I'm old. I hadn't been on a skateboard for over 30 years. But I became fascinated with the notion of using a longboard for exercise and commuting casually after seeing some videos. I brushed the thoughts aside for years, but this winter the dream of gliding along on a longboard on a sunny day finally pushed me into doing some web searching to find out if this dream was doable. It certainly is! After researching, I chose my Magneto 42" x 9" pintail to see if I could actually do the fantasy riding that sitting inside on cold winter days that had become somewhat obsessive for me. I placed my order for the board and elbow, knee, and wrist guards and hoped for the best.

The board and guards arrived on a remarkably warm late winter day. It was ready to go straight out of the carton. I guarded myself up and stepped out to the back of my building's parking lot and put the dream in motion. After a few moments standing on a flat portion of the lot and doing some leaning back and fro to get the distant muscle memories going, I started pushing myself forward towards a gentle downward slope. I initially stepped off quickly, but quickly gained confidence in the stable glide and the adrenaline rush of riding. I coasted to a stop and awkwardly pushed myself back to the top of the slope.

It only took about 20 minutes to get the feel of riding once again. Turning and getting pointed in the right direction while pushing is going to take practice, and I haven't had to pick myself up after a crash, so I can't review the guards just yet (thankfully). But it's going to be fun getting to know this board. It's a beauty to behold and handles small obstacles like minor pavement cracks, twigs and pebbles with little difficulty. Without the aid of a kicktail and my own tentativeness, I still need to work on my skills to push off and make quicker course corrections as I ride. But I'm ready for longer rides and I have no doubt this is the right board for me. And I think it will be the right board for you as well.

Having never skated before I had original purchased a small plastic cruiser but I kept hitting the wheels with my shoes. I decided to try a bigger board so my feet didn't hang above the wheels. And this works great! I actually feel like I might get the hang of this with this board. It's super stable and since it's made from bamboo it's easy to carry around campus. I am a little worried though, I've only ridden it for about a week, but it has started making creaking noises, so I am worried it might break. We'll see later on!

First off I tried skateboarding back in the day and I sucked at it, the boards were short and skinny, and looking for something to play with around the house I read longboards were good for beginners so I thought what the heck man, I am 57 yo and I am not dead yet but this may be just the thing I need. I've water ski's slalom for years and I picked up snow skiing pretty quick so I made the purchase. I am on the heavy side(230 lbs but losing)the first time on the board(and I was able to get on it unlike the older boards) I thought the trunks were a little loose so I tightened them up a half turn and that is all it took to get me rolling. I am certainly no Tony Hawk but hell man at my age and weight I feel I am doing pretty good at it, yeah I've taken a few spills but that is to be expected. I think this is an excellent board to learn on and I wish they had these when I was younger but I am happy with my success so far on the board, I doubt any of my friends would even attempt doing this but you only live once and it's something I've always wanted to do.

This longboard is super easy to ride! Maybe that is just the nature of longboards, but I am a true beginner and I found it very easy to push and turn the board.
PROS:
- Riding on rough asphalt is nice and smooth. You can still pick up speed pretty easily and the wheels absorb a lot of the shock from the road.
- The grip on the deck is good and not too grabby.
- The design of the board is top notch.
- The bearings seem to be pretty good.

CONS:
- The trucks are really loose out of the box. I tightened them and they still have a lot of play in them. I'll try tightening them all the way and see if that helps.
- The kicks are relatively small. If you are new to longboards(like me), it will seem like you need a good amount of force to kick the board up. Definitely not as easy as a regular skateboard.

All in all, this is a pretty good board for a beginner. You will automatically feel confident after hopping on the board for the first time and rolling without falling off the board. On a side note the deck has plenty of flex. I'm 215lbs and get a lot of flex from the deck. My daughter is about 75lbs and only gets a little flex from the board. But it is probably still enough flex to carve effectively. Final evaluation:
The board is worth buying. You'll be pleased.

I got this for my 8 y/o because he loves to skateboard on his bum. Lol But with normal size boards he can get his feet up and he was getting frustrated. So this was a perfect switch. It also gives him the courage to start standing because it's got great balance. Definitely recommend this for beginners and advanced as my older son (19) loves to 'borrow' it. Haha.