Rolls Rolls Cruiser - Aerospace Technology meets Longboard Fun | Watch the Video!

The Rolls Rolls Cruiser is a cross between a Fighter-Jet and a longboard cruiser. Never before has any company used such advanced materials and engineering to achieve their goal: the smoothest ride ever. The Rolls in no way falls short of this purpose, and for the construction alone is worth every penny spent and more.

Our first impression of the board was almost disbelief. We were amazed at how light the board was - for a 40" hybrid with massive wheels, it weighed about half of what a normal board does. I was intrigued by its appearance, and wondered how it would handle on the street. In other words, would the ride live up to the almost hot-rod appearance the Rolls portrays?

It does indeed. Upon stepping on the Rolls, the next element that caught me off-guard was its rigidity. It DOES NOT flex. On top of being constructed completely out of bullet-proof aerospace material, the board is rock solid, with no allowance for any sort of vertical "play". (More on the strength of the materials below).

Our first test ride was a very different experience than we had previously anticipated. I had expected the Rolls to behave like a Landyachtz DH board with a fancy yellow body. I was completely wrong in my prejudice. The Rolls brings a futuristic blend of technology and soul to the longboard table - and nobody else can touch it. As the name subtly implies, the Rolls Rolls is definitely modeled from the "Rolls Royce" - a ride defined by inherent luxury, while under the hood lies state-of-the-art componentry that could put most sports cars to shame. If James Bond were to take up longboarding, he would ride a Rolls Rolls.

Technical Info - Specifications

The Cruiser comes equipped with Randal RII Longboard Trucks, standard Abec 5 bearings, and massive 140 mm wheels. The Randals are equipped with custom screws which tighten into an internal plate within the core on both ends.

The yellow coating over-top of the carbon-aramid form is awesome. Aircraft quality construction and finish creates a quality appearance that is unmatched by anything I have previously seen on the longboard market. It really does look like, again, a Rolls Royce.

The deck is constructed from a special form of carbon fiber called "carbon-aramid" - which is more commonly known as kevlar. The core of the board is constructed with aircraft-foam and specialized stringers, which enable the board to withstand an enormous amount of pressure. The Rolls Rolls website claims that the board can withstand up to 60,000 lbs. To me, this seemed a little larger than life...

So I asked the owner of the company (in Germany), Peter Sanftenberg, what this load-rating was all about. This was his reply:

"I will answer the technical question about the 60,000 lbs load:

The material carbon is able to carry a huge amount of forces. Inside
the rolls rolls there is enough carbon fibres to carry forces of 60,000lbs in horizontal direction. Means: if you would connect on
end of the rolls with a train locomotive engine (I think that's ~ 60,000lbs) and lift the other end up, the rolls can carry that
wheight. But in horizontal direction only (the same direction/line you ride the board usually).

Why [horizontally]? To carry your weight (that's a force in vertical direction), the rolls needs a lot of stiffness in horizontal direction; seen from physics it's the same problem as constructing a bridge. The (vertical) force of your weight will be directed to horizontal direction. If the board bends ~1/6" only, the forces will be multiplied by 80 transfered from vertical to horizontal. If the bending is ~1/2" (often seen in wooden boards) the factor is in the range of 15. (It's not a linear relation from measure of bending to the forces-factor).

I wanted to have a board which does not bend too much because there is not much clearance to the ground. So we did and took a lot of carbon inside. The carbon on top and the carbon-aramid fibres at the bottom carries ~25% of the load; the rest is done by stringers
inside which you can not see.

I have to admit I do not know how much [direct vertical] weight you can put on a rolls. The limit is not determined by the carbon (the board would bend to ground) but by the aircraft-foam inside. I think the foam can not carry a pressure of more than ~ 600lbs."

Our Impressions / Other Stuff

The Rolls Rolls feels alot like, well... it doesn't really feel like anything else at all actually. I would imagine that if someone 60 years from now successfully designs the world's first silent hoverboard, it would feel alot like the Rolls Cruiser.

The dynamics of the ride can be described as silent, and almost frictionless - the Rolls is FAST and it maintains its speed for a LONG time. The massive 140mm, slender wheels cut their way over or through anything, and add a certain "sharpness" to the turning ability of the board. And though the board is significantly lowered, it is quite possible to make a rather tight turn - quite easily doing a 180 in one lane of traffic at a moderate speed.

The Rolls, while being highly advanced and soulful simultaneously, actually is not really meant for excessive downhill speeds. We found the Rolls to be the ultimate commuter, but when we took it through the speed test - which involves taking it down a very steep road in an all-out straightline for about 0.8 km, the board actually seemed a bit twitchy while turning. The reason for this seemed to be the narrow wheels, which really "cut" into any turn initiated, especially at speed. The Sportster model comes with 100mm wheels that are very wide, and likely eliminate this problem.

Closeup of the Rolls logo and the tightly-woven kevlar fibres.

The Rolls Rolls is hardly a longboard. The word "longboard" sounds too vintage and primitive to do it justice. The Rolls is more fitted to be associated with the "Robb Report", or "Popular Science".

This board - or rather, this vehicle delivers an unprecedented ride, that emulates a frictionless glide over any sort of terrain, and it has the ability to easily maintain a speed comparable to that of a bicycle, even on flatland.

The Rolls Rolls is the ultimate form of board-transportation. This is the "Rolls-Royce" of longboarding, masking alot of performance with even more luxury. From cruising beach-paths to city streets to bumpy country roads, the Rolls delivers the same, euphoric sense of flotation at speed on any terrain.

We highly reccomend this board for anyone and everyone who enjoys speed and cruising. We also reccomend this board to James Bond.

-Chris Rempel, Editor, LongboardDirectory

Rolls Rolls Video (1:08, 9.8 MB)

Check out the way the Rolls Rolls turns, and how it just keeps on rolling. The movie tries to represent its silent, soulful and smooth ride characteristics. CLICK BELOW

Check out these related websites for more information on the Rolls Rolls Cruiser:

www.rollsrolls.com

Hugh R's Rolls Rolls Review

Silverfish Longboarding's Rolls Rolls Longboard Review

 

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