Vandem Longboard Shop News

We've been stocking a small selection of old-school reissue decks, and wheels and trucks to go with them of late.

Popsicles have their place... but we're two old dudes in a shed with a ramp, and we want big, shapey skateboards that make us feel like it's 1987 again.

Like our longboard stuff, we're very picky about what we stock. We're only doing brands that we think are rad, and we're only doing things that we skate (or want to skate!) ourselves.

Basically we're like kids in a sweet shop.

Our stock is changing all the time, as we generally only get limited numbers...

Like all forms of longboarding, longboard dancing has been evolving steadily over the last few years. Inevitably, more complex tricks and combinations have increased the need for specialised decks to dance on.

There's now a huge selection of longboard dancing decks out there, but we've picked two of the classics to help you choose - the Loaded Bhangra and the Lush Legend.

Both of these decks have been around for a long time. They've evolved from tons of rider input over the years specifically for dancing and flatland tricks. They're both quite expensive, but then we're in...

We had our friend Ben Williams in with us a couple of weeks back.

Ben is a super-talented graphic artist, we've worked with him before to do our Skate Or Pie Tshirt. So when he asked to do some stuff in the shop we were stoked to just let him loose and see what happened...

We've since been finding his drawings all over the workshop, but his biggest creation is this floor-to-wall skull trail that ends in a pool session:

Check out more of Ben's work at Tempocide.com.

Watch this space for more...

We've just taken delivery of a load of Hackbrett Longboards decks! More pf the giant Wasser pintails and some of the new 2017 Das Schnelle freeride/speedboards.

We've always offered these boards as custom completes, but you had to call us to order one.

Hackbrett boards built up with hand-picked undercarriage options to suit each board. So now it's even easier to own one of these beauties than ever!

Check out our full Hackbrett lineup here.

The Lush Longboards Bristol Board Meeting went down last weekend, and it was a blast!

Over 100 skaters turned up to help raise money for Clic Sargent, helping kids with cancer via sponsorship and a prize raffle.

Adam, known to many of you who frequent our shop, won a Boardlogic Grommet Comet in the raffle. In a bid to raise more cash for Clic Sargent, he's re-raffling it on facebook.

To buy a slot in the raffle, just donate £10 to the event's JustGiving Page!

The simple pleasure of carving around on your longboard has never been more popular. At the cheaper end of the market there's a lot of "me-too" longboard completes without much to choose between them. Spend a bit more on a dedicated carving/cruising longboard setup, and things start to get a lot more interesting.

The Loaded Icarus and Lush Samba are two dedicated carving setups to come out for the 2017 summer season. They both aim to provide the best carving feeling out there, emulating the awesome turning sensation that you'll know if you surf or snowboard.

At face value, there...

Check out this quick, simple and effective footstop solution from Sabre Trucks!

Despite all the "proper" footstops you can get buy out there, we know quite a few freeride and downhill longboarders who prefer to just use a bushing instead. It's small, out of the way, isn't going to eat you if you land on it, isn't going to munch your shoes, and just about gives you enough grip for those monster toeside standups and predrifts.

This kit from Sabre is only £5.50, and it simply drops into one of your existing deck mounting holes. It comes with a proper stainless steel Imperial...

When it comes to longboards, getting the size right is essential to getting the best longboarding experience. Unlike scooters rollerskates or rollerblades, the size of a longboard should not be primarily determined by the rider’s size. For seasoned longboarding veterans, handling a board is second nature regardless of its size, but for newcomers the size may be a little more important. The main determining factor of a longboard’s size should be what you want to use the board for. Unlike skateboarding, most long-boarders will not spend much time performing jumping tricks and flips however they will need to decide...

It felt a little like Camelot weatherwise - in that it rained all the way to Gurston, and then stopped shortly after we got there, and quickly developed into a lovely warm day, with a healthy tailwind that swiftly and completely dried out the track. And then, just as we had everything nearly packed away, it started raining again!

However, despite the vagaries of the weather, and the track being used by farm machinery since the autumn, the surface was surprisingly good once dry, and enabled some excellent times to be achieved.

The hill saw a record number of...