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The Dad Bods are great with the standard baseplate (or the 43º) but the 43º is greatly improves your pumping ability. hth

43 rear is the way to go

Yes it's a 4-surfskate quiver

Sounds like a cool setup for pumping, we'd love to have your thoughts once you get it!

@@RidingBoards Amazing board, agree with all of your points about it. My only complaint is that it is a little heavy when carrying, not impossible to carry around a supermarket but a bit cumbersome. However, that isn't what this board is designed for so I'll stick to my Dinghy Fender for that. Overall, having only spent a small amount of time on the board, I can already say the Tangent is the most comfortable board I've ever ridden. I look forward to put 1000s of miles on it in the future!

@@MrSubZer05 Yes not the lightest board to carry around especially with the Dad Bods on! When I need some LDP capability + portability I'll often grab my Tan Tien, it's light AF in comparison - albeit nowhere as turny. www.ridingboards.com/loaded-tan-tien-review/

Wow amazing you actually have the original Oak deck? What wheels are you running? Would you share a pic or 2 ? I'll add them to my blog post!

It's close to perfect the way it is.

Yeah I've taken the Grave Digger setup for a (long) spin. I'm not the best rider out there but I was still able to carve nicely, it feels like the deck's "springyness" even beats the high grip of the Dad Bods so that you get a sweet carving feel and you gain speed in pumps. Some people wedge/dewedge for better results, haven't tried that yet on that setup. The Dad Bods have incredible roll and rollover but so far I like the Cags better with the Vanguard, notably more responsiveness and acceleration. Just my 2c though

Yeah wedging/dewedging the front/back adds leverage to your pumping. Haven't tried it yet with the Vanguard + Dad Bods though. Should be fun!

Definitely! and the 21 edition is just beautiful

It depends on the kind of commute you have and on your skills. A topmount pintail will generally require more effort for pushing long distance since it has a higher ride and you need to bend your knee more to reach the ground. A drop-through or even a drop down may be a better option. Easy to ride for beginners too, including downhill. On the other hand, if it's a relatively short commute on sidewalks or in tight alleys, a topmount will give you more nimble turns, and if you like to carve it's better for that as well. If the pintail has some flex, it can be even more fun to ride. 34" is a good compact size for commuting and you can easily take it on a bus and stash it under a desk. One caveat with a pintail is that it typically doesn't have a kicktail which comes in handy for curb hopping or quick turns when commuting. So-called "kicktail boards" are like a pintail with a kick, so that could be a good choice too. Overall, pintails are great for relaxed surf-style carving and cruising, but they are limited in terms of features, so it all depends on your goals. Hope that helps!

@@RidingBoards yes, thanx!

For the best carving and pumping / surf feel, I'd go for a flex topmount, so Symtail or Vanguard. Kicks are great for curb hopping and some trickery, but if you don't need that, no kicks gives you a longer wheelbase and hence more flex and rebound. In this case I'd say the Vanguard wins.

@RidingBoards Thanks a lot. Do you ever experience tendency of your front foot sliding a bit too much to the front on Vanguard when hard pumping, which causes "foot" wheelbite? Cause Vanguard doesn't have much concave or wheel flares like Icarus for example. I had that issue on one of my previous boards.

@@Skybij I haven't experienced that tbh. It's true the Vanguard is on the flat side compared to the other two, though it does have subtle concave. Maybe I don't pump as hard as you do. Also, it might have to do with too much flex for your foot size or weight ?

If your main focus is on pumping & carving then the Symtail or the Vanguard can be a good fit. If you don't plan to do any tricks and don't need the kicks then the Vanguard will give you the ultimate pumping experience with a large wheelbase for stability at speed. If on the other hand you want kicks, the Symtai is your guy. Now for your 15-25% of pushing, these two boards are not the best due to their camber profile and ride height. For efficient pushing, a drop-through like the Icarus is a good fit - it's also design for high-energy carving. Pumping requires a bit more skills though. In summary, if you want mostly pumping with kick turns and curb hopping, get the Symtail. High rebound pumping without tricks, the Vanguard. Easy pushing with good carving and some pumping ability, the Icarus. The latter is the closest to the Battle Axe albeit with better pumping (especially if you get the Flex 2). My 2c! HTH

@@RidingBoards Brilliant, thank you! followup newbie question if that's okay, I'm looking into the vanguard vs Symtail, but I'm not sure yet how I decide what flex to take. I'm seeing the recommended weight classes for each flex but at 70kg I fit all of them. What would you recommend for long distance carving and pumping?

@@SirensLament for pumping and carving you want lively energetic response from the board in your turns. More flex generally means more energy and speed boost in deep carves once you learn to dig deep into those turns. I would go for max flex i.e. Flex 2 for the Symtail or Flex 3 for the Vanguard (I think they're out of Flex 4). At 70 kg you should be good with a soft flex whereas a 90kg rider might wonder if it might be too bouncy and perhaps bottom out, but in your case it should be great. Just know there will be a bit of a learning curve for getting your weight shifting right and making the most of the flex for picking up and maintaining momentum and speed.

@@RidingBoards Thank you so much for all the effort answering my questions. based on this I'm leaning towards buying a Vanguard Flex 3. Have a great weekend!!

@@SirensLament Sure thing, you can also check out my review of the Vanguard here: www.ridingboards.com/loaded-vanguard-review/ - I have a video update planned in the next days. Ride on!

Thanks bro! ride on!

As an added note I think all points on flex are correct but it's also highly personal. I'm about 160 pounds and usually prefer the stiffer flex options even tho I mainly cross step and carve. I also love a dancer for shorter commutes but I live in a pretty small town in Sweden and from what I gather we have way more and way better bike paths than many other places.

Foot braking is easy on a double drop

The Flow is a lot easier than the Swell Tech. The ST is more surf focused, looks and feels more like a surfboard. It's longer and the surf truck is a lot less stable. I love the ST for surf training, really emulates surfing well. You can do 360s and easy backslides. But it takes a bit of getting used to, plus it rides pretty high. The ST truck is pretty massive. The newer version is a bit more stable than the previous one, but it still feels closer to the YOW than the Carver. The Flow is nice and stable, if you want to jump on a board and start pumping right away it's a good choice. It's mellow but turns quite well compared to a regular cruiser. Sort of like a Carver CX, but the great thing about the Flow is that it has a low ride, which keeps you more confidence and stability, and you can also push on it without too much effort if you need to. See my full review here www.ridingboards.com/flow-skateboards-review . HTH

Driveways definitely and small curbs. The flex lets you unweight/spring up too. Super safe feel

Thanks for the reply! I was set on getting the Ballona with the dad bods, but now I’m heavily considering this instead. I’m just concerned that the fathom doesn’t have a tail, and what the size difference is. I’m primarily going to use it to get around faster, I’m not using either for tricks.

@vu3088 they're very different, I ride both for commuting depending on my needs. If there are quite a few obstacles or if I need to carry the board around a lot, e.g. for stores or bus/train, I usually take the Ballona for the portability and the kick. If there are extensive bike paths and open roads I use the Fathom for the high speed and easy pushing. You can check out my review posts www.ridingboards.com/loaded-ballona-review and www.ridingboards.com/loaded-fathom-review-distance-commuting-bracket-setup

Nope not for me. Pretty high off the gound