Skateboarder Shoes and Stuff

Trucks

2006-12-12T00:59:00.000-08:00

Trucks, or axles, are what hold the wheels on the board. They are a very durable part of your complete they are the surface you grind on, and they allow you to turn. To know about them is pretty important, so lets get started: There are four major parts to a truck, the hangar/axle, kingpin, bushing, and the base plate.

The base plate is the part that gets fastened to your board (important note: when putting your trucks on, kingpins face in!!!!! if you don't do this, then you will lean one way and turn another! You will fall!!) The kingpin is the big bolt that comes up through the base plate. This is the bolt that you can adjust to make your trucks looser or tighter. It is also the part of the truck that tends to break the most. It's a pain in the ass, but they can be replaced. The bushings, or pivot bushings, are what the kingpin tightens down. They come in a few different hardnesses. With use and abuse, these will crack. After they crack, they are difficult to keep tight. Fortunatley, Shorty's and a few other companies sell replacement bushings that differ in hardness, so you can customize your trucks so that they are comfortable for you. The hangar is the last piece of the puzzle. It's the part you grind on. It interlocks around the kingpin and bushings. The thing that sticks out from either side is the axle (it's where your wheels go, eh?). A common problem with trucks is a problem known as "axle slip". This is when you try to kick flip, and land 'primo' (see skate glossary), and your axle slips (duh), resulting in one locked wheel, and one loose wheel. Axle slip sucks. If you don't have a skate tool on you, and this happens, you can temporarily fix it by banging it back into place. Fair warning, though, this just makes it worse in the long run.

Don't let anyone tell you how to ride your trucks, in fact, don't even listen to them. Find out what is comfortable for you. Some people like really tight trucks, some people like loose trucks. It differs person-to-person. I will say, though, that many people like them loose for carving, but a bit tighter for flip tricks (it's a bit easier to balance with slightly tight trucks, but its very important to be able to turn). A popular style is to keep the back truck slightly tighter, for ollie stability, but it's all up to you. And that's the beauty of it all.

Of course, one of the biggest factors in determining which trucks to get is the weight. Nobody wants heavy trucks, or do they? Some companies have created ways to lighten the weight of the truck, while keeping the durability. Grind Kings and Thunders are on the lighter side, while Independent and Destroyer are heavier. Keep in mind that almost all trucks fall between 10 and 13 ounces. If you really think that taking six ounces off your board will make you skate better, go for it. But maybe you should close your eyes and see if you can tell the difference. Most trucks are available in a few different widths, as well. Which one is right for you? Well, if it's too big, you'll look like a turtle, and if its too small, you won't be able to see them while riding. Your truck bolts should be flush with your board, so it depends on what size board you ride. Get it?

In the past few years, there have been many different variations on trucks, to provide a bit of diversity to your board. For example, Tensor Trucks offer a plastic piece in the base plate, to assist with tricks like nose slides and tail slides. Many manufacturers offer their trucks in both "hi" and "low", meaning a raised or lowered kingpin, which can affect overall grinding area. Some companies offer a non-slip axle guarantee. Like shoes, your trucks may take a few days to 'break in' properly, or for you to get used to them. Once they are broken in, though, you will get a feel for what you like and what you don't like. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Andy Mac Zon Complete Skateboard (7.625 x 31.625)

2006-12-07T02:01:00.000-08:00

Designed by world champion skateboarder Andy Macdonald, Andy Mac Skateboards are extremely high quality at an affordable price. The boards are suitable for beginning skateboard enthusiasts as well as advanced skaters.

Manufactured by Skate One Corporation, a leading skateboard builder for 29 years, the Andy Mac Zon Skateboard has been carefully designed and developed using the highest-quality materials and manufacturing equipment.

A Message from Andy Macdonald

Skateboarding has always been, first and for most, about having fun. As a professional, I've always wanted to be able to give back to the sport that has given me so much. One way to do that is to make skateboarding--fun skateboarding--more accessible to more kids. That's the idea behind Andy Mac Skateboards.

The age at which kids begin skateboarding has become much younger in the past five years. In most instances, these new skaters are not buying their boards at specialty skate shops. Rather, they get their board where their parents shop--at a discounter, mass merchandiser or a sporting goods chain. Most all skateboards found at these retailers are designed as toys, not sports equipment, meaning the quality and
performance is poor, and the experience of using them not fun.

And I was getting pretty tired of seeing kids
have a bad first experience on their new skateboard.

"Toy" skateboards are available just about everywhere these days and they cost about twenty bucks. Although they look like true skateboards, they definitely are not. A real skateboard turns when you want it to turn and has wheels that grip and roll smoothly. Traditionally, the only place to find such a product was in a specialty shop, where even a first-time skater must spend more than a hundred dollars for a "complete" board. That’s a lot of money for a new skater or their parent to spend--more than most can afford. That's where my brand comes in.

An Andy Mac complete costs $59.99 and is the perfect entry-level
skateboard. These are real boards--the same exact board I ride when I street skate. And I even use a modified version of this board in all my vert competitions! I spent two years developing this board with Powell Skateboards, a company that has been building skateboards for almost thirty years. The idea was that if we can build it good enough for me, it’ll be good enough for any new skater.

I want kids to have an awesome first experience skateboarding and I know my boards can provide that. My hope is that kids all over the world will discover the same fun and enjoyment I get from skateboarding every day.

So enjoy, and please let me know how you like this board. There is truly no other board on the market like it.

Peace,
Andy Macdonald

DC Shoes Women's Court Graffik

2006-11-28T01:27:00.000-08:00

Product Description
Clean, technical, and professional grade skate shoes by DC with bold logo details. Smooth action leather or sport suede upper in a clean skate style, with a rounded plain toe, stitching, overlay and perforation accents, and a large, bold stitched DC side logo. Lace up front, with a padded tongue and collar. Soft fabric lining, cushioned insole, and a shock absorbing midsole. Color accented sticky rubber outsole with DC's "pill" traction pattern.

Do I Need to Wear Shoes When I Skate?

2006-11-08T00:28:00.000-08:00

Yes, you do! Unless you have incredible callouses on the bottoms of your feet, I would recommend wearings shoes. You know what, even if you DO have super tough feet - wear shoes! There is just so much that can go wrong while skateboarding that, without shoes, you are just asking for it. I mean, if you really want to, it's your deal, but I suggest shoes!

This question comes up a lot with longboarders. I have a buddy named Kyle who, in the first week of learning how to longboard, decided to ride wearing flip-flops instead of shoes. Bad idea. His hand looks like hamburger now, and he's going to have a large nasty scar on his elbow. Plus, as a bonus, his brand new flip-flops are completely destroyed.

It's funny now, but in all seriousness, he could have been hurt badly. Wear shoes.
But do I Need "Skate" Shoes?

Ah. Here's where it gets dicey. Technically, no, you don't need skate shoes. You could wear army boots. But the point is, skate shoes are made to help you skate better. And it's true - they do help. Skate shoes have flat, grippy, and usually extra wide soles to help you hold onto your board better. Those puffy moon-boot style skate shoes have extra padding on the sides and the tongue to help protect your foot when doing technical tricks. The thin classic style skateboarding shoes help improve how much you feel the board while doing tricks, so you can pull off even more complex tricks. A lot of skate shoes now have reinforced side panels to help with ollies, or have extra padding around the heel collar to help hold onto your foot. Some have extra flaps to help protect your laces while you ollie. Some are made from extra strong leather, or have other special features.

All this to say, actually "Skate Shoes" do help you skate better. But you don't need them. If you can afford a pair, I say go for it. If you can't, then don't let that hold you back from skateboarding. Just slap whatever you DO have on your feet, and get out and ride!

Adio Men's Expo

2006-11-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

Product Description
You're running the show in these responsive team skate shoes from Adio. Sport suede or nubuck upper in a technical retro skate style, with reinforced stitching, perforation and nylon mesh details and Adio logo accents with sporty side stripes. Full lace up front, skate style padded tongue with elastic keeper straps and padded collar. Soft fabric lining, cushioned Adio Super® P.U. insole. Shock absorbing sheet-cut EVA midsole. Board-ready grippy sole.

..::Skateboarding Is Not A Crime::..

2006-11-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

The first skateboard
The first skateboard originated sometime in the 1950s and coincided with the initial popularization of surfing in California. The earliest skateboards were homemade and were constructed of flat wooden planks attached to roller-skate trucks and wheels. Skateboarding was originally called "sidewalk surfing" and early skaters emulated surfing style and moves. Skateboards may or may not have evolved from "crate scooters." Crate scooters preceded skateboards, and were essentially similar except for having a wooden crate attached to the front, which formed rudimentary handlebars. In the film Back to the Future, Marty McFly is seen confiscating such a scooter from an unsuspecting 50s youth, and ripping the crate off to fashion an improvised skateboard.

In the mid 1960s skateboarding became something of a craze. A number of surfing manufacturers such as Hobie and Makaha started building skateboards that resembled small surfboards and assembling teams to promote their products. The popularity of skateboarding at this time spawned a national magazine, skateboarder magazine and the 1965 international championships were broadcast on national television. The growth of skateboarding at this time can also be seen in Makaha's sales figures which quoted $4 million worth of boards between 1963 and 1965. Yet by 1966 sales had dropped significantly and skateboarder magazine had stopped publication. Skateboarding's popularity dropped and remained low until the early 1970s.

Second generation
In the early 1970s, Frank Nasworthy started to develop a skateboard wheel made of polyurethane. The improvement in traction and performance was so immense that the popularity of skateboarding started to rise rapidly again, and companies started to invest more in product development. Many companies started to manufacture trucks (axles) especially designed for skateboarding. As the equipment became more maneuverable, the decks started to get wider, reaching widths of 10 inches and over in the end, thus giving the skateboarder even more control. Banana board is an term used to describe skateboards made of polypropylene that were skinny, flexible, with ribs on the underside for structural support and very popular during the mid-1970s. They were available in a myriad of colors, bright yellow probably being the most memorable, hence the name.

Manufacturers started to experiment with more exotic composites, like fiberglass and aluminum, but the common skateboards were made of maple plywood. The skateboarders took advantage of the improved handling of their skateboards and started inventing new tricks. Skateboarders, most notably the Z-Boys, started to skate the vertical walls of swimming pools that were left empty in the 1976 California drought. This started the vert trend in skateboarding. With increased control, skateboarders could skate faster and perform more dangerous tricks, such as slash grinds and frontside/backside airs. This caused liability concerns and increased insurance costs to skatepark owners. Many skateparks went out of business and were torn down. By the beginning of the 1980s, skateboarding had died again.

Third generation
The third skateboard generation, from the early/mid eighties to early nineties, was started by skateboard companies that were run by skateboarders. The focus was initially on vert ramp skateboarding. The invention of the no-hands aerial (later known as the ollie) by Alan Gelfand in 1976 [1] made it possible for skaters to perform huge airs off vertical ramps. While this wave of skateboarding was sparked by commercialized vert ramp skating, a majority of people who skateboarded during this period never rode vert ramps. Because most people couldn't afford to build vert ramps or didn't have access to nearby ramps, street skating gained popularity. In the mid-eighties, street skating was performed on wide vert boards with short noses, slide rails, large soft wheels. Skateboarding, however, evolved quickly in the late 1980s to accommodate the street skater. Since few skateparks were available to skaters at this time, street skating pushed skaters to seek out shopping centers and public and private property as their "spot" to skate. Public opposition, and the threat of lawsuits forced businesses and property owners to ban skateboarding on their property. By 1992 only a small fraction of skateboarders remained as a highly technical version of street skating combined with the decline of vert skating produced a sport that lacked the mainstream appeal to attract new skaters.

Current generation
The fourth and current generation of skateboards is dominated by street skating. Most boards are about 7¼ to 8 inches wide and 30 to 32 inches long. The wheels have an extremely hard durometer (approximately 99a). Additionally, very high durometers offer the benefit of reduced drag on hard surfaces which results in an overall faster ride. The wheel sizes are relatively small so that the boards are lighter, thus making tricks more manageable. Today, modern wheels are currently around 48 to 60 mm in diameter and advances in technology have made them extremely light compared to the wheels of the eighties. Most decks are still constructed out of Canadian Maple, with 7-plys being the industry standard for strength and durability. Board styles have changed dramatically since the 1970s but have remained mostly alike since the mid 1990s. The contemporary shape of the skateboard is derived from the freestyle boards of the 1980s with a largely symmetrical shape and relatively narrow width. During the 90s ramp or vert skateboarding dropped in popularity.