Carver:

The original surfskate since 1996.

Carver has always been about surfing and capturing that joyful feeling of flow on a skateboard. Carver has been the original since 1996 and has pioneered the modern surfskate movement with its innovative truck systems, such as the double-hinged C7 for a smooth and fluid ride, the reverse kingpin truck CX for a fast and snappy ride or the lower, lighter C5 trucks for tricks and parks. And with a variety of surf-inspired shapes and concaves as well as fast and grippy roundhouse wheels, Carver delivers speed, power and flow so you can really surf your skateboard.

Matt 'Mayhem' Biolos of ...Lost Surfboards is clearly one of the most cutting-edge board designers in surfing today. Mayhem's audacious exploration of progressive surfboard design is the inspiration that drives his brand, and his go-for-it style is reflected in it. All ..Lost surfskates feature a full-length, surfboard-inspired rocker. As Matt once said: "Get all zoned out while you are ripping your zone."

Channel Islands is arguably one of the most influential surfboard brands in the world, so when they approached Carver about a collaboration, they were honored. Al Merrick, founder and master board designer, has designed some of the most classic models in surfboard history. By surfers for surfers. Channel Islands was founded by Al and Terry Merrick in Santa Barbara, and Carver Skateboards was founded by Neil Carver in Venice Beach. Both were uncompromising and true to the core. They share a common goal of innovation and development, with hardcore surfing and quality in mind.

Triton: Everything about Triton is pure surf, from the classic thruster and fish shapes to the all-white dipped decks and deck pad grip. The transparent color overlay graphics feature surfboard glass techniques matched to the print and include a sophisticated palette that highlights their elegant simplicity. The Triton series is an affordable introduction to surfskating and features the Carver CX truck set with precise pivot point for a responsive surfskate feel, making Triton a true connection between land and sea.

Roundhouse Wheels provide extra grip in turns, allowing you to perform maneuvers where you would otherwise slip. Their key to design is comprehensive, from functional shapes to unusual shapes (concave), they produce surf skate wheels that take your surf skating to a new level.

The history of Carver Skateboards:

It all started in 1995 during a calm summer in Venice, California. Greg Falk and Neil Carver had been surfing all winter and had been surfing the warmer waters of the breakwater during the long summer days, but now the ocean was as flat as a puddle . Not even a small wave to justify getting wet. So, like many generations before them, they took to the streets with skateboards in search of hills to surf. The historic neighborhoods of Venice and Santa Monica are a veritable skate park of steep alleys and streets, and as they passed these asphalt waves, they were struck by how dissimilar classic skating was to surfing. Sure, they got a surf-like experience, as much as standing on a board and banks can provide, but they really missed the snap and drive that a surfboard has, that crisp pivot you get in surfing that really lets you pump a wave for speed. Their skateboards felt stiff in comparison. They tried to loosen the trucks even more, but all they got were speed wobbles, and the steepest hills became virtually unrideable. And even with these looser trucks, the dynamics of the turn were still a far cry from the surfing feeling. It was impossible to find a skateboard on the market that even came close to the feeling of surfing.

The first prototypes:

It became clear that at least the front axle would have to turn more than the rear axle to get close to the turning dynamics of a modern thruster surfboard. With angled risers and different combinations of trucks and elastics, they returned to the hills to test their ideas. But adding just a little more turn at the front was only part of the equation. There needed to be some side-to-side sway, similar to the side-to-side turning of the nose when surfing. To achieve this, there would need to be a flexible arm to allow this lateral movement. And after numerous sketches, they welded together the first Carver prototype truck in the dilapidated garage behind Neil's house.

At the time, they were doing it all for fun: "We just wanted a Streetsurfer to ride, so we had to build one. If anything had been available that even came close to the performance we were looking for, we would have happily bought it and spent our time riding the hills instead," Greg recalled. But while many companies promised a surf-like skate experience, it was all marketing and board graphics on the same trucks that had all been ridden that way since the '60s. Immediately after the welds cooled on the first prototype, they mounted their pivot arm on a board with some thrust bearings Greg had in his studio. But even on a moderate incline, it was almost impossible to ride. When turning, the board turned in the wrong direction! It turned out that they had reversed the angle of the bearings. Back at the workshop, Neil welded up a new axle with the correct angle for the thrust bearings and they returned to the hill. Now they felt the pivot point they had been looking for! All month they returned to that little hill and skated those driveways like they were waist-high waves. However, many sessions ended prematurely when a part either bent, a weld broke or something came loose.

As they progressed, they soon reached the limits of their prototypes. For one thing, the arm needed some sort of spring-loaded resistance to bring it back to center, so Greg tied a bungee cord to the end of his truck and anchored it to the underside of the deck. It was a simple temporary solution that gave them more time on the hills while Neil worked on more compact suspension systems. The next improvement was to vary the track angle at the same time for more flow. Basically, it needed a second independent axis of motion. After months of drawing, he went into the workshop and welded together the first skateboard axle with a double pivot joint.

It incorporated everything he and Greg had learned from their extensive testing, and they packed it into a fairly compact mechanism. "The afternoon I tested this prototype is the first time I really felt like this could be more than an experiment my buddy and I were doing. I didn't even take it up a hill, just circled around a sloped driveway a few doors down from my store, but that's all it took. I slid down the slick cement, spun on the ground and pumped back up effortlessly. After struggling with all those tricky early models, they simply disappeared under my feet. The dual-axis mechanism allowed the board to turn at a variable rail angle, so it felt like I was riding on water. I stayed out on that driveway late into the night, riding figure eights all over the bank."

While the surf feel of this swing arm had already been proven in many sessions, it still needed a lot of work to develop into something beyond a handmade prototype. And with other surfers and skaters in Venice asking for these new 'carving trucks', the guys decided to produce a cast version so that more could be made. At the time, Neil was working with a third-generation aluminum foundry. The late patriarch who built the business had even cast trucks for another Los Angeles skateboard company, R.A.C.O., in the early 70s. With a local manufacturing partner, Neil and Greg founded a company called Carver.

However, there was still a lot of engineering to be done before it was ready for production. Neil took time out from work and started drawing swing arm axles, looking for a mechanism that combined the dual axle concept with a small but powerful and adjustable internal spring. While the skating was truly magical, the compact spring idea still needed work, so they ended up attaching another bungee to the bottom of the board. Everyone who saw this prototype just shook their heads dismissively. "I have to admit, it was hard to show it around at this early stage," said Neil, "but the bungee worked well enough to get us back up the hills and test the finer points of the geometry. It no longer felt like a precarious prototype. Greg and I wore the rollers down to the cores every week and tackled the steepest hills we could find."

Months were spent researching all types of suspension systems to find something that would fit in the tight space under the arm and still stand up to the rigors of skateboarding. It also needed to be adjustable for different rider weights and preferences. It also needed to increase resistance so it could act as a progressive stop. And as if that wasn't enough, it needed to smoothly swing past a non-indexing centering bias, as most centering spring systems, like a pendulum spring, have an indexed "click" at the midpoint. It turned out that what they needed did not yet exist.

Weeks turned into months as Neil tried to integrate all the different design requirements into something that was simple, robust and easy to manufacture. After hundreds of drawings and dozens of prototypes, and towards the end of his strained credibility, he finally cracked the solution. "I was confident in the linkage and compression spring design we were running at that point.

The whole process took much longer than anyone expected, but with many solid solutions and so much material already invested, they let the process set the pace and accepted no compromises. The next year was all about the design of the castings, how best to manufacture and assemble them while keeping them light and strong.

The first C1 production parts:

Compared to the uncertainty of designing the two-axis pivots and compact spring system, this part of the process turned out to be really fun. Turning the welded prototypes into masters for casting with the knowledge that everything worked perfectly kept the focus on making each casting beautiful. Once a set of drawings that accounted for assembly clearances and mold bevels was complete, the sculpting of the final masters began. These parts are made about 3% larger than the final production parts to allow for the slight shrinkage that occurs as the molten aluminum cools. The templates are made from any material, in this case a combination of polystyrene plastic, wood and Bondo. The new surfskate axle was named C1.

Once the design was finalized, they began the lengthy and expensive process of obtaining a patent for their innovative design. It took several years to complete the process, but they finally received their first patent. Once the tooling and jigs were finalized, they began manufacturing these new carver trucks in small quantities of several hundred and getting them into the hands of surfers and skaters.

The response was great. Laird Hamilton got hold of a board and immediately liked the way it surfed. It was his perfect surf trainer to stay in shape to ride the giants of Peahi, also known as Jaws. An innovator himself, from tow-in technology to his revolutionary foil board, he recognized this breakthrough in skating. Carver proudly introduced several Laird signature models with his input on shapes and graphics. Having such an icon endorse their boards helped the young brand establish the core image it has maintained throughout its history.

Japanese pro surfer Aki Takahama also felt the deep connection to surfing that he developed while riding Carver, so he took some of the boards to Japan to see if anyone there felt the same way. No one expected the fierce reaction they received from the locals. Renowned Japanese pro surfer Mineto Ushikoshi joined the Carver team and helped design his own line of decks and graphics in conjunction with his signature U4 brand, adding his technical surfing approach to riding the new trucks. Orders came in faster than Carver could process them, and the guys got a crash course in supply and demand. However, it didn't take long for them to hit full speed, and soon thousands of boards were crossing the ocean. As the Japanese scene grew, great riders emerged and they developed their own distinctive style of surfskating.

The Carver C7 Generation:

When the US market came on the scene, Greg and Neil heard different feedback from Japan. American riders wanted something that was more stable, easier to pump and more adjustable. Back in the workshop, Neil welded together a new prototype with a longer spring, stiffer rotational geometry and a more compact thrust bearing. It was slightly firmer from rail to rail, making it easier to cover distances and conquer steep hills. The guys liked this version too, so they once again made new models and went into production. This became the C7, one of the many new truck models that were to expand the upcoming Carver range.

Carver C2:

With this performance upgrade for the front axle, the old C2 rear axle felt a little sluggish. So they took this common workhorse and put it through the same iterative design process they use on their other axles. Improvements included making it turn a little tighter and snap back to center better. They also developed a lower version, the C4, for street skating, with a reinforced slider plate and additional material on the suspension for increased durability in grinds.

With the new truck line, there was finally some time to just skate, surf and think. Carver had created a fluid and reliable set of street surfing trucks, but there were other areas of the surfskate market that needed to be addressed. While there were many riders who were comfortable with the fluid feel and adjustable suspension system of the C7, there were others who just wanted a familiar truck that still gave them a surfy feel. Basically a truck with the same two castings, bushings and pivots of a standard truck, but reconfigured in a new geometry that loosens up the nose of the board and works like a cross between the C7 and a standard truck.

"I started calling them CX because the axle was still a mystery to me, and instead of giving it a model number, I just wrote 'X'," says Neil of these new axles. For years he alternated between building the Carver brand and working on research and development.

Around this time, Carver was approached by a large distributor who wanted to sell their boards to a wider national market and asked if they had a simpler model of a carving truck. This was the perfect situation for the CX, so the guys brought their latest prototype to the meeting, presented the idea and the dealer was thrilled. Only it wasn't really working yet! Suddenly, the future growth of the company depended on solving this puzzle. "In search of that magical feeling, I went through the past years of research, riding old prototypes and making new ones. I drew up diagrams of the various elements of the axle geometry and set about systematically recording the effects of various subtle changes on turning performance."

It was about understanding how each angle and proportion felt underfoot. "With each new prototype, I only changed one thing at a time so that the effects could be isolated and measured," Neil explains. Knowing these effects, he combined the elements that he knew would deliver the desired performance. To the casual observer, all the prototypes from this period look the same. In fact, some of the changes were just a few degrees of steering knuckle angle, but the impact on performance was dramatic. After almost five years of building prototypes that didn't work, it seemed like this whole idea was a lost cause. But just when it looked like it would never work, a few real changes resulted in the first RKP truck that pumped where all the other prototypes just spun.

This geometry was so unique that the USPTO granted Carver another axle patent for it. In the end, Carver was ripped off by this wholesaler, nearly bankrupting the small company. This was the first of many lessons the company would learn, and a model for how to overcome such problems. Despite all this, they felt they came out ahead in the end. They now had another important part of the product line, the new CX.

Pipewrench tool:

In the meantime, Greg had been pursuing the development of a skate tool that was just as functional and well designed as the other products in the range. It was nice to be able to adjust everything on the fly with a compact pocket tool, and all the other tools available were too big and often poorly made. By now, Carver had established a firm protocol for product development: You make prototypes until everything works perfectly, and only then do you move on to production. The result of this philosophy is that it takes an almost unreasonable amount of time to finalize a new design. Few companies can afford such a lengthy research and development program, but Carver wasn't interested in releasing just another product. They were designing these things for themselves, and they had to be completely satisfied with them. The formula is simple: the more work you put into the design, the less work it takes to use it. Two years later, they launched the Carver Pipewrench, a compact stainless steel wrench with a magnetic Allen lock that can be used to make all the adjustments a skater needs. With this little nugget, you can completely rebuild any axle in the series, including the C7.

Gullwing Charger:

At the time, Sector 9 was looking for a new axle to relaunch the classic gullwing truck company. President Steve Lake had looked at every axle on the market but couldn't find one he liked. So he made Neil an offer: he would design an axle he liked within four weeks and they would produce the design and pay him a royalty for every axle sold. This was exactly the kind of challenge Neil was looking for; he had accumulated a lot of esoteric skate truck knowledge over the years and liked the idea of building a mainstream truck with Gullwing's mass distribution. Neil had also ridden Gullwing trucks as a kid, so the project had an added resonance. Over the next year Neil would build and name a whole range of trucks for the historic brand, from the Charger, the main truck in the range, to the Bomber (a downhill truck), the Grinder (a street skating truck) and the Transaxle (an innovative RKP street truck that was never mass produced).

Carver reinvents itself:

By 2007, the brand awareness was growing, but the company had some internal problems that it just couldn't get to grips with. For one, the factory was always missing a very small part on large orders, which delayed the entire delivery. Suppliers were demanding late payments, which affected business relationships. All this affected the bottom line and it seemed as if the company was always short of cash despite good sales figures. At this time, the company was split between the manufacturing and shipping departments, which were run from the foundry in City of Industry, and the design department, which Neil and Greg ran from Venice. The design department focused entirely on developing new products and producing videos featuring Carver surfskating on the local hills. As the disconnect between the two halves of the company grew, Greg and Neil felt dissatisfied with the way task completion was being handled.

They went to the factory to set up systems, but without constant supervision, problems kept creeping in. The rift between the Eastside factory and the Westside designers eventually led to a stalemate. Eastside wanted to keep operations in the current factory, Westside wanted to move everything closer to the beach where they could better monitor production. Neither side was willing to compromise. Eastside didn't believe a few surfer-artists could finance or run a factory, Westside didn't believe the problematic factory culture could ever change. The company was at a crossroads. After protracted negotiations, Neil and Greg took out a loan on their homes in late 2007, bought back all outstanding stock in the company and set up a small factory in the beach town of El Segundo. It was an enlightening transition. In 2008, the Great Recession hit hard and fast, and the two had to negotiate new terms with suppliers they still owed bills to, run the office, help make boards, pack, ship, and still keep up with advertising and product development.

They didn't have huge cash reserves, and if they ran out they would have gone under and lost their homes, so they made sure they did everything right. First they had to convince all their suppliers and customers that this was a new Carver that paid its bills and delivered on time. And now that the guys were in charge of all aspects of the business, this was finally a promise they could keep. The company slowly got back on its feet and rebuilt all its relationships. During this difficult time, the Gullwing Charger was selling on thousands of boards every month and the project was paying royalties that helped support the growing brand.

Carver CV Top Mount:

By 2010, downhill skateboarding was the fastest growing segment in the industry, and while carvers were doing very well with surfers, downhillers were all about speed and sliding, and had no use for a choppy surf skate. As all-round skaters, the guys liked some aspects of the faster setups, but felt that performance could be improved to better suit their riding style. As with all their innovations, they started with extensive prototyping and testing. To improve the testing process, Neil made prototypes with an adjustable baseplate that allowed for quick geometry changes for easy comparison testing. It turned out that a standard RKP axle has a very angled kingpin, resulting in a narrow range of movement from rail to rail. Many guys used super-soft bushings to compensate for this, but this made the axles a bit too angular overall. Following the CX geometry, he made the kingpin slightly more vertical to soften the rail and allow harder bushings to be used. The result was an RKP truck that had both a more stable center for pushing and downhill, as well as a deeper rail area that made it easier to carve and even pump for speed on fast descents.

Another detail of the prototypes that stood out was the fact that the smooth, perfectly round, greased pivot turned so much better than the typical pivot on a stock aluminum truck. This difference had an amazing effect on performance. CNC machined precision pivots have this characteristic, but are very expensive and still have the same stiff kingpin geometry as all other standard RKP pivots. Since this smooth interface is so critical to good performance, Greg developed several methods for machining the cast pivot pin with special jigs and cutters, making the jigs himself and having the cutters produced by a nearby aerospace company. With the addition of a little grease, this polished hemisphere essentially became a simple thrust bearing. Without much frictional resistance, the rider can feel the rebound of the bushings while the skateboard responds quickly and smoothly underfoot.

Carver CV Drop Up:

An important aspect for stability at high speed is a low center of gravity. Downhill racers mount the baseplates of their trucks through a cut-out hole on the top of the deck, thus lowering its overall height. This works, but with this type of drop-thu mounting, the baseplates protrude above the riding surface and interfere with ground contact. Realizing that you can still lower the height through the deck, but need to move the mounting plate to the underside to get a flush top deck, Carver used the precision-engineered pivot pin design and geometry of the CV top mount to develop a drop-up baseplate. While this baseplate will fit any standard drop-thru deck, Carver took the opportunity to make a custom drop-up deck with a smaller cutout that reinforces the deck and gives it a more finished look.

Carver CX:

The Japanese concept of Kaizen, which means 'continuous improvement', is woven into the brand's culture, gradually improving everything from business operations to design and manufacturing. And so the development of the CX has continued, looking for new ways to get more pumping power out of the patented geometry. The use of the newly developed precision pivots and adjustable baseplates, already used on the CV prototypes, accelerated the improvement. The ability to fine-tune the geometry by increasing the pivot angle and pivot height boosted the performance of the new CX, the fourth generation production model, and in some respects surpassed the performance of the venerable C7! What made Carver the first choice of surfers was the extreme pump and snap of its signature twin-axle truck, and now Carver had another, simpler and lighter surfskate truck that snapped and pumped just as well.

With the new truck line, there was finally some time to skate, surf and think. Carver had developed a fluid and reliable set of street surfing trucks, but there were other areas of the surfskate market that needed to be addressed. While there were many riders who were comfortable with the fluid feel and adjustable suspension system of the C7, there were others who just wanted a familiar truck that still gave them a surfy feel. Basically a truck with the same two castings, bushings and pivot pin of a standard truck, but with a new geometry that loosens up the nose of the board and acts like a cross between the C7 and a standard truck. "I started calling it the CX because it was still a mystery to me, and instead of giving it a model number, I just wrote 'X'," Neil said of this new truck. For years he alternated between building the Carver brand and working on research and development. They now had another important part of the product line, the new CX.

A new era for Surfskates:

Carver was aware that surfskating, with its soft wheels and surfy deck shapes, was an illegitimate child of the skateboard world. Skateboard culture had moved away from its surf heritage and evolved into a tight-knit culture that closed itself off to anything that didn't conform to the prevailing "street style" of riding. Carver embraced this difference and decided to focus his meager advertising budget on the one publication that reached the core of riders: Surfer Magazine. The guys were now faced with the question of how to communicate the innovative performance of their boards, while countless other skateboard companies had already promised a "surfing experience" and could deliver nothing more than a longer deck with a picture of a wave on it. Videos could show the unique boards in action, but a single photo made it look like you were surfing a regular cruiser. Working with new team rider Taylor Knox and legendary surf photographer Art Brewer, they set out to show the impossibly tight cutbacks on a single page, with numerous composite figures that showed the entire maneuver as a sequence. It was like playing a short video clip on the page. This style proved to be the recipe for success.

The new C2.4

The new C2.4, which was developed together with the new CX.4, is completely redesigned, from the precision-machined pivot pin to a new geometry that positions the pin in line with the axle. This prevents the twisting or binding that occurs with all standard kingpin designs at the pivot point. Normally this binding is not a problem, but with the extreme rail-to-rail action that occurs when pumping a carver, a hardcore rider can actually wear out a pivot pin. What was once just a regular back truck has evolved into a precision rear pivot that works under the back foot like a set of fins hooked into the face of a wave. The increased action and smoothness is perfectly matched with the front truck, blending into a seamless performance mix that allows for faster pumps and tighter turns with all the characteristics of grip and drive you need.

Surfskating today:

It's been almost 28 years since that flat summer, and Carver is still going strong and growing. The new factory is humming, the latest product line covers a wide range of riding styles, video production shows an exploding roster of talented Carver riders, and the company has a solid base for worldwide distribution.

Josh Kerr recently joined the team with a pair of new pro models and more collaborations are in the pipeline. Jaime O'Brien, Taylor Knox and Kay Lenny are some of the big names who ride with and for Carver and continue to push the brand.

As skateboarding continues to innovate, historic styles like the surfskate are finally re-emerging on the scene. There are now numerous other surfskate brands, most notably in Japan and Australia, where nearly a dozen brands are attempting to produce trucks modeled after Carver's signature dual-axle invention, with mixed success. As the leader in the field, Carver continues to make the most reliable and best USA-made surfskate equipment, developing groundbreaking innovations and driving progress for all the dedicated riders who rely on Carver's equipment for surf training or just as a fun way to surf the streets.

"I see people on our boards all the time now, and I can always tell if they're riding a Carver because they're surfing their boards," says Neil. "It's a great feeling to see how much fun they're having and to know that we made this for them," adds Greg.