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Old Skateboarders...

Tony L said:
There were two distinct generations of Kryptonics, yours sound like the first generation, which I bet are worth a fortune now in good condition! The second generation were the lime-green ones with rounder edges, you can see a set of 70mm on my Taperflex board back upthread somewhere. IIRC the hardness was similar between ranges; red soft, blue mid, green hard. I was more a downhill speed freak than having any discernible trick skills so I went with the largest greens as they really shifted!

PS With ACS 651 that sounds bang on for slalom. What deck style did you have?
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Arghh. Now I really am annoyed they have gone AWOL! ( I really liked those wheels. My wife wrote a song once, which included the line "...skateboard wheels and handlebars" after I had showed her my treasure trove of stuff I was keeping for future projects)

I'd describe the deck style as "fish" shaped (a bit like your RMI pictured at the start of this thread). Flat on top. Rounded edges. The kick-tail was a slim wedge glued and screwed on, then sanded upwards on the underside to simulate the real thing. Maybe not the best slalom shape but it worked well for me. It was made from an old side-board (parents went mental) I "found" at the back of the garage. The plywood worked well and I thought it looked quite handsome with a dark polyurethane varnish and grip tape on top.

My first skateboard was a bit of wood with a friend's sister's "borrowed" roller-skate separated and nailed to the bottom. Bent-over nails were the fixture of choice for many projects.
 
snowflake said:
My mam wouldn't let me have a skateboard, as she viewed them as dangerous.........

So in my mid 30's I'm working in York, and it dawns on me that the riverside path I walk down every day would be suitable for boarding down and speed up my commute. So off to world of skateboards, bought board and pads, charming man said I wouldn't need a lid yet, as I wouldn't be doing stunts. On reflection this was not the best advice.

So...I was working in the railtrack offices in York, think its a fancy hotel now, but anyways built in the halcyon days of colonialism it had a wonderful smooth tiled floor and massive long corridors. So I manage to scoot up and down the corridors, but I couldn't turn, I assumed you leaned a bit left/right and the board turned in obedience.

This was not the case, so I popped back in the office and consulted a young person who said I was going to slow to lean, at this speed you had to kick the board round.

So I scoots up the corridor, gets to the main reception area and shifts my foot towards the back of the board and it just shot off like a missile into the wall and I launched into free fall, fortunately the back of my head made contact with the floor first and broke my fall, think I was out cold for about half a minute. The receptionist said she had worked there for thirty years and seen nothing like it.....

Thus endeth the foray into skateboarding....its appears my dear old mum was actually right :)

S
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You're making me nervous Snowflake. My son has a skateboard and refuses to wear either of the helmets that I bought for him. He's 22yrs old, knows everything, is immortal and "won't fall off", so it's probably OK.
 
wulbert said:
You're making me nervous Snowflake. My son has a skateboard and refuses to wear either of the helmets that I bought for him. He's 22yrs old, knows everything, is immortal and "won't fall off", so it's probably OK.
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He's 22, of course he's immortal - I was at 22! He may also have the advantage of being able to skateboard! My little tale was my first ever drive of one :)

S
 
wulbert said:
You're making me nervous Snowflake. My son has a skateboard and refuses to wear either of the helmets that I bought for him. He's 22yrs old, knows everything, is immortal and "won't fall off", so it's probably OK.
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Sure, he won't fall. Just tell him I'm a climber, mountaineer and cyclist, on and off road. I have 2 smashed helmets, complete with bloodstains where I got injured in spite of the helmet. An Edelrid Carbon, caught a rock on the N Face of the Lenspitze, 2001 ish, and a Specialized that's been through a Toyota Starlets windscreen at about 40 mph, Otley Road, 2009. I've still got the scars, without a helmet either time I'd be dead. If he still doesn't wear a helmet, that's fine. It's his head.
 
wulbert said:
The Kryptonics were 60mm IIRC, a beautiful translucent green
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They are the early version, later they were opaque. Worth a bomb now.
I have some ACS 651’s, 430’s and 540’s. The wider ones were sort after as decks got wider towards the end of the 70’s - like Full Trackers, which eventually you could get extensions for.

I have a link somewhere to all the Skateboard! mags that have been digitalised.


wulbert said:
Simms Taperkick, Gull-Wing trucks and white "Bones" wheels. Jammy sod. When he ordered his board ("Please allow 28 days for delivery") he was accidentally sent an extra set of four wheels which he refused to give/sell to me ( I had none at the time) preferring to keep them "good" in a cupboard.
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The Sims Taperkick was a thing of beauty!
The Powell-Peralta Bones cost about £6-7 EACH without bearings (at least a quid each and 2 per wheel required.
That makes the wheels about £30 each in today’s money. I have some price lists somewhere from Alpine Sports and Surrey Skates, I think the Taperkick was between £30-40 back then - insane prices.

I couldn’t afford new, and bought second-hand gear!
 
stevec67 said:
I glanced down to see the family jewels lying on the side of the pool
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:)

I made my own Skate shorts, one day we went to Kidderminster skate park and spent a day there. I could feel a bit of a draught downstairs, and my old man had worked its way out of my shorts, smack where the fly would be if I had made one… I had been skating for ages like that - the shorts were bright pink with potato print bright yellow and red splotches all over them, so I don’t think anyone noticed… (cold day anyhoo!)
 
Big Tabs said:
me at Manchester Ardwick centre ramp 1986

peteroseArdwickcentreManchester86_zpsc798ab32.jpg


and Broadmarsh banks Nottingham about 1990 mid 360 varial frontside footplant

peteroseBroadmarshbanks89_zps0694019e.jpg


and about 1984 on a G&S fibreflex with ACS 651's and original Powell Bones wheels.... (nice hair)
DSCF5820_zps8744ae8f.jpg


2004 frontside air

skate017_zps7083a8fc.jpg
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yeah boi
 
If anyone has old copies of Sk8 Action magazine, I am looking for an issue that has a piece I wrote called ‘Wot Transition’ - it has a picture of me doing a rock n roll on a garden gate, and a small picture of my son who was very young at the time.
I cannot remember which issue it is - about 1990 time. The copy of the magazine that I have is missing the front cover and I can’t identify the issue number.

I am willing to cough up the cash for this mag. :)
 
@wulbert I have a set of 70mm Red Kryptonics. Not currently on a deck.

Green were good if the surface was smooth.

yellow Alley Cat wheels were always a dream wheel of mine as the durometer was super soft, a lot softer than Red Kryptonics. Amazing in wet weather and rough terrain, but they would delaminate/chunk off as they were soo soft.
Also I wanted some Belair Lip Bombs. Lovely wheels.
I did have a set of Alva Rocks - they slid really well, dead easy to predict the slide.

I find it very easy to feel a trick just by thinking of it, especially Air’s and Slides.
 
Amusingly someone is selling almost exactly the board I used to ride on eBay here. A Pacer fibreglass deck, ACS580s and green Kryptonics. The only difference is my Kryptonics were 70mm and my riser pads transparent red. I think I’ve still got the deck in the cellar somewhere, but it is really trashed. Still got the wheels (on the far more appropriate TaperPro pictured upthread with wider ACS 650 trucks).
 
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Big Tabs said:
@wulbert I have a set of 70mm Red Kryptonics. Not currently on a deck.

Green were good if the surface was smooth.

yellow Alley Cat wheels were always a dream wheel of mine as the durometer was super soft, a lot softer than Red Kryptonics. Amazing in wet weather and rough terrain, but they would delaminate/chunk off as they were soo soft.
Also I wanted some Belair Lip Bombs. Lovely wheels.
I did have a set of Alva Rocks - they slid really well, dead easy to predict the slide.

I find it very easy to feel a trick just by thinking of it, especially Air’s and Slides.
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Funny, I'd always thought of the Alley Cat as just cheapo board. A guy down my street had one. Didn't realise that the wheels were soft. That would have helped with all the red driveway chips and roughcast gravel that was strewn about our 1970's housing estate. As well as the cold Scottish rain. Coming to a dead stop on gravel was no fun.
Those Lip Bombs were very desirable.
My brother had the Red Kryptonics. More comfy than mine. They were marked "CD" for Cosmetic Defect, must have got them a bit cheaper.
 
Tony L said:
Amusingly someone is selling almost exactly the board I used to ride on eBay here. A Pacer fibreglass deck, ACS580s and green Kryptonics. The only difference is my Kryptonics were 70mm and my riser pads transparent red. I think I’ve still got the deck in the cellar somewhere, but it is really trashed. Still got the wheels (on the far more appropriate TaperPro pictured upthread with wider ACS 650 trucks).
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£300! I've just bought a car off my brother for less than that. They are so iconic these old boards though. Made to be looked at, as well as ridden. To me, they are like miniature sports or supercars.
 
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wulbert said:
Funny, I'd always thought of the Alley Cat as just cheapo board.
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IIRC Alley Cat were a UK company that actually targeted crappy UK weather so their wheels were designed for 1970s pavements in the rain!

wulbert said:
£300! I've just bought a car off my brother for less than that.
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I’d not checked the market for a long while now, but that still seems well over to me. If it was NOS, then yes, maybe more, but its pretty shabby and well worn so not a display piece. Pacer were never a top brand; it’s a starter deck with upgraded trucks and wheels. It is worth whatever a pair of used green Kryptonics and ACS 580s are worth these days, maybe £20 for the deck. Note the Pacer deck has the small-footprint truck holes, it came with little ACS 430s and Pacer’s own loose-bearing wheels. The thing that amused me was someone had upgraded that one pretty much identically to the way I did mine. The odds of that have to be really remote as most folk would have upgraded the deck too.

High-end NOS stuff really is worth some cash and has been for a long while, e.g. someone is asking £1.3k for this stunning G&S Fibreflex, Gullwing Phoenix and red Kryptonics (eBay). Even so I’d say that was over, but I could easily believe it was worth £900-£1k as I’ve seen Phoenix make over £300 (the wider split-axle Gullwings are worth a lot more!), likewise NOS G&S decks and Kryps. All obviously crazy rare now 45-50 years later. This and some ‘80s boards (not my knowledge area) is the real collector end of the market.
 
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wulbert said:
Funny, I'd always thought of the Alley Cat as just cheapo board. A guy down my street had one. Didn't realise that the wheels were soft. That would have helped with all the red driveway chips and roughcast gravel that was strewn about our 1970's housing estate. As well as the cold Scottish rain. Coming to a dead stop on gravel was no fun.
Those Lip Bombs were very desirable.
My brother had the Red Kryptonics. More comfy than mine. They were marked "CD" for Cosmetic Defect, must have got them a bit cheaper.
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The deck was shite, but the wheels:cool:

I can still feel them, they made a particular noise when pumping as they gripped like nothing else. Sort of whooshing noise. I must point out that they were useless for ramps/pipes etc. and only good for cruising.
 
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