Blast from the Past

These two set-ups represent a revolutionary time in both Europe and North America’s downhill scene. Have a gander, you silly goose.

THE LEGENDS

We are incredibly amped to be housing these pieces of history. But its not surprising that they are both owned by the infamous Patrick Switzer. Its kind of crazy to think they they are historical pieces considering that they are not even ten years old. But this sport changes quickly. Styles are born and retired in only a few years, and the industry can barely keep releasing different products to stay up to date. But just as one may want a wolfshark with bear preicions and biggie hawgs, or a fortune with ronins and kegels to get them down the racetrack, these two boards were in the realm of “dream set-up” way back when.

What do we dare say about these setups? That one on the left, see it sitting there all mean and angry looking. That ain’t no ordinary Landyachtz, but the infamous legendary Foam-Core Carbon Evo. The Evo was the answer to the questions that the DH Race left us with. No more double-dewedging. This time the wedging made some sense, with a reasonably effective concave, some taper tossed in, and f*cking stiff! If it wasn’t carbon, it was 11plys of maple. Matched with some JimZ trucks or Smokies and Reflex thane, this was the defining downhill setup. If it wasn’t this version of the Smokie it was the old in-line axle version. And undoubtedly you had taken out the spherical bearing in the hanger, and had stuffed a third bushing in there. Yes, we all did some pretty kooky shit.

As for those badges on the Evo? Well, It’s almost ironic that Charlie’s name is still on the Evo, as these days you’d be hard pressed to find him anywhere but the skatepark, rolling around and slashing up the bowl somewhere in vancouver. An interesting Tidd-bit(get it?), Charlie is credited with the design and execution of the Flatspot Wok. And that Leverage sticker is a little leftover from Charlie’s invisible company. Here’s what he has to say about that:

“Leverage was born back when Silverfish was the sole source for information, drop down decks were cool and Colabo had just began months of hype for their video premier. Downhill had just begun to blow up and I found myself looking for some sort of name to give the people I was riding with and the media we were putting out. I made up a logo spread it around silverfish and everyone went nuts. I sold what I thought would be a lifetime supply of vinyls in a couple days and had to stop selling them online. There’s a thread somewhere where Max Capps had made his own leverage stickers cause I wouldn’t sell him any. Needless to say shit got ridiculous.”

What is even more surprising about charlie’s story is that it all happened in Ontario. All you BC skaters may be asking “but where is that?” Its deep, deep, in the land of flat, and the only thing to skate is the Niagra Escarpment. LONG LIVE ESCARPMENT SURFERS! You may be familiar with riders like Luke Melo, Braden Tibles, John Barnett or Cam Brickendan. Well, the escarpment is where all those dudes got started.

There’s even footage of James Kelly rocking the Evo down Danger Bay’s Dump Road after getting his OG Dee-Lite Hellcat run over. Everyone rode an Evo at some point. Take a watch through this video to get an idea of what was going on at the time. Often it was the size of your cohones to get you down the hill rather than the sum of your skills! Fun was always the number 1 objective, even at the races.

As for that Siegrist? Well, the board isn’t all too much to shout about, but the swiss don’t like to raise their voices anyway. The board is reserved, subtle, and clearly came from an engineering student. But like the evo it’s stiff. Super stiff. It also has some crazy composite (unobtanium?) on the bottom, and the plys aren’t standard thickness… so its pretty sweet.

But those trucks on the other hand? We know you are looking at those trucks. Those Maguns. Axles in-line with the kingpin, combined with HELLA negative rake and 50degree baseplate. What does that spell? Tons of grip, no turn, and crazy stability. Basically a truck perfect for footbreaking. Forget any ability to carve or soulfully make your way down a hill. Maguns get you down in the straightest, fastest way possible. Oh and they have an approximately CAD$700 pricetag. The other notable mention about Maguns is that they DO NOT have standard drill holes. The mounting pattern is both wider and longer than every other truck on the market. For those of you that remember, the Rayne Avenger actually existed as two different models for a period of time, available with standard holes or Magun holes.

As for the Flywheels… If you haven’t ever ridden 76mm Flywheels, DO IT! They grip and slide and do all the nice things wheels should do. The big core keeps them fast too.