Hello all,

I got a chance to try out my new custom Caffeine Longboard today.

The 13 ply Baltic Birch deck provides a smooth ride

The 12" tires really make my local fields fun - the 8"ers are just too small for rough fields.

I think a board design like this is perfect for cruising and getting basic air (too long & bulky for rotations). I still need to find out how fast I can go without getting speed wobbles with the skate trucks.

A slight bit of camber was added - The deck is flat (no concave). I'll post the weight when I get a chance.

Here are a few pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/DaVinch/CIMG0393.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/DaVinch/CIMG0392.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/DaVinch/CIMG0390.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/DaVinch/CIMG0389.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/DaVinch/CIMG0387.jpg

How well does it turn? Does it carve pretty well/smoothly

Been thinking about getting a flexboard but that caffeine looks pretty col too. let us know how you like it.

BTW, did you ever take the plunge and get a Dirtsurfer?

That's a pretty sexy board.

Thanks! It carves very nice - no problem getting upwind. I have only had it up to 20 mph on a bumpy grass field so far...

No 16" Dirtsurfer yet, however I still would like to try one out this Summer.

Looks like they will have the new 16" Freestyle GP by then too!

Sounds good Kiteboarder!

My board weighed in at 15 lbs - not bad considering the size.

Here's a picture next to a Core 8 deck:

Bigup to DaVinch for one bad ass board.

15lbs, wow. Everyone always talks about how heavy the DS is, but the freestlye only has 1 lb. on that caffeine board, and all but the most expensive boards are really noticeably lighter

You know, come to think of it,that caffeine board has the same shape as Gravity Longboards, just with mountainboard trucks mounted on top. I say this only because my buddy just picked uo a 56" Gravity Longboard.

Da V- any relation?

Kiteboarder -

I crafted the board in my shop. It measures 49" long and 10" wide at the widest part. I would like to try a longer board next time.

I don't have any Gravity Longboards, but I highly recommend the Kracked Skulls M1. It is getting rave reviews over on the Silverfish forum.

As for the weight, it's not bad at all. A MBS Core 90 is 12 lbs and a Core 95 is 13.7 lbs - and these have much smaller wheels.

The Quadrolution weighs in at 26 lbs without the bindings :o

http://www.kitedeck.com/Quadrolution.htm

I should note that the Quadrolution uses Skyway Tuff Wheels with sealed bearings. I'm looking forward to trying these out on the next board.

http://www.skywaywheels.com/products_003.htm

Nice find! you see how much the graphite ones are? $275 a wheel!!!

Shot them an email on the cost of the colored tuff wheels, would look rockin' on my 'surfer

BTW, hat's off to your craftsmanship of the board. I want to do stuff like that so bad, but alas I have not the tools (luckily I have the skills for a later time)

So have you had a chance to get a feel for the trucks being on top? Does it make the ride noticeably different?

Nice creation, DaVinch. That's looking like a smooth ride. If you ever took it out to the dessert you'd be flying on that thing.

Well - I just was informed that there is a skateboard company already called Caffeine Skateboards. Sorry about that!

I'll have to come up with a new name for any future mountainboard decks...

I like the idea of bigger wheels. I had a few questions. One, where did you find the 12" wheels/tires and what trucks did you put on?.

2, I noticed that the trucks are cleverly placed upside down to keep low for balance. Anyway, I was worried about the stress on the screws/trucks since all the weight is hanging on the mounting screws rather that resting on the trucks and stabilized/mounted with the screws like regular boards.

Anyway, was wondering how it has held up and if you have tried other mods, and where you found the wheels/tires that would mount on the trucks.

Hello bourck,

I got the wheels here:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/produc...

They have held up pretty well so far. I used the board some, but since I switched over to the Dirtsurfer, I haven't used it much.

The trucks are standard MBS Skate trucks:

http://www.mbs.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idProduct=23

No problems with the hardware so far.

Hope this helps!

Joe

hey did you notice any problems with the difference in size of the wheel hub and the MBS trucks. I noticed that the trucks use a 9.5mm axle and those wheels say they have a 1/2in opening. just wondering if this caused any problems or if you sleeved the axle. I have a board setup with the same wheels called a mountain skate but the trucks it came with suck so I'm looking to get the mbs trucks and do the same thing you did.

Hello nwsurf - I made up some bushings to make the wheels fit the axle.

I noticed they sell the brass bushings at Home Depot (or Maynards) also.

I bought one of these from DaVinch recently and just picked up the wheels and bushings today. Wind was about 10mph building to 18 mph and I had a blast. I haven't been on a skateboard in over 30 years, so I was pretty shakey out there. I was surprised that my little 1 meter 2 line trainer kite was able to move my weight (250 lbs). Had to sine the heck out of it, but it worked! Now I need to find a small Peter Lynn which I think would work soo much better.

Thanks DaVinch, love the board. Works perfect on the hard packed sand here!

Great - I'm really happy to hear that it's working for you!

How did the deck feel for your weight?

I have been begging my dad to get a land/kite board for me to use but he thinks it is too expensive. How much money do you save by making your own.

I think it's hard to beat just buying a complete board.

However, building a deck could save you some money if you have the tools and time.

Quote:

Originally posted by DaVinch Great - I'm really happy to hear that it's working for you! How did the deck feel for your weight?

Fine. But since I haven't skateboarded for so long I didn't feel comfortable with the bindings on. So I'm going to pull them off for now and maybe add a few non-skid strips. Since the beach is almost perfectly smooth, I think that'll work fine until I get back into the swing of things.

What surprised me most is that I was going pretty well with just my 1 meter Airush trainer. That kite won't fly upwind at all, but once I started getting a bit of speed going it actually worked fairly well. Now I need a small depowerable kite for this. I've got a 5 m Best Waroo I may try next.

So if I had the right tools then It wold be cheaper to make your own

Sure - and maybe you can find some used bindings, trucks and wheels also.

I used the Toothless method (3 ply of 1/4" Baltic Birch) for bigkahuna's deck:

http://users.pandora.be/Toothless/Toothless/pages/instructio...

my dad was saying to save up my money and look for bindings and trucks on ebay and go buy a sheet of ply wood. then we can cut the board out. sounds easy enough


Some self assembly required

that is awsome it is just what i have ben looking for

would the ply or planking from home depot work here like it does for the plyboards in kite surfing

If So what thickness

I know it has been a while for this topic but i plan on building at least three similar boards
and was wondering if you could hold more of an edge with this set up or what i am trying to say is will it go upwind better than a production mountain board:cool2:

Looking_Up, go for some real baltic birch.

3/4" or glue three 1/4"ers together using the toothless method.

How is that for sliding? Do your toes ever hit the tires?

Never slid it and never had toe bite.

I don't have it anymore, but maybe I'll try building another cruiser soon. It was a smooth ride.