I have been desperately trying to source some (quality) fingerboards with steeper kicks and deeper concave the past couple of months…but as most of you know they are somewhat of a rarity these days due to the demand and popularity of shorter, ‘flatter‘ decks. After looking at WELL over 50 shapes/brands I noticed 7 or so that really caught my attention…and Fonky Fingers ‘Gnar’ shape was one of them.
Stats:Deck: Fonky Fingers ‘Gnar’ shape
Size: 33.3 x 100mm
Kicks: Steep and long! Nose is slightly steeper than the tail
Concave: Medium
Real-wear - No
Country: Germany
Cost: 35EURO (40EURO with shipping to Australia)
Method of purchase: Contacted owner via Facebook
Website:
http://www.fonkyfingers.de/Purchasing:Unfortunately Fonky Fingers doesn’t post to Australia, so I had to contact the owner directly via Facebook to buy my deck. The owner was VERY prompt in replying, professional with his service, and overall a really nice, chill guy…we got talking about fingerboarding and started exchanging edits.
Fonky doesn’t offer ‘customs decks’ but they had a very good selection of decks available at the time – ranging from 32mm – 34.5mm(!)…so I was lucky enough to get the EXACT size I as after - 33.3 x 100mm.
First Impressions:Moments after setting it up I did a few basic tricks and noticed something…this deck has some SERIOUS fucking pop!!! Like, an INSANE amount!!!
Performance:As mentioned above this deck pops SO much it feels like you punched in the ‘moon physics’ cheat on THPS! I sometimes struggle a bit to get big height on my nollie and switch tricks…but using this deck I find I can pop as high as I want to with absolute EASE! I can also (finally) get nice, poppy switch heels now too – which is something I have ALWAYS struggled with. I am not suggesting if you buy one of these decks you will be busting out switch heels left-right-and-center, but for me it really does make a WORLD of difference.
The only real 'issues' I find with this MEGA pop is occasionally when I go to kick flip my front finger gets ‘caught’ up on the nose. The pop can also sometime be a bit tricky to control too (due to ‘over’ popping), but I would say this will pass more and more in time…its mostly due to the fact you have to use SO much less force to pop the deck.
Obviously, the shape of the deck is not really that suited for vert/ramps tricks, but aside from that I couldn’t really find any tricks that ‘didn’t’ work well with the steep kicks…it truly excels in the nollie and switch department…and is AWESOME for impossible and ‘late’ tricks too.
Overall:If I had to sum this deck up in as little words as possible I would say: ‘crazy fucking pop!’. I have been using mine for a little less than a week now, and while I am still adjusting to it, it really is a fun and easy deck to use and I couldn’t be happier with my purchase.
EAT!
SLEEP!
FONKY!
REPEAT!
- Jono
