One of the most popular pages on our site
Says don't buy a longboard for less than £100.
It goes further, breaks a cheap longboard down piece by piece, clearly illustrating that it is in fact not a longboard at all, but a piece of cheese designed for nothing but landfill.
Yes, we had a lot of fun writing it. The same goes for the Amazon longboards page, as you can probably tell.
So how can we justify selling the Arbor Drop Cruiser Photo for £89.95?
The Drop Cruiser is not the same as the nasty stuff we made an example of on that page.
If anything, it's tasty enough cheese to make you want more.
However, there are two reasons we're bringing this up now:
- We upgraded two of these this week alone - and sure enough, they're now epic longboards. But over the first year of their life, they've now cost more than a similar board off the shelf.
- One of our main goals with our website is to replicate the customer experience you'd receive in the shop itself, online. And in store we'd let you test one up against those similar boards off the shelf...
90% of the time, people in the shop end up choosing that similar board off the shelf, and it saves them money in the medium-long term.
Here's one from this week that already had the wheels and bearings, and came back a second time for trucks:
Drop Cruiser: £90
Kegels and bearing upgrade: £90
Sabre trucks: £60
End product: Priceless £240
Sure, it rides a lot better than it used to.
But £240 to be riding a 9-ply Arbor plank feels a little steep when an extra £20 could get you on a Pantheon that's lighter, lower, longer lasting and features bigger wheels again.
So we've added an Arbor Drop Cruiser Review to the website to try and convey this message to the masses and save them some money, time and trouble.
Thoughts welcome - have I been too harsh or does it feel like a fair analysis?
Not expecting too many replies with the glorious weather forecast...
Don't forget the suncream,
Matt @ Vandem
Another upgraded Drop Cruiser...
I'm not upset that we're selling extra stuff, it just feels somewhat unnecessary.
If the budget allows, buy something solid to start with and save yourself cash over time.
David
Matt,
Comparing it to the Throttle I also have (split angle rocket!) – the Drop Cruiser is more springy, but much less turny. I’m going to put the smaller stock wheels back on it, as I want to try loosening the trucks – but at the moment I’m worried I’d die from potential wheel bite 😂
Matt @ Vandem
I’m sensing we’re going to need to upgrade our comment section to make replies more of a possibility 😁
But yes! David, thanks for the feedback! I’d have expected it to feel more lively, but it sounds like the harder-than-average front bushing and perhaps just the fact its a brand new bushing is working against it. But it feels springy, it sounds like a winner. Any luck pumping with that thing?
Rob, thanks for the comment! No hate – Paris trucks do the job and you’re right the complete for under £100 is a hell of a deal. It’s just less of one once you start making big changes to the setup. Having sold a fair few of these since they’ve been discounted, we have seen just how many people come back for those improvements. And if we can put a legitimate message out that saves people money and increases their joy levels, we’ll always do it 🤙
David
Hey, that’s my board!!! 🤘The one with blue Kegels on.
I’ve done two long rides (20 and 35k) since the trucks replacement to Sabre split angle and my observations are:
- the board is not as turny as it used to be, it takes more commitment to do a tighter turn at speed
- the set up feels incredibly stable! I feel that I am breaking my fear of descending a little 👍
- no wheel bite with the Kegels! This is due to the harder bushing put on the front (the purple one), which possibly explains the observation no1 above 🤪
Overall – I’m very happy with it! It’s been a decent board since day one really, I did the Bath-Bristol last year on it, on stock setup. Changing the wheels to the bigger made it ride easier, but it kind of lost the “liveliness”. Now the new sabres added that “springiness” to it.
Going for a ride later, definitely!!!
Rob
I have a dropcruiser, a pretty flagship one. I used is on the last board meeting. It’s a lovely board, and theres nothing wrong with paris trucks ! They’re not the best, but they’re pretty good, you sell them ! I’m just curious where the hate is coming from, and a double drop with paris trucks under 100 ?!? That’s a steal ! Although I’m not a fan of the graphic, nothing a cabinet scraper and some varnish couldn’t sort out 😅
Rob
I have a dropcruiser, a pretty flagship one. I used is on the last board meeting. It’s a lovely board, and theres nothing wrong with paris trucks ! They’re not the best, but they’re pretty good, you sell them ! I’m just curious where the hate is coming from, and a double drop with paris trucks under 100 ?!? That’s a steal ! Although I’m not a fan of the graphic, nothing a cabinet scraper and some varnish couldn’t sort out 😅