Rayne Longboards

Rayne Longboards is a longboard manufacturer.

The business once focused on solely producing longboard decks, but now produces a wide range of products from skateboards to longboards, to snowskates and powsurfers in their factory located in North Vancouver, BC Canada. Rayne Longboards are shipped to retail shops all over the world reaching markets such as Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, Puerto Rico, USA and Canada. The brand’s boards are also available through their online store.

The brand focuses their line up of boards around functionality and performance. The specialized boards are made for Downhill racing, freeriding, city riding, and long distance pushing.

Rayne Longboards was established in 2004 by owner and operator Graham Buksa.

Technology

Starting in 2008, Rayne developed a manufacturing system specifically designed around producing board entirely from bamboo and fibreglass. They have focused on this practice and now have a wide range of boards which offer a better strength to weight ratio, are more water resistant, and hold their flex longer than traditional maple made boards.^[1]

Early 2009, the brand released an extremely light-weight composite constructed board which was an answer to the demand coming from the downhill racing scene. The boards are labelled as the Dee-lite ^[2] series which came in four different shapes - Demonseed, Nemesis, Hellcat, and Avenger. The foam core and carbon fiber construction reduced the overall weight to less than 1.6 kilograms. The weight savings gives the racers more manoeuvrability while not compromising the strength or rigidity of the boards.

In 2009, Rayne Longboards introduced a new feature to a few of their boards called Pleasure Dome concave, which is a take on a w-concave design.^[3] The added benefit of Pleasure Dome means that the extra dimension in concave will lock the arch of the rider’s foot to the concave of the board. The new feature changed how riders could perform freeride manoeuvres and has pushed the industry into an exciting new direction.

One form of construction that sets Rayne apart from many other board manufacturers is their use of what they call "fat bottom" construction. "Fat bottom" was introduced with the re-release of the Avenger in 2013, and has become increasingly prevalent within the Rayne lineup. Boards with a fat bottom construction feature a thick bamboo core going down the middle of the deck that tapers off towards the edges where wider layers of bamboo are then applied. The result is a thinner and lighter board, as well as providing for more wheel clearance.

While Rayne continues to push for progression within aspects of their board design, many of their original decks became iconic and had demand for a re-release. This eventually led to Rayne releasing the Heritage Series in 2013.^[4] The Heritage series featured shapes and graphics that quickly became outdated or insufficient for boards such as the Avenger, Timeline, Hustler, Hellcat, and the little known Flux.

Alternative Products

It is not uncommon for a skateboarding brand to broaden their horizons after dialing their initial product, and as such Rayne has not only released soft goods, but have also created a line-up of wheels, safety gear, and other accessories. In an effort to "upcycle" some of the inherent waste that comes with the skateboard manufacturing process. Some of the excess wood left over after the intended shape is cut out is then repurposed as belt buckles, riser pads, and wall tiles to ensure that all materials are harnessed rather than wasted.^[5]

In 2012 Rayne decided to expand their horizons by outsourcing to the United States to have urethane wheels poured to join the Rayne catalogue.^[6] Rayne offers three different species of wheels, the Lusts, Greed, and Envys for a variety of riding styles. Each wheel shape comes in two to three different sizes as well as two different durometers durometer to accommodate for user and setup preferences.

As of the winter season of 2015/2016 rayne offers a new line of snow products featuring a snowskate and powsurf. Both have been put through the classic and strenuous Rayne R&D program to ensure they are the best products on the market.

Team

The Rayne Longboards team is a mix of international riders who represent some of the worlds best in their respective disciplines. The 2010 team consists of 20 riders.,^[7] however in years since then the team has expanded greatly and now encompasses a "flow" team for up and coming young riders.

Rayne Features a signature series line featuring the Gmack, Fortune, and Misfortune each designed by their respective pro riders to offer a design direct from your favourite riders

References

External links

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