Skate Reanimate

Welcome says,

We make boards that are not only of the highest quality, but that are unique. Our artwork is hand-drawn and our shapes are fun to ride. We think your board should excite you…

I agree.

And though this shape may be a little too out there to be my new deck of choice, it should be fun to try. This design mixes a shovel-nose and a more squared tail, with the sides tapering toward the tail. The Control Squid is advertised as a 8.6″ width, but I found it’s actually only 8.5″ at the widest (center) measure. The deck itself is sourced from Paul Schmitt’s PS Stix, so the quality should be on target.

I taped the deck with Mob perforated grip–a step up in grippiness from the default, according to Jon at Board of Provo, and folks I know online.

The current set up includes Theeve Tiax 8.5″ trucks, Bones Swiss bearings, and Rain Skates Mid-Tsunamis at 95A, 62mm. So this board is set up for transition skating. And though I expect this deck to neatly handle bowls, I may set it up with more street-happy wheels just to see how it will work on street.

Here are the RainSkates Mid-Tsunami single-conical wheels, measuring a beefy 62mm and at a hardness of 95A. I bought these specifically for skating transitions and bowls. I’m hoping these will offer a good balance of speed and control.

The larger diameter of the wheel should help with speed, however, though the larger width of a single-conical shape may enhance control and stability, it may compromise some speed. The durometer of 95A is right in the middle of what you’d want in a indoor ramp/outdoor bowl wheel–a little softer than some might ride, but I like to have a little extra grippiness. We also end up with some damaged transition walls in our outdoor bowls here in Utah, so this might help there as well.

…ain’t what he used to be. But he does have some practices he uses to keep skating:

• Stretch before skating. From head to toe. My older brother swears by yoga, but I don’t know, because he can only skate half as long as me. Stretching seems good enough.
• Pay attention to your gear. One less variable to control. With a real job there’s not much of an excuse to keep worn-out components.
• Treat your feet and knees right. Don’t know about you, but I strain my ankles and knees most of all. My doc suggested that real insoles go a long way to reducing wrong ankle stress, and I believe him. I wear Dr Scholls Sports. I also go with a pair of knee braces–primarily because I’ve got some arthritis going on there. Somedays I’ll wear a simple glove-like gasket. Tough days call for the full-blown mechanical-man brace.
• Learn to fall better. Still don’t have this one down, but I keep thinking about how to get out of tough spots at the last minute.
• More pads. I’ve learned to always pad my front elbow and wrist, and always wear knee pads and helmet on any ramp or bowl. Part of that’s because I don’t heal as fast, part of that’s because my balance is less predictable, but mostly because I want to skate again tomorrow.

The only other thing I’m trying is glucosomine/chondrotin–even though there’s little or no scientific evidence, it’s worth a shot. I’m taking it in powder form with the Emergen-C packs.

I stumbled across an eBay auction for a vintage Variflex “Joker” complete skateboard and had to post up the image here:

This happens to be the first skateboard that I owned. I had had my eye on this particular model for a long time, and it probably took two months or more of saving before I could call it my own. I still remember the sheer consumer joy I felt returning from the store with my mother, board in hand. I remember examining the copers, rail guards, thick wheels, and, best of all, the hardcore skull graphics.

I rode this board from 6th – 7th grade, when I “upgraded” to a Santa Cruz Rob Roskopp “Face” deck:

Turned out it was actually a knock-off (as the other skaters in town were too quick to point out) with no concave–a serious setback, both physically and morally, for a young skater. Eventually I saved up enough for a real pro deck, a Santa Cruz Jason Jesse “Sungod” Small with matching orange grip and red Gullwing Super Pro III trucks and (I believe) black Powell G-Bones wheels.

This was skateboard fulfillment, and maybe it was because by then I had been skating for a couple of years on flat, bulky boards, or maybe it was because I finally had a board that I loved, but I do remember my skating improving significantly after this–just in time for my brother to build that classic half pipe in the backyard. More on that some other time…

The guys at Element decided my previous deck was indeed defective, and are sending a replacement in the size/shape I need.

It’s rare that I actually break a deck — I usually just wear them out, though I have fractured a couple tails after 2 or 3 months (gotta remember to move that front foot forward!) — and so I knew that there was something wrong when just 3 weeks in the nose of my Muska Love Kills deck began to delaminate:

But now all is good, and I get to anticipate whatever deck Element has decided to send my way.

The Element 8″ Muzka I’d picked up for ramps and parks began to delaminate, so I sent it back. In the meantime, I’ve set up a new Element 8″ Shape 16 Featherlight:

This time I picked the Element brand grip over the default cheap-o grip, and even just applying it I can tell it’s a better quality tape–thicker, denser grip that cut cleanly.

I picked up a new 8″ Element Muska deck today after checking prices and finding this on sale at the Vans store for $39 + free grip:

As I start to skate more ramps and bowls I’ve realized the need for good knee pads, and heard that 187 Pro knee pads are about the best. My brother has sworn by Boneless knee pads for almost 2 decades, but they are near impossible to get a hold of (he’s wearing the more expensive Paincheaters knee pads now).

Having read in a number of reviews that the 187s run large I bought a size small, and they fit nice and snug on my skinny legs (I’m 5’10” & 140lbs). The 187s have surprisingly less strappage than the Pro-Tecs that these replace, but that doesn’t mean they lack in security; in fact, they feel more secure, and seem to offer a good range of motion.

As for the cushioning, well I haven’t ridden them in a bowl yet but just walking around the house and randomly dropping to my knees is a surprising comfortable experience. The most I feel is a little left-right motion on my caps, which I expect will diminish as they mold to my shape. And what is that on the inside? Cushy fleece? Nice!

I picked these up at Social Skateboarding.com, a site I haven’t used before but seems to have a lot of killer deals–these were about $16 less than any online competitor.

I’ll report more on how these work out once I’ve recovered a little from last night’s skating.

Just received a pair of Scoff “military grade” shoe laces (created for skating) in the mail this afternoon. Here’s a pic:

These came just in time to replace the horrid yellow x-country ski boot laces that are standard with my new Osiris Bronx Slims (picked up from the clearance shelf at local Board of Provo):

Unfortunately, these are too short to fit hi-tops, so I’ll have to use them on another pair and hope Scoff releases some 60″+ sizes.

I ordered new bushings and soft risers from Socal Skateshop, which I installed last night and tested before work this morning at the Orem park.

Old bushings

SCS stickers:

The product:

Installed:

If you notice, my old bushings were crushed and deformed. I realize now this is because they were replacements for Grind King trucks, and GK has it’s own unique style of bushings. So not only do these new GK bushings fit better, they perform better, and I think it has straightened out the hold of the board. You’ll notice that I have replaced the kingpins on these trucks, as the hex bolts that GK packs drill into the board when I tighten them down.

My ride this morning was noticeably smoother; the Orem skatepark has a lot of roll-ins and good transitions. I left my trucks a little looser than normal, so I don’t know if that improved the overall ride, or if the risers had anything to do with it. I really have no way to tell immediately if they disperse the impact and protect my joints, but I may be able to tell after a week of skating.