Customer Reviews

HI TIDE SKATE BOARD FROM THE MAKERS OF THE WAVE BOARD-(GREEN/BLUE SKULL)

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Until we get anti-gravity, this will have to do.

When I first saw this board, I didn't believe it could be rideable. Only two wheels instead of four, and they're on swivels. And the board is split in the middle, and pivots around a rod? I rounded up the owner, my 7-year old nephew Taigen. "Show me." I demanded. When he did, it was like I was watching a magic trick.

So I studied it awhile, and took one ride while supported by a helpful shoulder. Then I kicked off by myself. As soon as you pivot once, and feel the board actually propelling you, you "get it." I was hooked.

Never have I seen a recreational toy where the disparity between perceived and actual difficulty was so great. If you kick off hoping for the reassuring support of four wheels, you're not going to make it. If, however, you kick off, and believe you're surfing/snowboarding/whatever, you will do fine. It's faith-based boarding! It's all about active balance.

I showed it to a friend. When he saw the swiveling casters, he said, "That's death-on-wheels!" I give him the prep-talk ("balance") Three kicks later, he's going around the parking lot.

The smoother the movements (swivel those hips!) the better. It's like riding a wave a couple of inches off the concrete.

My daughter saw this when we were visiting F.A.O. Schwarz in NY. She is 8 and wanted one, bad. I ended up finding it for $99 with free shipping at Sports Authority (a long time ago, your mileage may vary!).

Adults will love it!!! It took me 10 minutes to get the hang of it, and about 3h to master turning at full speed. I used to skateboard a good deal as a kid, and that probably helped. I want one for myself now!

My daughter had to practice a bit more, but she never had any kind of skateboard; it took her about 5h total (and she still doesn't turn all that well). A kid from our street that is always skateboarding got it very quickly, she was turning and in full control of the board in about 2h.

These are, obviously, non-contiguous hours of practice. Who would do "the wave drills"? Not us, thanks!!! :-)

Every single kid in our street just wants one. They are always after us asking if they can try it. The other adults, when they see me riding, are split in two camps: "Are you trying to break your neck?" and "How is that even possible?"; but they all ask about it and some even are brave enough to try. Quite a conversation piece!

My only complaint is already very common in other reviews: the wheels... They almost melt against the street. We have rode for less than 40h, and we can already see cracks on them and feel some resistance while riding. Hence 4 stars!

Other than that: what a great board. And what great fun.

Got the wave board about 5 months ago. Took me about an hour to get the hang of riding it. Was a bit daunting at first, but after using a wall for a few runs, I got the hang off it. One tip: I found the "advanced" launch method easier than trying to do the "beginner" technique. In the beginner you push off with your back foot. The problem is that with only 2 wheels you need to move your back foot into position quite fast. Makes it hard to get your feet properly placed, which is key to a good ride. In the advanced you start off with both feet on the board and then start twisting to gain momentum. I found this a much more controlled way to launch.

It has a great smooth ride and allows tight carving. I can already do 360s. Probably the best feature is that it is self-propelled, so you never need to touch the ground after you get going.

Some of the other reviewers complained of wheel problems, but I have had no excessive wheel wear. I have been riding 2 to 3 days a week for 5 months, and while I have worn the shiny cover off the wheels, they are still perfectly usable. Just this week the bearings in my back wheel have worn out, but given the amount of riding I have done and that I weigh 225lbs, I would not consider this excessive wear. Maybe the pavement they are riding on is more rough than where I ride.

All in all, a great board at a very fair price. Have had more fun on it than my $300 long board.
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UPDATE
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Found a good alternative to caster boards. Check out the Thruster 385. It is a skateboard with a special front truck that allows it to carve like a wave board but is stable through turns and smooth over bumps like a skateboard. VERY COOL.

I've been riding a StreetSurfing's Wave for a month, and I'm really having a great time with it. I thought to share my experience in some areas that new buyers may find useful.

Wave vs. Ripstik:
I chose Wave over Ripstik because I heard that it's easier to learn.
The claim was supposedly based on Wave's wider deck plate and shorter caster height. I tried my friend's Ripstik, and my conclusion is that it does not matter which. They are both good and easy to learn.

Having said that, there are noticeable differences in riding feels more than cosmetic. I felt that Ripstik was a bit more responsive, perhaps faster too. But it could be the ground surface or the wheel condition that made me feel that way. I liked the narrower deck plate on Ripstik, as it felt easier to position my feet. But I am very happy with the Wave, and these differences won't make me switch to Ripstik.

Wheel tread wear: *** UPDATED Dec. 8, 2008 ***

My rear wheel lost its tread 1/8" after 2 months, and the front wheel lost 1/16". I weigh 180lb, and used the board on sidewalks and blacktops for 1 hour/day on average for 60 days. When the wheel loses more than 1/8" in tread, it catches tiny debris on the ground, making it difficult to maneuver sometimes. I switched the front and rear wheels for a few weeks, and then replaced them both with new ones.

Caster problem (and the great customer support):
My Wave's rear caster became too wobbly to ride after 3 months of use. I wrote an email to info@streetsurfing.com the day before Thanksgiving. I got a reply the following Monday. They gave me two new replacement casters for free with a purchase of one wheel set, plus 15% discount. I received the shipment one week later. The problem is resolved.
This is an excellent customer support by StreetSurfing.

*** End of UPDATE ***

Exercise value:
My heart rate doesn't go up much even on up hills, so I can't say that it's a great aerobic exercise. I feel that my sense of balance has improved. My lower body (hips, knees, ankles) seem to be a bit more flexible now than before I started caster boarding.

I did have one big discovery. The mechanics of generating power to drive the caster board are similar to the ones to throw punches correctly.
I discovered this when I was struggling to drive the board on the first day. When I recognize the effective body moves, it became easier for me to drive it. I heard somewhere that the origin of caster boards comes from martial arts training tools. Whether it is true or not, I do see a connection between the two.

Ripple and Ripster for kids:
I saw a 6-year-old comfortably riding the Ripster one day. He told me that he started with Ripstik but he had trouble riding it, so he got the smaller board, i.e. Ripster. If a child is below 4 feet and weighs less than 50lb, Wave may be too big, too heavy. I'd consider Ripster or Ripple instead.

Protection gears to learn fast:
I highly recommend wearing a helmet, knee/elbow pads, and gloves/wrist guard when you first try to ride the board. They give you protection of course, but also the sense of security that allows you to overcome your fear. Once you get on the board a few times, you will quickly realize that it is not as hard as you think. Some people who tried my board without protection gears seemed to be too fearful of falling to actually get themselves on board in a proper manner.
Subsequently they gave up quickly, saying it was too hard.

You don't need to be young, fit or coordinated to ride a caster board.
Enjoy!

I found the Wave to be in intimidating at first especially when I mistakenly tried to ride it with the back facing front. Going down a very slight grade really helps too. Follow the instructional DVD.
Once you get the hang of moving your hips to make it go, it quickly becomes addictive and so much fun.
It is an excellent way to improve balance skills and it provides a strenuous workout. I feel it's a lot safer than conventional skateboarding since it doesn't squirt out from under you and dump you as easily as a regular skateboard. I'm a 64 year old geezer in fairly good shape and using the Wave is a great addition to my retired routine.

This is a description of most types of boards based on the experiences of my son (15), my daughter (9), and me (48):

Skateboards - Fun for jumping tricks (grinds, board flips, etc.). Casterboards are more maneuverable and fun than skateboards on a street, but less fun at skateparks. Soularc Skateboards have one curved deck on top of another for a springy carving feel. Flowboards have 7 wheels in a semicircle in front and 7 wheels in a semicircle in back for a snowboard feel. Sole Skates are small, three-wheeled skateboards. Longboards are longer and wider skateboards.

RipStiks - Like skateboards but with two small decks connected by a crossbar, and two inline casterwheels which swivel 360 degrees. Seems safer than skateboards because RipStiks don't easily shoot out from under you (they just flop onto their sides). The wheels might show some wear fairly quickly, but even with flattened wheels they're way more fun than skateboards for zipping around on the street. We're able to take apart our RipStik casters and clean them, but not our Wave Board casters, giving RipStiks an advantage over Waves. RipStik Gs have metal crossbars for doing grinds. RipStik Airs are molded into a single piece of plastic, and feel stiffer than RipStiks. Ripsters are smaller to fit younger kids.

Wave Boards - Like RipStiks, but with shorter crossbars. Makes more of a "clatter" noise than our RipStik. Wave Ripples are smaller to fit younger kids. ExBoards, X-Boards, EssBoards, VigorBoards, Cudas, Freeriders, and eXtreme boards are similar to RipStiks/Waves.

WhipTides - Like RipStiks, but with four inline casterwheels. The crossbar bends up-down and side-to-side, unlike RipStiks. Can do tighter turns and slaloms than RipStiks. Can't do jumps or lift one wheel off of the ground. There's a slight "wiggle" motion as you go faster. I'm more aggressive on RipStiks since they don't wiggle, but my daughter prefers the wiggle because it helps her get moving. Shred Sleds and Alive Boards are similar to WhipTides. Hurricane Boards and Cycle Force Swingboards appear to be WhipTides with only two inline casterwheels.

Xgliders (Xliders) - Have two separate (unattached) casterboard decks, so they're a bit tricky to learn and easy to lose your balance or do the splits. Can do different tricks and tighter turns and slaloms than RipStiks/Waves/WhipTides. You can't just step on and go, like with RipStiks. Instead, you place the two decks onto the ground, carefully step on one at a time, then go. RipSkates are like Xgliders, but with a removable crossbar. I made a RipSkate clone by bolting a crossbar between our Xglider decks, and it's very fun because it allows you to do tight turns (even better than a WhipTide) without the danger of your feet going in different directions. RipSkates provide two different riding experiences for the price of one. Freeline Skates are similar to Xgliders, but the wheels don't spin 360 degrees. OrbitWheels have separate decks as well, but your feet are *inside* the wheels.

PowerWings - Have safer features than RipStiks (two casterwheels in back plus a wheel in front for stability, and handlebars with brakes). You face forward and move your hips side-to-side, but on casterboards you face sideways and use a twisting movement with your hips. It's easy to lean too far back and flip over, but with practice this allows doing wheelies. Some PowerWings have safety bars at the back to prevent flipping over. Rip Rider 360s are similar, but they have a big plastic wheel in front with pedals, and kids ride them sitting down. Trikkes and "Slider The Unscooter" are also three-wheeled, but with unique methods of propulsion.

Bladeboards - Like RipStiks, but the casters are designed differently. We cleaned and lubricated the casters, and put in new bearings, but it still feels sluggish and noisy compared to RipStiks. Bladeboards don't appear to be sold anymore.

PumpRockrs - Skateboards with one casterwheel in front. Can't make tight turns like casterboards can. T-Boards are skateboards with two casterwheels, but don't appear to be as maneuverable as RipStiks. OBoards appear to be PumpRockrs.

TimberWolf XtreeMs - Similar to RipStiks, but the casters are designed differently. My kids and I are experienced riders, but we felt cautious at first because the TimberWolf is quite a bit faster and more maneuverable than RipStiks/Waves/WhipTides. The casters can go forward or backward, so you can swap ends as you ride, and do 360s. RollerSurfers have different casters, but they also allow you to swap ends and do 360s.

Streetboards - Like skateboards, but the decks are in three sections. Your feet rotate the outer sections to propel the board, and you can strap into bindings on the footplates (optional). Good for jumping tricks (grinds, etc.), but not as maneuverable and fun as casterboards on the street. Snakeboards are shorter versions of Streetboards. It took us several days to figure out how to ride our Snakeboard because the movement is different than with casterboards. Our RipSkate clone is everything that I had hoped the Snakeboard would be. Alterskates had a similar rotating mechanism to propel the board, but no-one at their website responds to emails. LandSharks are kneeboards which you propel similar to Streetboards (using a handlebar).

Bottom line:
We own a skateboard, RipStik, Wave, WhipTide, Xglider, RipSkate clone, Bladeboard, TimberWolf, and Snakeboard, and we've ridden a RipStik G, RipStik Air, PowerWing, PumpRockr, Flowboard, and LandShark. Our favorite boards are: RipSkate, TimberWolf, WhipTide, RipStik, and Wave (in that order). To do carving/twisting/turning/spinning around the street, casterboards are best. To do jumping tricks, skateboards and Streetboards are best. At skateparks, skateboards are best.

About the wheels:
We replaced our worn-down RipStik wheels with two good wheels from our Xglider, and put the flattened RipStik wheels onto our Xglider. Strangely, we didn't notice much of a difference in the feel of the RipStik or the Xglider. After 20 minutes, the rear wheel on the RipStik had worn down a bit, but RipStiks/Waves are fun even when the wheels are flattened (until it becomes excessive). The wheels on our other boards don't seem to wear down very quickly.

For some videos of my kids and me playing a casterboard game that we invented, search for "Caster Soccer" at YouTube. Another fun game is playing "tag" on casterboards. We wear protective gear when trying new boards or tricks. Skate safely!

My son and some of his fiends each bought one of these about a month ago. They love the boards and use them to get around the neighborhood after school. The problem: the soft rubber wheels wear out after about a month or so of use. This makes the board difficult to ride and essentially rendered my son's board useless in just 4 weeks.

We checked with the store that sold us The Wave to see if they sold replacement wheels but found out that replacements are not available at this time. The store took a look at the wheels and was kind enough to replace the entire board for my son. My son's friend has a similar problem with his board and will likely need to replace his as well.

According to my son, he uses The Wave to zip around the neighborhood (suburban Long Island, NY) with an occassional curb hop but is not performing any heavy duty tricks or anything else you would not expect to do on a skateboard.

The bottom line: A cool board but not very durable. At $100 it should last longer than a month.

The Wave 'street surfer' is fun to ride and easy to master. Everyone I run into with it is amazed because when you look at it with its two inline skate wheels it doesn't seem it should work. But it does and with the twist of your hips or the tipping of your feet you can move and steer easily.

The only problem with it is the longevity of the wheels. I'd have to guess that it's because it uses wheels designed for inline skates. Inline skates have 4 wheels per skate, 8 wheels per person. This has 2 wheels and the full weight of a person atop them. Despite the Wave's website claiming that their wheels are 'specially designed' I've found that they last no longer than run-of-the-mill roller blade wheels. The rear wheel flattens in no time. "Cheap" wheels are $10 a pair and at the rate this thing eats them it begins to add up quickly. If they can come up with a harder wheel they'll have a winner.

Jim

I love this board! I never snowboarded or surfed before so I cant really tell you how close of a feel this board gives you. I can, however, tell you that I sure want to learn how to after riding The Wave! This thing is probably one of the most fun toys I've ever bought. It took me only 20 minutes to learn to ride it with the aid of a wall. It is simply AWESOME! No board out there (to my knowledge) can give you the tight turns of The Wave, which is what i love most about it. The self-propelling feature is just as advertised and you can effortlessly go uphill with some practice.

My only problem with this board is the wheels. They SUCK! If you plan on riding it on asphalt, expect to be buying new wheels because they wear out QUICK! I rode it outside for half an hour and you can already see a noticeable difference between the front and back wheels. My back wheels started looking more like a skateboard wheel than an inline wheel.

Also, the advertising they do for this board is a little misleading. Yes, the wheels do physically rotate 360 degrees, but functionally, they each can only rotate 45 degrees from midline. The wheels are attached at an angle that limits full rotation while you're skating. So dont listen to them when they say you can "RIDE SIDEWAYS!" because the most can get is going forward with the board at a 45 degree angle. Dont even think about going backwards because the angle will prevent your wheels from doing so and you will likely fall off before moving an inch.

This is not a big deal because you probably just want this board because it doesnt require your foot to touch the ground, and can give you crazy turns. I just think they shouldn't place all that emphasis on a wheel that can rotate 360 degrees.

Overall though, I am very pleased with my purchase and can't wait to buy more replacement wheels so i can "surf" the streets!

I can attest to the wheel problem that others have mentioned. My son's rear wheel was stripped in less than two months from what I'd call moderate use (about 3 days/week). But he LOVES the board and is asked to demonstrate it everywhere we go. I've tried it twice now and feel I'll get it with another practice or two - not bad for a middle-aged mom. Manufacturer needs to address the soft wheels, though - otherwise budget 3-6 sets of replacement wheels per year, depending on use.