Longboarding/Skateboarding thread.

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

I looked and I searched, so if it exists, well I'll quit.  

I took snowboard lessons for the first time ever in 2020.  Enjoyed it, although of course there is some pain in the process.  After I bought my new snowboarding gear, Covid happened and they closed the mountain.

So, decided that longboarding would be an OK thing to try and hurt myself on instead.  Didn't know anything, went to the local skate shop and wound up with a Riviera.  Has wound being a very good quarantine hobby for me.  I can't do anything fancy yet.  Stopping and turning on hills (small ones) w/o dying has been a good start.  I find the activity is rather good for my brain.  Almost like meditation.  I especially like to combine it with music, but sometimes that results in me not hearing cars.  Oops.

 

 

 

There's a good longboard subreddit, but thought it would be interesting to see if anyone on the Surl is into it.  Also, I enjoy skateboarding videos and such, even though I don't do any skateboard type stuff currently.  I'll post longboard vids I enjoy, too.

And of course now that I've learned more, am already thinking of how to upgrade the gear. 

Considering this one pretty heavily:

https://bustinboards.com/collections/shrike-curations/products/shrike-jonas

Edited September 25, 2020 by MC Fresh Breath

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

Did get some slide gloves and so far can do the first slide in this video.  I enjoy the Landyatchz videos in general.

 

 

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

 

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

 

I will never, ever, ever do serious downhill.  I can't see myself even developing the skill much less the guts.  But they are fun to watch.

Edited September 25, 2020 by MC Fresh Breath

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

 

 

[Your Mom 4805]

I broke my elbow last year showing my 12 year old how to ollie, err.. how to fall on your ass.. and elbow.. while trying to ollie, after a 30+ year hiatus from skating.   Broke the radial head and still can't straighten the thing completely out.  So now I'm about a year into another 30 year hiatus from skating.  Will try again in my 70's just to fuck with my kids.  

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

I broke my elbow last year showing my 12 year old how to ollie, err.. how to fall on your ass.. and elbow.. while trying to ollie, after a 30+ year hiatus from skating.   Broke the radial head and still can't straighten the thing completely out.  So now I'm about a year into another 30 year hiatus from skating.  Will try again in my 70's just to fuck with my kids.  

I wear knee and elbow pads and wrist guards when I am not wearing slide gloves. Good thing about being older is not caring about cool factor (not that I ever was cool).

Sorry about the elbow, that sounds terrible.


Tapasuck

[Prepuce of Doom 21052]

3 minutes ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

I wear knee and elbow pads and wrist guards when I am not wearing slide gloves. Good thing about being older is not caring about cool factor (not that I ever was cool).

Sorry about the elbow, that sounds terrible.


Tapasuck

Wear a helmet, too. Because you know what else isn't cool? Shitting in a diaper for the rest of your life. 

I've been skating on and off for 35 years now. Mostly just toot around to the neighborhood store these days. No time to devote to it, can't manage a serious injury at this point in my life and career, all my skateboarding friends are old and crusty now too, etc. 

But I am hoping that the Doomlet gets the bug - I'm looking forward to the possibility of rolling around with him someday, but I don't want to push it on him. My dad pushed golf on me too hard, and I hated it on principle. That probably contributed to me skateboarding in the first place back when it was still an act of rebellion and counterculture... 

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

Oh, yeah I wear a helmet 100% of the time.


Tapasuck

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

And yeah, originally thought the son would get into it, but he has not. Have a skateboard he won’t let anyone touch, but never uses, go figure.


Tapasuck

[TexasEd 8066]

I picked it back up as a covid hobby.  I was into BMX and skateboarding as a teen.  I college I switched to MTN biking in the small Appalachian town I was in.

There is one other old guy I know longboarding in my hood (his dog pulls him).  I just cruise and if I want to do some minor tricks I switch to my daughter's board.

Got a good helmet.

[TexasEd 8066]

[CleverNickname 1308]

I recently put new trucks and wheels on my ~20 year old sector 9 kicktail (43 inch or so). My kids and wife are complete mortified when I skate on our walks. But then yesterday I brought a pink jump rope and skipped the whole way. Now they prefer the longboard. Been thinking of getting a dual kingpin carver, but can't really justify the cost. 

[TwiceHorn 31429]

Wife used to love rollerskating and rollerblading, but didn't continue to do it into adulthood.  She found a pair of rollerskates at a thrift store a few years ago and bought them just to dick around with.  She's actually still pretty good at it this many years later.

I skateboarded in the late 70s, early 80s and was ok at it, but never really learned any tricks (that was an evolving thing back then), and I "outgrew" it.  I found a decent board at an Academy for less than 50 bucks, but it's your standard trick board, not a longboard.  The idea was when she skated I would skateboard.

Skating at 6-1 and 200 lbs is a way different proposition than 5-something and 120 lbs.  Holy shit.  Hitting gravel or expansion joints scares the fuck out of me.  Carving turns with the extra height and weight is really adventurous also.

[dcbc 14464]

Wear that helmet.  I got a couple of boards back when my younger son was skating.  One Landyachtz Bamboo Pintail and an Earthwing Belly Carver. 

I can't slide.  So I limit the size of hills and have to bail on occasion. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21052]

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Wife used to love rollerskating and rollerblading, but didn't continue to do it into adulthood.  She found a pair of rollerskates at a thrift store a few years ago and bought them just to dick around with.  She's actually still pretty good at it this many years later.

I skateboarded in the late 70s, early 80s and was ok at it, but never really learned any tricks (that was an evolving thing back then), and I "outgrew" it.  I found a decent board at an Academy for less than 50 bucks, but it's your standard trick board, not a longboard.  The idea was when she skated I would skateboard.

Skating at 6-1 and 200 lbs is a way different proposition than 5-something and 120 lbs.  Holy shit.  Hitting gravel or expansion joints scares the fuck out of me.  Carving turns with the extra height and weight is really adventurous also.

You've got the money now to buy a nice setup, so splurge on some big, fat, soft wheels. I would recommend something like 78a ABEC 11 Gumballs, but it appears that the company has gone out of business since I last paid any attention. I don't really know what to recommend nowadays, but look for something big and soft. But for those of you looking to practice your slides, don't get something like these with a conical profile - the outer lip will "slip" underneath the wheel during a slide (kind of like how sometimes a flip flop can get folded underneath your foot) and you'll go flying. Ask me how I know... 

For sliding, you guys want wheels that have rounded lips on both the inside and outside edges. And you'll want something harder - at least 85-88a, if not more. 

And I don't want to get into all of the associated bullshit about bearing quality versus price and the marketing mumbo jumbo of speed ratings and whatnot (though with your engineering background, you may appreciate it) but I've "known" Ron through the Internet for 20 years now, and he knows his shit. Just buy his bearings and forget about the rest. 

http://www.rocketsskateboardbearings.com/rocknronsbearings.htm

Nice wheels and bearings will dramatically change your riding experience. 

And get some bushings that are stiff enough to control your weight. I would have recommended a full set of Khiro bushings to best mix and match, but it appears that they have also gone out of business since I last paid attention. I like Bones Hardcores a lot too, but they don't have quite the variety of hardnesses that Khiro offered. 

Edited September 27, 2020 by Prepuce of Doom

[Prepuce of Doom 21052]

Good wheels for cruising: big, soft, "sharp" (90 degree) lip/"shoulder," concave "face," but wheels bad for sliding. 

Edited September 27, 2020 by Prepuce of Doom

[Prepuce of Doom 21052]

Good wheels for sliding: smaller, harder, rounded lip or "shoulder," but bad wheels for cruising. 

[BBQ2Bayou 807]

I used to skate a lot as a kid and thought about getting back into it, but then I decided to give inline skating another shot instead. I used to do that a lot, too. Figured if I could pick that up again, it would be a good, low impact, exercise for me. 

Didn't mean to derail, but how many threads on grown men falling on their ass with little wheels do we need? 

My friends refer to them as my fruit boots. 

[TwiceHorn 31429]

2 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

You've got the money now to buy a nice setup, so splurge on some big, fat, soft wheels. I would recommend something like 78a ABEC 11 Gumballs, but it appears that the company has gone out of business since I last paid any attention. I don't really know what to recommend nowadays, but look for something big and soft. But for those of you looking to practice your slides, don't get something like these with a conical profile - the outer lip will "slip" underneath the wheel during a slide (kind of like how sometimes a flip flop can get folded underneath your foot) and you'll go flying. Ask me how I know... 

For sliding, you guys want wheels that have rounded lips on both the inside and outside edges. And you'll want something harder - at least 85-88a, if not more. 

And I don't want to get into all of the associated bullshit about bearing quality versus price and the marketing mumbo jumbo of speed ratings and whatnot (though with your engineering background, you may appreciate it) but I've "known" Ron through the Internet for 20 years now, and he knows his shit. Just buy his bearings and forget about the rest. 

http://www.rocketsskateboardbearings.com/rocknronsbearings.htm

Nice wheels and bearings will dramatically change your riding experience. 

And get some bushings that are stiff enough to control your weight. I would have recommended a full set of Khiro bushings to best mix and match, but it appears that they have also gone out of business since I last paid attention. I like Bones Hardcores a lot too, but they don't have quite the variety of hardnesses that Khiro offered. 

Thanks.

I'm now trying to kill or maim myself on a mountain bike.  I did tighten up the kingpin so it wasn't wobbly as fuck or anything, but the high center of gravity really makes the dynamics of the thing a lot scarier than it used to be. And I'm getting a bit old to spend a shitload of time crouched down on a board.

[Prepuce of Doom 21052]

Yeah, grown men generally aren't made for crouching. I get what you're saying... 

Keep your weight forward (i.e., above the front truck) if you find yourself going faster than intended in order to minimize speed wobbles, which are also a lot more problematic as an adult for multiple reasons... 

Similar principle:

 

Edited September 27, 2020 by Prepuce of Doom

[Prepuce of Doom 21052]

 

 

[TwiceHorn 31429]

18 minutes ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

 

 

That article is hilarious.  I think I need a fez and then I would shred more often.

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

4 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

You've got the money now to buy a nice setup, so splurge on some big, fat, soft wheels. I would recommend something like 78a ABEC 11 Gumballs, but it appears that the company has gone out of business since I last paid any attention. I don't really know what to recommend nowadays, but look for something big and soft. But for those of you looking to practice your slides, don't get something like these with a conical profile - the outer lip will "slip" underneath the wheel during a slide (kind of like how sometimes a flip flop can get folded underneath your foot) and you'll go flying. Ask me how I know... 

For sliding, you guys want wheels that have rounded lips on both the inside and outside edges. And you'll want something harder - at least 85-88a, if not more. 

And I don't want to get into all of the associated bullshit about bearing quality versus price and the marketing mumbo jumbo of speed ratings and whatnot (though with your engineering background, you may appreciate it) but I've "known" Ron through the Internet for 20 years now, and he knows his shit. Just buy his bearings and forget about the rest. 

http://www.rocketsskateboardbearings.com/rocknronsbearings.htm

Nice wheels and bearings will dramatically change your riding experience. 

And get some bushings that are stiff enough to control your weight. I would have recommended a full set of Khiro bushings to best mix and match, but it appears that they have also gone out of business since I last paid attention. I like Bones Hardcores a lot too, but they don't have quite the variety of hardnesses that Khiro offered. 

 

Powell peralta snakes seem to be the most popular for sliding.  Also, Remember Hoots and maybe Fatty Hawgs.  I say this as someone who isn't quite sliding yet, other than the hand down toe slide, and that's a 50/50 proposition at this point.  

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

16 hours ago, TexasEd said:

Nice pic! 

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Thanks.

I'm now trying to kill or maim myself on a mountain bike.  I did tighten up the kingpin so it wasn't wobbly as fuck or anything, but the high center of gravity really makes the dynamics of the thing a lot scarier than it used to be. And I'm getting a bit old to spend a shitload of time crouched down on a board.

One of the reasons I took it up at my age was to work on balance and flexibility, both of which were never great to begin with and have only become worse with age.   I definitely can't do the heelside lay one leg down thing very well yet. Oh, and I super manned off the board the other day and broke a belt.  Luckily all the pads did their duty.   It is pretty obvious with older dudes who used to board as a kid.  That muscle memory kicks in pretty well for them.  Much like riding a bike I suppose.

I used to mountain bike around Austin about 10 years ago.  Well, for about 1.5 years.  Then got married/got out of it, and got rid of the hard tail.  What a mistake.  I checked out mountain bike prices lately and my jaw hit the floor.  I can afford all kinds of longboards and accouterments for seemingly not even a fourth of the price of a mountain bike these days.   And at my height finding a used one for my size is pretty much impossible.  

[wd40 1976]

had one of those little plastic boards when I was a kid.  there was a condo complex up the street with a lot of long, squiggly sidewalks to cruise, and some shallow stairs to float down.

never owned a longboard.  but used to do a little bit of it on my Santa Cruz shortboard.   I'd picked it up during my early post-divorce wild days when I was stuck in Leander with no money and nothing to do but fish, mtb, and take naps.  

anyway, there's a street forming the northern boundary of Walnut Creek Park with a big hill.  I used to carve my way down that until I just had too much speed to hold the turns (sliding just didn't seem like a great idea), and would take the last hundred feet or so just straight down.  it would bottom out and go back uphill to a dead end to slow back down.  just the perfect spot for that sort of thing.

my neighborhood had one hill, at the very back.  pretty mellow; but on a skateboard, it was plenty fast.  about 6 turns I could rail all the way to my house where I'd just bail out onto the grass.

went out to Ramp Ranch on 29 some, back then.  learned to drop in there and play in the 1/4 pipes.   got put on a project out in Sunnyvale, discovered a real skatepark near my hotel, and got better.  shortly after that, Austin built its first concrete park down by the IRS.  would get there right at sun-up, before all the kids woke up.  couple times, there was another old guy there sweeping and skating the pool in the dark with some cheap little LEDs clipped to the bill of his ballcap.  fuckin crazy.  good skater, tho.

now all I do is ticktock up and carve down my longish, curvy driveway.  good core workout.  lotta fun, esp for the investment.

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

3 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

 

 

Really enjoyed that, thank you for posting.

Quote

 It’s not about recapturing lost youth, it has nothing to do with age. For me it’s about an endless source of enjoyment, a challenge, a way of meeting new people and learning new things, and in many ways meditation. It heals me

Exactly this, so far.

Although yeah, should be a helmet instead of a fez.

[dcbc 14464]

and

 

 

Both have Paris trucks Orangatang 4President 70mm 80a wheels, and whatever shop bearings were available.

Edited September 27, 2020 by dcbc

[TwiceHorn 31429]

1 hour ago, wd40 said:

had one of those little plastic boards when I was a kid.

Like one of these?

The "Big Banana" by Super Surfer.  Or there was a bigger one that was green.  Loose bearings but urethane wheels and decent trucks.  These were what everyone had when I was a kid.  A few skate shops opened with better stuff about the time all my peers moved on.

The board I found at Academy is a Pig/Foundation/Toy Machine/Tum Yeto.  It's decent and has an amusing Pig graphic on it.  But I would have been better off with a long board.  Not sure I knew they existed when I picked it up.

[dcbc 14464]

11 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Like one of these?

The "Big Banana" by Super Surfer.  Or there was a bigger one that was green.  Loose bearings but urethane wheels and decent trucks.  These were what everyone had when I was a kid.  A few skate shops opened with better stuff about the time all my peers moved on.

The board I found at Academy is a Pig/Foundation/Toy Machine/Tum Yeto.  It's decent and has an amusing Pig graphic on it.  But I would have been better off with a long board.  Not sure I knew they existed when I picked it up.

I had that same board back in the late 70s early 80s.  I think it was my sister's.  I picked up a Santa Cruz Bullet in the mid 80s.  I was pretty terrible and fearful though.  So I never was any good.  So longboarding, for me, has been a learn from scratch sort of thing.

[dcbc 14464]

This video is goofy, but I like the song and it always makes me want to go out and ride when the weather is nice.  Also the reason I have that 44" pintail.

Well, that, and this:

 

RIP Jay.

Edited September 27, 2020 by dcbc

[wd40 1976]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Like one of these?

The "Big Banana" by Super Surfer.  Or there was a bigger one that was green.  Loose bearings but urethane wheels and decent trucks.  These were what everyone had when I was a kid.  A few skate shops opened with better stuff about the time all my peers moved on.

The board I found at Academy is a Pig/Foundation/Toy Machine/Tum Yeto.  It's decent and has an amusing Pig graphic on it.  But I would have been better off with a long board.  Not sure I knew they existed when I picked it up.

ha!  very similar.  same yellow plastic, which I always hated, but with red wheels.  

here it is.  a Pro Class Hot Dogger.  at some point in my ute, I got ahold of a whole can of safety orange marking paint.  

thing has got to be 42, 43 years old.  it sometimes saw action as a furniture dolly until I broke down and bought a real one.  mostly, it just hangs in a closet in the garage.

and yes, RIP Jay.

[dcbc 14464]

17 hours ago, wd40 said:

 it sometimes saw action as a furniture dolly

Ha!  I moved smaller furniture on my old skateboard for years.

[TwiceHorn 31429]

One thing about those mid-late 70s plastic boards is that they were a real step up from the previous wood decks with clay wheels and crummy roller skate trucks.  Nash Manufacturing out of Fort Worth was one of the big makers of those.

Even when you moved up from the Big Banana, glass decks were the thing and I was a little shocked when I saw wooden decks were back in vogue.

About 20 years later, Nash was a client of mine but by then they were making wakeboards and boardsurfing rigs and whatnot, with just a few low-level skateboards and skates.

Edited September 28, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[smuggs 9350]

I've had a Sector 9 Luke Nosewalker for about 20 years. This spring I put a set of Hamboards HST carving trucks on it and it completely changed the ride. It's about as close to a true surfing experience as you can possibly get. I love it.

And in true old timer fashion - I broke the shit out of my toe on Father's Day riding barefoot and too fast through my neighborhood.

 

 

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

I liked the post because hellz yeah brah, but sorry about your toe.

 

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

Watched this on Red Bull TV (which is free, btw) over the weekend.  Pretty good viewing.  I had never heard of anything about this before.  Apparently the doc is old, too (2013), but it sure captures the tone of the times well, imo.  

 

 

[TexasEd 8066]

1 hour ago, smuggs said:

I've had a Sector 9 Luke Nosewalker for about 20 years. This spring I put a set of Hamboards HST carving trucks on it and it completely changed the ride. It's about as close to a true surfing experience as you can possibly get. I love it.

And in true old timer fashion - I broke the shit out of my toe on Father's Day riding barefoot and too fast through my neighborhood.

 

 

 

 

Avatar checks out

[smuggs 9350]

Because Hamboards are fantastic and this thread needs more chicks:

 

 

[bobcat1995 71]

We built an electric longboard for my son to ride around his college campus....😕.       

[dcbc 14464]

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by dcbc

[wd40 1976]

I'm too old for that shit.

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

I love watching them.  They can get creative.

 

 

[wd40 1976]

don't get me wrong.  it's cool as hell to watch.  I just don't get the same "I gotta try that" urge that I get from other skate videos.

I figure I've gotten away with more than my share of close calls and minor falls.  I know much it hurts at low speed.  that's just too much.

[dcbc 14464]

4 minutes ago, wd40 said:

don't get me wrong.  it's cool as hell to watch.  I just don't get the same "I gotta try that" urge that I get from other skate videos.

I figure I've gotten away with more than my share of close calls and minor falls.  I know much it hurts at low speed.  that's just too much.

That first video I posted (pintails) makes me want to go cruising around.  That alpine shit is just insane to watch, but I'm not riding a skateboard down the side of an alp.

[Prepuce of Doom 21052]

Keith Hufnagel succumbed to a brain tumor the other day. 

https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/rip-in-peace-keith-hufnagel/

Here's a video of a different style altogether... 

 

Edited September 30, 2020 by Prepuce of Doom

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

13 hours ago, wd40 said:

don't get me wrong.  it's cool as hell to watch.  I just don't get the same "I gotta try that" urge that I get from other skate videos.

I figure I've gotten away with more than my share of close calls and minor falls.  I know much it hurts at low speed.  that's just too much.

Oh, for sure.  I know I'll never ever, ever, do the DH stuff.  I think in terms of putting in the mood to just cruise around, something like this from Landyatchz captures my general mood better.  Don't get me wrong, they still do some tricks in the vid (and its overall marketing of course), but I like the vibe in general.  Its not the DH crazies.

 

 

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

13 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Keith Hufnagel succumbed to a brain tumor the other day. 

https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/rip-in-peace-keith-hufnagel/

Here's a video of a different style altogether... 

 

 

I didn't mean to stomp on this, so quoting it to keep it up.  Won't claim I knew of him much personally, but I know his influence in the skateboarding world was large.  RIP.

 

[Prepuce of Doom 21052]

No worries!