Amazon.com Reviews
Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
The following review received 33 helpful votes out of 33 total votes:Review Date: 2005-08-26"Remember the 'Back to the Future' hoverboard."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. 5 stars The following review received 31 helpful votes out of 36 total votes:Review Date: 2006-06-21"Nice...but the wheels wear out quickly"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. 1 star The following review received 30 helpful votes out of 31 total votes:Review Date: 2006-11-12"A hit with kids from 6 to 99!!!"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. 4 stars The following review received 24 helpful votes out of 24 total votes:Review Date: 2006-08-25"Excellent Ride!"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. 5 stars The following review received 12 helpful votes out of 13 total votes:Review Date: 2006-07-22"awesome board but sucky wheels"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! 4 stars |