Landyachtz Dinghy Review

This week’s article is a Landyachtz Dinghy review. This is easily one of the most popular cruisers on the market, and one of the first boards many own. However, it doesn’t have the greatest of reputations amongst the “core” crowd. Check it out below to find out what I think.

Specs

• Length: 28.5inches
• Width: 8inches
• Construction: 7plys of Maple
• Concave: Mellow
• Shape: Single kick
• Gritpape: Fine Landyachtz grip
• Trucks: Bear 105mm/7inch TKP trucks
• Wheels: 63mm, 78a Fatty Hawgs 
• Bearings: Bear Spaceballs Bearings
• Accessories: 1/4inch riser
• Graphic: Honey Island

Big thanks to SkateboardersHQ for helping me out with this board!

Landyachtz Dinghy Review

And yes! I am a sponsored Landyachtz rider. That will not affect the review. I will be unbiased. I will be honest and critical where I need to be.

Is the Landyachtz Dinghy good (summary)?

Yes, it is a good board, I’ve really enjoyed using mine. However, one or two things aren’t the best. And whilst it does a lot of things well, it suffers when it comes to being focused and great for one discipline – for example, tricks or sliding. Truly a jack of all trades, master of none sort of board.

And at the end of the day, it is simply a mini-cruiser – it’s been designed with portability as being its main strength and greatest fatures. Whilst a mini-cruiser is excellent for somethings, it isn’t the best for others.

One thing is clear though, this board is a lot of fun.

Check out my guide to the best mini cruisers

The Dinghy is super nimble and agile

The Dinghy reacts quickly to your input and changes direction on a dime. The bushings in the Bear TKP trucks are surprisingly soft, and this allows you to get the trucks to quickly shift direction.

However, how much you can turn and how quickly feels limited by the wheels – they start to slip when you turn too quickly. The Chubby Hawgs are good wheels, but they lose grip if you dive too quickly into the turn and the board wants to slip out from under you. I can see the Plow Kings (which come on the Dinghy Turbo King and Turbo) to be better suited for gripping turns and changing direction quickly – slaloming between objects and that type of thing. 

If you have no desire to slide or just want to dive into and take those turns with confidence, the Dinghy Turbo or Turbo King are the better options for you – they come with the grippier Plow King wheels.

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The trucks are quite “loose feeling”

As I said earlier, the bushings are quite soft. Most people are not going to feel totally comfortable on the board with the bushings the way they are. I recommend you tighten the kingpin down a little bit (maybe a full turn or two), to give you a slightly stiffer and easier to control ride. You’ll also feel a bit more comfortable and confident.

If you weigh about 130lbs and less, I expect that you’ll be happy with how the bushings feel out of the box.

Check out my my indpeth guide to the best mini cruiser longboards here.

You don’t get wheel bite with the Dinghy

As loose and as soft as the bushings are, you don’t get wheel bite at all on the Dinghy. At least I didn’t haha. If you’re heavier than 150lbs (or 70kg), which is how much I weigh, you MIGHT get bite on the setup. I don’t seeing it being an issue for most people to be honest.

The no wheelbite thing is because of the tall risers and the wheel wells drilled into the deck.

The turning is smooth

I didn’t expect the bushings to be as soft as they are on the Bear TKPs. Despite this, the TKPs turn smoothly. However, the TKPs tend to “flop” into the turn. By this I mean they tend to lean more than they turn.

I didn’t enjoy this flop to turn feel, and it actually made riding the Dinghy not that enjoyable. I had to make some slight changes to make it feel perfect.

In order to get them to turn more than they lean, I flipped the washer on the front truck, and tightened the back truck a little bit. This gave the front top bushings more freedom and allowed the truck to turn more – atleast that’s how it felt.

After doing this, the board had a forward biased turning. It felt more stable, had more control and it was easier to dive in and out of turns. I really liked how it felt. I recommend you do the same to your Dinghy.

The Landyachtz Dinghy is comfortable to stand on

At 8inches in width and 28inches in length, the Dinghy doesn’t have the most room to stand on. Thankfully, the concave is mellow and doesn’t get in the way of your feet at all. The concave features are near non-existent and aren’t worth mentioning at all tbh.

So yeah the Dinghy is comfortable to stand on and it is a comfortable board to ride.

Not comfortable for long rides

However, like all mini cruisers, after about 10minutes your feet start to ache and get tired. Mini Cruisers aren’t the best for skating longer than 10minutes – they’re small, agile and because of this your feet have to work hard to keep the boards going straight. It gets tiring quickly.

If you’re skating longer than 10minutes or long distances, wider, longer and lower boards like the Landyachtz Drop Cat are gonna be better suited for you.

It’s easy to push

The Dinghy is super easy to push. The board is rather lightweight and the wheels are small. Smaller wheels tend to accelerate quicker, and the Chubby Hawgs get up to speed fairly quickly.

It’s not the best for skating longer distances

However, whilst it does accelerate quickly and is easy to push, the wheels don’t hold on to their speed very well and don’t coast for very long – simply because of their 63mm size. 

They do still coast a bit, but I found myself pushing quite a bit to keep the boards speed up.

For longer distances, bigger 70mm+ wheels are more desirable. They have a higher top speed and coast for longer.

Is the kicktail usable?

The kicktail is very usable. It’s great to use when going up and down curbs and when picking up the board.

Can you do tricks on the Landya€chtz Dinghy?

Yes, but not really. I could do Ollies, Pop shuvits and one or two easy tricks, but more complex things were harder to do. For example, I couldn’t kickflip the Dinghy very easily. I didn’t feel comfortable doing so or even trying.

Can you learn tricks on the Dinghy?

You might be able to, but because the Dinghy is small and has relatively heavy wheels – the Chubby Hawgs are considerably wider, taller and meatier than proper skateboard wheels. There is gonna be a steeper learning curve. In fact, some might find it too difficult.

If you already know how to do skateboard tricks, then it is easy to apply them to the Dinghy. But if you don’t, learning is a tough task. If you want to learn tricks on a cruiser, an all-around hybrid like the Landyachtz ATV or the Stoked Ride Shop cruiser would be better options.

Can you slide on the Landyachtz Dinghy?

Yes you can. The Chubby Hawgs break out into slides pretty smoothly. I do think they have a break in period though, because at the beginning of trying to slide them they weren’t super smooth, but they got smoother the more I tried.

They do honk a lot though, and that might be an issue for some.

Can you learn to slide on the Dinghy?

Yes and no. Again, the Dinghy is not going to be the best for learning to slide mainly because of it’s small size and really just how it rides. If you choose it to learn to slide on it you’re going to have a very steep learning curve.

There are better options for learning to slide and I recommend you get those instead. You’ll have an easier time learning.

Is the Landyachtz Dinghy good for downhill skating

No, not really. It can handle some light hills and you likely can take it up to 20mph, but beyond that you’re asking for trouble. If you want to skate fast, get a board built for it.

And it’s not that the Dinghy specifically is bad for skating down hills. It’s just that mini cruisers are inherently bad for skating fast and speed. Their tiny wheelbases, bushings, TKP trucks and narrow sizes just make them awful for skating fast. You’re likely going to wobble out.

Yes I know I skate mine fast and I know other riders do so too. But I skate downhill primarily and I’m used to speed – I’ve been doing this for the last 4 years. The average rider or beginner can not do the same and you likely will get hurt.

Is the Landyachtz Dinghy good for learning to skate?

Yes and no. Mini Cruisers are generally not beginner friendly boards. They react a lot to your input and this isn’t good for a beginner finding their balance on a skateboard. So yeah, they have a slightly steeper learning curve.

But yeah with some effort you can learn on them. Of course there are sharper tools for the job out there and a board like the Drop Cat 33 is gonna be more beginner friendly. It is more stable, easier to push and easier to balance on.

However, for kids, I’d say they make excellent beginner boards. The Dinghy is the perfect size for kids.

What changes did I make to mine?

The only changes I made was tightening the kingpin a little bit and flipping the top washer in front so that the front truck turned more. I kept it pretty much stock otherwise.

This is what the back truck looked like (the picture below). Just to illustrate the difference for ya.

Are the components high-quality?

The components on the Dinghy are great. The trucks, wheels and pretty much everything else is high-quality.

Are the trucks good?

The trucks are great. They have a smooth, controllable turn. They don’t suddenly twitch or fight you to stay straight.

They come with high-quality bushings and pivots – which aid in that smooth, controllable feeling. Finally they are pretty strong and are made with heat treated aluminum, with any unnecessary material cut away. The trucks have an excellent finish and look great,

For the technical TKP people, I think Bear trucks are built more around cruising and sliding stuff, rather than behaving like the average TKP. Where the average TKP would be good for skate park stuff … I think … idk. I have limited experience with TKPs if I’m being honest.

One issue though is how they turn. As I highlighted before, they sort of flop into the turn. Flipping the top washer one the front truck solved this though.

Are the wheels good?

I was surprised by the Chubby Hawgs! These wheels roll fast and pick up speed quickly. They also providing a comfortable ride and roll over cracks, pebbles and other muck in the road fairly well. Pretty smooth wheels I gotta say.

Pebble avoidance system

Because the wheels are large (63mm) and soft (78a), they can roll over pebbles and cracks with ease. A big pebble will stop you though, but if you got enough speed/momentum and weight the board properly (shift like 80% of your weight to the back) you can power through almost anything.

The bearings are decent too

The Bear Spaceballs are great bearings that roll smoothly and quietly. Starting out, they leak a bit of oil, but this is just the excess lubricant leaking out. I recommend you wipe them down after this happens or your bearings and wheels will get dirty. Other than that, they work great. No issues so far.

Is the price of the Dinghy fair?

You’re looking to pay anything from $130 to $160 for a Dinghy. It is quite expensive, especially for a mini-cruiser. However, you are getting a complete that is pretty great straight out of the box. 

Other mini cruiser completes I’ve tried have had one or two things wrong with them and they made me want to change or modify them slightly. Though I did change the washer configuration, I haven’t had to buy anything for the Dinghy.

And given I expect the Dinghy to last me about two years and more, I think the price is reasonable. This board is an investment that gives me enjoy, allows me to have fun and gets me from place to place. I use it fairly frequently (like almost every other day) so it’s worth it in my eyes. 

It might not be worth it if you don’t use it as frequently as I do tbh. And I’m also of the school of thought of “cheap is expensive” and “buy once or buy twice” so …

However, not everyone has $130+ to spend on a cruiser, and if you’re part of that group, below are some alternatives.

Where to buy the Landyachtz Dinghy?

You can buy the Dinghy here on the Landyachtz website. Use the code – “AroniSkate&Explore15” for 5% off.

You can buy the Landyachtz Dinghy here on the Stoked ride shop. 

Or you can buy the Landyachtz Dinghy here at Amazon.com.

Landyachtz Dinghy alternatives

• Stoked ride shop complete – great budget cruiser with great components about $90. Check it out here on the Stoked ride shop website.

• Fireball cruiser -Great complete about $110. Check it out here on the Stoked ride shop website.

• Magneto mini cruiser – budget cruiser, poor components but only costs about $70. Check it out here on Amazon.com.

What I didn’t like about the Dinghy?

There’s not much I didn’t like about the Dinghy. Of course, there’s a lot I don’t generally like about mini cruisers and there’s a lot I can say about that. But as a mini cruiser, the Dinghy is great.

One thing I didn’t like was how the trucks turned. But with the light modification I did, it wasn’t an issue anymore.

What do I think the Dinghy is best for (best use)?

• Best for skates under 10minutes long. After 5-10minutes, the Dinghy and other mini cruisers tire you out. You have to actively work to keep them going straight and have to also work hard to keep the moving.
• Not the best for longer distances – best for rides less than 3miles/5km long. 
• Best for short skates. Eg. When you get off the bus and are going to work.
• Excellent for messing around on.
• Excellent for storing and being portable.
• Not the best for tricks, sliding, downhill or going fast.
• Great for kids.

Who should get the Dinghy?

• A kid wanting a beginner board.
• Someone looking for a comfortable mini cruiser.
• If you’re looking for a portable, easy to store board.
• If you want a board that is fun to mess around on when you have a few minutes to skate each day.
• You need a transportation option to quickly get you over a mile or so.
• You want a board to quickly get you across campus.
• If you want to buy someone an awesome present etc.

Who shouldn’t get the Dinghy?

The Dinghy isn’t right for you if:

• You primarily want to do downhill skating, tricks, or sliding.
• Learning any of the above is what you want to do with it.
• You want a board to commute over 3miles/5km with.
• You have huuge feet – I have size 9.5US/10UK feet and the Dinghy is borderline comfortable. Anyone with bigger feet might not be comfortable.

What y’all think? Is the Dinghy the right board for you?

The Dinghy is a pretty great board and I can say I’m happy with it. I really had my doubts – mainly because of the influence of other riders, but having tried the real thing I’m stoked. Of course, it does have its limitations, but hopefully, I’ve done a good job of highlighting what it’s best for and what its not good for.

Big thanks to my SkateboardsHQ for lending me the board and big thanks to all my patrons for the support – Jed, SuperbadJuju, Mowgii, Bryan, Andrew, Jan, Jay, Owen, Samil, Daniel, Alex, Kasajja, Leah, Helge, Jackson, DeLacoste and Justin. I couldn’t write articles like this without you guys’ support. I used the money from my Patreon to buy this grip.