Loaded Kanthaka Review
The infusion of new construction techniques and hi-tech materials has led to something new and uniquely exciting, the Loaded Kanthaka, a longboard unique by its uncanny resemblance to a standard street skateboard. One very interesting concept is that unlike a standard skateboard, the Kanthaka is fully symmetrical, which allows the rider to completely concentrate on the tricks and slides without being concerned about getting the board back the right way forward. This is something very good in a board as versatile as the Kanthaka and it’s good to know Loaded thought it through well enough to design it this way.
Like its namesake from Buddhist legend, the Kanthaka is an agile, muscular, and loyal steed for anyone seeking a swift and exciting journey to double-kick freeride enlightenment. While this deck appears to have a pretty standard popsicle shape, popular in street decks and tech sliders, it definitely has enough gusto and character to stand wholly on its own, especially when compared to its bigger brother. The Kanthaka draws from multiple riding styles to create one board that can perform exceptionally well for pretty much anything you throw at it.
Specifications
- Length: 36” (91.44cm)
- Width: 8.625” (21.908cm) & 8.875” (22.416cm)
- Wheelbase: 17.5” (44.45cm)
- Kick Length: 7.5” (19.05cm) tip to inner bolt
- Weight: 8.625 = 3.70lbs (1.68kg) / 8.875 = 3.75lbs (1.72kg)
- Concave Style: Rocker, Radial, 3D
- Concave Depth: Medium
- Plys: Vertically Laminated Bamboo
- Construction: Bamboo, Fiberglass, Carbon
- Grip tape: Large-grit Black
- Flex Level: Stiff
- Trucks: Paris 150mm Reverse Kingpin Trucks
- Wheels: Orangatang Stimulus Purple 70mm 83A
Pros
- The Kanthaka sports a gently rockered platform that allows for smooth transitions into the kicks. Rocker also slightly lowers your center of gravity for enhanced stability.
- It’s designed to provide distinct ride characteristics with both conventional and reverse kingpin truck setups.
- Pronounced wheel wells flare above the top surface of the deck, increasing wheel clearance while also creating an ergonomic transition that provides lateral support and extra leverage in critical areas for your feet.
- The Kanthaka is designed with an elliptical concave profile to minimize accidental flipping input on ollies. It ramps up gently near the rails to provide increased security and board awareness.
- The rail concave is more mellow than aggressive for comfort in freeride and freestyle applications.
- The Kanthaka features a completely symmetrical profile from tip to tip to encourage switch riding and shuvit style tricks. This allows you to completely concentrate on the tricks and slides without being concerned about getting the board back the right way forward.
- The kicktails are designed to provide excellent leverage for slides and maneuverability. The Kanthaka mold features aggressive nose and tail kicks to assist you in popping, flipping, blunting and snapping the deck to navigate the sidewalk slalom course.
- The concave rocker combo gives your feet a nice, locked-in feeling when riding as well as sliding. This means you can slow down easily when you need to as long as you’re still somewhat in control.
- You can utilize the kicktails as well as the wheel well flares in a wide variety of ways to get just the right feeling for when you’re sliding.
- The board has multiple layers of bamboo construction glued together in different grain directions to provide stiffness. To make the board stronger and stiffer, the layers are reinforced with epoxy glass that is also layered with glass fibers in multiple directions to add strength and stiffness.
- The rocker-concave combination adds even more stability and lets you get the leverage you need to dig deep enough to hold out slides comfortably by slightly lowering you to the ground.
Cons
- The wheelbase on the Kanthaka is small for a downhill board, so it will get relatively unstable at high speeds pretty quickly.
- The deck is shorter than most longboards.
The Bottom Line
The Kanthaka is one of the few boards that is just as comfortable on hard wheels as it is on soft wheels. Though it takes a little getting used to, it’s a whole bunch of fun. This versatile board is ideal for anyone looking for a hybrid, tech-slider, or freestyle board. In addition, it would also be great for anyone who is looking to make the transition from street style skating to longboard. In short, if you find yourself more and more interested in freestyle trickery, then the Loaded Kanthaka is just the thing for you. The Kanthaka is one of those boards that boldly bridges the gap between different styles of skateboarding.
