BrakeBoard, Not Board Brake
VibeRide claims to be home of the world’s first longboard brake, the BrakeBoard. At first I thought this was just another iteration of the Board Brake some 10 years prior. The position of the foot lever is almost identical, but the braking mechanisms are noticeably different. BrakeBoards lever applies pressure to the inside rim of the skateboard wheel instead of applying pressure to the pavement. It turns out this original implementation also dates to 2013. VibeRide bought existing technology and revamped it. It’s more sophisticated than the Fred Flintstone approach of the BrakeBoard, but with that sophistication comes a $150 price tag for one truck equipped with the brake, a set of wheels, a paddle bit for drilling the required extra hole, and a skate tool.
This looks like a complicated design with lots of cut out pieces that makes one wonder how durable it will be over time.
Sidewall height and profile will definitely affect braking ability, and curiously missing from the product description is whether or not you can use your own wheels with the truck and brake setup, and whether or not the brake pads ever need to be replaced.
Another view of the truck showing the assembly essentially clamped onto an existing truck, surely modified if not bespoke. It’s one of the few views of the truck from this angle.
The following three pics showcase the older technology development stages.
Circa 2013.
Circa 2013.
BrakeBoard 2021 athlete time of acquisition by VIbeRide. All of these previous iterations seem to be a cleaner, more developed product that the newer one. It’s almost as if they were buying the name and possible patent rather than the finished product. As an aside, let’s check out the construction of this deck and the strange beam running down the middle. Is it electric?
Downhill longboarders are the ones who spend the most on their setups, but they are very particular about their trucks and wheels, so they may be hesitant to compromise their preferences. It’s also unclear whether your average longboard rider is going shell out for this product.
