Santa Cruz Graphite Loaded Deck - 1989

John Davies · Post by **John Davies** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:49 pm

Here's the Santa Cruz advert that appeared in the January 1990 issue of Thrasher.

Pat Chewning · Post by **Pat Chewning** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:42 am

I can see the carbon fiber inside my Santa Cruz slalom deck from approx 1978.....

John Davies · Post by **John Davies** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:08 pm

Here is Jake Phelps' review of the Santa Cruz Graphite Loaded Slalom board in the October 1989 issue of Thrasher magazine.

Harvey Mills · Post by **Harvey Mills** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:49 pm

Great, thanks Wes - thats cleared that up. Had my suspicions about the layered construction but didn't realise about the 3" strip of cloth top and bottom.

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:37 am

"Graphite loaded" was simply Santa Cruz's way of describing the inclusion of the new and radical carbon graphite fiber. When the boards were introduced in 1978 about the only thing then using CG was F-16 fighter planes, skis and tennis rackets. (I exaggerate . . . but not much.)

Unlike the FiberFlex Bowtuff, the Santa Cruz boards were maple/glass laminates BUT also had glas in between each layer of maple. (FFs were glas/maple/maple/maple/glas, SCs were glas/maple/glas/maple/glas/maple/glas.)

Whether or not each layer also had CG reinforcement I do not know. What I do know is that on the top and bottom of the board is a three-inch wide strip of CG cloth under the resin.

Having ridden FibreFlexes for three years and Turner SummerSkis for one when I got my H-Bomb in '79, I could immediately feel the difference. FFs were "squishy" and felt very soft. Turner's were snappy and flexed very accuratly and returned to shape immediately coming out of a turn. The H-Bomb was a compromise between the two: the flex was not as precise as the SummerSki (a little squishy but not much,) but the return was much more dynamic than the FibreFlex.

The lineal descendant of the Santa Cruz boards are the Roe PS Series. They feel exacltly the same way as my H-Bomb did 30 years ago. The only difference is Gareth offered them in various thicknesses and thus varying flexes. The FibreFlexes and Santa Cruz boards were one-size-fits-all. That meant my 160-pound teenage frame didn't really flex the board quite as much as Henry Hester's 225 pounds.

Chris Eggers · Post by **Chris Eggers** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:17 pm

no. it doesn´t. it is kind of narrow. i like it but i don´t use it anymore´....

Harvey Mills · Post by **Harvey Mills** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:41 pm

Got it thanks, Chris - thats a great looking board - very sweet shape. Does it flex much?

Chris Eggers · Post by **Chris Eggers** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:49 pm

...on its way........

Harvey Mills · Post by **Harvey Mills** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:45 pm

That'd be great Chris - thanks. Be very interested to see it.

Chris Eggers · Post by **Chris Eggers** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:32 pm

I cannot post a photo. I can send you one via email if you want. It does not have the original graphics though. These peeled off.

Harvey Mills · Post by **Harvey Mills** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:26 pm

Thanks for the reply Chris.

Yeah, I wondered if it was a sandwich construction, with carbon fibre layers between maple ply.

Chris Eggers · Post by **Chris Eggers** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:19 pm

Hi

I own a Santa Cruz "H-Bomb" graphite loaded deck. It has green layers between the plys.
I believe it is some sort of carbon layer.
It was bought well before 1989, late seventies I think. I remember it was very expensive.
I bought it in England back then, at Surrey Skateboards.

I think carbon is some kind of graphite. Maybe someone can explain it.

Harvey Mills · Post by **Harvey Mills** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:54 pm

Hi Guys

Does anyone know about the construction of these boards- ie what does 'graphite loaded' actually mean?

Many thanks...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/19553644@N08/2661228850/" title="148984127_o by harvey.mills@btinternet.com, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3064/266 ... 3812_o.jpg" width="513" height="768" alt="148984127_o"></a>

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