There is a specific moment that ends a lot of children’s interest in skateboarding. The board hits a small stone on the footpath, stops instantly, and the child does not. It happens because almost every complete sold in this country ships with wheels meant for skatepark concrete. This is the one board under €150 in Ireland where somebody thought about that.
The three numbers that make it work
83a wheels. Most kids’ completes come with 99a or 100a, which is the hardest urethane sold. Hard wheels want smooth ground and a heavy rider to press them into it, and a seven year old on a Kildare footpath has neither. 83a is soft enough to squash around a chip of gravel and keep rolling. It also means less vibration coming up through the deck, which matters more than adults remember.
A 13 inch wheelbase. That is short, and it makes the board turn tightly at low speed. Most small boards are just adult geometry photocopied smaller, so they need speed to steer and a child pushing along at walking pace cannot get them to change direction. This one turns because the trucks are close together.
85a cushions. Steering a skateboard means leaning on the deck hard enough to compress the rubber in the trucks. A 25kg rider cannot compress the 90a and 95a bushings fitted as standard to nearly everything else. They lean, nothing happens, and they conclude they are bad at it. Softer cushions fix that in a way no amount of practice will.
What you are giving up for it
Birch, not maple. Birch is lighter, which helps a small rider pick the board up and helps them pop the tail. It is also less dense, so the tail wears down faster and the corners chip. A maple deck ridden by a beginner lasts years. This will show its age sooner, though a child riding it at walking pace is not exactly beating it up.
The price is the harder problem. €130 at High Rollers for something that will not fit the rider in two summers is a lot, and it is €20 more than the Birdhouse Armanto, an adult board in Canadian maple that the same child could ride for the next twenty years. There is no clever way around that comparison. What you are paying for is a board that fits now, at the age when fit is the difference between a hobby and an abandoned present.
Who should buy something else
An eleven or twelve year old of average height. They are past this. Put the €130 towards a full-size 7.75 or 8.0 complete and it will still fit them at sixteen.
Anyone on a strict budget with a six year old who has not asked for a skateboard. Try the €39.99 Smyths board first. It is a worse board in nearly every measurable way, but you can return it in a shop and you will not have spent €130 finding out.
Anyone whose child will only ever skate at a park. On smooth concrete, hard wheels are better, and the case for this board weakens a lot.
Getting one
High Rollers is at 65 Aungier Street in Dublin 2. Delivery is €6.50 to anywhere on the island and collection is free. If you can get in, get in, because they will size the board against the child in front of you and adjust the trucks before you leave. That service is worth a slice of the price difference on its own.