We could all love Liberty Stroll’s F40 bodykit for the Autozam AZ-1, however the firm provides a equipment for the real article Ferrari F40 too — a equipment that Liberty Stroll has now determined to honor with a mechanical keyboard collab. I do know, that sounds absurd, however it’s truly extra becoming than you would possibly assume.
There’s a large crossover between automobile fans and keyboard fans. Certain, to many the thought of a “keyboard fanatic” sounds comical, however the identical might be mentioned for automobile of us within the higher world. All of us like intricate engineering initiatives which might be dismissed by others as mere home equipment. I’m not simply saying this to justify my roughly 5 keyboards. That’s an affordable variety of keyboards to personal, I swear.
The keyboard is a collab between Liberty Stroll and Authentic Konbini, a model that doesn’t seem to exist exterior the collab. Its Instagram account has no posts earlier than the Liberty Stroll keyboard, and its web site requires a password for something greater than submitting your e mail for keyboard updates. “Konbini” comes from the Japanese comfort retailer, however transliterating the Authentic Konbini title into hiragana returns no outcomes. The Drive, nonetheless, has some extra data:
“This can be a piece of JDM heritage that lives in your desk,” mentioned Caleb Chandra, co-founder of Authentic Konbini. “We wish to convey the fervour and delightful modifications of those machines to your house, an extension of affection for one of the iconic builds in current JDM historical past.”
As for the keyboard itself, its case is created from two milled blocks of aluminum that have been then coated in an off-white colour much like the tuner’s F40. It makes use of low-profile mechanical switches and keycaps, however there’s no phrase on who makes them or their specs. The one swap element offered is that they’re tactile switches, which means they’ve a noticeable engagement level that you would be able to really feel within the keystroke. Nevertheless, we do understand it’s a wired USB-C keyboard with RGB backlighting and a 75%-ish profile. For non-keyboard nerds, the latter signifies that it has operate and arrow keys however no quantity pad or page-up and page-down buttons. The Liberty Stroll livery seems to be nice, too, with its easy black-over-white most important keys, black house bar with “Slammed” on it, and the Japanese flag on the enter key.
That title, Caleb Chandra, provides us a bit extra data to go on. Chandra can also be the founding father of glossy keyboard outfit Monokei, however none of that firm’s PCBs appear to match up with the brand new Authentic Konbini format. The Kei appears closest, however it’s lacking a button within the first row — the Liberty Stroll board seems to be unique.
Most fascinating is the declare of low-profile tactile switches and RGB lighting. That might imply the board makes use of Gateron low-profile SMD-compatible switches, both in brown or banana taste. My every day driver board — a customized handwired Alice-style break up 60 % — makes use of full-profile Gateron Milky Browns, they usually’re a superb swap. This Liberty Stroll collab could find yourself feeling pretty much as good because it seems to be.
The worlds of vehicles and keyboards aren’t so completely different, and if this Liberty Stroll collab bridges that hole then it might imply extra followers of each communities. I, for one, assume that’s a plus.
