2012's champion, Valentin Leiber, would stay a podium fixture for years (runner-up in 2015, third in 2016). His win sits right where mass-market toy attention met the core scene's rising technical standard.
Fast Fingers 2012: Valentin Leiber
Germany's Valentin Leiber wins in 2012 — bridging mainstream toy attention and serious pro setups.
Kingpin Editorial6 min read
Champion
GermanyValentin LeiberGermany
- Year
- 2012
- Edition
- FF15(inferred)
- Format
- Live event
- Location
- Germany
The contest
What happened
The gear
Gear & setup trends
This year ties into the pro-setup era: 32mm-plus expectations, wood decks, tuned trucks, better wheels, and purpose-built obstacles.
The scene
Brands & scene
Leiber came up through the German scene riding for brands including Flaked, nordischBrett, and toben&wühlen (per the official 2014 riders list).
The mood
The zeitgeist
Rising YouTube/social visibility, higher trick expectations, and young riders finding the core scene through mass-market toys, then upgrading.
Today
Reading this year’s setups today
Setups from here are firmly modern in shape; stating width, wheel material, and truck brand is genuinely useful, while resale framing should stay cautious.
From the event
References
Numbered references to the brand, retailer, and community pages that back this article. Confidence labels show how firmly each source is established.
- 1.Fast Fingers — History & World Champions
Fast FingersOfficial
Official event history with the year-by-year world-champion list (2008 onward). Frames the contest as becoming the official Fingerboard World Championship in 2008.
Back to citation ↩ - 2.Fast Fingers 17 (2014) — Riders list
Fast FingersOfficial
Official FF17 (2014) riders entry — confirms FF17 = 2014, and lists Valentin Leiber's sponsors (Flaked, nordischBrett, toben&wühlen). Its page answered 404 on 2026-09-19, so the link is retired and the citation kept.
Back to citation ↩ - 3.Valentin Leiber — fingerboard Instagram (@valentinleiber_fb)
InstagramCommunity
His dedicated fingerboard account, linked from his main @valentinleiber profile (eyeball-confirm before relying on it).
Back to citation ↩