Loaded Carving Systems : Vanguard - Flex 3

Review:
The majority of the time I spent testing this longboard was on slick rock. For those of you who don’t know what slick rock is, its basically sand stone that is found in the form of expansive washes in the surrounding area of Moab, UT. I don’t believe I was really using this product for the type of surfaces it was designed for although it worked especially well on the rough variable surfaces that typify slick rock.

This longboard has a natural bowed flex to it. What this does is kind of act as a shock absorber and allows for smoother cruising and turns. Also, it has a fairly wide wheel base and the board is carved out around the “wheel well” areas. This allows you to really flex the wheels into an extreme turn radius for quick, sharp, and smooth carving. Compared to my Earthboad longboard, I believe this one is superior in just about every way. It turns sharper, quicker, and is a much smoother ride. The trucks that come on it seem to be of a higher quality as well. The only thing that I don’t like about it is that this board doesn’t really have any nose or tail to the board. It kind of depends on your riding style, but if you like to use the tail at all to drop down curbs or anything else this might be consideration for you.

This board definitely looks cool. With the bowed flex to it and the translucent red wheels, it looks pretty sleek. There’s not really any special design or logo on it so that would be up to you to sticker it up if that’s an important consideration.

This board is not cheap but if your going to be buying a longboard anyway and you want something good you might want to consider forking over the extra doe for this one.

Review:
Loaded Carving Systems' hand-made longboard skateboards are about as close to snowboarding as you will get over the long summer months. The best way to describe riding the Vanguard Flex 3 is to say it feels like snowboarding. Because the board has a soft flex, you can really pump through your turns, and it makes rough cement feel like fresh groomer. The board's flex also works as a shock absorber, meaning less of the cement chatter transfers through to your legs. The large urethane wheels grip well, and take a long time to wear.

The Vanguard has an interesting appearance; it's stubby, with no nose or tail. The functional reason behind that is that by pushing the trucks as far to the nose and tail, the flex pattern more closely resembles that of a snowboard. Between the abnormal design, and the bright red wheels, the board will definitely turn heads.

The price tag on the Vanguard is hefty, but a product of this quality is definitely worth it. If you have the money to spend, and are looking for a good longboard that will give you the feel of snowboarding, then this board may be the one for you.