The Frankenboard: Zip Zinger Nano Review

Now, while I'm sure that my setup is not exactly how the creators at Krooked envisioned their board to be used, I'd like to mention that I've had this deck set up like this for well over a year and it is SO rad. This has to be the strangest board I have ever built up, super fun though haha. Here are the specs: 29" zip zinger nano, phantom 2, bone swiss bearings, 75mm big zigs, yellow khiros, and four pairs of 1/8" risers to fit the massive wheels haha. This thing is seriously a blast to ride around and is awesome for pushing around town.

The Deck: super stiff, short (29"), narrow (7.125"), SUPER responsive. When I first got it, I was worried that my 6'1" stature and size 12 feet would be too much for the little board to handle. I was definitely wrong. Old school asymmetrical shape and there are nice big nose and tail kicks and a tiny bit of concave, too. Construction is pretty in line with your standard skateboard deck, made from layered canadian maple so really no flex whatsoever.

This thing is one hell of a versatile deck. I have seen people slaloming hills, commuting around town, and blasting transitions (or at least trying to) at the local park all on the same set up.

Pros: Super fast. Once you get this board going with a few pushes, the 75mm wheels just keep rolling, they're so good for keepin up your momentum and makes for quickie commutes around campus. The nose and kick tails are also extremely convenient for maneuvering and pedestrian slalom as wheel as ollieing up curbs and busting fat mannies all over the place. Also, due to the narrow trucks, wheels with a big contact patch, and high standing platform, this board seriously cliiiiings to the ground which allows for quick tight turns without even using the kicktail. And one more, did I mention how tiny it is? The deck platform is 29"x 7.125" which means I can almost stick the whole thing in my backpack. Makes for awesome portability.

Cons: As you might guess, the 1/2" of rise on top of the 75mm wheels gives me quite the elevated pushing platform, which is not necessarily ideal for commuting long long distances (my quads will be pretty unhappy with me if I had to go over 5 miles straight on this guy). Not too much negative stuff to say honestly. It is a bit heavy for how big it is, but I do have it set up with monster wheels, so yea.

That all being said, I may look to mod this board a little bit so it will become for of a compact long distance pusher. I'm tempted to try and re-drill the deck to mount the trucks on the nose and tail kicks in order to lower the platform as well as give the deck a bit longer wheelbase. Now, if I actually follow through with this I'll be sure to keep you guys posted.

Happy skatings.