THIS
That, and having crazy concave makes enclosure construction more difficult. @squishy654 totally agree. Nice tub concave on an 11” width deck for a comfortable ride. That’s a big reason I love comet boards. Very comfy ride. Rayne has those nice sharp edges too.
1 Like
This might be the reason how Lacroix built their decks
1 Like
Couldn’t agree more.
Just like push boards, everyone rides esk8s they’re own way. I carve my ass off on my esk8s, I actually build them so they’re fun to carve on. Just like @squishy654 said an aggressive concave gets uncomfortable on longer rides, but a mild concave on a wider deck with good grip tape (and dialed in bushings and trucks) and you can carve it up and have lots of fun while still being comfortable.
2 Likes
That was my take on it as well - The whole personal preference thing.
1 Like
Depends on the concave and how aggressive it is. It’s a bit of a blanket statement to say concave = discomfort. I find concave like that on the Batray to be very comfortable because they actually hug your feet and allow you to exert minimal strain on your soles in order to turn the board. Concave also locks you in and allows you to relax your legs instead of constantly fighting against the vibrations trying to slide your feet off the deck. I own several decks on both end and of the spectrum, and the decks with the more aggressive concave tend to be way more comfortable for long rides.
1 Like
I’ve done the same 30+mile ride on my LaCroix and the deck I posted above. Surprisingly the Drang board was more comfortable by the end of the day…I think because I’m shifting foot positions a lot more with the kicktail.
3 Likes
True, I’m speaking from personal experience and not everyone has the same preferences.
Yay, I’m stoked there is a discourse happening. So we have many decks, and the Nelson board, *(as long as Mr. Nelson is down to keep the contract going) will be presented in a group buy. The retail price of the decks will be a bit more than the cost Nelson sold them for. They will be CNC built, with an enclosure of some sorts. Could do various types of them, but each one requires I charge the customer for design time. We’ll need to make about 5-600$ to make the mold, fixture, and do the programming for wheel wells, flush mounts, and the battery area.
Kicktails on this mold are nearly 10" long if we need for huge wheel eskates.
I imagine that the concave is a bit aggro for some, specially the larger feet people or people who ride with their feet in a sideways position. I tend to stand more towards teh middle of the board when I"m trying to go faster . This dialog is very valuable, and I want to continue it.
If anyone is wondering… Most any shape can be cut on any mold. When we are hand building boards, we must make a wood template for the router to trace each shape, but with CNC built boards, any shape is fair game as long as the blank and the mold can support the shape. Here are a few other shapes I rendered with the Nelson mold.
This mold would make a VERY good cut out board, or a drop through board shape even, as long as teh wheel base was clear of the drop, and intended flush mount area.
6 Likes
That pointed front end with the large kicktail…
Perfect. It’s pretty much exactly what I’ve been looking for.
2 Likes
Not everyone wants to go 50 or 100 miles at 18mph.
You’ve known this from me for months now, but I’m still a sucker for an Alternative Bunting shaped deck.
Hope Mr. Nelson is still game for us reviving that mold.
For now, my Vector 37 will have to do until the Batray mold can be afforded and legally authorized. 
2 Likes
I just saw a used one of that deck a few weeks ago. (Vector)
It’s a superb deck. Concave is actually pretty comfortable as is. Rather expensive though. Really hope that we have enough interest for that Batray mold as a means to creating a cost effective alternative.
1 Like
Here is the rant and insider information about us here and now.
The culture which creates the average price of skate/long board building is mostly set by over seas, or Mexican factories purchasing everything including labor in bulk and thus prices there are simply lower, Even Though they can often ship the raw goods from the USA and ship decks back for less than most small state side factories can make them domestically! There is something wrong with that picture. Shops in the USA and Canada are even at or near that level, with ultra efficient machines, and large teams pumping out a hundred or more decks per day. Drang has been moving towards economizing the purchase of wood, and glue, and maybe even using our glue spreader which saves about 10 minutes in the press process. We have found that until we are purchasing at least 1 full semi trailer full of maple, and 275 gallons of glue at once, the price of decks really just can’t be compared to other factories who are completing 1000 or more boards per month. Comparing the cost of man hours in the USA and cost of business, to that of overseas factories shows us we’re not going to be the place to go to get the cheapest decks. It will never be the case unless the cost of living in those other countries goes up or the quantity of boards we build per month quadruples. I doubt shipping tariffs will ever really bridge that gap alone.
I’d be so happy to see the day when the the culture of longboard manufacturing innovation becomes more amiable towards the survival of the factory in general, and specifically our factory. We have sold 8 ply formica decks for $45, in bulk which basically means we’re working about 1 hour theoretically on each board, for a total shop rate of $25-30. Utah has a lower cost of living than many states but that shop rate isn’t able to support a shop of our size (which isn’t that big). Here at Drang we are all owner operators who live off of very low pay and put all our time into the building of the shop. We have sacrificed quality of life for this for 8 years, so I hope you’ll understand our desire and need to make good profit building high quality well designed boards.
Retail price was $140 for the Bat Ray. With our process of wheel well cut outs, flush mounts, and with the addition of a battery route, retail price isn’t likely going to be lower. It will probably be higher. There will be the ability to maybe do group discounts, and probably to sell to shops. (Though I can’t remember if there is a legal clause for that). Our contract with Nelson also includes compensation for Nelson.
I did just receive word from Mr. Nelson himself, and it seems we’re still on board. So side note, we’ll be releasing a group buy, with a minimum maybe even a kickstarter, and boards will be built and released some time around the new year.
IF you are looking for a more affordable deck option, we’ll be able to sell decks that don’t take as much and we’ll likely be able to be very reasonably priced. We’re between a little shop and a big factory in capacity.
15 Likes
I think the esk8 market is a great place for you my friend. Many, many people on this forum have spent thousands on building the boards they want to ride. Cost is always going to be a factor, but paying $50-$75 more for a deck that combines a great riding experience with esk8 accommodations like a routed battery section (or possibly routed lanes for phase wires) is a no brainer for me. I suspect many others will feel the same.
8 Likes
I killed the thread. Talked to K1 kart track yesterday here in Utah. What are the chances we all rent out the space together and have a race. Theyll grate the track for us.
2 Likes
Nice to read you ! Really cool that you also ride esk8 !!
Big Up, and good continuation 
I love the idea to race on a kart trace! Like LazyRoller made last year or the Evolve world cup. Did the circuit is wash before done that? I’m thinking about gasoline/oil on the track.
2 Likes
I just got a reply from Evolve, about the making of a local winter time race event. I think we want to set it up so that we can have classes of races, for dudes like Moe, and anyone else on a rocket we can get out to race, and then standard boards, 20mph goers, and what not, and then a push race. I think the funnest would be a tow race, where e boards pull longboarders around the track haha.
I’ll be emailing Evolve after the event is set up. First thing is to discover how much money we need to raise in order to get a day, or evening at the track. We have multiple local tracks here where we could hold the event. I think there isn’t a better time to do it than during winter while our winter jones is going on.
Who else should I email about this? Red Ember, Long Haired Boy, Carvon? Everyone?
2 Likes