If you already have experience with our Supersonic model longboard, this is the next rendition. For now, we will distinguish this bamboo core Supersonic by calling it the Supersonic Bamboo, but after loads of testing, this is the expected ultimate future of this board. We just still have plenty of maple decks on hand, so these will also be offered alongside them until they’re gone.
Why bamboo? No, we’re not going to give you some line about bamboo having some properties that make it a better longboard. We’ve tested so much bamboo in the past. I don’t think it’s better. I think it’s just as good as maple but that it’s more expensive. No, the reason we did a bamboo core on this board is because we wanted to get the flex right. While a normal maple ply is 1/16 of an inch in thickness, we can machine our bamboo cores to within 0.5mm tolerances. This allowed us to find and hone in on what we call our “medium flex” and to bring the multiple flex options together in closer increments. So, our “heavy flex” is less stiff than an 8 ply maple core, our “light flex” is a little stiffer than a 6 ply maple core, and our “medium flex” is just about in line with our 7 ply core maple Supersonic.
Additionally, we’ve been listening, and we wanted to offer a higher end Supersonic model that had more waterproofing elements so that the deck lasts longer. Riders of the Supersonic are putting on A LOT of miles. The new Supersonic Bamboo will support as many or more miles, but it will definitely keep your board looking stronger for longer. The glass top is more resistant than the former’s maple top, and the veneer bottom with glass right underneath satisfies our requirements of protecting the fiberglass from bumps and bruises on curbs or flicking up rocks, but provides a much longer lasting construction on the bottom ply so that the elements don’t get into that bottom layer of maple and break it down.
While the old all-maple Supersonic still has been lasting riders for thousands of miles, the elements will break down the dyed bottom veneer and cause it to look quite worn. We have not seen significant early failures, but we understand that this isn’t a great look, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a board where the bottom plies resist weathering. For riders truly logging tons of miles in all sorts of conditions, this is the better Option.
