Palace Skateboards Review


person riding a longboard

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Palace skateboards are more than the UK-based counterpart to the Supreme brand in the US. This brand has earned street cred the good old-fashioned way: in the dirty, hazy gray streets of London.

In this review, we discuss everything there is to know about Palace skateboards. We’ll show you what the brand is all about, delve into the Palace skateboard deck, and compare it to a few other boards.

COMPARISON TABLE

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What Are Palace Skateboards?

longboard

No Palace skateboard review would be complete without mentioning the humble beginnings of this now iconic brand. Palace was founded in 2009 by Lev Tanju. On the South Bank of London, he and his crew were living in a squat known as “The Palace.”

Palace began as a streetwear and skate gear label. Their fashion line notoriously ripped imagery from 1980s couture fashion houses like Versace, Palazzo, and Gucci. Palace appeared exclusively in pop-up shops in the brand’s early days. Palace’s “Tri-ferg” logo has been around from the beginning, and their clothing lines take inspiration for streetwear’s 1980s and 1990s roots.

After an apparent partnership with the US streetwear label, Supreme, Palace began to grow into the mega brand it is today. Soon after, the brand established their own brick-and-mortar locations in London. As interest and sales increased, Palace released promotional material featuring Jonah Hill and Leo Fitzpatrick thus creating more American hype for the label. In 2017, a New York Palace location opened in the Manhattan shopping district of SoHo. The brand opened shop in Tokyo in 2018.

All the brand’s mission, design, and philosophy draws upon their authentic skate culture origins.

Palace Skateboard Deck Specs

woman riding a longboard

Before we get into the details of the Palace skateboard deck specs, let’s first explore the differences between buying a custom skateboard versus buying a complete skateboard.

Complete Skateboard

When shopping for a skateboard, a complete skateboard means you are buying a deck, trucks, wheels, bearings, and all necessary hardware for the board. They arrive assembled and all you have to do is jump on. Complete skateboards are better for novice skaters. The board comes in a complete form to get you comfortable riding.

Custom Skateboard

A custom skateboard means you are picking out all the individual elements of a skateboard to build it yourself. Buying the perfect complete skateboard is somewhat oxymoronic. Once you learn the details about your skate style, you’ll probably realize that there is a lot of value to customizing a board.

When you customize, you can add all the elements that best suit your skate style. Building a skateboard doesn’t allow you to ride a skateboard right after buying it. It might also be more expensive, but the overall product is something that can be built perfectly for you.

Palace Skateboards

Palace sells custom skateboards. More specifically, they sell skateboard decks. They sometimes also offer a couple of options for wheels.

Shapes and Sizes

All Palace skateboard decks come at varying widths, lengths, wheelbases, noses, and tails. Most deck widths range from 7.7 inches to 8.5 inches. Lengths hover in the 31-inch to 32-inch range. All Palace skateboard decks are made with 7-ply maple wood, come with a medium concave, and are popsicle-shaped.

Design

Design features on a Palace skateboard are really the standout feature. All of their designs have a surrealistic quality to them. The John Martin inspired Palace x Tate deck design line was a design between Palace and the world renown Tate Britain Gallery.

Their current collection includes designs with candy, balloons, seagulls, strange metal heads, beetles, black and white photography, shaman magic, and something to be described as a trip-digital print. When a new Palace skateboard deck is scheduled to hit shops, there are often hoards of shoppers camping in line to buy them. The decks are released in limited runs and are known to sell out.

Pricing

man riding a longboard

As mentioned, Palace sells custom skateboards rather than complete skateboards. The price for their decks are all in the $53 range. This is the price for the deck without trucks, wheels, bearings, hardware, grip tape, or riser pads. Those elements cost extra and are based on which you choose.

Of the custom skateboards we’ve reviewed, Palace skateboards are the cheapest. Decks can cost anywhere from $20 to well over $100. Adding all the parts can increase the skateboard total price to anywhere from $60 to $400.

The complete skateboards we’ve reviewed cost a little more because they include all the hardware needed to get the board rolling. The complete skateboards on our list cost around $75 to $120. Complete skateboards of varying qualities and designs can cost anywhere from $40 to $500 or more.

How It Compares

We picked a few similar products available on the market to see how they compare. We’ve chosen a mixture of complete skateboards and decks to highlight the pros and cons of buying one or the other.

  • Penny Cruiser Complete
  • Powell-Peralta Skateboard Flight Deck
  • Santa Cruz Skate Land Shark Rasta Complete

Palace Skateboard

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  • Price
  • Riding Experience
  • Durability
  • Design QUALITY
  • Warranty

All Palace skateboards are priced in the $53 range for decks ranging from 7.75 inches to 8.5 inches on the American Palace website.

5.0 of 5 stars

The Palace skateboard’s deck is light with a slight concave that makes this trick board ready for smooth street skating.

5.0 of 5 stars

Palace skateboards are well-made with seven layers of maple wood. They can endure a true beating before breaking and outlast most wooden decks in the same price category.

5.0 of 5 stars

The structural design of a deck by Palace has a subtle and well-planned concave shape, making these decks favorites among street skaters.

Besides structure, these decks are easy on the eye. No matter which release run you buy from, a Palace skateboard always looks awesome on both sides. A Palace skateboard is most known for their wild, irreverent, and one-of-a-kind graphic assemblage and mind-bending subject matters.

3.0 of 5 stars

Decks made by Palace aren’t covered under any type of warranty. If you want to return your Palace skateboard deck, you have seven days upon receiving your order to do so. The deck must be in a new, unused condition to make a return.

Pros

  • Excellent structural design
  • Unique and desirable dual-sided deck art
  • Can take many punches

Cons

  • Palace skateboard decks sell out fast
  • Deck designs are limited edition
  • Graphics get shredded quickly

Penny Cruiser Complete

[amazon box=”B07HPCVCFV”]

The Penny Cruiser Complete by Penny Skateboards in Australia is a pre-built, non-slip, waffle-top plastic board that comes with wheels and trucks. The deck is 8.5 inches by 32 inches. It comes with smooth 54 millimeter 90A wheels.

  • Price
  • Riding Experience
  • Durability
  • Design QUALITY
  • Warranty

The Penny Cruiser Complete skateboard costs around $120 on Amazon.

4.0 of 5 stars

The riding experience really depends on what you want out of a board. For cruising (even over rough or pebbled surfaces) the Penny provides a smooth and undisturbed ride. Riding a Penny is a good start for beginner skateboarders. Penny boards are most suitable for rough rides rather than rides over smoother surfaces.

 

If you are out to land tricks, this board may not be the best option. The construction is heavier than a traditional board, and the tail is flexible. That said, there are some tricks achievable on a Penny, but not the full spectrum.

5.0 of 5 stars

Penny boards are extremely durable. Their plastic construction ensures that they won’t crack or split.

3.0 of 5 stars

Decks on a Penny are made entirely from plastic. The Penny wheels are plastic at their cores and coated with polyurethane. Penny trucks are made from cast aluminum, and the bearings are made from stainless steel.

 

The waffled deck top is good for rider grip and replaces grip tape. Penny Cruiser Complete comes in five monochromatic color deck options with contrasting colors for the wheels.

5.0 of 5 stars

The Penny Cruiser Complete comes with a lifetime warranty. Penny Skateboards can be returned for up to 30 days after purchase in a brand new, never used condition.

Pros

  • Durable
  • Rough surfaces aren’t a problem
  • Good beginner board

Cons

  • The board isn’t great for tricks
  • No customization
  • Doesn’t glide as well on smooth surfaces

Powell-Peralta Skateboard Flight Deck

[amazon box=”B01N0VQ05X”]

The Powell-Peralta Skateboard Flight Deck was designed by pro skaters in the US. The deck ranges in widths from 8 inches to 9.7 inches.  We’re focusing on the 8.0 inch with Shape 242.

  • Price
  • Riding Experience
  • Durability
  • Design QUALITY
  • Warranty

The Shape 242 Powell-Peralta Flight Deck costs around $80 on Amazon for the deck only.

5.0 of 5 stars

The Flight Deck by Powell-Peralta provides a smooth street ride and is trick ready. The deck is light, flexible, and ready to pop and fly.

5.0 of 5 stars

This thin deck is made from layered hard rock maple, the strongest fiberglass, and AirLam-infused epoxy resin, making for a strong and lightweight deck. These decks are stronger than most traditional 7-ply decks.

4.0 of 5 stars

The materials used in constructing the Flight Deck are innovative and make for a great board. The Powell-Peralta comes with a logo design or with graphics. The deck graphics are also designed in the US in the Powell-Peralta design labs from non-solvent, environmentally conscious materials. Most of the designs are within one genre of aesthetic. We’d like to see more design variability for Flight Deck graphics.

4.0 of 5 stars

Powell-Peralta provides a warranty for manufacturer defects straight out of the shipping box. They do not provide a warranty for products that have been subjected to use. The company doesn’t provide any immediate information regarding new and unused product returns.

Pros

  • Extra-durable deck design
  • Add your own trucks and wheels
  • Trick-ready deck
  • Environmentally conscious graphic quality

Cons

  • Limited graphics selection for deck designs
  • Epoxy scratches easily
  • Extra-thin design not suitable for all boarders

Santa Cruz Skate Land Shark Rasta Complete

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Skate Land Shark Rasta Complete by Santa Cruz Skateboards is a concave deck measuring 8.8 inches by 27.7 inches with a 16.5 inch wheelbase, 2.7 inch nose, and 4.3 inch kick tail. The complete board comes with Bullet B137 trucks, Bullet hardware, ABEC bearings, grip tape, and Road Rider 65-millimeter 78A wheels.

  • Price
  • Riding Experience
  • Durability
  • Design QUALITY
  • Warranty

The Santa Cruz Skate Land Shark Rasta Complete board costs around $75 on Amazon.

5.0 of 5 stars

The riding experience on this board is smooth and fun. It’s a lightweight board for quick cruising.

5.0 of 5 stars

The Skate Land Shark Rasta comes with 7-ply construction and is as durable as the best wooden decks.

4.0 of 5 stars

The deck design on this board is solid overall. The bearings that come with the complete set aren’t the greatest and might need replacing. Additionally, the tail is higher than standard for a cruiser board. The look of this board is exceptional. It comes with a built-in bottle opener on the bottom of the deck.

4.0 of 5 stars

Warranty information isn’t available for Santa Cruz Skateboards. They do accept returns within 60 days of purchase if the item is in unused condition and has all the packaging that came with it. They charge a fee of $7 for all returns.

Pros

  • Bottle opener
  • High-quality skateboard
  • Good looking design

Cons

  • They charge a fee for returns
  • Included bearings aren’t solid
  • The board has a high tail for a cruiser

Conclusion

A Palace skateboard deck is in a class of its own when it comes to producing wooden concave 7-ply decks that verge on the ultra-modern version of absurdism. The choice is yours whether to build a skateboard from the wheels up or buy a complete deck.

The pros for buying a complete deck revolve around convenience; you can ride that board when it arrives at your door. The pros for building your board are you get to choose the hardware. If you build your own skateboard, Palace skateboards is a great place to start. They offer special graphics on a quality board at a very nice price.

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