The Landyachtz Dinghy is a hugely popular mini-cruiser, often the first board many riders own. However, it’s also a board that receives mixed opinions from the longboarding community. This in-depth review will explore what makes the Dinghy so popular, its strengths, its weaknesses, and whether it’s the right board for you.
Landyachtz Dinghy Honey Island Graphic
Landyachtz Dinghy: A Comprehensive Review
As a sponsored Landyachtz rider, I assure you that this review will be completely unbiased. I’ll provide an honest assessment, highlighting both the good and the bad aspects of the Dinghy.
Is the Landyachtz Dinghy a Good Board?
In short, yes, the Landyachtz Dinghy is a good board and I’ve genuinely enjoyed using it. However, it’s not perfect. It excels in many areas, but it doesn’t truly master any single discipline like tricks or sliding. It’s a true “jack of all trades, master of none” type of board. Ultimately, it’s a mini-cruiser designed primarily for portability. While great for some things, it’s not ideal for others. However, one thing is for certain: this board is a lot of fun to ride.
Landyachtz Dinghy Honey Island Full View
If you’re interested in exploring more mini-cruisers, be sure to check out my guide to the best mini cruiser longboards.
Nimble and Agile Handling
The Dinghy is incredibly nimble and reacts quickly to your movements, allowing for rapid changes in direction. The soft bushings in the Bear TKP trucks contribute to this responsiveness, letting you initiate turns effortlessly. However, the wheels do feel like a limiting factor. When you attempt to turn too sharply, they tend to lose grip, causing the board to slip. While the Chubby Hawgs are decent wheels, they aren’t ideal for aggressive carving. If you’re seeking a more grippy ride for confident turns, the Dinghy Turbo or Turbo King, with their Plow King wheels, would be a better option for you, perfect for slalom-style riding and quick maneuvers.
Truck Setup: Loose and Adjustable
The stock bushings are quite soft. Most riders will find them too loose initially and won’t feel comfortable at first. To enhance control and stability, I recommend tightening the kingpin by a turn or two. This will stiffen the ride, giving you more confidence and control. If you weigh under 130lbs, you might be comfortable with the stock bushing setup.
No Wheel Bite Issues
Despite the soft bushings, wheel bite is not an issue on the Dinghy. The tall risers and wheel wells integrated into the deck prevent any contact between the wheels and the board, at least for riders my weight (approx. 150 lbs). If you’re heavier, you might experience some wheel bite but it’s unlikely to be a major issue for most riders.
Smooth Turning Experience
The Bear TKP trucks offer a surprisingly smooth turning experience. However, they tend to “flop” into the turn, leaning more than they turn initially, and it made the riding experience less enjoyable for me. To improve the turning, I flipped the washer on the front truck and slightly tightened the back truck. This adjustment allowed the front truck to turn more freely, resulting in a forward-biased turn with more stability and control, which I highly recommend.
Comfortable Deck Design
At 8 inches wide and 28 inches long, the Dinghy’s deck doesn’t offer much room. Thankfully the mellow concave ensures a comfortable standing platform. The subtle concave doesn’t interfere with your feet.
Not Ideal for Long Distance
Like all mini cruisers, the Dinghy isn’t suited for long rides. After about 10 minutes of riding, your feet will start to fatigue. Mini cruisers are designed for short, agile rides. Longer and wider boards such as the Landyachtz Drop Cat are much better options for distance riding.
Easy to Push
The Dinghy is lightweight and the small wheels make it easy to push and accelerate. The Chubby Hawgs get up to speed quickly. However, the smaller wheels don’t hold speed well, which means you’ll find yourself pushing more frequently. For longer distances, larger 70mm+ wheels would be more ideal due to their higher top speed and coasting capabilities.
Functional Kicktail
The kicktail is functional, making it easy to navigate curbs and pick up the board.
Trick Capabilities
While you can do some basic tricks like ollies and pop shuvits on the Dinghy, attempting more complex tricks is challenging. The wider and heavier Chubby Hawgs wheels make learning tricks more difficult compared to standard skateboard wheels. If you’re serious about learning tricks on a cruiser, a hybrid board like the Landyachtz ATV or a Stoked Ride Shop cruiser would be more suitable options.
Landyachtz Dinghy ollie trick
Sliding Capabilities
The Chubby Hawgs wheels do slide smoothly. They might require a short break-in period. They tend to make a lot of noise, which some might find annoying. However, the Dinghy is not the ideal board for learning to slide. Its small size and overall design make it difficult for beginners. There are better options for learning to slide that will provide a gentler learning curve.
Landyachtz Dinghy toeside slide action
Not for Downhill
The Landyachtz Dinghy is not designed for downhill skating. While it can handle light hills, attempting to skate fast on it can be dangerous due to its small wheelbase, narrow size, and TKP trucks. If you want to skate fast, you should choose a board that is built for speed.
Learning to Skate
Mini cruisers are generally not beginner-friendly due to their responsiveness and small deck. However, with some effort, you can learn to skate on a Dinghy. For a smoother start, boards such as the Landyachtz Drop Cat 33 would be more suitable for beginners, due to their stability, ease of balance, and pushability. The Dinghy is a great beginner option for kids, given its size.
My Modifications
The only modifications I made to my Dinghy were tightening the kingpin slightly and flipping the front truck’s top washer to enhance the turning capabilities. I kept the rest of the setup stock.
Landyachtz Dinghy front bear truck detail
Landyachtz Dinghy rear bear truck
High-Quality Components
The components on the Dinghy are of great quality.
Trucks
The Bear trucks are excellent, providing a smooth and controllable turn. They are stable, strong, and feature high-quality bushings and pivots. While they tend to “flop” into turns initially, the issue is easily resolved by flipping the top washer on the front truck.
Bear 105mm tkp trucks for Landyachtz Dinghy closeup
Wheels
The 63mm Chubby Hawgs wheels are surprisingly fast and comfortable. They roll over cracks, pebbles, and other road debris with ease.
Chubby hawgs 63mm for the Landyachtz Dinghy review closeup
Pebble Avoidance
The large, soft wheels can roll over most cracks and pebbles. With sufficient speed and weight shift, you can power through almost anything on the road.
Bearings
The Bear Spaceballs bearings are smooth and quiet. They might leak a small amount of oil initially, which should be wiped off. Other than that, they are excellent bearings.
Bear spaceball bearings close up
Is the Price Justified?
The Landyachtz Dinghy costs between $130 and $160, which is quite expensive for a mini-cruiser. However, it’s a high-quality complete that doesn’t require any immediate modifications. I found it to be a good investment that I use frequently, making it worth the price. If you’re unsure about the value, consider how often you’d use it.
Where to Buy
You can purchase the Dinghy at Landyachtz website, using the code “AroniSkate&Explore15” for a 5% discount. You can also buy it at Stoked Ride Shop, or Amazon.com.
Dinghy Alternatives
Here are some affordable alternatives to the Landyachtz Dinghy:
- Stoked Ride Shop complete: a budget cruiser around $90, available here.
- Fireball cruiser: a solid complete for about $110, available here.
- Magneto mini cruiser: a budget-friendly option around $70, available here.
What I Didn’t Like
Overall, the Dinghy is a great mini-cruiser. My only initial dislike was the turning of the trucks. However, the minor adjustments I made resolved this.
Best Use Cases
The Landyachtz Dinghy is best for:
- Short rides (under 10 minutes), as mini cruisers can be tiring for longer periods.
- Distances under 3 miles/5km.
- Short trips like getting from a bus stop to work.
- Casual fun and messing around.
- Portability and easy storage.
- Kids looking for a beginner board.
It is not suitable for:
- Tricks, sliding, downhill, or high-speed skating.
Landyachtz Dinghy honey island details closeup
Who Should Buy It?
The Landyachtz Dinghy is perfect for:
- Kids learning to skate.
- Riders looking for a comfortable mini-cruiser.
- Those seeking a portable board.
- Anyone wanting a fun board for casual daily use.
- Commuters needing a quick way to travel a mile or so.
- Students traveling across campus.
- People looking for an awesome gift.
Who Should Avoid It?
The Dinghy is not for:
- Downhill, trick, or slide skaters.
- Those looking to learn the aforementioned disciplines.
- Riders needing to commute over 3 miles/5km.
- People with large feet (over size 10UK/9.5US).
Final Thoughts
The Landyachtz Dinghy is a fantastic mini-cruiser that I recommend and I am personally very happy with it. It has limitations, but it excels at what it’s designed for. I hope this review has provided a comprehensive overview to help you decide if it’s the right board for you.
Thanks to SkateboardsHQ for the board, and to my amazing patrons for supporting my content. Your contributions make articles like this possible.
