truck and wheel combo with no wheel bite.

As my combo was not nearly at risk of wheelbite my eyes were drawn to the giraffe like neck and I imagined where the truck could be to reduce the wheelbase. With the help of Dangerous Decks, a router soon took care of the job and now the wheelbase is <30″. This has stiffened up the board and made it a bit more nimble; after all, there’s no hairpins in London, just plenty of dog mines and suicidal brats!

Whether you're after a long drifty drop-through that makes stand-ups child play, or a top-mount with some flair, both of these colour stain models are reduced by £25 to make room for the 2012s. Another new arrival from Quebec are their new wheels and with Kebbek's reputation for quality gear I can't wait to try them out!



Click these links for each board/wheel: Switchback, Hairpin, Libres, Magnets.

Rayne Timeline


When I saw this board I fell in love with it, I’m not sure why as I don’t like flexy boards, I don’t like pseudo-oriental imagery and I don’t like companies claiming bamboo is going to save the world’s forests when it has to be shipped thousands of miles. But there was something I couldn’t put my finger on about it that made me want it; such cravings are rare so I trusted my gut and got one from Newtons-Shred.

Normally getting a board to suit a style of skating, I now found myself looking for a style of skating suited to a board! The blurb from Rayne focuses on pumping and carving so I set out with every intention to learn to pump; something I’ve neglected to do, being a fan of hills and drop-throughs.


I’ve found the flex/camber to really help with certain pump techniques, it really throws you back to centre so you can concentrate on your next move, not finishing your last one. It’s made trips to the local shop that bit more fun and given some enjoyment out of very flat neighbourhood; somewhere I’d hastily escape before when I needed a skate. The short wheelbase lets me pick my way between drain-covers, pot-holes and cracked whilst gaining speed whereas I’d have to bump over them ungracefully on my longer boards, it’s really brought some fun back to my daily trips.

Marcus(family rider)

http://www.newtons-shred.co.uk/decks/rayne-longboards/rayne-timeline.html

ABEC 11 Freeride Centerset 72mm 81a


As soon as i got the wheels out of the packaging they went on the board. First few slides on them felt very rough but thats normal for most wheels finding the slide point and breaking them in. Anyway after breaking them in they slid perfect and feel sooooooo good! havent really been on the abec11 thane for a while ,only really the really old thane years ago. So far the wear hasn’t been much for on the freerides and they still going strong still looking new.
The ones i have are also centerset which means they can switched around for a even wear pattern and stop you from coning the wheels up. I  would say the wheel in itself is not a icy slide but more of a buttery slide with some chatter put it this way its not going to slide from underneath your feet as soon as you break into a standup so theres some resistance. The wheel has a nice 39mm contact patch given you better life on the wheel but also keeping that nice slide and letting you control the slide more. All in all this wheel is perfect for freeriding i would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to get there first set of freeride wheels or even looking to try something different KEEP SHREDDING!
Aaron (Family rider)

 http://www.newtons-shred.co.uk/wheels/abec11-wheels/abec-11-centerset-freerides-72mm-78a-81a-84a-1-wheel.html

2 all new shapes in Kebbek's 2012 lineup have arrived at NS late this week:
Ben Dub & Pierre Gravel Slalom decks are now available to order, with all the pre-orders being posted out tomorrow (thanks!)
http://goo.gl/RXCHh <Ben Dub
http://goo.gl/LclQG <Pierre Gravel Slalom
Updated pics for the site to come later in the week.
I dare say, they might be the only 2 boards I skate (outside of an HDV) for a long time!
Alex