Today’s product review is on the Landyachtz Cheesegrater 2.0. And just like cheese, this board has a way of worming its way into your heart. In this review, I talk about the concave, how I’ve set this board up, its different uses, and even have a short interview with Alex Hannigan. Check it out below.
Specs
- Length – 36.25inches
- Width – 9.5inches
- Wheelbase – 22.5-29inches
- Construction – 9plys of Canadian Maple (sounds like it has fiberglass too tho)
- Concave features – W, Microdrop, rocker, flush mounting
- Price – $139 (USD)
Disclaimer: I am sponsored by Landyachtz. That will not affect my review in any way. I will be unbiased and critical where I need to be. Cheers!
Interview with Alex Hannigan
Below is an interview with the man himself! Alex Hannigan – team rider and employee over at Landyachtz. He is also the mastermind behind the Cheesegrater – it is his pro model board. I thought it would be a great idea to learn somethings about the board from the designer himself – like his design goals, how he has it setup, etc. Check it out below.
How tall are you and how much do you weigh?
6 feet, 200 lbs
Why did you want to make the Cheesegrater?
I wanted to make the cheese grater for a lot of reasons. It ended up being a result of a knee injury. I spent a whole winter in Vancouver not being able to skate (you can skate all winter in Van) and I was really bored so I was constantly stopping by the Landy HQ to bug Nick Breton and Aaron Brown because I had a whole bunch of ideas and because of that, we actually ended up going through with one of my ideas. The idea I originally had was basically a 2013 wolf shark but with kick tails and straight rails instead of tapered. We actually cut the very first prototype out of a 2013 wolf shark charge. The original idea for the name came to me when I had redrilled a top-mounted 9 two 5 and then I broke the noses off so it was a literal brick. The shape of it reminded me of a cheese grater and I thought that was kinda funny because a cheese grater is literally scientifically designed to shred and that’s what I was doing on my shit brick at the time.. shredding…..
…so I held onto the name idea for a few years before I figured out a board that was actually deserving of the name. When I found the 2013 wolf shark charge, it was well after that mould had been discontinued. It was like the beginning of 2016 I think when I found the wolf shark charge and so I decided to try out my own idea for a symmetrical cut with it, and I decided that would be the time to finally employ the cheese grater name idea. It all worked out pretty good and it was a process that spanned years.
What do you like most about it?
I like the fact that I can ride the gnarliest DH runs in the city and then go and slash alleys and Ollie down banks in South van without changing my setup at all. It’s an extremely versatile board. I also love the fact that the concave kind of guides your feet into the ideal position for stand up slides and it’s got tons of surface area so your feet really stick to the grip tape a lot and when you throw some super slippery wheels on the board, you can do all your slides flat-footed and have tons of control. It really feels like snowboarding for the summer. You can also Ollie it like a beast.
How do you have your Cheesegrater setup?
Right now I have gen 5 45 degree baseplates with 87a and 85a venom standard barrels. And I have some prototype 70mm freeride wheels right now. Similar to the thane on the Hawgs supremes.
How would you advise people to setup/ride their cheesegrater? Any ideal way to ride it?
That board really is designed standup slides with an awesome ability to do race-style if you want to.
If you want to go for race-style, do a staggered wheelbase. That means the shortest wheelbase option for your front truck and the longest wheelbase option for your back truck. This allows you to maintain a larger wheelbase but still have the front truck immediately under your front foot. Combine this with a footstop and some big wide gummy wheels and you are full race car mode. But honestly, you will have to most fun on this board if you throw on the most ridiculously slippery wheels you can find and slap some fresh grip tape on it with a pair of skate shoes you really like, it will give you so much confidence to do really hard technical free riding!
What changes can we expect in the 3.0 (future design goals)?
Design goals are definitely in the works so get stoked!! They are pretty far off though. Maybe some wheelbase changes, maybe we will go back to a wider W similar to the v1, but make a more mellow concave profile for the edges. Who knows what else. There are little design features on that board that you can tinker with.
–End–
Big thanks to Alex Hannigan for taking the time to answer these questions. I really appreciate it. Y’all can follow him on Instagram here. And also follow the Cheesegrater dedicated Instagram page here.
Landaychtz Cheesegrater 2.0 Review
Summary
Of decks that have concave, the Cheesegrater 2.0 has by far my favorite. The features are there, but remain unintrusive – they’re useful but they don’t get in your way and force your foot into any uncomfortable positions.
The entire board just feels natural to stand on and use, and whether I was going down a hill, or simply pushing to the next spot, I felt very comfortable on board.
The staggering amount of wheelbase options also leaves you with a lot of choices. You have a lot to choose from when it comes to picking where to place your trucks, your footstop, etc. It’s hard not to find a comfortable spot, or a configuration that works for you.
However, once you do find a spot that works for you, you might be left with a lot of unused board space – just deadweight or space to experiment with in the future, it’s up to you how you see it.
The one thing I really didn’t like was the shape … but it does grow on you. This is my little brickshaped machine.
Altogether, the Cheesegrater has become one of my favorite freeride boards (and works great as an all-around downhill and freeride machine). The concave is one of the best I’ve tried, and I look forward to skating it again and again.
The concave is great
The concave on the Cheesegrater 2.0 is by far the best I have used. All the features are subtle, mellow, and don’t force your feet to engage with them – but remain entirely useful.
The concave’s “greatness” (or usability) is also helped by the number of mounting options available. You can choose how you engage with (or not engage with) certain concave features through where you mount the trucks.
For example, if you use the innermost wheelbase options (and depending on where you position your footstop), you may end up not using the micro drops at all. Or, you could adjust your footstop positioning so that your toes end up pushing against the micro drop, giving you that extra bit of toeside leverage. Or, you could do away with the footstop altogether and use the micro drop to keep your foot locked in.
In this way, you have a lot of creativity and freedom with what you can do on the board. It’s refreshing to not be restricted to one position, and in this way, this board would work great for a lot of different riding styles and tastes.
That said, you are going to have spend some time experimenting with the board to find out where you want to place your feet … which can be stressful … more choice isn’t necessarily a good thing.
The rails aren’t too steep
The rails aren’t too steep or too sharp. They feel gradual and I have found it very comfortable to place my heel on them. Strangely, I have also found them quite nice for pressing against with my back toes/foot when I am in a tuck.
In the past, most decks with rails have felt quite uncomfortable to stand on. So this was a refreshing find on the Cheesegrater.
The W is mellow and non-intrusive (but is it useful) ..
The W on the Landyachtz Cheesegrater 2.0 stretches between the drops. It is quite mellow.
I press my toes against the rails for toeside slides, so I can’t say for sure how useful the W is from my own perspective for toesides, but it does work as an excellent general reference point for my feet.
But despite being so mellow, it is actually useful. Check out Alex pushing against it in those monster switch slides in the video below.
But just because Alex can push against it and make it work for him, doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. The W is super mellow, so I do recommend you pick up a coarse enough griptape to keep your feet from slipping off – especially if you’re gonna use grippier wheels (Alex uses very slippery Ez Hawgs in the video).
But yeah, it is a great reference point. And whilst you can feel it underfoot, it doesn’t affect where you place my feet – you could place them on top of it if you wanted to and still be comfortable.
For a bit of contrast, W on other boards (for example the Loaded Tesseract or even Landyachtz Small Blind), can get in the way of how you position your feet. This is fine for some people and riding styles but can get in the way if you want to place your back foot in the middle of the board.
In summary, the W on the Landyachtz Cheesegrater is mellow, doesn’t get in your way, but remains useful.
The micro-drops are very mellow
The micro-drops are mellow. They gradually drop down, instead of suddenly. They’re more gradual than sheer.
I found this gradual drop to be nice. It was nice to press against it with my toes, it felt very natural and gave me a little bit of extra leverage in toeside turns.
However, I didn’t feel comfortable using it as a toe stop/footstop for toesides. It didn’t lock me in. But generally speaking, the combination of rails, W, and micro drop does lock in your foot enough for you to do toesides without worrying about it slipping – especially if you do dig in enough.
But compared against a board like the Pantheon Gaia, the drop on this is considerably more gradual. I’m interested to see how it compares against the new micro-drop single kick, the Freedive reef.
I want to chop this board
Because I like the concave so much, I would like to chop this board in the future. I mainly do downhill on smaller trucks, so the 9.5inches shape is too wide for me. A 9inch width, with the 22-23inch wheelbases preserved, would see more use from me + it would be perfect with the 130mm and 155mm Bear trucks.
I absolutely love the concave, rails, W, etc. and I think it would make a great platform for a slalom DH board.
And in of itself, the Cheesegrater does make an excellent platform for a great board chop. Because of its rectangle shape, you’re left with a lot of creative freedom.
The shape is great
No taper! Hehehe
But this is a great thing. Because the board is a brick shape, it means you have the same amount of leverage over your trucks no matter where your feet are.
Some boards like the 2019 Pantheon Gaia have a lot of taper – they are narrower where the trucks are mounted and wider near the center. With these boards, it sometimes feels like you lose leverage over the trucks depending on where your feet are. Or sometimes you feel as though your heels have too much leverage – as they sit on a wider part of the board.
Finally. it’s sometimes difficult to get the right width truck to pair with the board – do you go with the wider center width? Consider the width where the trucks go? Or the width where your feet go? It can be stressful … at least it has been for me.
This was never the case with the Cheesegrater. The brick shape eliminates all these issues.
The drops are far apart (another board made by a tall rider)
Like with the Pantheon Gaia, the drops on this board were quite far apart (this board was also designed by a 6ft tall dude, so it is expected).
The Drops were 25-26 inches apart.
I’m 5ft 10inches, and I have a smaller stance, so I don’t use as much of the board for tucking and sliding.
So yeah, I naturally didn’t end up using the backdrop much but I did use it for the odd toeside and it did feel nice to rest my heel against when I came out of tuck.
I did end up using it more when I had kneepads on (as my stance was naturally lengthened by a bit), and I ended up using it more for toesides and as a place to place my heel against for heelside stuff.
But even when I was not using the back drop, I didn’t feel at all lost on this board.
In summary, if you’re a shorter rider, the drops will likely feel too far apart for you. If you’re taller (around 6ft) or simply have a wider stance you will likely find them to be the right distance apart.
The staggering amount of mounting options allows for …
As I highlighted, because you have a lot of mounting options, you have a lot of choices when it comes to where you want to place your foot. This allowed me to find a position that was comfortable for my foot and that allowed me to engage with the deck in a way I liked.
You can run a lot of different setups …
You also have a lot of choices for the types of setups you can run. I feel that the longer 24inch+ wheelbases are better suited to symmetrical truck setups. The shorter <24inch wheelbases are better for split-angle setups.
I will say, the 27inch+ options are a bit excessive for myself, but they are there to be used and might be used by the right rider.
And the above said, after settling on one specific setup, I didn’t really use the other wheelbase options. They kinda became deadspace to me. I was tempted to chop the board after finding what I liked.
Is it stiff?
Yes! Hella stiff, barely any torsional flex.
Is the Cheesegrater heavy?
The amount of maple used and its sheer size does make it a bit heavy. This board is a tank for real.
But the only time you really feel it is when you’re pushing up a hill or when you’re carrying the board around. It doesn’t affect how it rides very noticeably.
How deep are the wheel wells?
The wheel wells are about 1/4inch deep. You need them because the flush mounting really brings the trucks closer to the deck. You can still get wheelbite with them – but wheelbite isn’t an issue above 15mph.
What did I use mine for?
Is the Landyachtz Cheesegrater good for downhill?
Yup. For downhill, I set it up with 150mm trucks on the 25inch wheelbase and wide DH wheels like the Hawgs Cheetahs. Tbh, the Cheetahs ended up feeling way too grippy (IDK why), but I didn’t have an alternative in terms of trucks. I would have liked to have 165mm trucks instead and use my Biggie Hawgs on them.
I did end up using it with 150mm Rf-1s and 72mm Kevin Reimer wheels flipped. I used 85a/87a venom bushings on it too.
In fact, I didn’t use the Cheesegrater as much as I would have liked to for hands-down stuff. I was waiting for the Gen 6 trucks to come through, but thanks to COVID and shipping complications that never become a reality.
But with the Rf-1 setup, it felt insanely comfortable. I set it up on the second innermost mounting options for a wheelbase of 24inches (bolt to bolt).
The drop at the back and the rail felt super comfortable to push against for toesides and as a reference point for heel sides. My foot never felt lost even once.
Is the Cheesegrater good for freeride?
Yup. For freeride I kept the wheelbase about the same but went with either 165 trucks or 180mm wheels and narrower freeride wheels.
With the 180mm trucks, I used Bear gen 6 hangers with a gen 5 45* plate. I then used an 87a barrical bushing on the boardside (with no washer) and a 93a hardcore bushing roadside with a cupped washer.
For the 165mm trucks, I was running Ronin Cast Katanas and had the 92a Fruitpunch bushings all around paired with cupped washers.
I weigh about 70kg/150lbs.
The case was the same. I felt comfortable on it. I didn’t have to shift my front foot much and my back foot never felt lost.
What size trucks to use it with?
- 150-165mm trucks with wide dh wheels.
- 180mm with narrower freeride wheels.
What wheels to use with it?
You likely will get bite if you use it with wheels taller than 74mm. So I recommend you use any 74mm wheel you like but pair them with a 1/8riser if you use it with bigger wheels. However, you won’t get wheelbite as you skate faster, so that solution is only necessary for slower speed skating.
What didn’t I like?
The griptape
It comes stock with fine griptape. This griptape is ok if you mainly skate very slidey wheels, but doesn’t stick you to the deck if you have grippier ones.
The shape
I like the shape because it has no taper, but it doesn’t look the best. It does grow on you though.
It’s heavy
It is a bit heavy. You do get used to it, but you’re gonna feel it when you’re pushing uphill and carrying it around.
Is the price fair?
Absolutely. For about $139 you are getting a very high-quality, versatile board at a steal of a price. I’m kind of shocked by that price, I really expected it to cost a bit more.
Where to buy the Cheesegrater 2.0?
Most longboard shops have it in stock. It shouldn’t be too hard to get your hands on one.
What do you think? Is the Landyachtz Cheesegrater 2.0 right for you?
If you’re on the fence about it, I give you my vote of confidence on the Cheesegrater. I highly recommend you pick it up.
Big thanks to all my patrons for the support – Jed, Mowgii, Jan, Jay, Owen, Samil, Daniel, Alex, Kasajja, Leah, Helge, DeLacoste, and Justin. I couldn’t write articles like this without you guys’ support
4 comments on “Landyachtz Cheesegrater 2.0 Review”
Eric Rohner
October 22, 2021 at 9:40 amHello! Thanks for your reviews!
I’d like to get a freeride board for learning to slide and for something more stable to rip up my local hills. I hear the Cheese grater is coming back. Would you compare this to the Freedive Reef? I can’t decide between the two.
Thank you from Denver, Colorado!
Eric
AbugaA
December 10, 2021 at 11:28 amHope you decided! Sorry for the late response. The cheesegrater is better allaaround, but the freedive is better for riders with a smaller stance
tatsuro
August 9, 2022 at 12:34 pmwhich mounting position do you recomend? i’m a small rider and beginner.
AbugaA
August 11, 2022 at 2:58 pmstart with 23-24inches, should work good for you 🙂