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Flexdex Pro 40 Longboard Skateboard Review

About.com Rating fourhalf out of Five

By Steve Cave, About.com

Flexdex Pro 40s Longboards Skateboards

Flexdex Pro 40s Longboard Skateboards

Flexdex Pro 40s Photo: Flexdex Skateboards
The Flexdex Pro 40 Longboard Skateboard is made speed, cruising and carving. The deck is a solid black material that they call “Gun Metal”, as opposed to the usual wood design of other longboards. Flexdex Pro 40 longboard skateboards have a great flex (thus the name!), but are also ridiculously strong. In fact, Flexdex brags that their boards are run-over-proof, bullet proof, elephant proof, and anything-else proof. So, while I took this Flexdex cruiser board out and rode it around to try it out, I of course also had to run over it, and take it for a little trip to the rifle range …

Flexdeck Construction - Gun Metal, Sleek and Black

The Flexdeck Pro 40 Longboard Skateboard is made of a weird solid black composite material – the deck is 3/8” thick, and made in one solid piece. Most wooden skateboards are made of several laminate layers, which works great, but the Flexdeck model might be the next step in longboard evolution. Flexdecks can bend and twist in ways that regular wooden boards can’t, they won’t delaminate or get stress cracks, but they still provide the same flex and provide a great amount of response to the rider’s weight.
Flexdeck Pro 40 Longboard Skateboard, Before Atomic Testing
Flexdeck Pro 40 Longboard Skateboard, Before Atomic Testing
Photo: Steve Cave
The Flexdex Pro 40 Longboard Skateboard is rather heavy, compared to a wooden board. If you like being light on your feet when you cruise, or plan on carrying your board a lot, the Flexdex might not be perfect for you.

However, the Flexdex Gun Metal material, while heavier, does give a wicked response. By that I mean, when you put your weight into a turn, the board bends under your weight, and transfers the energy you want pushed into the curve very well.

Indestructible Skateboard? Bullets, Cars and Elephants...

The Flexdex company bragged a bit about how their black Gun Metal material is also indestructible. You can run over it, shoot it, and have an elephant step on it – the board just won’t break. Well, I had to test this out! I mean, it’s all for science, right?

So I wrangled up some rifles, and went out to the shooting range. We set the board up at about 35 or 40 yards, and started off with .22 caliber bullets. Now, when I hear “bullet proof”, for some reason in my mind I imagine that the bullets just bounce off, and the board looks clean and smooth. Well, that’s not exactly what the term means! What it DOES mean is that the board can stop bullets, no problem – and it did. The .22 shells did bounce right off, but left some nasty dents. But, they did get stopped!

Flexdex Pro 40 Longboard Skateboard, Top:  .22 bullet shell impacts, Bottom:  .243 hole bottom and top
Top: .22 shell impacts, Bottom: .243 hole bottom and top
Photo: Steve Cave
So next we upgraded to .243 caliber shells. The Flexdex guys had bragged that the board could stop up to a .357, so I took aim right at the diamond Flexdex logo on the bottom of the Flexdeck Pro 40 Longboard Skateboard and fired. Fortunately, I hit the target perfectly - a shot I'm quite proud of! Unfortunately, the .243 shell did blast through the fibrous inner material of the Gun Metal Flexdeck skateboard and blasted out a little chunk of the top griptape. Now, to be fair, the logo was cut in slightly, so the board might have been weaker there. Maybe. (something I realized after blasting it…) I didn’t want to go up to any higher caliber than that. I mean, I still had to run over it with a car!

Finish the story on Flexdex Pro 40 Review - Page 2.

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