As freestyle skaters we tend to focus a lot on our setup. Our wheels, trucks, skid plates, bearings, spacers and griptape have different effects on how tricks feel and the way we ride. Over the past few years Waltz Skateboarding has produced a variety of single, symmetrical and double-kick decks. Each have advantages and disadvantages depending on the way we want to skate. I have been lucky enough to skate a range of Waltz decks so I would like to provide a guide or review on these.
The Bixby
The Bixby is an asymmetrical double kick.
Feeling closer to the modern popsicle board than other Waltz decks, I found that the Bixby let me do all ollie tricks I could do on a popsicle while still being small enough to skate freestyle.
The nose of the Bixby is very tapered while the tail is wide, making it versatile and great to learn any trick on. However, the asymmetry does affect your trick selection depending on which end you are standing on.
Overall, I believe that the Bixby is a shape great for skaters new to freestyle as well as skaters who have done freestyle for a while and want to do a wide range of tricks stationary and or rolling.
The Huntington
The Huntington is a single kick. This means that it has a single upturned tail while the nose is virtually flat.
The single-kick shape is beneficial for many reasons. One is that when doing tricks like caspers and truck stands you feel less resistance keeping the board up when standing on the nose. 360 caspers and casper flips feel easier to get the board spinning. Casper to caspers become substantially easier to learn because you can pick the board up higher with your foot before flipping it. Carousel truck tricks become insanely less challenging, because you don’t have to fight gravity as much on the nose, and there is less to spin, because of the Huntington’s short deck length.
Another great aspect of single kicks like the Huntington is that when doing rail flips you have the choice of speed and height. Flipping off the tail will give you a higher, slower flip while using the nose will provide a faster, lower flip.
However, single kicks often become stretched or flimsy because of the lack of concave. To combat this, Waltz designed the Huntington with a small enough concave to support the board but not too much so they could keep the nose flat.
A downside to this deck is that some people find it harder to do footwork tricks because of the flat nose. Generally speaking, this deck was made mostly with stationary tricks and technical combos in mind.
The Twin Tail
The symmetrical choice of the Waltz range is the Twin Tail.
Designed for Japanese skateboarder Yuta Fujii (IG: @y.fujii.fs) and his unique bag of tricks such as no-handed 50-50s, spins and shuvits, the Twin Tail is great for the skater who loves to dance heaps and do lots of footwork instead of staying in one spot all day.
It provides a versatile feel for ollie and wheelie tricks as well. Some people really like the Twin Tail because its symmetrical shape means that they don’t have to think as much about the position of the board. However, if you come from skating a smaller board, the Twin Tail will feel a little big but more stable while rolling. Rail tricks, truck stands and footwork will most likely feel strange at first.
Rail flips will also be slower because of the wider tail. I have heard it said that the Twin Tail is like skating two Bixby tails (steep and wide) so if you like the feel of the Bixby’s square kick you might enjoy this deck.
Personally, I find this deck to be heaps of fun because of how much I don’t have to think about switching ends of the board and being able to do ollie tricks as well as 50-50s. It is also great for caspers which are some of my favourite kinds of tricks.
A Final Word
I believe that any trick is possible, no matter what setup you choose to ride. However, I found that I unlocked new tricks when I switched deck shapes. For instance, on the Huntington’s flattish nose, I learnt pressure flips and casper to caspers. Although, nobody is the same! You might find that the Twin Tail has a great kick for caspers and rolling tricks but you don’t like how it flips under you from rail. Eventually your skating will adapt to fit whatever you are riding so do try different shapes and see what you like the best. But if you can’t afford to try all of the different decks, don’t worry! Any deck you ride will let you learn whatever trick you want and progress in the same way.
Editor’s note: Jamie Wong usually skates either a Bixby or Huntington but is not affiliated with or sponsored by Waltz Skateboarding. Flatlandia also lent him a Yuta Fujii Twin Tail for the purpose of this review.
At the time of this post’s publication, Waltz Bixby (II), Huntington (I and II) and Twin Tail are available online from Waltz (USA) and Aikenheads (Perth, Australia).