Twincore Composite
We use Twincore Composite when we want to build a deck for speed, and nothing else.
Unlike a lot of other top-end speedboards, we opted away from foam, aluminium and other synthetic composite materials for the deck cores. That not to say we haven’t tried them! But we are all about Board Feel – and in our opinion, there’s no better core material than wood to dampen road vibration and provide a natural base for composites to enhance.
Twincore Construction uses two vertically-laminated cores pressed from Poplar (a softwood) with Ash (hardwood) stringers. You’ll find these proven materials in boardsports everywhere – they provide all the natural feedback we need.
By using two cores stacked on top of each other instead of one, we can press the layup into more complex shapes than if we only had a single core, and an extra layer of glue gives better toughness, less “springback” out of the press, and a stiffer overall construction.
The lower core has ABS bumpers laminated in, providing a little end-on impact protection. ABS is used in snowboard rails – it’s tough!
With the feel and profile provided by our wood cores, it’s time to make the whole thing super-stiff. Which is where the fibreglass comes in.
The cores are sandwiched in between two layers of top-grade fibreglass, protecting the cores from impact, and providing most of the board’s stiffness and mass. Fibreglass enhances the things we like about the wood core, adding a stiff, springy and responsive feel to the wood fibres.
A lot of high-end speedboards are very focussed on end weight. It’s well known that lighter boards aid faster acceleration off the start line and harder braking into corners. For us though, board feel is more important. A board that feels good underfoot will make you, the skater, more comfortable, and better able to reach the limits of your skill and capability.
So Twincore is not the lightest, not the most rigid composite construction out there. We tried a lot of different materials and skated a long way before we realised that for really high speeds, a bit of mass and dampening goes a long way to taking the edge off choppy road surfaces.
At this level of performance, all design is compromise and balance. For us, Twincore is the perfect balance of feedback vs dampening, weight vs comfort, flex vs rigidity, and stability vs agility. Pressed for the world’s fastest racers, with our trademark emphasis on board feel. For the fastest skateboards in the world.