Earthwing Supermodel Longboard Review

To be honest, the fastest we took this deck was close to 40mph on some hills in Long Island. It felt solid at speed, although when railing corners we (barely) detected hints of torsional flex, which is when a deck flexes along its length-something you typically don’t want in a DH deck but shouldn’t be bothered with during sliding since it does help keep all four wheels on the ground. The flex can be attributed to the parallel rails extended along the length of the deck.

The integrated rails are a unique feature not typically found in other freeride decks. They allow for an easier time maintaining grasp on the deck when sliding, predrifting etc… We also found them useful when we needed to quickly grab the deck from the ground or just carry the deck around, as our hands would simply lock into the rails. With slide gloves on, the rails became less effective but still served their purpose.

Before being able to flawlessly pull of tricks, they must obviously be learned first. In school, when you fail trying to learn something the worst that can happen is a bad grade, perhaps even a scorning from your parents-in short, all mental consequences. In skateboarding, failing while attempting tricks will inevitably lead to damage of the physical kind-either to you or your deck.

Our Supermodel met this type of fate. It made friends with concrete more than a few times, and we are glad to say it came out fine.

The Earthwing Supermodel is a smart deck. It’s priced smart, built smart, and makes for a fantastic freeride deck. Given the right setup it can be quite agile and adapt to whatever you want-from basic cruising to going technical with advanced sliding tricks. It’s built in a functional shape with useful rails and has nice simple graphics layered on top of a beautiful deep blue stain.

We were impartial to the torsional flex resulting from the inclusion of rails, the variable concave, and we were irritated with the wheelbite which resulted from using ever popular randal and paris trucks, although EW has told us that revisions will be made in the near future to address these issues.

When it comes down to it, we have no hesitations recommending the deck to beginners and seasoned skaters alike. If you are thinking about getting this deck, go for it. Just make sure to set it up with the right kind of trucks, or you might end up with some battle scars.

Pros:
• Great Price
• Built Tough
• Rails are a nice feature
• Great for sliding
• Great for bombing
• Good for cruising
• Concave really locks you in
• Sharp Graphics

Neutral:
• Torsional flex may appeal to some/irritate others
• Variable concave may appeal to some/irritate others

Cons:
• Wheelbite with Randal/Paris trucks