The latest offering from Santa Cruz Skateboards in their Landshark line of skateboards is the Santa Cruz Bamboo Shark Complete Longboard. Considered to be the flagship of the Landshark line of cruzers from Santa Cruz Skateboards, the Santa Cruz Bamboo Shark Complete Longboard features a very classy custom bamboo thatch inlaid deck top surrounded by a stained maple frame and a full bamboo bottom deck. You will be able to carve up bowls like a champ on the Santa Cruz Bamboo Shark Complete Longboard.
Specifications
- Frame – stained maple
- Bottom – full bamboo
- Trucks – bullet
- Wheels – 78A Durometer Road Rider Cruzer
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Pros and Cons of the Santa Cruz Bamboo Shark Complete Longboard
The first thing that immediately stands out about the Santa Cruz Bamboo Shark Complete Longboard is the bamboo thatch design on the deck top. It looks more like a piece of furniture than a skateboard at first glance. The dark-stained maple frame also adds to that look. In the middle there is a huge green Santa Cruz Skateboards logo, right near the front trucks. It seems quite out of place with the rest of the aesthetic of the rest of the board. A better fit would have been the classic Santa Cruz Skateboards logo, or even better nothing at all so the thatch bamboo could take center stage.
The bottom of the deck is a solid bamboo, without the thatch that the top deck has. Again, there is the large green Santa Cruz Skateboards logo. While such a large logo is not as out of place on the bottom as it is on the top, it still doesn’t look like it fits in so well with the overall design of the skateboard. A deck such as this seems like it would be much better served with as minimal graphics as possible. The Santa Cruz Skateboards logo on the nose also seems to be overkill and out of place, however if it was in the middle of the board and larger it would not be as out of place and would look much better.
However, enough about the aesthetics of the Santa Cruz Bamboo Shark Complete Longboard. The most important thing is how it rides. With that, there are no problems at all. Santa Cruz Skateboards once again puts forward a great effort. The board rides very smoothly and is great for carving up sidewalk after sidewalk. Thanks to the large Road Rider cruiser wheels, you will have no problem navigating over small annoyances such as twigs, pebbles, and small cracks in the pavement. The wheels are on the softer side, and may be fine for some riders, but upgrading them should be considered, as well as upgrading the bearings. The trucks seem to ship on the tighter side, but it is quite easy to adjust them to suit your riding preferences.
Extreme Sports Final Thoughts
The Santa Cruz Bamboo Shark Complete Longboard is another quality longboard offering from Santa Cruz Skateboards. Aside from the thatch bamboo top deck, however. It doesn’t really stand out from any of their other longboard offerings, so your decision of whether you buy this or one of their other boards will purely be for aesthetic reasons. Currently priced at around $120 this is a competitively priced board in the Santa Cruz longboard range.
