I'll post all honest reviews here too. Don't worry about censorship, I'll even post honest negative ones.
08/27/2010 - KS riders from Clermont Florida submitted this video.
04/25/2010 - Gabe is pulling some BIIIGGG standup slides and some steezy switch riding.
04/16/2010 - One Love! - Helena tricked out Morgan's M1 While at Gonzaga.
03/29/2010 - Two new options for the decks.
There are now two new options for the deck construction available to further customise your deck. Grooves: I'll cut grooves along the bottom edges. This will remove some wood and result in a little more flex. Extra Glass: This option will put one more layer of glass inside the deck making the deck stronger and more rigid. There are costs for these options which I hope you feel are fair.
03/16/2010 - It's like a part of his body.
Kevin has become very comfortable on his Scimitar. This is a well made video.
02/21/2010 - The Berkeley guys are all over these Scimitars
12/01/2009 - A Free KS shirt with your order in December
Just select the size shirt you want. The selection is made under the options area of the order form near the quartz grip. Of course this offer is good while supplies last. I'll try to keep the selection up to date as I run out of sizes.
08/08/2009 - Thanks Cory, this has a nice vibe. Enjoy!
07/18/2009 - Kevin, KS rider from San Jose
06/30/2009 - KS in Berkely, CA. Jeremy and Tomio
06/22/2009 - Switched hosting.
Some of you may have noticed that the pages were in the .info domain recently. Well, we are back to the .com domain and hosted by GoDaddy. We sincerely hope there wasn't any inconvenience.
05/12/2009 - Good News about pricing.
I'm celebrating 1 whole year at the KS Factory in Wyoming. I've had some great response including my best month ever just ending April.
I have reviewed costs and although the cost from my suppliers are all up from last year, the move has reduced my overall cost of doing business so much that I'm allowing my current pricing to carry over for another year. That's right, no price increase this year! I'm saving money even though trucks, chemicals, wood, glass have all gone up. Rather than pocket this dividend, I'm passing the savings along.
KS will continue to provide the best value possible as its primary mission. The best bang for the buck! I have found that while I work hard to keep value high, customer loyalty is also high. Thank you all for making KS successful here! Your loyalty and trust are just the kick I needed.
Everybody have fun!
04/23/2009 - Added FreeRide wheels
KS is pleased to offer for your enjoyment the FreeRide wheels. These will work with the M1 as well as the Scimitar. They come in 80,83,86 duro and are a nice drifter/slider. Enjoy!
03/28/2009 - Great video guys. You got a better title?
12/31/2008 - 2008 in review
In summary, I absolutely love my job!
It has been my pleasure to ship 1000s of KS Longboards all over the world. 2008 marked a large increase in demand. As humble as I am, this was really no surprise to me. In anticipation I invested the success from '06 and '07 into the KS factory which is located in Lovell Wyoming. A former meat processing plant. I managed to relocate the business from my basement, 500 miles to the new facility and open for business in less than two days. Overcoming many obstacles, no order was delayed by the move alone more than a couple of days.
A slaughter house, really?
The facility has a lot of functional synergy with my operation. For example, the KS decks now cook in a walk-in freezer where a constant 80 degree temperature is easily maintained. The finishing room is another former freezer. In the place where beef used to hang you will now find dozens of KS longboards with their finish curing. The 'kill room' now warehouses tons of plywood. A railing system overhead aids in the movement of mass from place to place. This fixer upper came with acreage and a 3000 square foot home. Overall, one of the best features of the new facility is that it is paid for.
Where do you skate in Wyoming?
While the winter time affords little opportunity, the mountains here have miles and miles of great surface and are nearly car free. I'll have to capture some video from Bear tooth pass. Many of the roads here are closed in the winter and clear for weeks in the spring before they are opened to motor traffic. Imagine having an entire mountain road all to yourself. I'm talking about hills so long you have to stop for a meal before you get to the bottom. Wahoo!
The future.
In '08 the focus was to meet demand. While I would have liked to introduce some variety into the KS line, it was really all that I could do the optimise the production line for the M1 and Scimitar decks that I offer now. It has been suggested that I raise my prices just to regulate volume and control demand. I hate it when someone does that to me, so the golden rule prevails again. I'm well compensated for an honest days work and I enjoy proving that hard work is worth it. In '09 the plan is to add to the factory team a well rounded individual to manage production. Automation is already pretty functional with CNC devices for much of the cutting, however I plan to add more machines to support R&D and new production capability. I'm eager to see what comes from this investment. I will continue to invest my confidence and yours into making the best ride possible.
Conclusion to the year in review.
There is never enough gratitude. In conclusion, Thank you to everyone that found KS and took a chance and tried one out. Thank you more for sharing what you found with others. I hope you've had a great ride. Thank you for your letters of encouragement and criticism, so often the fuel that gets me to the next level. Thank you to each KS Team, for the members involvment at that level. I hope your involvemnt as a member brings you more than the sum of its parts. Bill Gates wants every child to have a laptop computer. Hmm? Well I'll give him that. But I'll add to it, I want every child to experience riding alone and then with a group of friends. Anyone can skate together no matter what their differences are otherwise.
Have a nice ride,
William Yowell a fellow enthusiast.
05/21/2008 - Whew! Relocated to Lovell, Wyoming.
It's been a lot of work but I'm shipping from Lovell, WY now. A 4000 sq. ft. longboard factory has just been born in the shade of the Big Horn Mountains. I built over 1000 decks from my little basement factory in my house in Orem, UT until it just became too much to do in too little a space. While waiting for broadband to be hooked up, I would drive into town and sneak a connection to a Hotel's WIFI just to answer emails and hand copy down my build list. I'm very excited about the prospects of introducing new models and improving the current line with this new capacity.
05/15/2008 - KS Relocation
I'm relocating my shop Thursday and Friday May 15,16.
Shipments should start Saturday morning or Monday for sure.
I resisted this move for too long and it had to happen sometime and to some customers. I would love to include a free KS T-Shirt to kill the pain. This is for orders that come in on Thursday or Friday.
Just include your size (S,M,L,XL?) with the order and its yours.
05/12/2008 - New postage rates in effect.
04/22/2008 - This is great.
My name is Anthony Flis.
I'm a student at Shenandoah Conservatory studying music production and recording technology among many other musical endeavors. I've been skating a long time now and this is me putting all my creative outlets into one product (well almost). I wrote all the music, performed it, recorded it and engineered it. I did most of the video solo with just a tripod with some wonderful help from my girlfriend and roommate. This is my attempt to give back to Kracked Skulls. These boards really fill a gap in the market for longboards - a very low cost yet extremely high performance board. There is little I can't do on this board and honestly I left a lot out of the video that I could of done but that just means I will have to make another and then another. I hope you enjoy and any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
- Anthony Flis
04/10/2008 - Changes to the website.
Some changes to the way purchases are handled.
A primitive shopping cart will now allow you to purchase more than one deck at a time.
I've added the Scimitar deck to the website.
The M1 is now available in 3 lengths.
More wheel options.
You may get your KS in a kit and finish it yourself.
Discount codes from sponsored KS riders work at check out.
If there is anything that is broken or just wrong or bad, please drop me a note. * I reserve the right to correct bugs or problems created by this effort without liability. I'll apologize in advance for any inconvenience this causes.
02/21/2008 - Cruzin OSU
I just wanted to drop a quick not to tell you thank you very much for all the time and effort you have put into KS boards. I received mine today and was stoked to see the clouds part and the streets here around OSU dry up, so i could do some much anticipated cruzin. The board is truly amazing, I have ridden many boards and wouldn't trade up my KS for any of them. The way this thing looks, rides, and feels is proof enough of the time, effort, and love that you put into your product. Thanks again for the M1, you have defiantly made a lifelong KS fan.
Dan Claxton
01/14/2008 - Free KS T-Shirt with order while supplies last.
I'll remove this message when I run out. So while you can still see this message there is a good chance I've still got your size. Please remember to send your shirt size along with an alternate (S,XL available). You can do this in the paypal payment, or follow up with an email.
01/11/2008 - Prices updated.
Well, I held my prices down for as long as I could. Rising cost of materials and the expense of part time help have forced my hand. It just didn't seem right to mark them up right before the holidays. Thank you very much to all of you who have selected a KS in the first year of business. Ride long!
01/08/2008 - Len Norris
Pensacola Florida
I just got my M1 and what can I say. The board rides
like a dream. It's very well made and I love the
amount of flex I get on the deck. For the price you
can not beat it. Got it in 3 days. Awesome Bill!! Keep
up the great work. LONGBOARDERS RULE! Thanks again. Len.
10/17/2007 - Back into it. Just a little catching up to do is all.
10/09/2007 - Family Vacation
FYI Orders placed after 10/10/2007 will ship 10/16/2007.
08/18/2007 - Heads up on pricing review
My anniversary is coming up in Oct. I'll be reviewing my pricing then. I've kept prices at my introductory level in the face of rising costs. If you would like to speculate that my prices are going up. Now is the time to buy. (wink, wink)
07/03/2007 - Some more kind words.
Hi,
So I just took out my new board for a cruise around town. This is a smooth and comfortable ride. The deck is nice and low, and your feet just nestle right into the board so you feel right at home. The board has some flex to it, so it makes big cracks feel like miniature hills for a very smooth ride. If there was any doubt on whether this deck was pumpable or not - let me tell you right now - it is! I actually found it extremely easy to lather this board into a nice swift pace. It just kept going and going! I haven't taken it down any hills yet, so I won't comment but if anybody is looking for a good around town pumpable cruiser - this is a great piece of craftmanship for you.
Safe riding~~~
Greg
05/24/2007 - Vacation notice
This is just a heads up on my vacation plans. I'll continue to accept orders, so there may be a few days delay in shipping. I'll be away and unavailable June 19-24. FYI I'll be doing extreme product testing plus volunteering with a youth group in the wilderness.
05/18/2007 - Graphics are cool again!
In fact, even better! So no more worries about graphics for a while. Thanks for your understanding while I refitted my production with a new method. Anyone without a graphic or who has painted their board and would like to fly the Kracked Skulls colors? I can send you a transfer that will look quite nice!
05/14/2007 - Board graphic absent on some shippments
Due to out of control stuff, I'm shipping some decks without the graphic printed on the bottom. I'm evaluating alternatives and will keep you all updated. Thanks for your understanding in advance.
05/13/2007 - Postage rates adjusted - Ouch!!
03/15/2007 - Another Enthusiastic Review! I'm so glad you like the board.
Hi William,
I just got the deck today, ... Fantastic! It is actually lower than my Fibreflex with 70 mm Grippins! It's super responsive, turns amazing, rebounds with enthusiasm, and gives great feedback from the road. I actually had to tighten my trucks up a little more than for my other 12 decks, as it turns so tight. I love it! You were so responsive to my questions and your shipping was lightening fast. Thank you so much for your great service and a great deck.
Thank you,
Erik Brende
02/24/2007 - Fort Collins, Colorado
First, I would like to say the customer service was incredible! I ordered the board on Wednesday and got it on Friday. Now the actual board itself. This is my first real longboard and I have to say it will be my last! It is unbelievable. The dropped deck makes this board ride like a dream. After 30 minutes riding around, I am definitely hooked. The price for this board is more than a deal, I would easily pay much more for this awesome piece of woodwork. With the Randal trucks and Flashbacks, it could'nt be a more perfect match. I am so glad I found Kracked Skulls, and I'm happy to say I am another amazed customer!
Adam Simler
02/20/2007 - Review - Tallahassee, Florida
I just purchased one of your boards and absolutely LOVE it!!!! My buds are way jealous. Great carving and no speed wobbles. Just plain ?TIGHT? !!
Keep up the good work!! High quality product!!!!
Kevin Drye
01/22/2007 - Shipping service has been improved!
Good news! I have integrated my shipping calculator so everyone can know the cost of shipping. I'm glad. The flat rate model was a hazard.
01/17/2007 - This time from Norway
Hello!
My new board arrived a couple of days ago, and because of the climate-changes, I've been so lucky that there's no snow here in the southern part of Norway. With 8-10 Celcius degrees (about 50 farenheit) and dry roads, I just had to try the board. This is the best board I have ever ridden! It's so stable at high speeds, and the carving is great! No more speed-wobbles! My best friend tried the board and the first thing he said was that he had to get one of those.
Best Regards
Oyvin Lanner
01/04/2007 - Another positive review! This time from Philadelphia
Hi William,
WOW! I feel like I am riding the Lamborghini of longboards. Your deck is
low, the lowest I have ridden and carving at speed feels like the board just
sticks to the ground. Easy to ride and very stable - within 30 min I was
kicking around the carpark and doing forehand and backhand U turns at speed
with confidence.
On hills this board shines, it really gets into the groove - the transitions
feel great, the flex is excellent and gives the right pop for the quick
direction changes - a very addictive ride.
The attention to detail is a big plus - even down to the spacers on the
Abec11 wheels which allowed me to tighten to the bearing where there was no
play and no friction. Fast delivery as well - arrived this morning.
Great service and product all round.
Thanks
Simon Cossettini
12/12/2006 - Claim your Christmas gift.
Dear Customers; I would like to send a gift of a Kracked Skulls Tee Shirt to all of you who have helped make my start up successful. To receive your shirt free, I only ask that you meet me half way by paying for the shipping. This gift is extended to customers who purchased at least a deck from me in Oct, Nov, or Dec, 2006. Claim your shirt by paying the shipping only with the button below. Available sizes are M, L, XL Please specify size in the notes of your PayPal payment. If you are buying a deck you only need to include your shirt size with that order and I'll pack them together.
11/29/2006 - Some holiday advice
Order your deck before I run out. I can only make so many of these before the day. What am I? A machine!
11/28/2006 - REVIEW: Eben E. Thomas; UCI "Bomb Squad"; Irvine, CA
"Hey,
I got the new board in.
I have the M1 set up on Pink ABEC 11 Gumballs and Bones Super Six Bearings. Wow, I hate to say it but I like the kracked skulls more than my sector 9 goddess. The M1 is as stable as can be at speed yet can carve HARD due to the flex. I'm happy."
11/27/2006 - Option of 3 setups available from the Buy tab
I've done over the Buy tab so that customers have 3 options. Have it your way!
11/24/2006 - ABEC11 Flashbacks now available with purchase
I have purchased a case of these fine longboard wheels and I can now pass along the savings to my riders. For a limited time you can add a set of these wheels with abec 5 bearings and spacers for an additional $36
11/17/2006 - Buy one directly from this website.
To avoid ebay fees, I now sell directly from my Products page with a PayPal link. I'm passing the savings on to my riders for a limited time so take advantage of this excellent price and get one now before it's too late!
11/01/2006 - Rules of supply and demand are going to force prices higher.
If you have been thinking about getting one of these. This is a subtle warning that prices will be moving in the direction of my competitors as demand continues to rise. This is the way I reward my early customers.
10/31/2006 - Added Google adSense to the web site
Free money so they say. Go ahead and click on any competitors you see there. You'll be back! And you'll be back again.
10/25/2006 - I honed the Kracked Skulls web experience.
It looks better to me!
10/24/2006 - This Friday's EBay Auctions include Randal Trucks for $69.95
Auctions bundled with Randal R-II 180 Trucks pre-installed start on Friday and will end the following Friday. Only a minimal amount of assembly is required. Much easier to get started carving up the neighborhood.
"...well the board has been trucked *5mins after the box was opened last week* I've rode it probably 5 miles ;O as for wheels sector9 goddess's 75mm/78a, trucks Randal RII 180mm trucks & MAN!! it sk8's like a dream! no death wobble & carves deep & long & the flex is incredible & responsive! If its ok with you I'm going to post to Northern California downhill skateboarding association. about this fantastic board I'm riding :) Lot's of speed & downhill post's there, could be a great launching pad, but I won't do it without your permission. Anyway your boards are the BOMB!! best board I've ridden in a longtime.
Thanks very much
Tim"
10/19/2006 - Decks now with Randal II-180 Trucks
Made a purchase of 100 trucks. Now Kracked Skulls decks can be purchased with the the trucks pre installed. Should result in more happy customers.
10/18/2006 - Mounting hardware now zinc plated
The stainless steel looked nice but there were too many breaks. I was suprised, but it seems stainless steel is not as strong. The product improves again!
10/16/2006 - Risers now cut by water jet. Nice!
The risers which have been time consuming to make are now made by the hundreds with a machine that cuts plywood with a water jet. It was fun watching the machine do the work that I had been spending hours doing manually.
10/06/2006 - Supplies to keep us going.
Invested in enought materials to build 200 decks. Now it's time to capitolize this venture.
10/05/2006 - Were Up!
After much hard work I'm finally listing some decks on EBay. Wish me luck!
