Pantheon Fantail Cruiser Longboard Deck - 34"

Concept

Cruisers are a ubiquitous design for just about any longboard company. Pantheon has been making boards since 2014, so why haven’t they come up with a cruiser until 2023?! Well, conceptually, Pantheon boards are boards of specificity, and we like doing things perfectly. It took quite a while for Pantheon to develop a way to make this board special. They have tested several shapes and moulds in past years, and if riding a board doesn’t create a unique and exemplary experience, it doesn’t make it into the Pantheon lineup. That’s where the Fantail Cruiser comes in. What Pantheon wanted was a beauty, a unique feel, and a shape that doesn’t create limitations where a lot of cruiser decks do.

Most cruisers are tiny, and tiny boards can be fun, but they can also be scary. They aren’t particularly great decks to learn on, and great skaters can show them off, but novice skaters often find themselves getting hurt or just not being able to do much beyond cruise slowly on these decks. The Fantail starts off from a more forgiving space already by increasing the wheelbase to 19.2 inches. A larger wheelbase is more stable, and having more space on the board gives riders room to shift their balance without falling over the front or falling off the back end.

The micro drops are small enough that you can stand right over the top, but you will feel it enough to always know where you are on the board. Between the curvature of the micro drops, the sweeping rails, and the tail, you never have to look at your feet on this board. But if you do, you’ll be standing on top of something sexy!

The overall footpace on the Fantail Cruiser is such that most riders will feel comfortable standing right on top of the trucks or slung back just a touch with the front foot in the micro drop and the real foot in the swooping tail. Riders with small stances may even find that they can slide the board around with both feet inside the drops. The Fantail does an excellent job of having features without making those features impediments.

Concave

The Fantail Cruiser is a 6-ply maple construction. Pantheon put triaxial fibreglass underneath the top and bottom layers of maple to functionally make this board as strong as an 8-ply but not as heavy. The glass and epoxy construction make the Fantail exceptionally weatherproof. You can shred this thing anywhere at any time and not worry too much.

Setups

Pantheon set up the Fantail with two sort of baseline setups in mind. Traditional street trucks are a great setup on this deck, but because it has a large wheelbase, they like to set this board up with wedges for general cruising. With this, you get a more active turn, and it essentially rides like a smaller wheelbase board with the benefit of having a large cruiser platform. This makes the board super fun but also confidence-inspiring! With traditional kingpin trucks and wedges, expect to be able to ride between 65-70mm wheels without wheel bite. If you drop the wedges, you may need to change bushings to avoid wheel bite with larger wheels.

Other setups of liking are with RKP trucks. The 19.2″ wheelbase is just the right size to level up your turn with an RKP truck on a cruiser deck. Again, smaller wheelbases can get squirrely when you make them too turny, but with the Fantail’s larger wheelbase, a small RKP truck feels right at home. This turns the board into a cruiser that can really be treated like a freeride board. It lowers the kick angle a touch, making smaller ollies even easier (although for a big ollie, it’s usually best to have the steeper kick angle of the street trucks), and adds a ton of control and stability to the setup. Now, it’s quite a bit more than a cruiser. Other benefits of RKP trucks on the Fantail are that you can more easily fit larger wheels. If you want to get silly with this thing, throw some fat square lips on it.

Construction

Pantheon constructs these boards with a reliable 6-ply maple core. Beyond the maple core, the deck is wrapped in triaxial fiberglass, which enhances the board's strength and weather resistance. While not waterproof, the Pranayama is designed to handle the elements throughout the season. To further protect the board, Pantheon wraps it in a slim hardwood veneer, which helps prevent the fiberglass strands from breaking. This construction adds longevity to the commuter longboard and provides peace of mind when scraping the board on curbs and bumps.

Although not indestructible, the Pranayama is built like a tank. Riders can expect a comfortable ride, from small children to adults weighing up to 240 lbs. For those heavier than 240 lbs, Pantheon recommends considering their Quest and Nexus decks, which offer even tougher and larger commuter boards.