Landyachtz Stratus Review: A Featherweight & See-Through Dancer

The Landyachtz Stratus deserves a review of its own because it’s likely the most lightweight and flexiest dancer on the market.

The Stratus is designed to be a flatland dancer board and does the job really well, thanks to its very large and super flat shape, incredible flex, large wheel cutouts, and big kicks.

The Stratus comes in three versions: a bamboo version and two special “Hollowtech” versions that have intrigued the dancing community quite a bit. Landyachtz’s Hollowtech construction results in a hollow core deck that makes it astonishingly lightweight, highly bouncy, and beautiful-looking as the deck is actually see-through.

Because of its feather weight, inviting kicks, and snappy response, however, many riders use the Stratus for hardcore jump tricks even though the board is not really designed for heavy abuse, sometimes resulting in premature wear of the deck.

Check out the Landyachtz Stratus reviews and pricing on Amazon

Landyatchz Stratus deck

The Stratus can be defined as a flatland freestyle dancer deck designed to be light and agile. It’s 45″ long and 9.25″ wide with an adjustable wheelbase of 27.5″ to 28.5″.

So while the Stratus is not the biggest dancer out there – e.g. compared to the Loaded Bhangra which is 48″ x 9.5″ with a 32.75″ wheelbase, it offers a nice and large effective foot platform for boardwalking and cross-stepping.

The Stratus is fully symmetrical with big, slightly-concaved 4″ double kicks for manuals, shuvits, and pivots. It’s quite flat in the middle with very little concave for free dancing movements. It has very slight wheel flares and is slightly scooped down at the base of the kicks providing tiny foot pockets for a bit of lock-in when carving or riding fast.

The center of the deck is completely ungripped to provide a smooth surface to move on, as grip often makes your feet stick and get in the way of cross-stepping and pirouette tricks – for comparison, the Loaded Tarab uses cork material to provide stick-free traction between the trucks.

Landyachtz Stratus versions

As mentioned, the Stratus comes in a bamboo version and two Hollowtech versions.

Stratus Hollowtech

The Hollowtech Stratus is the most original and intriguing one. The deck’s hollow core makes it not only extremely lightweight but also super flexy.

Landyachtz manufacturing process involves taking a wood core and hollowing it out into a honeycomb design, which greatly reduces the deck’s weight. For added strength, pre-cured fiberglass layers are then added on the top and bottom of the deck using epoxy material.

The result is a feather light deck that weighs 3.8 lb (5-6 lb complete with trucks and wheels) which is a lot lighter than most dancer boards out there, e.g. about half the weight of the Bhangra! What’s more, the deck is transparent in the light, resulting in a truly beautiful looking longboard.

There are 2 Hollowtech Stratus versions that differ in terms of flex, the red standard flex version, and the blue super-flex version. See below for more about flex.

Stratus Bamboo

Besides the Hollowtech version, Landyachtz also offers a “standard” bamboo version of the Stratus. This version uses bamboo with a Canadian maple core and epoxy resulting in a springy and durable dancer longboard.

The maple core is obviously not as lightweight as the hollow core, however, the bamboo offers a very nice flex profile when dancing and carving on the board. The maple and bamboo core also makes the board stronger and more durable.

Another advantage of the bamboo version is the much more affordable price at slightly over $200 (vs $300+) for the Hollowtech versions.

Hollowtech Stratus flex

The incredible flex of the Hollowtech Stratus, namely the Super-Flex version, arouses everyone’s curiosity.

The great thing about it is that the deck feels relatively firm when you simply stand on it. However, when you apply pressure it responds in a very lively way, though it does not sag or “bottombite” when landing a trick – assuming you’re in the right weight range for your given flex option.

So if you’re simply riding and walking around the board, you don’t feel the flex that much, just a comfortable feel that helps you with edge control and carving. On the other hand, when you jump hard on the board when landing a trick, you find the deck to be highly flexible and springy, which helps absorb the impact and makes the board very lively.

Again, it’s important to choose the right flex option for your weight. If you’re not sure whether to choose the red (standard flex) or blue (superflex) Stratus, go for red if you’re over 170 lb – a snappy and solid board. Though you may prefer a flexier deck even as a heavier rider, avoid choosing blue if you’re over 200lb.

Is the Landyachtz Stratus durable?

There’s a long-running debate in the dancing community regarding the durability of the Stratus. While some find it durable, others complain about the deck not holding up so well over time.

Let me first clarify something: the bamboo/maple “standard” version of the Stratus apparently can take a lot abuse and resist quite well when being thrown around in no-comply and other kick tricks. Thus, the debate about durability is mainly about the (pricier) Hollowtech versions.

It’s also worth mentioning that freestyle dancing in general tends to take a heavy toll on the longboard – an avid dancer may often go through his/her board in as little as 3 or 4 months!

Some Stratus regular users sometimes have qualms regarding the deck’s durability, e.g. the deck starts to splinter after 3-4 months of heavy use.

Due to its very light weight, the Stratus feels highly trickable, easy to kick around and perform heavy flip tricks on. As a result, many riders are tempted to do hardcore tricks and throw the board around hard.

In reality though, the Stratus is primarily meant to be a dancer board (as suggested by the term “flatland freesyle“). Such hardcore kick tricks will put the deck through a lot of abuse it’s not really designed to withstand over time.

Pure dancing riders, on the other hand, confirm the Stratus handles impacts quite well for common dancing and carving use, despite weighing significantly less than your average board in this class. Many riders, including heavier ones (240 lb) have had their Stratus for months and are happy with how it’s held up.

For much heavier riders, e.g. 250+ lb, though they may choose the standard flex (red) Stratus version, there are probably better-suited dancing longboard options out there – such as the indestructible Loaded Tarab (see my review here).

Check out the Landyachtz Stratus reviews here on Amazon

Landyachtz Stratus setup

The Stratus comes equipped with Bear Grizzly GR852 trucks which are excellent carving trucks for dancing and carving – they are my personal favorite trucks for cruising and carving, I’ve been using them for many months on my Landyachtz Chief pintail.

The wheels that come stock with the Stratus are Fatty Hawgs 63mm with a 78A durometer. The Fatties are great cruising and carving soft wheels with a large 50mm contact patch that give you very good roll for your dancing and solid grip for your carving. The 63mm diameter is a good match for the stratus deck to avoid any wheelbite in hard turns.

The Bear and Hawgs brands are owned by Landyachtz so these are high-quality components. The wheels are fitted with very decent Bear Spaceball bearings. Overall a super decent setup out of the box for a pure dancing, carving, and commuting usage.

Final words

The Landyachtz Stratus has made the buzz in the longboard dancing community with it’s astounding Hollowtech version that makes it one of the most lightweight dancers on the market. Its beautiful see-through design and amazing flex make it stand out from the crowd.

At under $350 list price, it’s a relatively affordable dancer considering the advanced technology and features it offers.

If you bear in mind the Stratus is more of a pure dancing board than a true freestyle longboard, you’ll love the novel experience this amazing deck has to offer.