I’ve been meaning to do a little write-up on my experience with Hunter Boards after having put a few km on the machine. I’m sure there will be in-depth reviews coming shortly from the usual suspects who are far more capable than me, so please bear with my musings.
Unfortunately it’s taken longer than I’d hoped as I have an autoimmune disease that has reared its head again, limiting my ride time, energy levels and ability to leave the house. Sat in hospital now so at least it’s given me time to ramble.
Well that’s enough of the woe is me routine, let’s get on with the good stuff!
I was privileged enough to spend the entire big wave season in Nazaré watching the monsters roll in. When I discovered that Portugal had its own take on a production esk8 that frankly looked amazing, I contacted the company one Saturday evening suggesting they come up for a WSL big wave event that was due the next day, thinking it could be an opportunity for them to do some self-promotion or at least get a few nice shots of their board with the biggest wave on earth. Well, the fog was so thick that it was too dangerous that Sunday, so the organisers were forced to reschedule the surfing for the Monday. João still managed to make it up even though he had meetings that afternoon. Unfortunately being a weekday, the other team members couldn’t make it out.
This was where I realised this company was different. No sales push, no fancy camera - even though he is an accomplished professional photographer and responsible for Hunter’s marketing. Instead he just let the board sell itself… and it did, even though I wasn’t personally interested up til then. I have always avoided the idea of suspension on a skateboard due to complexity, worries about bending parts and the general gimmick factor but after gliding across the calçada (Portuguese cobblestones) on urethane wheels I was hooked.
It took me a week and a half to finally convince myself that I needed a Hunter Board and placed the order. The production time was one month at that stage. True to their word, just under a month later I was informed that my board was ready and that João personally wanted to drop it off, ensure I was completely happy and go for a skate.
Maybe it was all the excitement but it was shortly thereafter that my health took a turn for the worse. I had been invited to meet the team and check out their factory on the outskirts of Lisbon, an opportunity I could not miss so hopped on a train and then skated over to the factory. I was able to meet the entire team bar one who unfortunately had a prior engagement. They’re a young enthusiastic team, driven, motivated and helpful. They actively seek suggestions, were open to my random rants and even shared some of their yet to be released ideas. They even gave my board a look over and I left with it back to factory fresh.
I’ve had the board for nearly two months now and although I haven’t had the chance to ride it nearly as much as I’d like, I have loved every minute, even when I had to do the walk of shame when I ran out of battery 6km from home. This was entirely my fault as I was having such a blast that I knew well before I needed to turn back that I’d not make it. The difference is you can actually carry the thing with relative ease (or pack a spare battery), something I could never dream of with the Lonestar.
The free roll on the hub motors is insane. I used to have an Exway X1 Pro which was a great, fun board but it just doesn’t compare. The motors are far more powerful and the design allows airflow around the cans to help keep them cool.
Hunter Boards is going to be at esk8con in Las Vegas so if any of you septics (sorry couldn’t help myself) are planning to attend then do yourselves a favour and check them out… and please say hi from me.
If you’ve made it this far and are still willing to waste 9 more minutes of your life, then check out this raw video of my left foot I filmed with a phone yesterday. It’s of a leisurely ride down a track to an old fort that I did with the Mrs. Sorry you can’t see the remote screen, the frame rate on the recording makes it appear blank. Please also excuse the lousy camera work.
