From Steve Cave,
Your Guide to Skateboarding.
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The T-Board from Tierney Rides is a unique type of board. Basically, the T-Board is a large deck with a set of custom torsion one-wheeled trucks. Yes, that means the T-Board has only 2 wheels, and the design gives one of the smoothest carves around, with a great potential in crossover training for snowboarding (along with other board sports).

T-Board Construction

Tierney Rides has designed the T-Boards with two different deck options. The larger they call the Snowboard Geometry Deck - it's 41” long by 9 5/8” wide. The smaller T-board deck is called the Skateboard Geometry Deck - it's 38" long by 9” wide. There's also a brand new 33" long deck. The longer the deck, the more stable it is - the shorter the T-Board deck, the faster the response. All decks are made from 8 plys of maple (so slightly thicker than an average 7 ply maple skateboard deck).

The T-Board's trucks are where things get spicy. At a glance, the trucks look like simple metal casters that hold one wide wheel each. But the trucks have far more to them than that - Tierney Rides has developed what they call "Torsion Response Technology". The trucks use Torsion Rings of different harnesses to customize the rider's experience, and these rings also provide a greater feedback in turning. What does all of this mean? It means that these T-Board trucks raise the two-wheeled board from a novel idea to an awesome carver.

The T-Board wheels are also unique - larger and wider than regular skateboard wheels, and also softer. Two types of wheels are available - one set for flatland and larger more rubbery wheels for downhill.

Riding The T-Board

Riding the T-Board takes some getting used to. Standing still doesn't work - the T-board is like a bike, you need momentum to stay balanced. But, just like a bike, once you get going keeping your balance is easy. But that first "getting going" part can take some time. I found it best to start already on an incline, and once I got comfortable I could try pushing like on a regular skateboard. This took more time to figure out, but in all I would say that most skateboarders should feel comfortable riding the T-Board in about 10 or 20 minuets of trying, while snowboarders may take a little more time. Of course, anyone can learn. The point is to relax and have.

The hard part, unfortunately, is stopping your T-Board. The instructions that come with the T-Board tell you to simply step off the board. That works for flatland T-Boarding, but on any kind of hill you are going to want to learn to powerslide. This is possible, but hard. The T-Board's trucks are built to turn, and with only two tires to slide on, this will take some practice. So, until you feel comfortable stopping, I would suggest enjoying light inclines, streets, parking lots and garages - and once you feel good, then try progressively harder hills.

Carving and Crossover Training

Before I even felt comfortable with the T-Board, I was impressed with how smooth it felt. The carving was fluid and smooth - in some ways even more comfortable than snowboarding. The response of the torsion trucks and the fact that I was balanced on two wheels made the T-Board feel natural and intuitive. After getting comfortable with the board, I took it down some hills - even though I didn't yet know how to stop. It was a stupid idea, but it was also awesome. I didn't feel any speed wobbles, and I could cut back and forth like I was carving a hill on a snowboard. At the bottom I had to bail, but I and the board survived. Tierney Rides does offer thicker, more rubbery wheels that make powersliding and bombing hills even more comfortable and less difficult.

It is precisely that natural fluid carving that makes the T-Board perfect for crossover snowboard training. In fact, the T-Board is the only product endorsed by the Canadian and US Olympic Snowboarding Teams for snowboarding crosstraining. The T-Board is also being used in other places, from kiteboarding on land to wakeboarder crosstraining.

The Bottom Line

The T-Board is a fun board with piles of uses, and learning to ride it isn't too difficult. The board does look intimidating at first. People aren't used to only 2 wheels on a skateboard. But almost anyone can master the T-Board - all it takes is trying. And, to make things even easier, Tierney Rides offerers an incredible return policy - if you buy a T-Board and decide you don't like it, you can return it up to two weeks after your purchase, no problem. And on top of that, the T-Board is guaranteed for life. With support like that, there really isn't a reason to not try out a T-Board.