A lot of what I want to say is not specific to this board, so if you're just looking a product review, here's what I've got: the Fuel is 28.5 inches long, 8 inches wide, has a wheelbase of 15.5 inches. That means it pretty much the same dimensions as a Landyachtz Dinghy. The quality of the build and the components is, as far as I'm aware, pretty much the same as a Dinghy. Thanks to judicious use of a discount code in an already very generous Vandem sale, I got it for basically half what I'd have paid for a Dinghy, which made it a very easy decision.
More generally though, when I decided I wanted to get back into skating after many years away, I spent a lot of time trying to work out whether to buy a longboard or a cruiser board. Based on a lot of reviews, articles and videos online, I brought a longboard (you can find my review of it elsewhere). Three weeks later, I brought this cruiser board.
So did I make a mistake? Should I just have brought the cruiser (it would have been a lot cheaper)? For me, no - getting back on the longboard I quickly knew how excited I was to skate more and progress, and being in the fortunate position of being able to start a quiver of boards early, I'm extremely glad to have both. However, it has afforded me an interesting perspective on the merits of a longboard vs a cruiser for a new or returning skater. The consensus tends to be that the choice should be a longboard because they're:
- Easier to push
- Easier to ride
- Comfortable with bigger hills and longer distances
The thing is, all these things are true. However, the Fuel (and presumably any good quality cruiser) is by no means difficult to push, or to ride. The longboard definitely will be better for bigger hills and longer distances, just now I'm neither good nor confident enough to ride them. On the other hand, because the Fuel is smaller, it's easier to take with me speculatively, or to spots which require a lot of walking before there's a chance for skating.
Tl;dr: If you're trying to choose between a longboard and a cruiser, don't be put off from choosing a cruiser if you feel like it will be a better option. And the Fuel, and I suspect also the Nomad, are definitely cruisers worth consideration.
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