Dearest Lovers,
Have you heard the news? The news... the news I'm talking about, the news is that there is a new Sheriff in town in the Original Line-up. That's right, there is a new Apex hanging around and it goes by the name of the Apex 40.My Apex 40 after some serious riding |
Board
Specifications AVRockerConcave
|
|
Length
|
40.75in
|
Width
|
9.5in
|
Wheelbase
|
27.5in or 29in
|
Shape
|
Symmetrical, Topmont
|
Concave
|
.58in
|
Special Features
|
Dual Kicktails, truck mounting options
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Board Specifications DoubleConcave
| |
Length
|
40.75in
|
Width
|
9.5in
|
Wheelbase
|
27.5in or 29in
|
Shape
|
Symmetrical, Topmont
|
Concave
|
0.55-0.62in
|
Special Features
|
Dual Kicktails, truck mounting options, 0.25in Drop Platform, Gas Pedals
|
I was super stoked to take this board out and put it through some runs around town, so I set it up right away with a combination I haven't beat since then (except a wheel change).
-Surf_Rodz 177mm Indeesz
-Orangatang Stimulus 86a wheels
-Orangatang Nipples Yellow (board side)/Venom SHR Barrel 86a (road side)
The reason I like this set up so much is that Indeesz have a similar geometry and surfy feel to the S-Series trucks that Original produces and design many of their boards around. Although I don't believe that Original necessarily recommends S-Series trucks for the Apex 40 because it is more of a freeride oriented board I DO think that they obviously consider their own trucks when making boards. Anyways, I just never found a set of reverse kingpin trucks that I felt suited the board as much as the Indeesz, they made the board lower, super pumpy, and really really slidey.
Now lets get down to how the Apex 40 performs in different styles of riding. This bad boy excels in that middle point right between intense freestyle and crazy freeride. Which means that it is super fun on both the flats and on the hills. Its not your typical super heavy stiff downhill deck or your featherweight flexy cruiser.
The Apex 40 is rocking some nice gas pedals, which are rails you can wrap your heel or toe around to get extra torque on slides, and they really add a lot of additional UMPH to your slides both 180s and long standees. The microdrop in the deck locks your feet in a surprising amount for being so little. You feel really confident in your stance when riding in the pockets. However, since the drop and concave are pretty mild holding long glove slides takes some getting used to, but once you figure out the positioning of your feet, it gets kind of awesome. The deck is a little light for a typical freeride deck which, in my opinion, made it much more agile on the hills. Throwing the board around for a slide takes very little effort and even more challenging tricks like slide shovits were smooth on the Apex 40.
My attempt at capturing the concavity with my camera |
Commuting around town on this board is pretty rad. It is not the light bouncy commuter many people think of when a commuting board comes to mind, however, the Apex 40 is sick at getting you from point A to point B. What I liked about it was that you could pop the board into a tigerclaw over a curb and immediately tuck and flew down your every day hill with an equal amount of confidence and ease. Mentioned above the board locks your feet for standies really nicely, which basically means you can add style points to your commute by busting some 180 slides all over the place.
Of course it can't all be good. I'm going to take a second to talk about some of the weaknesses of the board. The Apex 40 is not a dedicated downhill board, which does not mean it can't go down hills very fast, it does mean that there are better boards out there for strictly downhill longboarding. Having a lower drop down deck and deeper concave is generally desired for a downhill board. Additionally I think I would have liked to see the tailed dropped a little lower so tricks like ollies, which are better with some serious pop, would be easier on the board.
Thanks for Reading!
Any comments, questions, concerns, letters of Admiration?
Hit me up!
My Current Set-Up:
-Apex 40 DoubleConcave
-Orangatang Balut 72.5mm 83a
-Surf_Rodz 177mm Indeesz
-Bones Reds
-Orangatang Nipples (purple)