Cruzade Skateboards: Old-School Attitude and Modern Technology Made in Europe
Cruzade Skateboards was founded in Spain with a very specific vision: to bring back all the aesthetics, character, and personality of 1980s and 1990s skateboards to modern skateboarding without sacrificing today’s technology.
From the very beginning, the brand has stood out for its aggressive old-school shapes, unconventional graphics, and a strong underground identity that immediately evokes skateboarding’s most creative era.
But Cruzade isn’t just a brand for old-school board enthusiasts. The Spanish brand also develops modern popsicles, cruisers, unique wheel shapes, and setups designed for every type of skater.
From pure street to bowl, including park, cruising, and transition skating, Cruzade offers extremely versatile boards while maintaining highly competitive prices.
One of the key factors behind the brand’s rapid growth across Europe is its exceptional value for money. Cruzade boards are crafted with professional-grade materials and top-tier construction while remaining affordable even for younger skaters or those seeking a serious setup without breaking the bank.
Behind the brand stands the legendary HLC Distribution, one of the world’s leading skateboard manufacturers. In fact, the same factory produces boards for some of the most famous brands on the international scene, ensuring extremely high quality standards for Cruzade.
The graphics are another major strength of the brand. Wild illustrations, ’80s colors, horror, fantasy, and vintage comic book influences make every Cruzade board instantly recognizable. An aesthetic that manages to blend old-school nostalgia and modern skateboarding in a truly original way.
Cruzade Skateboards and HLC’s Production Quality
When discussing Cruzade, it’s essential to understand how crucial HLC’s production is to the project. The Spanish factory is considered one of the best skateboard factories in the world and has built decks for numerous historic international brands over the years.
Cruzade was born as one of the creations of the Raiola family, already known for founding Jart Skateboards. The goal was to develop a brand that was more creative, more colorful, and more rooted in old-school and cruiser influences without sacrificing the technical quality of modern boards.
Cruzade decks are built using the highest quality Canadian maple sourced from certified sustainable forests. Added to this is the special European production formula developed by HLC, which uses water-based glues that are less harmful to both the environment and factory workers.
One of the most interesting aspects of Cruzade’s construction is the “Single Deck Press” system. Unlike cheaper industrial production methods, where many decks are pressed simultaneously, HLC uses a single press for each deck. This allows for more precise shapes, more consistent pop, and virtually identical quality from deck to deck.
The end result is an extremely durable, responsive, and long-lasting skateboard deck. And it is precisely for this reason that Cruzade has managed over the years to build an ever-growing fan base across Europe.
In fact, many skaters have discovered the brand while searching for a board with professional-grade quality but a much more original personality compared to the more mainstream American brands.
Old-school shapes, cruisers, and creative skateboarding
One of the best things about Cruzade Skateboards is the huge variety of shapes in the collection. The Spanish brand doesn’t limit itself to classic modern popsicles but continues to develop old-school boards, cruisers, and experimental shapes inspired by the history of skateboarding.
For those who love ’80s skateboarding, Cruzade is practically the perfect brand. Wheel wells, short noses, wide tails, asymmetrical shapes, and wild outlines are part of the company’s DNA. But at the same time, the brand also offers modern boards perfect for technical street skating and everyday use.
This ability to combine creative skateboarding with modern performance is one of the main reasons Cruzade has grown so rapidly in recent years.
Cruzade wheels also follow the same philosophy. The brand produces wheels designed for street, bowl, park, and cruising, available in various shapes and hardnesses. The compounds used guarantee excellent speed, control, and resistance to flatspots—essential characteristics for those who skate seriously every day.
The entire Cruzade aesthetic evokes a very free and spontaneous skate scene, where having fun, experimenting, and developing a personal style matter more than strictly following the rules of the mainstream market.
And it is likely this very independent spirit that has made the brand so highly regarded in the European scene.
The Cruzade Skateboards Team and the New Spanish Scene
In recent years, Cruzade Skateboards has also built a very interesting team composed of young skaters from all over Spain. Riders like Ian Campbell, Aitor Perez, Iraia Escobar, Sergio Cadena, Naxto Aquado, and Hugo Garcias perfectly embody the brand’s fresh and creative identity.
After the pandemic, the team finally returned to skating together, producing one of the most important video projects in the company’s recent history: the tour video shot entirely at spots in and around Barcelona alongside filmmakers Pedro Vias and Paola Flore.
That project perfectly showcased the direction of Cruzade Skateboards: fun, technical, stylish skateboarding deeply rooted in European skate culture.
The brand continues to grow while maintaining a very family-oriented and independent mindset, far removed from the overly commercial logic of many large modern companies.
Cruzade Skateboards at Pleasures Milano
At Pleasures Milano, Cruzade Skateboards perfectly embodies the most creative, colorful, and authentic side of modern European skateboarding.
Whether you’re looking for an old-school board, a technical popsicle, a stylish cruiser, or a skateboard deck with professional construction and wild graphics, Cruzade offers one of the best combinations of quality, design, and price on the skate market today.
Because Cruzade isn’t just a skateboard brand.
It’s a true declaration of love for the freest, most creative, and most fun skateboarding.
