Finally! The world has waited long enough. Ronin has answered our prayers. I introduce to you, Cast Ronin Trucks. They are one of the top precision trucks on the market today and now they come in a cast version. Get ready to flip out. What makes these so great?! Because they’re Ronins! Alright alright, we know that’s not a good enough answer.

Let’s point out the obvious thing that separates these trucks from normal trucks. The beautiful support pin. What the support pin does is it takes all the weight of the rider. This allows all of your weight to not crush down on the bushings like normal trucks. And because it’s not crushing down on the trucks, it lets your bushings have the turn and rebound they’re supposed to have. What does this mean? Well what this does is gives you the truest turn, lean, and rebound out of your bushings. How this works is that your bushings will sit in the trucks like they were designed to. They retain their original shape. But there’s more to what the support pin does than just supporting your weight. From having the support pin, your hanger now turns on two axis. The first axis is the bushings and the kingpin. That’s the standard on all other trucks. But what the support pin does is gives you a second axis point. It gives you the perfect turn and a very smooth and reliable transition in your ride. This eliminates slop in your turning so that when you want to turn and lean you get exactly what you were looking for. The support pin will change your life more than the day you were born. Well… Maybe we’ll just say it’s a close second to that day. But it’s a game changer for Ronin Trucks for sure!

What are the other things that makes this truck so radtastic?! It comes in a true 180mm hanger width. Just that PERFECT width for the balance, stability and maneuverability you crave. They are also stock with 92a “fruit punch” bushings. This may seem like the bushings are a little bit on the harder side, but keep in mind that the bushings don’t have to support your weight so they have a lot more turn and rebound in them and have a much looser feel when you ride. They also come in a 42.5 degree baseplate. This may seem like a low degree but this is actually the perfect degree for FAST downhilling and INTENSE freeriding. Could we have found the perfect truck?!?! We’ll let the riders decide on that one.

This past week, Daddies Board Shop was fortunate enough to visit Never Summer Industries in Denver, Colorado. What do Daddies and Never Summer have in common? Well, we both love to shred the streets and the slopes, and we both recently moved into new production facilities! During the tour of their new facility, we got a chance to see just how much attention to detail and hard work is put into building these quality handmade boards. Each board pumped out of the Never Summer factory is put through a minimum of three quality control checkpoints, so you are guaranteed to get only the best when you pick up one of these longboards. Needless to say, the Never Summer 2013 longboard line up is going to crush it with everything from cruisers to directional downhill smashers and double drop freeride machines!

A couple of new models getting ready to get some materials shredded off by CNC machines and drum sanders.

There are a few technical features that should be noted on all the different boards in the lineup. Never Summer was one of the first board makers to use UHMW polyethylene, or “P-Tex” sidewalls in the construction of their snowboards, and have integrated the same technology in the nose and tails of their longboards for an insane amount of durability and protection. They have also been at the forefront in sublimating their graphics to keep them from chipping and scratching. Sublimated graphics also help protect the integrity of the lower laminates while holding up to regular wear and tear from riding. Last but not least is Never Summer’s Rubber Dampening system known as RDS Ride Stabilization. RDS provides you with unmatched stability and that signature Never Summer ride feel. These features along with several others are really what make Never Summer Longboards a premium product.

Every board that comes out of Never Summer’s new factory is polished to perfection by actual humans. This means handcrafted quality every board.

We were lucky enough to get one of these little bad boys from the guys over at Never Summer, and it sure is a blast! Coming in at 33.2” long and 9.25” wide, The Motive is a commuting/slalom dream! It comes built with precisely milled horizontal laminates and bi-directional fiberglass making it snappy and responsive with the perfect amount of flex to it. With optional wheelbases at 25.2-26.2” the fun is endless! Setting it up at the 25.2” wheelbase even gives you little effective kicktail for getting in those kick turns! Be sure to check out the Never Summer Motive longboard when the new line drops!

The decks get pressed first, then cut out to their specific shape by humans with high tech machines.

Every one of Never Summer’s P-Tex base graphics are die cut using a huge press thing. Basically, every base graphic means someone had to risk losing a finger to get it done. Kinda gnarly.

The Landyachtz Drop Speed is sweet and simple and we’ll keep it sweet and simple too! The Drop Speed is a downhill freeride board with a drop through design. Like all drop throughs that means it’s lower to the ground, making it more stable as well as easier to slide. Who doesn’t love that? And with this model Landyachtz decided to have a neutral platform rather than have rocker or camber. This will give you the truest geometry in your trucks giving you the turn and lean you are used to. It’s the one time you won’t hate geometry. Landyachtz also added wheel flares giving you wheel clearance as well as giving you a reference point for your feet and locked in feel when you’re freeriding. All wrapped together this board is speed stiff with 8 plies of Canadian maple and one ply of fiberglass with a sublimated graphic. We’re super stoked to have the Landyachtz Drop Speed in our lineup.

Check out the new video of the Loaded Poke! We are super stoked and just wanted to share.

All the best heroes have sidekicks. The best longboards do too. That’s why the Landyachtz Switchblade 40 had the Switchblade 36. But what happens when two just isn’t enough? BAM! Here comes the Landyachtz Switchblade 38! It has everything you love in the old Switchblades: double drop design making it extra low to the ground and fantastic for push races. Then the drop design gives you extra lock in feeling where you’ll never slip. What’s not to love about the Landyachtz Switchblade 38?! It’s perfect from city slashing to giant hill mobbing and everything in between.  We also love that Landyachtz has done a drop though design which enables you to either drop it through or top mount it to your liking! And with a new board comes a new design. This board, as well as the other Switchblades and Landyachtz boards, now come with a fiberglass bottom and a graphic that is tattooed into the deck. It’s speed stiff and ready for all the rides.

The Landyachtz Top Speed is a completely new board coming in from Landyachtz for 2013 and it is radtastic. This top mounted board is going to dominate the racing series. The Landyachtz Top Speed offers superior traction for holding sharp lines and quicker turning for the best racing experience. What makes this board different than any other top mount design? First, it’s a symmetrical top mount rather than the directional design. This makes this board fantastic for freeriding and 180 slides because it’ll all ride the same. The second thing that makes this board different is the design in the concave and the way it cradles your feet. It’s like getting a foot rub from a dragon of gnar. Or it’s more like W concave matched with 3d wheel wells to give you the ultimate lock in feeling….. Which ever way you’d wanna look at it. The thing is that the W concave meets perfectly at the arch of your foot, and what the 3d wheel wells do is they capture the front of your foot, giving you a completely enclosed and supported speed tuck. When you’re hauling down a hill the 3d wheel wells give you points of reference for your feet and you know exactly where your feet are the whole run. And the locked in feel is so great for freeriding and huge standies. You’ll never slip off. All in all this board is a downhill freeride monster. Oh wait…. are we done? Nope! This board isn’t just one but actually two! It comes in two different sizes! The Landyachtz Top Speed 36 and the Landyachtz Top Speed 34. So all you shredders whether big or small are able to get your hands on a Landyachtz Top Speed!

We’re stoked to say that we have the Rayne Fortune in the house, and it’s killin’ it! Rayne has changed the way boards will be built for years to come. The thing that excited us most about the Rayne P Swiss is the fat bottom construction. Does this mean that the Fortune has a badonk that just won’t quit? It could. But in actuality, the fat bottom construction is a way for Rayne to cut down on the weight of the deck without losing stability while at the same time maintaining a speed stiff deck. The deck is thick in the center and thins out when it goes towards the edge so that there are less materials. So it’s lighter but still thick at the center so that it is still speed stiff.

The other sweet thing we like about this board is the Bacon Weave concave which will give you points of reference for your feet. There are two points of reference in the front and two in the back. This also creates 3d concave that acts as wheel wells, letting you run looser trucks and larger wheels.

One thing that a lot of people don’t know is that this board comes with a micro kicked nose and tail. They are ILL! For those of you who don’t like kicktails this is perfect for you! It’ll add leverage for your manuals but are not huge like a skateboard’s. They’re the perfect addition to this downhill freeride board. Icing on cake.