Is Canadian maple worth €35 more than Chinese maple?

Over a couple of years, yes. Canadian hard rock maple is denser, so the concave keeps its shape and the tail keeps its pop instead of going soft and flat. On a board you push every day in Irish weather, the cheaper timber gives up first. If you expect to use it a few times a summer, the difference will not reach you.

Is Madrid the company from Back to the Future?

Yes. Madrid made the board Marty McFly rides in the 1985 film, and they have been building skateboards in one form or another since 1976. That is not a reason to buy a board on its own, but it does mean you are dealing with a manufacturer with its own shapes rather than a name licensed onto a factory complete.

Can I use this to commute?

It works well for short urban runs, up to a couple of kilometres. The 80A wheels handle chipseal and the kicktail gets you up kerbs. For anything longer you would be better on a drop-through longboard, because the lower ride height makes pushing far less tiring.

Madrid Picket Complete Cruiser Skateboard

€155 at Crazy Monkey, €35 more than the Ocean Pacific sitting a few rows away on the same website. The difference is the wood, and if you are going to ride this thing most days it is the right €35 to spend.

Canadian maple is the whole argument

Seven plies of Canadian hard rock maple. The Ocean Pacific is seven plies of Chinese maple, which is a softer timber and behaves like one. Over a year or two of real use, a soft deck takes a set. The concave flattens, the tail loses its snap, and on a board you leave in a hall in an Irish winter the moisture gets in and speeds all of that up.

Canadian maple resists it. That is the entire reason the skate industry has standardised on it for forty years, and it is not marketing. A well-made maple cruiser deck will still feel like itself in five years.

Madrid is the other half of it. They have been making boards since 1976, they made the one Marty McFly rides in Back to the Future, and they design their own shapes rather than picking a mould from a catalogue. The Picket’s geometry shows it. 28.5 inches long, 8.25 wide, a low concave that keeps your feet close to the ground, wheel wells cut so a hard turn does not lock the wheels against the deck, and a kicktail that lets you pick the nose up over a kerb without stopping. That is a board designed for cities, and Irish city surfaces in particular.

The 80A wheels are the softest of the three cruisers here. On the coarse chipseal used across most of the country, that is the correct choice.

Where the €155 does not go

The trucks. They are described as standard kingpin with 90A bushings, which is the language shops use when the trucks have no brand behind them. They are the same class of casting fitted to the €120 Ocean Pacific and to €80 street completes. You are paying the extra for the deck and the name on it, not for hardware.

That is not fatal, because generic kingpin trucks on a cruiser ridden at commuting speed do their job. It does mean the upgrade path is obvious. A pair of Independents or a set of reverse-kingpin trucks would change how this board feels far more than the deck already does.

Two things about how it rides

57mm is small for a cruiser. The Ocean Pacific runs 59mm and the Hydroponic longboard runs 70mm, and the bigger the wheel, the less a piece of loose gravel or a raised paving slab costs you in speed. 60mm would suit this board better and it is a cheap change to make later.

The 15 inch wheelbase is short and the concave is low, which is a combination that feels lively at walking pace and nervous once you are moving quickly downhill. Coming down anything steep, you will feel the front end start to wander. Stiffer bushings help, but the geometry is what it is. This is a board for flat urban ground, not for bombing hills in Cork.

Who should not buy it

Anyone who wants to learn tricks. Directional shape, no nose, soft wheels. Buy a street complete.

Anyone with more than about two kilometres to cover. A drop-through longboard is far less tiring over distance and the Hydroponic is currently cheaper than this.

Anyone buying for a child. 8.25 inches wide and 28.5 long is an adult platform, and the price makes it a painful thing to leave in a shed.

The numbers

Deck	28.5" long, 8.25" wide
Wheelbase	15"
Construction	7-ply Canadian maple
Shape	Low concave, kicktail, wheel wells
Trucks	Standard kingpin, 90A bushings
Wheels	57mm, 80A
Grip	Pre-gripped

Straight up

What is good

Canadian maple rather than Chinese, so the concave and the tail snap hold up over years of use
Madrid has been building skateboards since 1976, which is a manufacturer rather than a licensed label
80A wheels with wheel wells and a kicktail make it a proper urban board for cracked footpaths and kerbs

What is not

€155 still buys you unbranded standard kingpin trucks, the same class fitted to the €120 Ocean Pacific
57mm is small for a cruiser and 60mm would carry speed noticeably better over rough tarmac
A 15" wheelbase with low concave makes it twitchy once you get above jogging speed

Where to buy it

Crazy Monkey
Church Road, Douglas, Cork · Delivery cost is only shown at checkout.
€155.00

Prices last checked 7 August 2026. Shops move them without warning, so treat these as a guide and check before you buy. We take nothing from these links.

Questions people ask

Is Canadian maple worth €35 more than Chinese maple?: Over a couple of years, yes. Canadian hard rock maple is denser, so the concave keeps its shape and the tail keeps its pop instead of going soft and flat. On a board you push every day in Irish weather, the cheaper timber gives up first. If you expect to use it a few times a summer, the difference will not reach you.
Is Madrid the company from Back to the Future?: Yes. Madrid made the board Marty McFly rides in the 1985 film, and they have been building skateboards in one form or another since 1976. That is not a reason to buy a board on its own, but it does mean you are dealing with a manufacturer with its own shapes rather than a name licensed onto a factory complete.
Can I use this to commute?: It works well for short urban runs, up to a couple of kilometres. The 80A wheels handle chipseal and the kicktail gets you up kerbs. For anything longer you would be better on a drop-through longboard, because the lower ride height makes pushing far less tiring.

Worth comparing

from €110

Birdhouse

Birdhouse Armanto Bubbles 8.0"

The most sensible first proper skateboard sold in Ireland right now, once you accept it needs different wheels.

Deck31.5" long, 8.0" wide
Construction7-ply stained Canadian maple
Trucks5.25" Birdhouse, powdercoated

from €130

Creature

Creature Web 2 Relic Mini 7.75"

The only kids' complete under €150 in Ireland with wheels soft enough for cracked footpaths, built around a short 13" wheelbase for six to ten year olds.

Deck30" long, 7.75" wide
Wheelbase13"
Construction7-ply birch

from €40

Rocket

Rocket Complete 8.0"

The cheapest full-size maple complete in Ireland at €40, with unusually sensible 92a wheels and trucks you should expect to replace.

Deck31.5" long, 8.0" wide
Construction7-ply hardrock maple
Trucks5.25" raw, 85a PU cast cushions

Written 7 August 2026, checked again 7 August 2026.