Sprocket Rocket -- Sector 9 Sprocket Review

Hello Nation of Skate,
The wonderful crew at Sector 9 was awesome enough to send me over one of their newer decks the Sprocket! The Sprocket is a nice little drop through double kick freestyle board that can do most anything with tons of steeze. There are a whole bunch of similar boards on the market, however, while the Sprocket may look like any number of similar boards it handles very differently.

Let's get into what makes the Sprocket a Sprocket. The Sprocket is a 38.5in double kick board with a 9.8in width. It has a tight wheels base and mild concave. The deck has drop through truck mounting and is geared towards freestyle skateboarding.

Now we know the specs but let's get into how this smokin hot board handles on the roads.
Downhill
The Sprocket is a pretty small board with an even smaller wheelbase, making it pretty difficult to go super fast on. In addition, while this board is not necessarily flexy I wouldn't call it a speed-stiff board either so hitting super speeds can get a little perilous on this board and I wouldn't recommend it. However, if you only have one board it's definitely not the worst deck ever for getting some speed. The drop through keeps you nice and low to the ground which helps for stability and there is a tiny bit of concave to the deck which keeps your feet from flying off.

Freeride
The board would be a dope freeride board if I were a little bit shorter, haha. The tiny wheelbase on the Sprocket is a little narrow for someone with my height and stance for holding out slides. However, it is really insane for doing 180 slides and spinning your way down the hills. That small wheelbase keeps this board really nimble and light on its feet, well on its wheels, haha. I had my Sprocket setup with some 65mm Butterballs and it was oh-so-smooth and 180 slides were super fun. I recommend wheels with a small contact path for this board when freeriding because the small wheelbase loves a small contact path wheel to match it.

Commuting
If there is one thing that really characterizes this board... it is its weight. This is a super light longboard. Which is fantastic for traveling around town because it doesn't take a ton of energy to get moving. The drop through keeps it nice and low to the ground which is great for pushing and keeps your center of gravity nice and low too. Symmetry and kicktails make this board nice for commuting because you whip 180 slides to slow yourself down and still have your tail behind you no matter how many times you spin. I pretty much only commute on boards that have tails because I like being able to drop curbs and the Sprocket has more than enough tail for all the curb dropping action your heart could desire.

Freestyle
Here is where the Sprocket really shines! When it comes to freestyle you are going to have a hard time finding a better board than this. The 100% symmetrical shape is fantastic because you can hit shove its or 180 slides and your board will feel exactly the same. Those kicktails on either end are just the right amount of the tail. They are not way too long but you can still get some considerable pop off the tails, in fact you even ollie this board, which is always a little bit difficult on a longboard but is nice and manageable on the Sprocket. This board is actually the first board I got really good at bigspins on too. In addition there is enough real estate on this board to hit all of your fun cross steps and board dancing moves.

It Can't All Be Good...
I would say that the biggest downside to this board would be the wheelbase size with a drop though. The small wheelbase takes a little getting used to because if you are anywhere near my height (about 5'8") then you are going to have to shorten up your stance a little bit. Shortening my stance made holding out long slides a little more challenging, but popping 180 slides was super easy because the board is so nimble.

The Bottom Line
Would I recommend the Sector 9 Sprocket to a friend? I definitely would! I would recommend this board to anyone looking to commute via board or who is looking to get into some freestyle. If you are seriously into downhill and freeride you may want to consider a board with a slightly longer wheel base. Unlesssssss you aren't super tall, then this board would fit you for pretty much anything. I am still amazed by how much I enjoy this board and the quality is top notch. I generally thrash boards pretty quickly, but the Sprocket is definitely holding up to the beating.

Thanks for reading! Any questions, comments, concerns, stickers, loveletters?
Send them my way!

Stay Awesome,
Wayne

My Current Favorite Setup:
-SECTOR 9 SPROCKET
-Paris 180mm Trucks
-Sector 9 Butterballs
-Nipple Bushings
-Daddies Bearings