So I decided to try an older transition era step deck board that I picked up awhile back…
It was fun! Stepping on the nose was like stepping on the gas! Why aren’t these shapes popular these days?
I’ve never seen one other than the one I’ve got…anyone use one…?
takayama makes a modern version of the step. i think people have just forgotten about the design, but it will come back oneday like everything else. especially now that boards are heading back to the old school stuff.
ALOHA
Most of the top of the line shapers builds step decks. As one person reported DT makes a good one. BING, WEBER and some of the older board builders can make one for you. Harbour Surfboards has a great one the show it on their web site.
Aloha.
they are prone to breakage at the step… they are fun, though.
Rennie Yater still shaves them at the front end. The Spoon is an obvious place to start, but I’ve got a custom board he made which - whilst it’s not a Spoon - is noticeably thinner in the front third. And that board is the best board I’ve ever ridden.
I read somewhere that the theory was all about the rocker ‘straightening out’ when the rider put their weight on the ‘step’ section. But then I was told that it was introduced as a method of losing weight off the old logs.
Anyone back-up either theory?
(Good new board Mike by the way - thanks)
I am a firm believer in longboard spoons and have had several made over the years and will continue to do so.Yes, step in the spoon area and it’s like pushing on the accelerator.you can a ctually feel it bend and flex.the spoons I ride are really simialr to that era right before the transition to v-bottoms-9-9’4" thin, round rails,s-deck, hull bottom, not the earlier versions that were 10’ plus, thick, etc.refined and fast and yet to have one break at the step.
I lived through the era, and the reasons that were given back then was that it lowered your center of gravity. What by a 3/4 of an inch? The truth be told is that step decks, spoons, or what have you is that they are lighter in the nose, and that reduces the swing weight for turning. They do nose ride unbelievably. Im thinking of hacking one out this spring.