Jacqui's in charge!!!

I guess it's time to come clean, Balance isn't my only job. I also work on a ship and sail on the seas. So as I am sailing upon the seven seas my girlfriend Jacqui will be taking care or orders! We have a huge stock of boards ready to go, so get your orders in!

Jacqui can be reached at Jacqui@BalnceLongboards.com or by calling our new Balance Longboards number 801 999 0SK8.
I can still be reached at 801 750 6054 and also through Tom@balancelongboards.com if you do need anything from me. Although Jacqui will be handling all of the sales.

Christmas is right around the corner and there is plenty of time to get your orders in for the holiday season. Every model is currently in stock and can be shipped out immediately.

Love your life

Tom
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Hardwood Speedboards!

Well it all started about eight months ago when I met Mike Snyder. He pretty much introduced me to the world of downhill longboarding. Before hand I knew very much about, all I knew is that speedwobbles scared the crap out of me. We decided to produce a downhill board together. He wanted something fast, while I wanted to offer something that wasn't out there yet.

Two weeks after we met, we had out first prototype. It was pretty good, but Mike wanted something with a bit more of a foot platform, especially for his rear foot. We continued making prototypes, tweaking the wheel base a bit, overall length, amount of concave, width and also some pretty cool top and bottom features and contours. Yea we tweaked and played with just about every aspect of the board.

Throughout this prototype process, I quickly realized how easy it was to make these minute changes in the board because I was using hardwoods and not a tradition press. Its pretty simple for me to add some length or width to the board, but if you were to do that with a traditional longboard you would need a press for every change in width, amount of concave, etc. I also realized how much of a difference these small changes had in how the board actually performed. Which gave me the idea of offering a fully customized downhill speedboard. While we will have a stock deck (Mike's preferred ride) we will also offer customization for a very reasonable price. All of the things we were tweaking in our prototypes the rider will now be able to tweak on his own board. Change the overall length, width, wheel base, amount of concave, where the concave actually starts as well as the top contours of the board. I'm not positive, but I don't think anyone else offers that much customization in their boards.

I guess now I can talk about these top and bottom contours on our downhill board. First off we have "The Speed Egg". Its a hump just behind the front truck. It allows you to know where you foot placement is on the board. As well as allowing you to be a bit more locked in with you front foot. And finally it allows you to let the board fall behind you while you are kicking. This increases your stride and hence increases your speed off of the start line.

Next we have "The Ridge line", which is essentially a V or a ridge coming off of your rear truck towards the center line of the board. This combined with a pretty wide tail allows the rider to use The Ridge line to dictate exactly where the tail is while in a turn, predrifting, or in a slide. More control means a safer more predictable ride.

On the bottom we have essentially removed material. With this we have created rails down the bottom of the board, which come in pretty handy to grab onto while cornering. It also significantly reduces the weight of the board.

Since we have taken away so much material I decided it was a pretty good idea to start introducing some composites into the board. Here again we have an option for the rider. While the bottom of the deck will certainly have layers of bamboo fiberglass, the trip of the deck can either be layered with the bamboo glass or a carbonfiber top sheet. Either option will make the board virtually bomb proof

So there you go, our fully customized hardwood downhill board. I am still doing research on pricing so I am not entirely too sure of the price. I do know the stock board is going to be within the same price range as other downhill decks out there. And the customization is not going to be a ridiculous add on, I'm going to keep it at a reasonable price so more people can enjoy their own custom ride. I am hoping to have this board fully released by the end of the winter so everyone can gear up for the upcoming season. As soon as I know more, I will let everyone else know as well.

Love life,

Tom

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

New Phone Number for Balance - 801-750-6054

Please take note, we have changed our phone number to 801 750 6054!  Our old number no longer works.  Im very sorry for any inconvenience, the situation is totally out of my control.  Feel free to give us a call at anytime if you ever need anything.  Keep on skating.  Love life!

Tom

First ever kickflip on Balance Longboards

I started longboarding about 10 years ago when I realized that I was no good at skateboarding.  I mean I couldn't even ollie.  Although that fact still stands true today, I met somebody today who can.  With in 20 mins of meeting each other this kid had a kickflip dialed on the Platypus.  He was working of presure flips and triflip when we left each other.  Although our meeting was short, I was able to grab some quick footage of his stuff. 

Stay tuned, we have plans on making a full length video in the near future.  Here we are again pushing what can be done on a hardwood longboard.  I know this was the first kickflip done on one of our boards, but it may also be the first one done on any sort of hardwood longboard.  And I know that there aren't a lot of kickflips being done in the longboard world right now.  Were going to keep innovating and keep pushing what can be done with hardwood longboards, as well as longboarding in general!!

Love life!!

www.balancelongboards.com

sales@balancelongboards.com

New Layups!

Here we are, getting into fall, sounds like time to release a couple of new layups.  We have basically gone ahead and added a center stringer to our boards.  I think it gives the board a little more substance, a little more to look at if you will.  

Now we have 8 different decks, combined with 8 different layups.  Im not math genious, but my calculator told me that there are now 64 different combinations of boards to chose from.  There are some board companies that are made in China that can't compete with that.  

Stay tuned throughout this fall we will be releasing even more layups as well as some other options.  

Always handcrafted, and always made in the USA!

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Love life,

Tom

sales@balancelongboards.com

Custom Boards

We have been pumping out a lot of custom boards lately and I just wanted to keep everyone posted on all of them.  From just switching up the layouts, or coming out with your own design, here is what has been coming out of the shop lately.  Tons of people have been adding concave to the Val.  It turns it into an amazing downhill board.  

Give us a call with your idea for your deck, or check out the pictures for some ideas.  So far we have been getting great response with all of our custom decks.  Love your life, and find your Balance.

Love life,

Tom

Maryhill 2009

Maryhill 2009 concluded last night with Pat Switzer taking the win in Men’s Downhill.  Coming into the weekend it seemed to be Scoot Smith as the favorite.  He had won the event the last two years.  Once the quals started Mischo Erban then looked to be the favorite.  Leading the pack after the first qualifing round and setting a new course record on the second qualifying round.    On race day he won every heat up until the final.  Then it was all about Pat Switzer.  Battling the elements he took out a heavy field including Mischo, Scoot, and Douglas Silva.

Balance team rider Mike Snyder had a solid performance over the weekend.  He qualified right where he wanted to be in the middle of the pack.  He made it through his first heat on Sunday, but then ran into a little rain prob on his next heat.  Our downhill model “Zoolander” is getting closer and closer to being complete.  I am very stoked to release it and I have to say that it is unlike anything else out on the market right now.  A hardwood speedboard, Get Stoked!

Love life,

Tom