Yo-Face Skateboard: Bit My Wheels, But I Bit Back with Risers
TLDR; buy the board, but also order a set a risers.
I am a beginner, who has been on a street board for less than 1 year. I mostly use the Yo-Face for my commute: I take the train into NYC, then ride downtown to my job. The deck is exactly as advertised: noticeably light, wide enough for my adult feet, and a well-proportioned concave. It's a beautiful deck with high quality workmanship.
I can't exactly tre-flip (yet!), but for cruising and carving the truck/bushing setup is crisp, solid and responsive without ever feeling heavy or unstable.
I greatly appreciated the Bustin wheels that came with the complete -- they were wide and soft enough to deal with the atrocious pavement in NYC. The wheels are offset, which made it easy and natural to slip traction and drift through carves at speed. But the wheels are also wide and soft such that a beginner (like myself) may have difficultly sliding the board and learning some types of tricks, especially before the wheels have been broken in (they're sticky!). On the other hand, the wheels do provide more grip and stability than anyone could ask for. If you ride like I do, the Bustin wheels are perfect; if you're the type of rider that is into advanced tricks, then you will probably prefer harder and narrower urethane.
IMPORTANT: I cannot recommend enough adding some risers to the setup that comes from Bustin. They are not required if you intend to put on some smaller (e.g. 56 mm) street wheels. However, if you intend to use Bustin's wheels or any other cruiser wheel, you will likely want at least a 1/4 inch riser. It's not so much the diameter of Bustin's wheels, but the width which causes an issue. Be that as it may, I prefer to use Bustin's wheels on risers than a street wheel or narrower cruiser wheel. The greater width makes riding the tore up streets I commute on safer and more comfortable. As an alternative, Orangatang Skiffs don't need a riser and are also amazing on this deck and setup, especially if you're the kind of rider that likes to pop a shuv-it from time to time. I busted My-Face several times to learn this information, but that's because I'm inexperienced and should have checked my setup for wheel bite. Learn from my pain!
