August 10th, 2010 — Surf Skate Wake, skateboarding
Skateboarding goes back a lot farther than people might think. The roots of the sport can be traced back to roughly some point in the late 1940′s to the early 1950′s. It started as a past time for surfers when there were no good waves to ride. The early boards were home made creations made from boards or parts of wooden crates with the wheels off of roller skated placed on the bottom. In the 1960′s a surf shop in Los Angeles, CA, created the first manufactured boards. Skateboarding enjoyed an early popularity from 1963 through 1965, but then died off around 1966. In part this was due to the unfortunate fact that at this time the available wheels to use were all made of clay which had the nasty tendency to stop very suddenly when they hit small rocks or other common minor obstacles found on roads and sidewalks.
However, in 1972 an invention was made that brought skateboarding back from the dead. The polyurethane wheel was developed by Frank Nasworthy who brought the Cadillac wheel to the market that year. Named Cadillac to express the vastly improved ride over the older clay wheels, the new wheels made such an improvement in traction and handling that it can be said that they might be the main reason skateboarding is still around to this day.
New materials weren’t just kept to the wheels though, the ’70′s also brought about a revolution in design for the decks too. Maple plywood was still the most common deck material, but aluminum and fiberglass entered the market too. Another design was the Banana Board, a board made of polypropylene with ribs on the bottom, this thin board was very flexible and came in a wide range of colors. Another innovation in board design was the creation of trucks (axles) designed specifically for skateboards.
With the new materials providing much more capable boards, much more elaborate tricks were developed by skateboarders. From the ’70′s, the Z-Boys are possibly the most famous skateboarders of the era. Sponsored by the Zephyr surf shop, which provided the Z in their name, they have had several documentaries and even a feature film created about them. They quite possibly are responsible for the trend of vert skateboarding when California was hit by a drought in 1976. Due to the regulations during that time, home owners were unable to fill or maintain the water level in their in ground swimming pools and many of them sat empty. The Z-Boys noticed this and realized that an empty swimming pool could provide them with a new way to ride. Hunting down empty pools with no one at home, or eventually partially empty ones that they could drain, they created a new style that gave them more speed, and more control, and a whole new world of tricks that could be performed. Skateboarding as we know it now had been born in this outlaw environment, and that’s all before the eighties started.
Photo Credits: empTV
Originally posted 2009-12-10 03:31:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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June 19th, 2010 — Skateboard Reviews, Surf Skate Wake, Surfing
Here are some of the top new and original alternative skateboards out there, most of which are so different in what they offer that they are only considered skateboards in name, rather than in form. Skateboarding has taken on many different forms through the year, as shown by these examples of modern alternative skateboards that are popular on the market today.
1 – Loaded Vanguard Carver.
Available from http://www.loadedboards.com. Some of the most innovative carving skateboards come from Loaded, and Loaded also makes snowboards as well. The decks and trucks are engineered together in a way that allows them to compliment one another, forming a unique and effective carving board. The Loaded Vanguard Carver, for example, is designed in a way that it can be a balanced all around carver skateboard, allowing it to be good at tackling most if not all of the things that you would like to ride. It is a pure carving machine, more so than a skateboard or a long board.
2 – Arbor Pocket Rocket.
The Arbor Pocket Rocket Mini offers many of the same features as an Arbor long board, but it is built to standard skateboard scale. The result is a crazy little skateboard that offers a super smooth ride, carves like no other board can, and that makes barely any sound as it rolls along. Getting tricks done with the Arbor Pocket Rocket mini can be a little difficult, but not outright impossible for you to accomplish. The Arbor Pocket Rocket Mini skate board is a brilliant mix of skateboard and long board, and this board certainly rides well.
3 – Streetboards.
Available at http://www.streetboarding.com. Streetboards are a lot like skateboards, but there are two points of flex where the nose and the tail of the board are allowed to pivot. On many streetboards, though not all of them, your feet are actually strapped in which gives you the capability to perform excellent tricks. The flexibility of the board allows you to maneuver in ways that are considered to be impossible when it comes to regular skateboards. Streetboard standards are managed by the World Streetboard Association or WSA.
4 – Flowboards.
Made by Flowlabs. These boards are made from Flowlabs and have crazy DCS trucks with as many as 7 wheels. The result is a board that rolls much in the same way that a skateboard was, but also moves fluidly like a snowboard and also allows for much deeper carves than anything else that you will likely find on the market. Flowboards are especially popular for snowboarders looking to train in the summer months, but they are also widely popular for skateboarders looking for a completely unique experience all year round.
5 – Stowboards.
Available through http://www.stowboards.com. The stowboard is a board that is about as long as an ordinary skateboard is, but it also folds up into a nice little block that you can easily shove into your locker, your backpack, under your bed or just about anywhere else. The Stowboard rides smoothly, it steers well, and it pretty much has what is considered to be the best possible balance of flexibility and strength out there.
Originally posted 2008-12-27 14:15:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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