[LD skater since 1971]

I have been playing around with the bennett truck set up and I dermeled down and sanded down a Khrio red small bushing. So I could use a orange and white full size bushing with the pivot fully in the pivot cup.
I have found it is that 3 bushing set up is what makes a LDP board work.
Plus the wedged trucks a nice wide board in the nose area.
I made a LDP  board out of 2nd 42 long board that soul grind was selling for $25.00. I made a mini Mermaid that was 32 " long
7 ply birch it worked okay but I wanted a better board to match my new found skills.
For my riding stance that is my feet at 2:00 angle position instead of 3:00
like some skaters.

So today after my experiment I had been looking at the never summer long boards technology on the internet how it would be a perfect  LDP Board .
With all the technology that the custom board companies have plus more. It was readily available and affordable $99.95.
http://www.neversummer.com/skate/
What also helps is I have Muir Surf is a  long board skateboard shop On UCSD campus and Scott has lots of Demo boards you can check out and roll around on.

http://www.muirsurf.com/skate

I tried out all kinds of boards from loaded vanguard,dervish to Landyachtz Mummy and all so the Never summer Ransom model was what impressed me the most. The Rayne Libido kept calling out to me and how cool a pumping board it would be.
I though to my self play it smart and get the Never summer Ransom it pumped so good even with paris trucks and sector 9 slalom racing wheels.
So I purchased the Never summer Ransom
http://www.neversummer.com/skate/ransom.html
and set it up with my Bennett and tracker combo trucks and 3DM hot spots. I also purchased the Khiro rubber wedges to make a solid feel to the board verse the gravity plastic wedges at the shop.
Then I went to the 1.41 mile long Solana beach rail trail that has smooth cement and slight up hills and flats. The board cooks pumped the trail the whole way up and back with ease.

[Redline]

As a bit of a n00b to LDP I too was looking at NS decks as a possible cheaper & readily available LDP.
Their construction sounds good:
"Polyethylene tip and tail bumpers...pre-hardened, pre-tensioned, layered laminate is the world's best fiberglass and only Never Summer has it..."
As well as the adjustable wheelbase: 28.25 - 29.25"
A couple questions though.
Does the 'Ransom' deck have any concave or camber?
Do you have any pics of your setup?

I'm also curious about 'Rayne' decks as an option. The 'Pug' & 'Vice' seem to be about the right length(41" & 38"), width(9.5") & wheelbase(28").
Anybody ever try these? Just curious as the Rayne garage sale is coming up fast & they will have some blem/demo decks around half off.

[Juan M]

i don't want to turn your idea down but deck width is not where you are going to need for LDP. Check width at fore bolts of front truck. This doesn't mean that it will not work but be aware that after few miles you will feel that your foot is requiring (screaming) better support.

I started LDP with insect dragonfly and i think that you can even now order it with less camber as it does have pronounced forward camber and this also - for my taste - after few miles it gets bad on my ankle position. But it is a good all around board, long lasting with superb finish. Last year - during my long waiting time for the fantasatic Mermaid - i was also checking Barfoot mini egg (i was afraid of too much flex) and Dregs DH boards (too little flex) and even Bustin Complex which can give you better front foot support besides already have some wedging at front but it may need serious dewedging at the back. Last year - i think - i even asked Bustin if they could press one board for me with some tweaking for LDP but unfortunately they could not. Complex is a truly beautiful board.

Thanks, Juan M>

[LD skater since 1971]

I has slight camber, slight concave in 9 inch width of deck. The board is 7 1/2 inches wide at the front truck rear bolts. I have a small foot size 9 to be exact which equals 11 1/2 inches long. I aslo weigh 190 lbs and I am regular foot,I push with my rear foot and front foot over or near front truck.

I do not use a traditional surfer side stance I use a angled foot stance like or semi parallel ski stance from flat land tight slalom racing for so long  in CASL.
When I say my feet point at two o'clock instead of 3 o'clock traditional side stance or 12 o'clock is both feet pointed forward or parallel.

I did 17 miles of flatland LDP maybe pushing 25 times max across streets and little hills or if I lost the pump on the Coronado  Silver Strand bike trail that Rodgon did. I started at the Coronado Yacht club my turn around point was 8th street in imperial beach after I went in town to CVS to get a Gatorade.

I really like this board it skates great plus I was thinking for you northwester skaters this would be a great rain board because it made like a snowboard  by a snowboard company. Has 3 year guarantee when was the last time you ever heard of skateboard with a warranty.
I also have a Bustin complex that I shorten the wheel base on to get more pump out of it.
My board is set up with 109 tracker race track S  Khiro reds  for the back and de-wedged.
Front trucks are Bennett 4.3 on the front with a sanded down red cone bushing, full size orange,fullsize white,wedged forward. Blue seismic hotspot wheels.
The never summer ransom works for me it may not for you that why I gave you the the board and my measurements.

[Juan M]

i'm glad to hear that, excellent.

I wasn't aware of your pumping technique being that good. I have done few pumps like that but it feels "odd" to me, maybe i need to practice a little more. Everyday we learnt something new!

Many thanks, Juan M>

[LD skater since 1971]

When you race Flat Land tight slalom on a Ick stick or Korten foam core /composite coffin shaped board.  That is only 24 inch long by 7 1/4 inch widest point with 3 1/2 inch nose and tail section. You learn to keep your toes in or your knocking down cones.

This maybe the reason why I like shorter boards than most of you I can
stand in the nose area and pump with a short stance.

Jim Korten use to set these course from hell for us to see if you made it through it some times a 8 cone 3 to 4 foot straights before the finish line or 5 to 6 foot offsets through out the course.
I skated with Jim and his wife running cones for weekly for a two year period.
When jim worked for me on my delivery truck we would run cones at lunch.In less he got stone then he would shag cones for me then he
would do the course on one foot pumping through after the cones just to humble me.
me.

[gordito8me]

would you reccomend this board for someone who is just getting into Ldp but already has a sound understanding of how to pump? I have a size 9 1/2 foot too but I'm still growing.

[LD skater since 1971]

It fits the specs of a LDP board but is hard to find right now. I also own the Concept that is 1/2 inch wider and thicker and 43 inches long. I moved the back truck up to the front back truck holes to shorten the wheel base to 32 inches.
Iy rides great now but I voided the warranty on the board.
The never summer are great boards if you only want to spend $99.00 on a board.They suit me find I have mine set up with 106mm tracker rts /stx and 70mm zigzags. But You can find a LDP board like LBL walkabout for $145.00 custom or call texas long board to se if they have them in stock.