Q: What has inspired your builds of these decks?
A: Eric: The love to think it, build it, ride it and share it! Skating is skating. We grew up In the street era, and this just brought us back! We have met so many great people, and have become much better skaters by expanding to street and parks. More and more people are dropping in to that world, and we're just trying to help them feel at home.
A: Tyler : We build boards that we like to ride. We being us, our riders, and our customers.
A: Tim : Our riders are the true inspiration for these decks. It's our job to put the best possible, functioning tool under their feet and we are constantly striving to achieve this. I grew up in Southern California in the 1970's in the big explosion of the uerethane wheel. I try to incorporate features into our builds for what we used to skate back then, drainage ditches, pools, parks and all those foothills.
A: Mike : Often we start with the original Tunnel design. For example, the Tunnel Comp was based on the original Tunnel Competition deck. Only we added concave and fiberlam to make a carving monster!
Q: Other than Maple, what other substraights are you using in your builds and what is their function?
A: Eric : All the veneers, except for the bottom, are rotary cut hard maple. On the bottom we use our own shop made veneers that consist of Maple, Black Walnut, Cherry and Mahogany. These bottoms serve as both long grain support as well as offer an individual look to each board that comes out of our shop.
A: Tyler : We offer high pressure plastic laminate as an option on all of our boards which stiffness and is more scratch resistant and more durable than traditional wood faces. The hppl also has a very high tensile strength which translates into a more solid responsive deck.
A: Tim : Quite honestly, this is what sets our builds apart from others. The glueing process we use and our philosophy of the old school way. Our decks are bonded with slow set glue which allows maximum penetration of our glue joints. Our decks are a tad bit heavier but this is due to the glue penetrating deep into the veneer. This strengthens the deck and the decks have a lot less torrsional flex and added stiffness. What is gained in our process is a very long lasting deck that actualy breaks curbs instead of blowing apart. We are however playing with Formica and vinyl substrates for even more dampening action.
A: Mike : It’s always fun to expand out from traditional materials. Our Redwood Plank boasted reclaimed Redwood for a top layer. Our new Rick Blackhart Model is built from solid alder wood.
Q: Can you share any new things on the horizon for your lineup?
A: Eric: We are constantly riding, designing, and tweaking our decks. New models are created in the shop all the time. We are busy testing new models using three new molds that just showed up. Look for some gnarly new additions to the lineup for next season! Some of the best corners to ride are blind, we don't always know what's going to happen until we're there.
A: Tyler : We will continue to develop our product line and introduce several new models with a few surprises.
A: Tim : LOL, yeah, but if I do I'll have to kill you... Keep an eye on our Facebook page or here in Full Bore, there's new and exciting things coming along.
A: Mike : Now shipping is our new Tunnel Rick Blackhart Model. Made by hand in the USA by Oregon’s Longboard Larry. We are also working on some park-style designs and wheels, and of course more new products for the longboard market.