Inspired by Classic Sports Cars
The idea of the surf-shaped downhill longboard with CHiller features took quite a bit of time to really take form in our mind’s eye. But as we started to draw it out, some old car inspiration came into mind, and it started to make some kind of weird sense. Wrapping all these features into a surf-shape provided some interesting boundaries. There would need to be flares, sweeping curves, somehow hiding the micro drops within the exterior curvature… It could look sort of like an old Corvette Stingray! Imagine that! A downhill skateboard with some radically shaped curves that actually meld to the feet in a perfectly ergonomic way. It would really stand out, but we could also get it to feel really good.
Testing the Chaisy
Designing Chase’s new surf-inspired downhill longboard took quite a bit of time, and it was a truly radical shape. Spending all that cash on a mold in a shape so wild–even though we had a really good feeling about it–felt like quite a risk! So the first thing we did was actually machine the shape completely out of a bamboo block. And then we wrapped it in fiberglass and carbon. We’d never seen another company make a downhill longboard in such a way. We even considered masse production with this method, but it proved to be more difficult than expected!
Chase was able to test this shape before we ever had to shell out of a mold, and we were able to make the minor changes necessary to fit it perfectly to his stance and style. Nothing takes the place of rider feedback. Chase rode his prototype for months, taking his board to Colombia, North Carolina, and California.
Chase’s Graphic Inspiration
After receiving his integral feedback from racing and riding his board, we were able to shell out for the mold, produce true production-level prototypes, and get into graphic production. Chase met with our long-time graphic artist, Eddie Kihm, and worked directly with him to come up with something that expressed his love for traveling and skating and felt close to his heart. The final artwork features graphical representations of some of Chase’s favorite places to skate. Hong Kong, South Korea, Romania, Philippines, and Colombia all made the cut. Eddie’s style feels very familiar, while the art is truly uniquely representative of Chase.
A True Pro Model Downhill Longboard for a True Pro
As with Chase Hiller’s CHiller board, the Chaisy is no different. This is a true pro model, and Chase gets a cut. Anyone who knows Chase or knows of Chase, knows that Chase is one of the most deserving riders in the world to be making skateboarding his job. Frankly, as a small company, we’re very lucky to have him. When you’re purchasing one of his pro model downhill longboards, you are not only supporting our company and the wood shop, you are also supporting Chase as a pro downhill skateboarder. It may not be much; but then again, this board is actually dope enough that literally every skateboarder that rides down hills should have one! So make an impact and support this man!
Design Elements that Make the Chaisy Special – A Tactile Experience
There are a few things that we did with the Chaisy design that are truly one-of-a-kind. Riders don’t necessarily have to recognize these features; the board just has to feel good! But we are going to tell you what they are, because they’re cool and unique.
First, we flared the front wheel wells and combined the flare with a crescent drop so that there’s plenty of wheel clearance despite this deck having a 3/8″ micro drop, which is quite rare. Furthermore, we brought in the truck mounting area really tightly into the drop with an angled flush mount to the tune of a positive 3 degrees. This angled flush gives the board some directionality and also uniquely fixes the issue of the deck potentially having a weak spot in this area, because the angled flush actually takes less plies away. We also 3D shaped the wheel wells so that they’re thinnest toward the edges of the board, where the bite would form, and there’s a little more meat near the flush mount. We’ve seen decks break by combining deep flush with deep 2-dimensionally projected wheel wells, and this was our answer to that problem. Chase has absolutely manhandled these boards, and they’re staying strong.
Next, we added a unique mustache rocker design. Because the deck’s platform is quite tight (we’re fitting everything into a 22.75″ wheelbase between two microdrops, after all), it has pretty obvious positions where your feet will go. Separating with a funky camber in the center with microdrops on either side is like sticking your feet into bindings. You are going to be really locked in on this board!
Something that we did that was really interesting with this board that riders may never notice is how we draw the W-concave out of the peak of the camber in the center. The rear foot platform drops down out of the center camber, and as that “bucket’ drops down, the rear W concave forms by keeping the peak height of the camber uniform. The end result is that the W-concave, although clearly formed in the back of the board, seems to sort of appear out of nowhere. Some riders might just say, “cool,” and leave it at that. But for riders pushing mongo-style off the line (rear foot is balance foot), this uniformity in the center is far less awkward than most W-concaves, which can really throw riders off balance at times. So there actually is some functional design element here!
The side rails of the Chaisy look super wild, but not only do they look cool, they also increase concave where it is useful, and decrease concave where it is useful to have lower concave. So your rear toe has a functional drop to push on, a W-concave, and also a flatter rail on the toe side, which all meld together into a platform that keeps your foot really solid and your board under control. This is the same for the front, but opposite. Your front outside of your foot will be locked in on the backside of a curved drop, the inside of your forefoot has plenty of concave for toe side turning leverage, and the heel concave drops down into something a little more mellow and comfortable, so that when you’re making those heel side turns and slides, you’re making full contact with the board and your foot is staying put.
Finally, the whole rear end swoops up into a kicktail. Yes, you have a functional, ollieable kicktail on this race-worthy board. You can travel with this board and race it down a hill, and then putz around in the streets later that night as you’re bar-hopping or doing whatever it is that you do when you’re putzing.
