We could all love Liberty Stroll’s F40 bodykit for the Autozam AZ-1, however the firm presents a package for the real article Ferrari F40 too — a package that Liberty Stroll has now determined to honor with a mechanical keyboard collab. I do know, that sounds absurd, however it’s really extra becoming than you may assume.
There’s a large crossover between automobile fanatics and keyboard fanatics. Certain, to many the concept of a “keyboard fanatic” sounds comical, however the identical will be stated for automobile of us within the higher world. All of us like intricate engineering tasks which are 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, nevertheless, has some extra information:
“It is a piece of JDM heritage that lives in your desk,” stated Caleb Chandra, co-founder of Authentic Konbini. “We need to deliver the eagerness and delightful modifications of those machines to your house, an extension of affection for probably the most iconic builds in latest JDM historical past.”
As for the keyboard itself, its case is produced from two milled blocks of aluminum that have been then coated in an off-white coloration just 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, that means they’ve a noticeable engagement level which you can really feel within the keystroke. Nonetheless, we do understand it’s a wired USB-C keyboard with RGB backlighting and a 75%-ish profile. For non-keyboard nerds, the latter implies that it has operate and arrow keys however no quantity pad or page-up and page-down buttons. The Liberty Stroll livery appears to be like nice, too, with its easy black-over-white principal keys, black house bar with “Slammed” on it, and the Japanese flag on the enter key.
That title, Caleb Chandra, offers us a bit extra info to go on. Chandra can be the founding father of smooth 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 appears to be like unique.
Most attention-grabbing is the declare of low-profile tactile switches and RGB lighting. That would imply the board makes use of Gateron low-profile SMD-compatible switches, both in brown or banana taste. My day by day driver board — a customized handwired Alice-style cut up 60 p.c — makes use of full-profile Gateron Milky Browns, and so they’re a wonderful swap. This Liberty Stroll collab could find yourself feeling nearly as good because it appears to be like.
The worlds of vehicles and keyboards aren’t so totally 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.
