Retrospec Alameda Skateboard Complete | Canadian Maple Wood Deck w/ 5.5 Inch Aluminum Alloy Trucks for Commuting, Cruising, Carving & Downhill Riding

Okay this is the probably one one the only reviews that has not been done by a dad or a mom saying it’s a good thing for their kids. (No offense to them of course). I’ve been skating for a good half a year and this board was my first board I’ve ever owned and it was amazing. I expected for it to be like the average cheap complete, brittle board, griptape that looked like it has sand hand-sprinkled on it, and plastic bearings, but I was completely wrong. Perfect weight, metal trucks, perfect grip, and surprisingly great bearings was what I was greeted by and I was wowed. I learned my first ollie on mine and also the shuvit and FS 180 and after a while my friend gave me one of his old Chocolate boards to me. I gave my old Retrospect to one of my friends who was looking to get into skateboarding and he also learned his first set of tricks on it as well. Of course after a long time the board did meet its demise after months of love which the plys started to separate, but that was well respectable for an amazing quality budget board. I currently run a Baker setup but if I ever need a spare board or just a little feeling of nostalgia, I’m for sure buying one of these again.

This is a nice skateboard _for the price._ It has a lot to like about it, but it also has a few shortcomings.I'll start with some of the positives. The board appears to be very well crafted. The checkers on the bottom look nice, and the non-slip surface on the top side is VERY GRIPPY - more on that later. It seems put together well and my kids immediately jumped on it and began to try and figure it out. They are a little young and have done roller skates and scooters, but the skateboard was a newfangled device for them.The downsides are that the wheels are a bit on the small side, that means that you REALLY feel the cracks in the sidewalk. You have to be rolling at a pretty good pace or they can completely stop the skateboard, so this is better on a very smooth surface than it is on a rough or bumpy surface.Also, I mentioned the top surface being very grippy. It is almost like SANDPAPER. I can imagine it scraping the kids up more than asphalt in some cases. But still, I think being grippy will make them less likely to wreck, so I consider it a plus.Finally, I was VERY frustrated with the packaging. It has a clear plastic wrap around the skateboard, and apparently it is attached by simply installing the trucks (the metal pieces that hold the wheels on to the skateboard) over the top of the plastic wrap and tightening them down. This means that you can either try to cut around the trucks with a razor, or remove the trucks and reinstall them - otherwise you have plastic sticking out the side of them on the bottom of the skateboard.Not dealbreaking, but immensely frustrating. I was cursing them as I tried to remove it.Overall though, for the relatively inexpensive price, this is an ok starter skateboard. You might try it out and see if your kids like skateboards, but if they do, count on having to get a better model later as they want to do more. On the other hand, you could just get better wheels and trucks and bearings and make this into a better skateboard if your kids decide they like the board... in that case it could work out to be a very good starter board - and then you would finally get rid of that plastic! LOL

I bought this skateboard for my son less than a month ago and it wheels came off causing almost an accident to him.

I am not an "real" skater, so I can't go into the real guts of this versus a high end board. The deck feels pretty nice and sturdy. The grip tape is real grip tape. The trucks are decent, though I will probably replace the bushings with something a little stiffer (I'm a big guy). Not bad though. The barrings are pretty meh and I'll replace them soon. Once received the buyer should loosen the wheel nuts by a quarter turn or the wheels/barrings wont spin well. Much better after that. The wheels seem OK. Riding on asphalt is manageable if slow. All in all it is a pretty good board for the money. At least a good starter board. We bought our son a cheap one from Walmart and that thing is junk. Buy one of those if you don't want your kids to learn to skate.

I bought my son a skateboard recently and thought it would be fun to have one to scoot around on so we could go out together. Now I've never ridden a board (except my son's), I'm 210 pounds and 45 years old. Not your average skater... But this board holds my weight, and turns easily and having run it around the garage and driveway, it feels stable and is pretty forgiving--even for us clumsy older folks. The only defect was the grip tape was cut a little janky but not a huge deal at all.

Our son has used a smaller plastic skateboard that costs about $20 here on Amazon for a couple of years now. It's held up very well and the wheels are smooth. As he's getting older (he is now 9), we decided to get him a "big boy" skateboard...which led us to this board. We liked that the top of the board was curved on the side (not the ends, most of the boards we looked at were curved at the end...the sides left and right). Unfortunately, from the moment we took the board out of the box, the wheels were very rough. Hard to roll. I called Retrospec directly who said that the wheels needed to "work out" and to try it for a couple of weeks. Our son tried it for a weekend... but was very frustrated at the ride. He's still a beginner, so having to push/work the skateboard was tough for him. We've considered buying new wheels... but that idea is irritating as $50 should include decent wheels. Additionally, after a weekend of using the board in an attempt to "work" the wheels, the bottom end/edge of the skateboard, the decal is all scrapped off as our son would step (as most skateboarders do) on back end to push the front of the skateboard up towards his hand. Our concern is that the wood will wear very, very quickly. We are going to try and return the board. Disappointing as we had really wanted this board to be a good/solid purchase.

Good board for the price my son is just starting to skate felt comfortable on this

Hasta ahora todo bien, fue la única tabla armada de 8'' que pude encontrar en Amazon. Las demás son de 7.5'' o 7.75'' muy delgadas para mi gusto.De preferencia revisa los trucks y haz los ajustes necesarios antes de patinar, en mi caso tuve que apretarlos un poco ya que con mi peso (80kg) al inclinarme para girar la tabla rosaba con las llantas.

Easily chipped and scratched through the exterior (Far easier than a less expensive skateboard we bought a month ago). Annoying squeak coming out of the trucks; saw a fix for this on Youtube but you'd think a company would handle that 10 minute fix job BEFORE mailing it out. Used it 3 times and will try to return. Calling customer service leads to a full voicemail box which took my review from a 2 to a 1.

Hasta el momento funcionando bien, se ve resistente, la compré para mi hijo de 11 años y está feliz. Tiene un material anti deslizante en la parte superior y el dibujo inferior es de buena calidad.

Description says ABEC 11 bearings but it came with ABEC 7s. My son chose this scooter because he wanted better bearings. Looking into having this fixed in some way. Very disappointed that this company would be deceiving like this and assume people wouldn’t notice.

It is perfect. My little one is happy as all can be. Had a small scratch on it but didn't matter