No products in the cart.
Landyachtz Surfskate Review (Butter Lines 31″ Surfskate)
Landyachtz is a popular brand that has been producing longboards and skateboards for two decades. They recently entered the surfskate market with two surfskates, the Butter Lines and the Pocket Knife. But are they any good?
Bottom Line Up Front
I’m not a fan of Landyachtz surfskates at all. They call their “Bear Banger” truck a surfskate truck. While it does pump and carve, compared to my list of the top 10 surfskate trucks, it doesn’t function well at all.
The Landyachtz surfskate truck feels sluggish and has a relatively limited range of motion. It’s hard to get started and it doesn’t carve very tightly.
Landyachtz surfskate decks are very flat and their wheels are relatively small and hard, which limits their use.
I don’t recommend Landyachtz surfskates at all and I highly recommend that you get a surfskate from the top 10 instead.
Watch My Landyachtz Surfskate Review on YouTube
Landyachtz makes two versions of what they call “surfskates”: the 31” Butter Lines and the 29” Pocket Knife. I got the Butter Lines Landyachtz surfskate because the Pocket Knife is too short for me.
I’m not a fan of the Landyachtz surfskate. Let me tell you why.
For help choosing the best surfskate for you, get my free Surfskate Selector app now. In just eight questions I’ll reveal the perfect surfskate for you and your riding style.
Landyachtz “Bear Banger” Surfskate Truck
The truck that Landyachtz uses on their surfskates is called the Bear Banger truck. Similar to the Carver CX, it’s essentially a reverse kingpin with extra tall bushings.
It does pump and it does carve, but not very well. In fact, I have a hard time even calling it a surfskate truck. What they call “carvey” is really not carvey at all in the surfskate world. All you can really do on it is gliding curves.
It’s hard to pump and it’s particularly hard to start pumping on it. So you have to push off first get some momentum before you can really even pump it well. Whereas on other surfskates, I can just jump on and immediately start pumping.
Compared to other legitimate surfskate trucks, the Landyachtz surfskate truck really just isn’t even in the same league. It’s not nimble at all so I can’t really use it in tight urban environments and go around obstacles like I can a typical surfskate.
The only thing the Landyachtz surfskate is good for is just basic cruising, almost like a longboard. So it’s kind of like a carvey longboard that’s not even longboard because it’s too short to be a longboard, it doesn’t ride like a longboard, and it doesn’t like ride like a surfskate.
Landyachtz Surfskate Deck
The deck on the Landyachtz Butter Lines surfskate is 31.2” long and 9” wide. It has extra holes on front for an adjustable wheelbase of between 15 and 17.1”.
The deck itself is very flat and really has no concave at all. It also doesn’t have much of a kicktail.
This means that it doesn’t lock your feet in well at all, so it’s not good for aggressive surfskate maneuvers. As I said, all you can really do on it is basic glidey cruising.
Landyachtz Surfskate Wheels
The wheels on the Landyachtz surfskate are 63mm 78a Fatty Hawgs. Typical surfskate wheels are 68-70mm in diameter.
What this means is that the Landyachtz surfskate does not work well for riding over rough surfaces or pebbles. It’s best for smooth surfaces.
Why I Don’t Like the Landyachtz Surfskate
The bottom line is that, compared to other legitimate surfskates, the Landyachtz surfskate just really isn’t fun to ride at all.
To me, it’s like Landyachtz saw the surfskate world exploding and they were like, “Hey, let’s get in on the surfskate trend.” Then they went and designed something that isn’t even a surfskate.
And in my opinion, it really isn’t even useful for a lot of things. I don’t even know what category to fit this board into. It’s not a skateboard, it’s not a longboard, and it most certainly is not a surfskate at all. I don’t even know what to call it. At best I would call it a carvey street cruiser.
At $199, I also think the Landyachtz surfskate is overpriced. The quality just isn’t there. I’ve hardly ridden it at all and I already have grip tape coming up on it.
If you want a real surfskate, my recommendation is to get a Carver with CX trucks over the Landyachtz surfskate.
For help choosing the best surfskate for you, get Surfskate Selector app now. In just 8 questions I’ll reveal the perfect surfskate for you and your riding style.
