Surfing

The Carver 29″ Swallow - Product Review

I’ve been seeing more and more ad’s lately in almost all of my surfing magazines featuring the one and only Taylor Knox riding Carver Skateboards. I figured that if Mr. Knox was giving his stamp of approval on a product outside of surfing it would be worth looking into it. It wasn’t long before I heard back from Neil and the boys at Carver and they sent us one of their 29” Swallow C7’s to see what all the hype was about.

At first glance I immediately thought about how perfect this board would be for travel. Small and compact, it can fit in almost anywhere and is one of the smallest boards I have seen! Its travel and storage benefits are complimented by a cool retro paint job and fun lines that mimic the true feel of a fish surfboard. I’ll admit, because of it’s small size, I was a bit nervous about how it would perform but once I got on it I was immediatley proven wrong…they packed a lot of horsepower into this little deck.

Like a traditional fish this board is super fast and loose. However, the real secret is in the trucks and short wheelbase. The Carver C7 is their patented front truck system that is designed to create the same fluid dynamic for a skateboard that a surfboard has in the water. What gives it this ability is the extra axis of movement provided by the truck’s rotating arm, giving the nose of the board lateral thrust, in addition to the usual rail-to rail turn. With this extra turning capacity, the back truck becomes a pivot from which you can snap turns, the way fins hold in the water while the surfboard’s rocker slides on the surface of a wave. This dynamic also creates the much sought after ability to pump the board for speed, and is the feature unique to Carver that finally delivers on the long-promised feel of surfing a skateboard.

I’ve been riding skateboards/longboards for years now and due to my role at the Dailystoke.com, I have been lucky to have opportunity to try a lot of different rides. That being said, I am going to make the bold statement that this is the closest I have come to replicating the feel of a knee high swell on a 5’10” fish!!! While there are other boards out there that I would prefer for bombing hills or endurance training, the Carver is my new #1 choice for day-to-day cruising and travel. Pumping is effortless and I am amazed at how responsive it is…you can just keep going! I highly suggest grabbing a Carver board or some of their C7 trucks, you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck and you certainly won’t be disappointed! Thanks for reading and as always, tell a friend…

- Shaper

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