Xglider Fusion Street Boards

the xglider (internationally called the xlider i believe) is a great product. On it you have much more versatility as apposed to the ripstick, it is also faster and nicer to ride. these boards are also quite easy to get the hang of, especially if you have previously ridden a ripstick. It may look difficult, or darn near impossible to ride just looking at it, but it isn't so hard after maybe 30 minutes to 1 hour of practice. I would recommend for those a little bolder to try out freeline or drift skates, which are even better to ride, but take about 6-8 hours to really get the hang of i think. Overall, it is great product. Here is a just a short list/summary of things i thought made this better than a ripstick:1. rides smoother2. wheels don't wear out so fast (there are four wheels, as opposed to only two on a ripstick, but the wheels all wear fairly evenly on the xlider and we have never had to replace them yet. On the ripstick i have replaced the back wheel about 6 times.)3. much more versatile, because your feet are not tied together.4. you can go faster.5. more people will give you that 'look', like what is that, and how is that even possible. i love seeing that look on people face as they drive by just staring at them. it makes me smile how dumbfounded they look, but i was the same when i first saw them.

This is a description of most types of boards based on the experiences of my son (15), my daughter (9), and me (48):Skateboards - Fun for jumping tricks (grinds, board flips, etc.). Casterboards are more maneuverable and fun than skateboards on a street, but less fun at skateparks. Soularc Skateboards have one curved deck on top of another for a springy carving feel. Flowboards have 7 wheels in a semicircle in front and 7 wheels in a semicircle in back for a snowboard feel. Sole Skates are small, three-wheeled skateboards. Longboards are longer and wider skateboards.RipStiks - Like skateboards but with two small decks connected by a crossbar, and two inline casterwheels which swivel 360 degrees. Seems safer than skateboards because RipStiks don't easily shoot out from under you (they just flop onto their sides). The wheels might show some wear fairly quickly, but even with flattened wheels they're way more fun than skateboards for zipping around on the street. We're able to take apart our RipStik casters and clean them, but not our Wave Board casters, giving RipStiks an advantage over Waves. RipStik Gs have metal crossbars for doing grinds. RipStik Airs are molded into a single piece of plastic, and feel stiffer than RipStiks. Ripsters are smaller to fit younger kids.Wave Boards - Like RipStiks, but with shorter crossbars. Makes more of a "clatter" noise than our RipStik. Wave Ripples are smaller to fit younger kids. ExBoards, X-Boards, EssBoards, VigorBoards, Cudas, Freeriders, and eXtreme boards are similar to RipStiks/Waves.WhipTides - Like RipStiks, but with four inline casterwheels. The crossbar bends up-down and side-to-side, unlike RipStiks. Can do tighter turns and slaloms than RipStiks. Can't do jumps or lift one wheel off of the ground. There's a slight "wiggle" motion as you go faster. I'm more aggressive on RipStiks since they don't wiggle, but my daughter prefers the wiggle because it helps her get moving. Shred Sleds and Alive Boards are similar to WhipTides. Hurricane Boards and Cycle Force Swingboards appear to be WhipTides with only two inline casterwheels.Xgliders (Xliders) - Have two separate (unattached) casterboard decks, so they're a bit tricky to learn and easy to lose your balance or do the splits. Can do different tricks and tighter turns and slaloms than RipStiks/Waves/WhipTides. You can't just step on and go, like with RipStiks. Instead, you place the two decks onto the ground, carefully step on one at a time, then go. RipSkates are like Xgliders, but with a removable crossbar. I made a RipSkate clone by bolting a crossbar between our Xglider decks, and it's very fun because it allows you to do tight turns (even better than a WhipTide) without the danger of your feet going in different directions. RipSkates provide two different riding experiences for the price of one. Freeline Skates are similar to Xgliders, but the wheels don't spin 360 degrees. OrbitWheels have separate decks as well, but your feet are *inside* the wheels.PowerWings - Have safer features than RipStiks (two casterwheels in back plus a wheel in front for stability, and handlebars with brakes). You face forward and move your hips side-to-side, but on casterboards you face sideways and use a twisting movement with your hips. It's easy to lean too far back and flip over, but with practice this allows doing wheelies. Some PowerWings have safety bars at the back to prevent flipping over. Rip Rider 360s are similar, but they have a big plastic wheel in front with pedals, and kids ride them sitting down. Trikkes and "Slider The Unscooter" are also three-wheeled, but with unique methods of propulsion.Bladeboards - Like RipStiks, but the casters are designed differently. We cleaned and lubricated the casters, and put in new bearings, but it still feels sluggish and noisy compared to RipStiks. Bladeboards don't appear to be sold anymore.PumpRockrs - Skateboards with one casterwheel in front. Can't make tight turns like casterboards can. T-Boards are skateboards with two casterwheels, but don't appear to be as maneuverable as RipStiks. OBoards appear to be PumpRockrs.TimberWolf XtreeMs - Similar to RipStiks, but the casters are designed differently. My kids and I are experienced riders, but we felt cautious at first because the TimberWolf is quite a bit faster and more maneuverable than RipStiks/Waves/WhipTides. The casters can go forward or backward, so you can swap ends as you ride, and do 360s. RollerSurfers have different casters, but they also allow you to swap ends and do 360s.Streetboards - Like skateboards, but the decks are in three sections. Your feet rotate the outer sections to propel the board, and you can strap into bindings on the footplates (optional). Good for jumping tricks (grinds, etc.), but not as maneuverable and fun as casterboards on the street. Snakeboards are shorter versions of Streetboards. It took us several days to figure out how to ride our Snakeboard because the movement is different than with casterboards. Our RipSkate clone is everything that I had hoped the Snakeboard would be. Alterskates had a similar rotating mechanism to propel the board, but no-one at their website responds to emails. LandSharks are kneeboards which you propel similar to Streetboards (using a handlebar).Bottom line:We own a skateboard, RipStik, Wave, WhipTide, Xglider, RipSkate clone, Bladeboard, TimberWolf, and Snakeboard, and we've ridden a RipStik G, RipStik Air, PowerWing, PumpRockr, Flowboard, and LandShark. Our favorite boards are: RipSkate, TimberWolf, WhipTide, RipStik, and Wave (in that order). To do carving/twisting/turning/spinning around the street, casterboards are best. To do jumping tricks, skateboards and Streetboards are best. At skateparks, skateboards are best.About the wheels:We replaced our worn-down RipStik wheels with two good wheels from our Xglider, and put the flattened RipStik wheels onto our Xglider. Strangely, we didn't notice much of a difference in the feel of the RipStik or the Xglider. After 20 minutes, the rear wheel on the RipStik had worn down a bit, but RipStiks/Waves are fun even when the wheels are flattened (until it becomes excessive). The wheels on our other boards don't seem to wear down very quickly.For some videos of my kids and me playing a casterboard game that we invented, search for "Caster Soccer" at YouTube. Another fun game is playing "tag" on casterboards. We wear protective gear when trying new boards or tricks. Skate safely!

Pretty Cool! I got a pair and don't regret it. I tried some used Freelines OG previously but ultimately sold them as I just didn't think I would use them much. These, however feel more user friendly and overall more enjoyable. Some things I like about them: You can do the same motions as Freelines to propel yourself but you can also just shuffle your feet as the casters do rotations by themselves. I find it sometimes easier to start with the Freelines motion first from a standstill and then once moving a bit, simply use my leg strength to shuffle and accelerate from there. You can also just do casterboard motions with your body (S carving) but I find this to be the least efficient method for accelerating speed.I am using bones red bearings and a couple of 90mm inline wheels in the front casters, with the original 80mm ones in the back. I plan to get a full set of 90mm wheels which should work fine. I would also like to try harder wheels to further increase speed but would be more wary of rough outdoor surfaces.I would say to be careful when tackling hills or slopes outside as I must have hit a rock doing this and flew forward rolling my body and scraping an elbow. With only two wheels per skate and their being so close together, it is easy to fall forward if the wheel hits something when going fast. I am also not sure how to stop or really slow down when going fast other than to simply hop off/bail. I still need more time with them to see if there are any other good techniques that might help with this. I have tried spreading my legs wide when turning which seems to give more stability at higher speed but you can't turn as sharply.I haven't even tried spinning around in circles yet, but it appears you simply angle your feet outward to do this easily enough. I will update this if I find out anything further.