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Hola.
My name is Matt and I like to play skateboards. What
probably makes my typical game of skateboards different from yours is that I
live in Boone. That means if I want to skate, I’m probably going to be skating
a fast hill. Unlike some places where you seek out the fastest hills, in Boone
you’re surrounded by fast hills and have to find ones you’re comfortable
skating. This could be finding ones with nice pavement, little traffic, ones
that don’t end blind intersections, ones that friendly people live on, ones
that don’t have cliffs to the outside or rock walls to the inside of corners,
etc. The hills are not particularly fast, but going fast in a straight line
requires different gear and skills than going fast around tight corners, or going
fast through sweepers before predrifting a hairpin. This means a setup must be
stable but able to turn fairly tight at speed and grippy but still able to be
slid to shave off speed. This brings us to the Bombsquad Agent Orange, and how
it works for my type of riding, and what is does not do as well at. Bombsquad
is a smaller manufacturer based in Texas. They make noseguards, footstops, and stiff
boards out of maple, and used to make aluminum boards.
Specs
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Length
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37.25in
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Width
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9.75in
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Wheelbase
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28.5in,
27.5in, 26.5in
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Concave
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5/8in
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The basic shape of the board is nothing particularly
unusual. It is the classic directional topmount speedboard that has been around
for a long time. It’s on the shorter side based upon the wheelbase options, but
the standing platform is about 28in, so it does not feel cramped for me at all.
The board is fairly wide, but not more so than other similar boards. Compare
it, for example, to the Comet Voodoo Doll, which is 10.25in at the widest
point. The widest point of the Agent Orange is where you need it. Full width is
not far behind the front bolts. A lot of similar boards (the previously
mentioned Voodoo Doll as well as many of the Sector 9 Downhill Division boards)
are at their widest much closer to the middle. This is probably a vestige of
their pintail roots, as width there is not particularly usable. That the Agent
Orange has tapered a bit by then is useful for several reasons. First, it is
simply less wood to carry back up the hill or push around. Second, it makes
footbraking at speed significantly easier. It allows you to keep your leg
closer in, similar to a waist on many popular freeride boards. Taper also helps
with stability a little bit by reducing leverage under the back foot. It just
lets you weight up your back foot in a turn for grip without wobbling through
them.
The Agent Orange has multiple wheelbase options to adjust
based on personal preference. I have found that I like the shortest (26.5in)
option the best, but some of my taller friends who have messed around with the board
prefer one of the three longer options. I’m short and have a fairly short
stance, but some others find the slightly longer wheelbase make sliding easier.
The shorter wheelbase and wide nose mean you can get right up on top of the
front truck. This makes you more stable and, combined with the width and
concave, give you massive amounts of leverage.
Speaking of the concave, I find it to very comfortable. It’s
not super mellow like the Comet Voodoo series, but it isn’t super aggressive.
It’s definitely there, but it does not make the board uncomfortable for
pushing. I have really small feet, so concaves probably feel different to me
than other people, but this is one of the few I’ve stood on that instantly felt
right. The only others that have for me are Incline cave and Bustin EQ cave. I’ve
heard that the board is pressed in the same concave mold as the Earthwing
Supermodel, which has a concave that gets progressively steeper towards the
edges. I’m not sure if it is actually pressed in that mold, but it does feel
like it could be. The concave doesn’t feel quite as extreme though because the
board is narrower, particularly in the back. The middle of the deck feels flat
enough for comfortable pushing, with no W. While there may be no W or
concave-killing gas pedals, the rails are pretty sharp (only rounded enough for
you to not cut yourself), so dig your heel in or monkey-toe that slide.
The board doesn’t have any noticeable flex for me. It’s only
8 ply, which keeps it fairly light, unlike the 1,140,593 ply Evo or 10 ply
Greaseshark. The shorter wheelbase and concave seem to keep it stiff. I have
ridden a lot of 9 ply boards that have more flex. A lot of people get sketched
out about riding a shorter wheelbase faster because short wheelbases are less
stable, but I certainly feel more stable on a smaller, stiff board than a
longer one with a little flex. Topmounts are supposedly less stable too, but
the Agent Orange makes up for that with grip, huge foot platforms, and the
leverage to turn hard or kick out a slide.
So the Agent Orange excels at going around corners rather
quickly, but is it any good at going slow? Some speedboards, such as the Evo,
feel good going fast and absolutely dead at lower speeds. A lot of this depends
on truck and bushing setups, but the Agent Orange can actually be fun at lower
speeds. Being a topmount, it isn’t the easiest board to push, but with the
right truck and bushing setup it can be super carvy. Like I said before, the
concave isn’t so aggressive that pushing is uncomfortable on your feet; it’s
just more work because you have to bend your knee more. On the other hand,
getting used to footbraking on a topmount makes you able to footbrake from any
speed on a drop-through or drop-platform deck. It also isn’t exactly a
freestyle board, but the nose and tail are pretty functional, especially on the
shorter wheelbase. Tricks involving the nose and tail are obviously a lot
easier on something lighter with kicks such as a Tan Tien, but they’re not too
difficult on the AO. The nose and tail are about as functional as those on an
Apex 37, which is much more of a freestyle board. Being a good downhill board,
it is also a good freeride board when setup for slidey freeride action.
I have noticed a few weaknesses of the board. First, the
sharp rails get torn up pretty easily. I’ve had the board come out and flip
over during faster slides (due to lack of skill/practice and nasty pavement)
and the rails got pretty scraped up fast. This is particularly a problem at the
back wheelwells right before the cutouts, as the board is only a couple plys
thick and that’s the highest area on the back of the board. I can’t comment as
to how the board stands up to being curbed, as most of the roads I skate don’t
have curbs (sometimes they have cliffs to fall off though). The sweet graphic
also comes off pretty easily.
I also experienced my board warping after a couple months. I
hadn’t ridden it in the wet and I had only owned it over the colder months so
no hot trunks to warp it. I took a couple pictures and emailed Bombsquad
explaining the situation. Within 30 minutes, I got an apologetic response
asking for my address to send a new one. No requests to send the board in for
examination, just an apology and offer for a new one. This is why I would buy
another board from them. If there’s a problem, they’ll fix it as quickly as
possible.
As far as set-ups go, I’ve tried Paris, Randals, and Gunmetals
on the board. I’ve messed around with all the wheelbase options and some
different baseplate angles. I enjoyed the board the whole time, but my two
favorite setups were split angle Paris and 46* Gunmetals. I ran the Paris with
a 50* front and the rear at 42-43*. With the fat nose that lets you get your
front foot right up by the front truck, it works well having the front do more
of the turning while the back grips and stays stable. I really like the Gunmetals
because I find 46* to be a great middle ground for stability and lean at high
speeds and carvy fun at low speeds. I can cruise and carve around at pushing
speeds and do 40mph+ runs without messing with anything. Both of these truck
setups gave me more confidence than others that I could go faster than I’d ever
been before while still being able to turn quickly when I needed to.
Talking trucks brings up another question, “What about the
dreaded topmount wheelbite?” Well, the wheelwells are super deep, as in they go
into the third ply from the top, almost through it at the deepest point. The
only problem is that they are not particularly long. They match up perfectly
with Randals and worked well with Paris (I could run ~75mm wheels with double
cones sloppy loose with only a shockpad). I have had wheelbite issues with my Gunmetals
though. Gunmetal v2s will lean forever though (I get about the same turning
circle with the Gunmetals as a Paris or 50* Randal on the same bushing setup
due to leaning so far, despite getting less turn from the lower angle). The 46s
are ¼ inch lower than Paris trucks, which is good because I needed ¼ inch riser
to get clearance without running tighter trucks or harder bushings than I like.
Gunmetals shorten the wheelbase just enough that the deepest point of the wells
is not where the wheel hits. This is really just an issue because I like soft barrels
and the inner wheelbase with super leany trucks that don’t quite work with it.
A fatcone or venom freeride shaped bushing would probably fix the problem too.
I have no doubt that Bears or Charger IIs would have no wheelbite issues on the
board. Supposedly 50 Calibers work fine as well, but I would imagine the 44s
would have problems on the shortest wheelbase, but be fine on the longest
option.
All in all, I really like this board and will probably
continue to ride it for a long time. As much as I enjoy other boards, this is
what I feel most comfortable on going fast. The only wobbles I’ve gotten on my
current set-up were due to flatspots on the front wheels causing vibrations at
35-40 in a turn. While I love the ease of pushing and sliding drop-throughs, I
won’t take anything else as fast as I do my Agent Orange. The shape is just so
simple and functional. The only addition I’ve made so far has been a little
Vicious 3D concave pocket/reference point for my back foot in a tuck to give
myself something to push against, making tucking easier. My current favorite setup
is below, although I’m thinking about going back to split angles with a
slightly larger split soon. Maybe I’ll try more like 50/40 or 46/35 and mess
with the wheelbase options again. The variety of setups this board works well
with is only made even more tunable by the multiple mounting holes.
Favorite set-up:
Bombsquad Agent Orange
Gunmetal Mac10s with venom barrels (87a bottom, 86a SHR top)
Abec11 Grippins
MHS bearings and spacersThanks for the great Review Matt! You rock my socks!
Wayne
