Konata & Miku on the ramp


About me and this obstacle
I have been fingerboarding for 11 years, finally picking up a sponsorship from Close Up in the last half year. I have been involved with the online scene on FFI, FBHQ and YouTube; Currently, I am a moderator on FBHQ. I have written fingerboard product reviews before as I am genuinely interested in fingerboard products and want to share the information. This is my 11th review, though the first for an obstacle, and I hope the reader may see this as an unbiased review, despite my sponsorship.

As for experience with obstacles, I don't have a huge collection. As I'm currently in China, I didn't bring most of my obstacles here. In England, I have few obstacles as I prefer to only buy ramps which are hard to replicate using household items such as a miniramp.

However, I am a fan of Tech Deck and have collected different types of boards for a long time. I've not really collected the obstacles though and I only have the plastic funbox/bank+downrail/double ledge set, spine ramp & shotgun rail and a halfpipe from X-Concepts days.

I pretty much just copy and paste this same format for all my reviews to save hassle. I personally prefer text-based reviews as opposed to video reviews as the reader can choose to read it at their own pace instead of being forced to follow the speed of the reviewer and who can often trail-off topic. I like to write my reviews detailed with enough information for potential buyers to know everything about the product before purchasing.

Apologies for my low quality pictures, I intend to invest in better optical equipment in the future.

Company Profile
Tech Deck is a large international franchise specialising in producing miniature skateboard toys with licensed graphics from well known skateboard companies since the late '90s. The boards are designed to have an authentic skateboard feeling with their licensed graphics, die cast trucks, griptape and all their interchangeable components. They appeal to skateboard enthusiasts and toy collectors as well as making fingerboarding accessible to younger children with their affordable price. With sales and recognition worldwide, they really help people get into fingerboarding before they wish to invest in more premium products. I'm sure if you're reading this on a fingerboard forum, you'll need no introduction to Tech Deck.

Website: http://techdeck.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TechDeckBoards
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/techdeckboards
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/techdeckvideos

Product Overview
A lot of people will see this product and some other TD products as a direct copy of developments made by other independent fingerboard companies. The old TD Community forums had a fair few requests for wooden ramps. In a business sense, a company needs to attract customers so most people would probably make the same move in the same situation.

This initial small series of ramps aims to fill the gap in TD's range of products for higher quality ramps. This ramp features smooth plywood surfaces, a solid polished metal rail and reinforced joints with extra blocks of wood and screws.

Obstacle Dimensions
I believe the picture below should be self-explanatory so I won't type the measurements again. Sorry about the very rough writing, I just rushed it in Paint. All measurements in millimeters are approximate.



Transaction Details
Price: - (MSRP: $29.99)
Shipping cost: -
Time to arrive: -

I cannot really comment on a purchase of the product since I acquired it directly from Tech Deck in the US. Noah and Lisa were nice enough to send me many Tech Deck things to China where I am currently working.

Normally, Tech Deck products can be bought in stores and other online retailers. The Wood Sk8 Park Wooden ramp with rail should cost $29.99 in the US although I do not know about prices elsewhere. The miniramp in the same series should have the same price.

Pictures of the packaging


Packaging
The design of the packaging is pretty good. The styles of graphics are consistent with other current Tech Deck products and I like the abstract patterns in the background. There's even a green skateboarding background on the inside. The ramp itself also sites comfortably inside the box and at the same time, it's very open allowing you to see and feel exactly what you are getting.

It also has some information and suggests going to the TD website to see other products. There is a list of disclaimers at the back about adults that should check it periodically, splintering and how the pictures on the packaging may not reflect the product inside. This is especially the case as all the pictures on the packaging appear to be of an earlier prototype; the pictures show a rail with less rounded ends and appears to be more square than round, plus the TD stamp is in a different place.

Obstacle craftsmanship
With Tech Deck producing so many products, you would expect them to be vigilant about quality control. I'm happy to report in this case, there appears to be no problems with craftsmanship to report about.

Underneath


Everything appears to be very solid as the joints between pieces of wood are reinforced with blocks joining them which are also screwed in. The rail itself is also screwed in and secured with another block of plywood underneath the piece on the surface.

The wood is very smooth and the rail is pretty solid and polished. The logo stamp on the top is a nice touch and consistent with their wooden decks.

Obstacle performance
As I covered in the overview and craftsmanship sections, the materials are very good and it looks nice too. However, there are lots of other points that I would like to cover about this obstacle.

When I first read about this series of obstacles, I thought TD would be improving the quality of materials as well as making the scale of the obstacles similar to the scales used by other companies. Unfortunately, the scale of this obstacle is still rather small. It is probably more suited to be used with the standard 96mm Tech Decks rather than other larger fingerboards. When I heard about the Expert Sk8 boards being developed at a similar time, I presumed that the obstacle would accommodate the size but sadly, it does not. See the photo below.

Expert Sk8 and the rail on this obstacle


When using the obstacle as a general funbox, gapping the middle section, the size is not too bad and quite usable although most people would prefer it to be slightly bigger. With the photo above, it highlights most people's main criticism about this particular ramp. The rail itself has the same length of a standard deck. This makes it not particularly fun for doing technical tricks on it and combos are especially difficult. I think most people will agree that the rail should be bigger. Personally, I believe that a good fingerboard rail should be between two and three fingerboard lengths.

There are some small positives about the rail though. The low height, rounded ends and short length makes the rail very usable for beginners. Although it might make a lot of you shudder to imagine kids using three fingers, randomly flipping the board and making very awkward sudden movements in an attempt to do tricks, these kinds of beginners will probably enjoy this obstacle a lot. As the position of the rail does not start and the end of the bank but a little further away, they can use the momentum from the bank and get on the rail rather easily. One key observation I have made with this obstacle is that you can perform tricks like 50-50s and boardslides very easily without actually learning how to ollie (which is difficult for beginners).

For experienced fingerboarders, I like the challenge that the small rail brings for performing very difficult tricks on it. You only have a small area to lock in and get off the rail, it's even more challenging when doing combos. The position of the rail and the rounded ends also mean you can use it as a polejam and clear the box. It's also possible to approach the rail at and angle and hippy jump it even if you start the jump on one bank and land on the other. An even stranger idea I thought of was to stand the obstacle on its side and it was the first time I learned the trick where you go into a boardstall and spin the board around the rail. You can also do grinds if you land lightly and wallride-hippy jump.

I was unsure whether the weight of the obstacle would prevent it from sliding on the surface when in use. After using it, it does slide about a bit so I've used some off-cuts of Kingsize 1.5mm tape to use as non-sliders at the bottom. Pretty much every other obstacle I've seen from other companies come with non-sliders and Tech Deck really do need to include some with their ramps. If you apply some non-sliders yourself, I would advise to use something 0.5 to 1mm thick.

Another view


Overall
Overall, this is an average ramp although much better than the standard plastic TD ramps. The main problems lie in its scale, especially the tiny rail. It is more suited to beginners than experienced fingerboarders. It doesn't include non-sliders but needs them. You also get nothing else in the packaging; I think some stickers would be awesome for this as the ramp is rather plain.

One suggestion I would make either as something TD could do or something a customer could do is to modify the obstacle to have a box on top instead of the rail. A box roughly the same height as the rail, roughly 6cm wide, with metal coping would be awesome. It would be much more suitable for experienced fingerboarders with loads of options for tricks as well as still being accessible to beginners. I may try to do this when I have the chance.

Where to purchase
These should be available in most places already. They should be available in a lot of places like toy stores or other retailers. It's $29.99 in the US but prices elsewhere will vary.

Closing comments
You may use this review and pictures, in part or in full, as long as you credit it to me and get permission from me.

If you have read this review and it was useful, please reply! Review threads don't always get a lot of replies, even if they are read. If you didn't like this review, please tell me why so I can improve! I am available to review other products should you have any products you want reviewing. Otherwise, I will continue to review whatever that takes my fancy.

Oh tech deck... when will you learn...

Great review man! Can't believe you think that's improvable?
Ever thought about setting up a small blog just for your reviews? Would be an awesome resource!

Danny Hynam wrote:

Great review man! Can't believe you think that's improvable?
Ever thought about setting up a small blog just for your reviews? Would be an awesome resource!

I do have a small blog. I've not posted about it though. I only use it for archiving my reviews. A lot of people like me probably only visit the Unite and FBTV blogs.

that looks pretty nice but the rail is too small nice review xi

great review, shame about the products but scale has always been tech decks downfall.

i hate mine but i got it for sale only nine usd