If your plan is to cover two kilometres of Irish town centre rather than learn a kickflip, the wheels on almost every board in this price range are wrong for you. The wheels on this one are right, and that is why it is here.
59mm at 83A is the specification that matters
Two numbers. The 59mm is diameter, and bigger wheels carry speed over rough ground because the obstacle is smaller relative to the wheel. The 83A is durometer, and softer urethane squashes around a stone rather than stopping against it.
Put those together on a stretch of chipseal, which is what most Irish estate roads and back lanes are surfaced with, and the difference against a 52mm 99A street wheel is not subtle. You go further per push. You do not get thrown off by gravel washed into the gutter after rain. On a damp morning in Limerick the board still grips, where hard park wheels slide out from under you with no warning at all.
The wheel wells are the other bit of thought. These are shallow recesses cut into the underside of the deck above each wheel, and they exist so that in a hard turn the wheel does not touch the wood and lock. Without them, a big soft wheel on a low board causes wheelbite, and wheelbite at speed puts you on the tarmac. Plenty of cheap cruisers skip this.
Add the kicktail and you can lift the front wheels to get up a kerb or over a lip in the footpath. Most boards of this shape and size cannot.
Chinese maple at €120 is the sore point
The listing says 7-ply Chinese maple with epoxy. Chinese maple is a softer timber than the Canadian hard rock maple used in the skate industry proper. It takes a set over time, meaning the concave flattens and the tail loses its snap, and it goes soft faster in damp conditions. Ireland has damp conditions.
At €70 that would be a fair trade. At €120 it is not, and the €155 Madrid Picket sitting on the same shop’s website in genuine Canadian maple is the direct comparison. €35 is the price of the better wood.
Things to fix on day one
The 90A bushings are too stiff for most people. Bushings are the rubber cylinders in the trucks that let the board lean and steer, and a 90A set is chosen because it suits a heavy rider and will not fail under warranty. If you are under about 70kg you will find the board runs straight and refuses to carve. A set of 85a bushings costs around €10 and takes fifteen minutes with a skate tool. Do it.
The other thing to sort out before ordering is which board you are actually getting. The listing covers 27 inch and 30 inch lengths and 7.5 inch and 8.75 inch widths, and the page does not make the choice obvious. Ring the shop in Douglas. While you have them, ask what delivery costs, because Crazy Monkey does not publish a figure anywhere until you are in the checkout, and on a €120 order that is worth knowing in advance.
Who should not buy it
Anyone who wants to learn tricks. No nose, directional shape, soft wheels. This board is a bad tool for that and a street complete is a bad tool for commuting, so pick the one that matches what you will actually do.
Anyone who wants a board to last a decade. The Chinese maple deck is the limiting part and it will feel tired in two or three years of daily use.
Anyone under about twelve. At 30 inches and 8.75 inches wide with a 16 inch wheelbase, this is a big object for a small rider to push and steer.