Olo - World’s Fastest Top Mount LDP Pumper
Olo - World’s Fastest Top Mount LDP Pumper
Longboarding for fitness (LDP) has a fairly short history, inside what is still a young sport (skateboarding.
The Olo is is new class of longboard for pumping, an original discovery, and the result of 12 years of further prototyping with input from elite racers before release to the public.
The current “Guitar” Olo shape (wide nose, narrow tail, 2022 and forward) is about 5 ft long. Weighs just 4lbs with grip tape. The older narrow nose (2016 and prior) Olo was about 4ft long, ~5lbs with grip tape. Before that, Eric rode his “punk Olo” (a 6 ft 2x4 from home depot (with the barcode left on). bolted to a small skateboard). He pumped that 2 x 4 to 275 miles and outright won Ultraskate in 2015. We tried just about everything before that year.
The first Balsa Olo (4ft, narrow nose design) was debuted for racing in 2016 at Miami Ultraskate. The year 2016 was strategically chosen to debut the Balsa version of the Olo because it was the first year that drafting and pack racing became legal / neccesary at Ultraskate mostly because our attendance had gone up, causing groups of riders to naturally form.
With the Olo, that is the main racing strategy - not to break wind in the front of the pack, but to pump efficiently and draft the lead pack or support riders who stay in the wings to help you “reattach” to the draft of the lead pack should you get dropped.
In 2016, the $1000 prize for “first to 300 miles” at the 24 hour ultraskate was split between Andy “La Maquina” Andras and Blumenstein Audio team rider Eric “Danger” Palmer. Eric pumped 75% of the ultraskate on his 4ft Olo and pushed 25% on his Pantheon Trip. (He does a flying switch at ~ 12 mph between his tall Olo pumper and his low Pantheon pusher in the pit lane.)
Balsa Olo have been raced in Miami and Dutch Ultraskates since 2016 but were actually an original concept from Blumenstein Audio since 2011.
Aircraft grade balsa. Baltic birch strengthening layers on top and bottom.
Join the exclusive club of living LDP racing legends including Eric, Angel, Jeremiah, and Kenton. Congratulations on getting an Olo!
The Balsa Olo Longboard was named after the largest class of ancient Hawaiian surfboards which are traditionally reserved for royalty. Traditional Olo surfboards are narrow and are typically 16, 17 feet, weigh 200 lbs and beyond. Olo’s are traditionally relief carved from a single tree.
Originally the Olo was geared towards experienced LDP racers. However, my team riders and I eventually realized that the Olo is actually quite easy and fun to ride, even for total beginners. If it’s not too hilly or wet out, Olo is a strong all pump commuter on a nice sunny day that is sure to turn heads as you are pumping your 5ft longboard uphill.
Overall construction / linseed oil finish (same as the speakers) is water resistant but not water proof. I wouldn’t hesitate to race one in the rain, (and then promptly wipe it dry) but probably wouldn’t make a habit of daily commuting on an Olo in the rain (even though the older design has passed that exact long term / weather exposure testing, I still don’t recommend getting them soaking wet regularly).
Why not foam core / carbon fibre construction and all that jazz at $600? The failure modes…just like carbon bicycle front forks or even the Titan submarine disaster (RIP). Now, I’m not guaranteeing the balsa construction can’t possibly break if you karate kick it, but it is, generally speaking, unlikely to catastrophically shatter like carbon fiber or fiberglass / foam core would. And also, speaking from actual riding experience, our current 4lbs deck (with grip) is lightweight enough that the skill/speed of the pumper can be maximized safely during training and racing conditions. 4lbs is already so lightweight for the deck itself across ~5 ft, I’d just suggest training harder if you wanna go faster. I’ve removed as much material from the deck as I feel comfortable with for now and I’ve tested and ridden these the most of anyone else thus far. Even the most cutting edge race cars focus on safety first.
The upcoming run of two (2) Balsa Olos is now sold out. For new orders, there is now a 3-4 month wait period until Olo fulfillment from the time an order is placed. The Balsa wood needs to stabilize after shipment to my environment before gluing and ~3 months is the fastest/safest I can make that process happen. 60 day satisfaction guarantee
Current construction supports approximately 200lbs max (rider plus hydration pack/etc), but I’d be happy to make a stiffer /heavier version or even a slightly smaller version for youth riders who are getting into LDP. Even though you order them on the website, Olo’s are essentially custom made to the rider thru a short interview process. for instance, the relief carving of the footbed is slightly altered according to the rider shoe size.
(add’l photos: The “trophy” deck (not for sale) of an older 4 ft Olo carved by local T'lingit artist Odin Lonning to commemorate Eric and Andy’s feat in attaining 300 miles at 2016 Ultraskate).
What do longboards have to do with speaker designs? In a word, “balance.”
