Ivey longboards is a one man team led by Sam Ivey. With a heavy background in both freeride and downhill, he has been working on creating a lineup of boards to fit everyone’s taste. I’ve spent the last couple weeks on his personal board to see what made his boards so different.

Construction

Since Sam Ivey makes his boards to order you can truly customize your deck by picking your own shape, wheelbase, construction and even graphic.

The deck I was riding was a birch core sandwiched between fiberglass and carbon with an additional spine running down the middle. The board was very stiff with no flex in any direction, which made downhill or freeride very comfortable and consistent. 

Some of you might be curious why Sam chose birch over maple – he explains:

“Durability is about the same, it is more stable so it’s less likely to warp, and has good vibration dampening properties.”

– Sam Ivey

Three constructions are currently available:

After almost a month on the board I’ve really come to like the birch with fiberglass and carbon layup – not only does it look stellar but it holds up to a lot of abuse from heavy skating.

Concave

The Ivey Convergence has a very unique concave that takes a quick minute to adjust to, but once you are comfortable on the deck, it will hold you tight. The nose of the deck features an elongated drop that almost works as a pseudo rocker and drop combo. While the tail of the deck features a mellow W and drop combo. I normally prefer very simple drops like the Bustin Shotgun or Powell Peralta Kevin Reimer, but the more time I spend on the elongated drops the more I learned to enjoy the difference in leverage than that of a traditional micro-drop deck.

The standing platform on this concave is wild – because of the elongated drop you can stand right by the bolts or even 2 to 3 inches behind and still feel locked in. The deck is incredibly roomy and feels great skating in a small or wide stance.

Skate Experience

The Convergence is designed around freeride but its fully capable of handling the gnarliest downhill runs. I found that the Convergence was a lot of fun for casual and fast freeride with its long wheel base of 26 inches and large standing platform. The top notch construction held up well against all sorts of skating and roads; it dampened road vibrations, never flexed during a slide and took accidental bumps and curbs with no problem. I was a little worried about freeriding the Convergence switch with its very asymmetrical concave, but I was happily surprised by how easy I was able to transition into a switch stance on the deck and slide just as easily. 

As for downhill, the deck works wonderfully, because of the elongated drop and the simple w concave in the back allows a very comfortable tuck. I always had great rail feel so digging deep and taking lines was never an issue.

I think the only complaint I have is the weight of the deck, but then again I’ve been spoiled by hollow tech decks I’ve ridden recently. 

Conclusion

If you are looking to support a skater owned company who can build you a truly custom deck I’d highly recommend Ivey Longboards. You aren’t just getting a custom board made by someone without experience, but someone who is veteran in the scene.

The Convergence offers a concave that will keep you locked in and comfortable, while allowing you to push your limits in a run. I enjoyed the extra leverage that an elongated drop offers and I’d recommend it to someone who likes micro-drops but wants a little more leverage over their trucks. 

Pros: Custom board shape/graphic/wheelbase, Fair price, Many different layup choices, Supports the scene/riders

Cons: Heavy