Wakeskate Question

Is the Gate (2004 Hyperlite) the same as the Karma models the past couple of years? Are they decent skates to start with if I could find one used for cheap?

I don't recall if there are many design differences, outside of the weighting. The karma models have extra weight in the nose and tail area, much like a skateboard would have weight in that area from trucks and wheels. Personally, I dont' think it's necessary technology, but whatever, to each his own.

I've never actually ridden a gate, so I couldn't recommend one or anything like that. Logically, I don't think it's really a stand out design because while the kicktails were designed to give you extra leverage for ollies, they're independent from the waterline, and it's like wasted energy when you first have to push the tail down to the water before you get it into the water. Does that make sense? It's designed like a skateboard, but you don't ollie the same way on a skateboard as you do on a wakeskate.

If you simply want to try wakeskating and you can find one cheap, I wouldn't talk you out of it (again, if it's a good price, it's a way to see if you'll like wakeskating or not). Otherwise I'd just try to get a flat deck or a standard concave. When Brandon Thomas was riding that board, he'd modify it by chopping down those massive kicktails, since they were kind of useless anyway.