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Old Skateboarders...

I have one gold-coloured Gullwing truck.... they cost a bomb but did not turn. The ACS 651's were way better. I went on to Thunder trucks for a while and I have been on Indys (Independent) for the last 20 years, bought a pair of purple indies for my downhill pintail when I was in the states last. I do have an original set of 70mm Red Kryps. that I still use - amazingly they have not coned out! My favs were Alva Rocks that slid very predictably.
 
The whole point of the early Gull Wing trucks, the original split-axle and Phoenix, was that you could adjust the pivot angle and set the turning characteristics to taste. The design flaw initially was that the kingpin bent real easy, though this was later fixed with a pressed steel support plate that supported the other end of the bolt. The Phoenix on my RMI board look pretty turny to me, though they are a fairly narrow truck, rather different to ACS 651s, Tracker Full Tracks etc. I always viewed the wider and even more expensive Gull Wing split-axles as the sort of thing you'd stick on a G&S Fiberflex and do fast hill descents on, they weren't a bowl or pipe-riding truck. I never actually rode any of either type as they were so expensive I didn't even know anyone with a pair. I can't remember seeing them in the shops either, only the magazines.
 
When I moved to Plymouth from Manchester in '06 I left my board behind, never expecting to skate again. But I discovered a longboarding scene here and started over. I used to make boards for shops in Bolton and London back in the day; mine was sycamore ply with a melamine bottom layer, all epoxied (not polyester resin). It was about 30" long with a kicktail, cos I wanted a slow turning and stable board for bowl riding. Can't remember the trucks but it had Sims green snakes or Bones (I think) wheels depending. I went back to the old house when I realised I wanted to skate again, but it had been binned! :mad:
 
Tony L said:
I'd not let my Kryps go, I've had them far too long and that Taperflex board is just such a nice display piece. I do however have a NOS set of 65mm green Tunnel Rocks (proper 70s ones, not a reissue) that I might let go. One has a bit of a manufacturing moulding blemish, but that wouldn't be an issue if you wanted to skate 'em, it would be gone with a few miles. IIRC they were a very hard and fast wheel in their time, they feel at least as hard as the green Kryps.
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OK Cheers Tony. I'll have a think about the Tunnel Rocks.
 
Gullwing Phoenix did not turn = poor but expensive. all skateboard stuff was outrageously expensive in the 70's
I had a set of Powell white Bones wheels and they were £6.95 each in 1978 without bearings (another £2 a wheel) - I bought them 2nd hand at £3 each which was still nuts.
I did have a G & S Fibreflex which was fantastic.
A decent set-up in 1977-1978 was getting on for £100
 
Sorry to gatecrash the thread, but I have two young boys aged 6 and 8 who want skateboards for Christmas and I have no idea what to buy them. Where should I start looking?
 
If I was 30 years younger and riding a board today I'd be all over Stereo Sound Agency kit - any skate company who have a t-shirt that just says 'Listen To Coltrane' has to be alright! Great deck and wheel designs, mostly recycled from old vinyl logos etc. A few years back they had some really cool wheels based on Impulse and Blue Note labels!
 
And have a little look at Jason Lee showing off his stereo boards on you tube as well.

(damn, can't find the link I had, anyway it's late)

Edit: I had an Ideal Flyer in green, that horrible thing from Argos, then one of those plastic boards.

Mark
 
Lots of great Stereo (and skateboarding content in general) on YouTube. Some good stuff on Netflix too.

I assume there are folk here either younger than me or who kept going longer and into the 80s and 90s. One thing I really don't get is the board changes to the modern form. The decks make total sense, kind of an evolution from the 'rockers' that were just starting to come in when I was doing it. Having a 'back' and 'front' to a board as things were in my day was just daft really unless you were just into downhill speed or whatever. The thing I don't understand is the trucks and wheels. Looking at modern skaters either in the street or on video and the wheels sound absolutely rock hard like the crappy plastic ones that were around before polyethylene, they just seem to rattle and skid along the pavement, plus they look like a small diameter so surely catch on every imperfection. I remember my 70mm Kryps just gliding real quietly on pavement and having a real grip you could lean into (red Kryps were softer and grippier, and even quieter, though slower). So why have folk ended up back with noisy little hard wheels that don't seem to grip too well? I'd have thought grip was essential for some of the crazy stuff folk are able to do these days (hardly any of it had even been invented in my day!).

Trucks baffle me too; modern ones seem very wide, yet look pretty stiff and don't look good at turning. I know the whole scene has changed and what I did was far closer to what is now the longboard scene, but I'm not getting the evolution progress here. It must work as it looks all but standardised now, at least for the last ten or fifteen years, and the stuff folk can do on them is just astounding. Everything kit-wise looks pretty much identical bar the artwork whereas there was huge diversity back in the 70s with no standard form for boards, trucks or wheels beyond the actual mounting hardware.
 
John Channing said:
From my youth, there was a second wave of skateboarding popularity in 85-86 when I got a board which was bigger than the plastic deck affairs I remember from the late 70s. These days I quite enjoy riding a Micro Black kick scooter and can cover a lot of ground on it very rapidly.
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I too ride a Micro scooter, a Monster Bullet carving scooter. It's great fun, I can garve and swoosh arcs down driveways alongside my kids on their Micro scooters.

Skateboarding? My first board was in '77. I continued to upgrade from the plastic deck to fibreglass bendy board (Edwards), 'edgeflex' wheels, wider trucks (local copies of Trackers), sealed precision bearings. I still remember drilling out the virgin freglass deck with my Dad, to mount the trucks. He taught me about measuring, counter-sinking. Used to ride around the neighbourhood with my mates, find smooth seal to ride. I stopped riding around '81. My high school had a large bowl specifically built... around '80/'81. I tried it a few times on on the modern US boards my schoolmates had, I hadn't the nerve! I had that board until the early 90's, lent it to a friend and his car was nicked... along with my old board.

The modern decks are cool. I've been tempted by a long-board of late. Then I realise I'd just be a 'fast-approaching-50' wannabe hipster**, and I come to my senses #8 ) I'll stick to my scooter.

** where I work, there are plenty of hipsters with neatly-trimmed long beards, neat v-neck jerseys and office attire, carrying their boards into the corporate office with them.

PS - I recently saw a really interesting doco about the rise of skateboarding in East Germany through the late-70's called "This aint California" - recommended watching. Actually, I'll upgrade that to *excellent*. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2113090/
 
I was thinking today that with the self-balancing trickery in the hoverboards there's a market out there for skateboards with "stability control" for middle aged dads who want to try to recapture their cool youth while not ending up in the emergency room.

I could never balance on a skateboard so I'll stick to skates.
 
Skates are terrifying things, you can't jump off the damn things when it all goes horribly wrong! Give me a skateboard any day!
 
I briefly ran T-bones on the street. They were hard which mean you could have a lot of fun sliding around. After a summer of a jarring ride the novelty wore off. Going back to G-bones was like catching a ride in a limo.
 
Stacey petalta warp tail 2

Trucker mid flex(?) trucks

Power flex wheels

How did i get 51 years old?

Still I have a linn / apple / naim / ruark ****off hifi

Which is not so bad

:)
 
That's a seriously good setup, real top-end kit. Have you still got it?

PS The Trackers would have been Midtracks.
 
Rico said:
The modern decks are cool. I've been tempted by a long-board of late. Then I realise I'd just be a 'fast-approaching-50' wannabe hipster**, and I come to my senses #8 ) I'll stick to my scooter.
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Ah, but when you're in your 60s and still skating you get to be called a legend by the local kids. At least I think that's what I heard; it was definitely something-end. :cool:
 
Powell Peralta have put all their videos up on youtube.

Put in 'Bones Brigade'

11 videos Starting with Powell Peralta Presents: The Bones Brigade Video Show (1984 ! wow)

magic.


 
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