Antihero Viva Gerwera Deck

All Pretty and Shiny

Antihero Viva Gerwera Skateboard Deck Review
Price: $49.95
Link: www.blackholeboards.com
Release Date:29/01/2008
Skateboard Size: 7.9
Things to remember: Antihero skateboards are a little picked on I’d say, some people automatically assume they’re crap.
Aight, let’s get it rollin’

First Impressions:
A while back I was browsing a CCS magazine and saw this deck. My first thought was “Ugh, who would buy that”. Little did I know I would purchase this deck for full price… Haha. So about 6 months after seeing that deck I was in search of an Antihero. So I went to my local shop, and this deck was all they had. I thought “Eh, why not, it’s around my size and the graphic’s funny.”
When I actually purchased this deck my first impression was wow. The shape was literally beautiful. Perfect dips, nose and tail, concave, everything. The plies were dyed perfectly, with a darker wood ply on the bottom, nice forest green ply in the middle, and a blood red ply on top. There was also a little “Antihero” on the top near the edge. I also noticed both the tail and nose were pretty even, sometimes I mistook one for the other.

Die Graphic, Die!!

Setting it up:
Now one reason I didn’t like this deck was because the thick lacquer on the bottom ply squeaked against the trucks, so every time I popped, the board made a loud “crack!” So what I proceeded to do was remove the trucks, take a screw driver, and neatly scrape off the paint around where the edges of the truck would be. This worked, no more fake cracking. Aside from this everything was spectacular.

After Set-Up:
Wow wow wow…
When I first set this deck up it was a little stiff, but the response and pop was amazing. Flick was spectacular too, every trick was instantly easier.

Skating It:
This deck has been through a ton. I had it for three months, and it didn’t snap.
I skated 6 hours straight every Saturday until early winter (got the deck in October) then skated a sesh where the ground was wet. Got my tail all soaked and got a big dirt spot on the grip. Funny thing is, even though the tail was saturated, the pop never wavered. Same amazing feel. After that with days of half hour sessions, I cracked it a little on the bottom ply from stomping it. But no, that did not stop the awesomeness of this deck. After this I proceeded to skate indoor stair sets and gaps and such. Nothing could crack it more. It really only chipped a little, but it kind of exploded in spots near the end, which could be easily fixed by smashing it into the ground or clamping it. The tail never squared too badly, and it razor tailed within two months (great for me, my average is more like one month.)

The Statistics:

Scraped paint around the truck’s outline.

Where I cracked the bottom ply.

Razor tail developed fairly slowly.

The Antihero’s beautiful concave.

Chipping on nose (none on the tail really)