This board on first appearance is your typical campus cruiser carving board. Bright sublimated graphics and clean swooping tail, it is slender yet has more than enough room for your feet to work. The tight placement of the mounting bolts means the nose can cut into turns and guide the board. All this simplicity all this elegance however is absolutely overshadowed when you start to look at the technology and material in this deck. Remember this deck is on the shelf with a 200$ MSRP and a 3 year warranty against manufacturer defects.
This board reads just like the toe tag of a boutique snowboard, the technology and materials that are going into these decks are matched and then surpassed with the exacting technique and long time knowledge of everything that is going into this board. P-Tex UHMW Tip & Tail Protectors protecting the most damaged parts of the deck from wear and impact. Pre-hardened, pre-tensioned, layered laminate fiberglass meaning the deck keeps its shape and has a lively and consistent flex. Die cut Carbon stringers placed in strategic locations of the decks, improving torsion response and turning. Providing rigidity for the base plates to seal to the deck with, vertically laminated aspen core gives the deck a lightness that other solid decks lack. Yea and it doesn’t stop there, Bi-Lite/Sk8 Fiberglass give the deck its primary rigidity and brings the flex into the board. Maple cut cores from Great Lakes Veneers that are custom cut to specification, no laying layers of stock laminates. Possibly the most important thing the rider will really notice when spending a day on the deck, rubber dampening that smoothes the ride and gives the rider a comfortable cushion from vibration and crack shock.
You get all that? So what is it that brings the Norad into the Top 10 Of The Best Longboards Ever? You should have guessed it by now but if not; pure and simple very affordable cutting edge technology and use of materials. Taking their long history of snowboard production and aiming it firmly at creating a longboard that will be durable, responsive, reliable and brimming with high tech ingredients. Never Summer has been making longboards since 2006 and since has grown their line to encompass many diverse boards in style, shape and discipline. If the average rider is looking for a flexy, cruiser, and carver that tips the scale of technology but won’t empty those pockets. The Norad is the answer to that question.
Malakai Kingston is the mad genius behind the Silverfish Longboarding website, and has been sharing his expertise on longboarding and skateboarding for a long time.
