Longest running pro model?

Just reading through the photo annual Alliance and in the product review section they talked about the 10th anniversary of Murrays Board and it got me thinking... Is Murrays pro model the longest running pro model without interuption with the same company?

He beats out Byerly because he was on Wake Tech before switching to Hyp.

Darin has moved twice in that same time period.

Parks only really settled in when he moved to Hyp and hasn't been there as long.

Lavelle and Heer don't ride anymore and they were on board when Murray first got his pro model.

Liquid's oldest pro would probably be Necrasson but I'm pretty sure Murray had his board even before the Trip and Gregg apparently doesn't have a signature board this year.

Any one have a longer running pro model with the same company?

yeah murray takes the cake, but if you wanna talk having a pro-model despite sponsor changes, i don't know. i'm thinking between byerly and shapiro.

does it still count if the pro model names changed?

murray to belmont
belmont to temet
temet back to murray

Shouldn't matter. It was always his pro model.

Joe,

Don't forget Belmont to Motive, and Murray to Fluid.

Was the Motive Shaun's pro model, or just another board with the same shape?

actually, motive and fluid aren't "pro" models. (i don't think?)

Sorry to confuse things. I was just pointing out the fact that both designs are still in production.

The Motive was originally the Belmont. The Fluid was the foam core version of his pro Murray shape which was honeycomb core. Today they aren't his pro deck but they are basically his pro shape from a few years previous. The Motive still kills it, there is a reason Nick Heaney still rides it.

(Message edited by stephan on November 21, 2005)

speaking of murray....anyone ridden the new one?....sry hijack

If Murray has had a pro board for 10 years than his first pro board would have been in the HL "BAFF" Bad A$$ Flyin Fish, Cuz in 96 he was on that, or was that 95? I think the first Murray came out in 97?

Funny you should mention that bg. In '96 the whole Hyperlite team was riding the Twin HC(red). The following year('97) Shaun got his own board. The Murray & the Fluid. Both 137 narrow rocket ships.
The Hyperlite Twin HC(Honeycomb)
The Hyperlite Fluid(Foam Core)
The Hyperlite Murray(Honeycomb Core)

(Message edited by stephan on November 21, 2005)

Thats right, I forgot about the Twin. So it must have been 95 when Murray was on the BAFF.

How about the longest running Pro Model, that they didnt change the shape of?

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quote:

How about the longest running Pro Model, that they didnt change the shape of?

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the thruster/o'brien/gator harris.

Joe- When I was coming up with this post I totally had that Harris shape in mind. I couldn't believe when Alliance did a write up about it when it became an obrien deck and in the section about "What we say"- they totally left out the point that it was a recycled mold... I understand why (advertising) but I was dissapointed...

Thomas - they left that out because it wasn't a recycled mold. Yes - it looked the same - but the rocker & molded fins were thinner profile than anything that had been done at that time.

Regardless of it's "Pro" status, the Motive has been around in unchanged form (not counting the name) longer than any board that I know of in production today.

I think the longest running mold has to be the Fluid /Juvi line. The Fluid was introduced as Murray's signature board in '97 and ran through 2004. (For comparison, the Belmont wasn't introduced until 2000.) I thought HO had continued making the board in 2005 but I couldn't find it in the board guide. In my opinion that board is still one of the best all round shapes ever created. Anyone from a first timer to a pro can go out and have a great ride on that board.

.. this is a little off subject but I feel the two most versitile boards from the top two brands out there are the HL Motive/Belmont and the LF Trip.

I'm pretty sure Randy Harris has had a pro model for quite a damn long time to. On top of that, it fundamentally hasn't changed since his Thruster board.

uNF.

that fluid with the finger paint strip (that's waht I call it) is actually the foam core and the highway sign (or whatever) is the honeycomb deck.

it's funny, if you look at an old kryptonics graphic, it's exactly the same as that murray deck, minus the finger paint aspect.

Anyway, I don't think it should matter if the board was changed or not. In all honesty, I'd feel like a pro was cutting himself and his resources short if he didn't strive to find new, useful designs to improve his board.

But yeah, shaun has been loyal to hype...it's been his only sponsor, I believe (courtesy of the legendary eric perez). That's pretty impressive...so I'd say he has the longest running pro model, if it's a requirement that the rider must stay with the same company. Otherwise, scott would have had him beat by a year because he got his first pro model with WT in 1996 (I'm not sure if hyperlite is adding a year from design? Shaun's first board came out in 97--with the breakfast club!). Darin got a model in 1994 with eric perez, so he would have been up there too.

Whoa, I remember seeing that green one when it came out and I wanted it!

electric snow, I'm pretty sure that I have them named correctly above.

When Shaun moved to Florida he got hooked up with Dean Lavelle and rode with him a ton, I think that's how he got hooked up with Hype. Plus at that time you were either with Hype or Wake Tech or riding asomething obsolete. LF was just coming out and O'Brien was just getting into the twin tip game.

You can't forget about the Mikker, he has had a pro model forever. He & Weddington had Full Tilt Pro Models in '96. He still has the Clutch over at O'Brien, if all companies are included the Mikker takes it in my book, as there has been one year (2000)since '96 that he didn't have a board. Darin, despite being with Hype since '94 was out of it for a year or two with an ankle injury, then rode the Heretic in '99 until his Answer came out in '00. Now he rides the Team for LF.

So I just checked it out & Zane comes in a close second to Shaun. He has had a promodel @ CWB since '98. Damn.

Despite being only 24 I was obsessed with this sport a long time ago!!

(Message edited by stephan on November 23, 2005)

Zane was a big miss on overyones part really... I can't believe I never thought about him. Good pull... And Cobe is right there too but that one year absent kills the original title claim of having the longest running pro model with the same company...

And as far as the board labelling above you are correct... Sorry ESnow.

You all forgot about Shane Bonifay. He's had a pro model since '98 w/ LF. Now granted Murray has had one a year longer(since '97) but Im honestly a little baffled none of ya thought of him when you said "Parks...wait no he switched from Connelly to FM(free motion remember that ••••••• HL." I know Shane was the first rider to come to mind. Maybe cause Ive had every one of his boards since then... ••••••••• am i doing I should be sending that one thing in for biggest fan of Shane. Gotta go!

Wow, I still have that red and black HL twin in my garage. Kind of a trip to see a picture of it! Is that relic worth anything?

I believe Harris first board was SOUND. 1996
I still have the hat.

Troy, didn't you have some shots in wbm/launch in like the mid 90s, or was that someone else? And isn't there a lavonn lindstrom? maybe I"m thinking of someone else, but your name is familiar.

I was a fan of sound as well. I have a hoodie, a tshirt, a catalog, and that old promo video they made.