When we can't be on the water, we often urge to still feel the flow of riding and carving on a board. If you can't be on your wakeboard or snowboard, the next best thing to get your flow going is a Flowlab.
What is it?
The Flowlab is a board made for riding on streets that simulates the carving of snowboarding, surfing, or wakeboarding. It uses a skateboard deck with a unique wheel/truck system called the Deep Carve System that allows it to simulate the carving of the other sports, but still allows you to pull off skateboard tricks. It currently comes in three sizes, 42", 36", and 32". For this review we rode the 36" model.
How does it work?
The Flowlab board is simply a skateboard deck that has curved trucks which hold seven wheels on each truck. The curved trucks allow the wheels to be set at different angles. So when you're riding the board straight, only the middle wheels touch the ground. When you put the board on edge in a carve, then the outermost wheels are touching the ground. This setup allows the board to be edged march harder then a conventional longboard or skateboard. (See Image)
The Ride
As soon as I hopped on the Flowlab 36 I was able to carve down the hills around my house without much trouble. It's really a great feeling to be able to go down a steep hill that would normally be impossible on a skateboard if bad injuries were not in your immediate plans. It felt very similar to being able to carve down a slope on a snowboard, and was pretty similar to carving on a wakeboard.
The nice thing about the Flowlab is that I also enjoy skateboarding, and it allows me to be able to go fast and carve down a hill, while also allowing me to do some tricks. Although the 36" board is a bit bigger then a normal skateboard, I was still able to ollie onto the sidewalk, ollie off, do shuvits, and some basic skateboarding tricks. If you really want to be able to do advanced skateboard tricks, the Flowlab 32" board would make it even easier.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that the Flowlab 36 is a great change of pace from regular skateboarding, while also allowing people who like the carving and speed aspects of wakeboarding and snowboarding to do so on land while staying in control. It's a ton of fun, and has kept me busy after work for a few days straight. We highly recommend it for anyone who wants to get more time in on their board, and do something different. Check out the links below for more information, we definitely recommend checking out some of the online videos to see what can be done on the Flowlab.
