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4.20.99 BoardDumb All right so you have yourself a dope pair of shoes. If you don't, see my last article. Now all you need is something beneath your feet. That beat up, faded piece of ply you ride is starting to lose it's appeal. OK, time to buy a new deck. So you walk into the skate shop and see a hundred choices on the wall. Hmmmmm. The graphics on the nearest board catch your attention. "Wow cool colors, and I know Tony Bagadonuts. His last video was insane!" So you walk out with your new board and skate till the sun goes down. What you just witnessed was a typical purchase by a typical skater. Most people buy a board because they like the graphic and pay little attention to anything else. Now this is not wrong. Fashion is important to many of us, but a more detailed understanding of what makes boards different may help your skating. OK, I'll try not to bore those with short attention spans. Long, long ago boards were simple. A flat skinny board graced the streets of many a suburban neighborhood. The focus was in duplicating surfing, so a tail wasn't needed. But some genius figured they could turn quicker by lifting up the front trucks so, the tail was born. I'm sure all of you are familiar with the seventies style boards. I think you can still buy them at toy stores. Boards stayed relatively the same for a good long while, but they did get fatter for more stability. Then, in the mid 80's companies started making boards with concave. It was a big deal back then, and it allowed skaters to flirt with freestyle tricks like kickflips and such. Oh yeah I almost forgot to mention the arsenal of crap you could throw on your board. Nose bones, tail bones, rails, byrds, copers, and even rubber patches to make grabs easier. Yeah, it was all crap, and the focus was on protecting that precious plywood deck. People rarely broke boards, and rode the same model for years. Then some boards started to grow noses. Yeah, I said grow. It was subtle at first, because peeps didn't know what to do with them. They started out small and grew throughout the years until it was hard to tell which way you were supposed to ride. Noses brought along a barrage of new tricks, and revolutionized the sport. Well, freestyle boards were around in the early days, you know Rodney Mullen right? So it was more like trying to get people to realize that freestyle skating wasn't gay and that boards should have been made that way all along. So I've now brought you up to today, and you want to know what I'm gonna tell you about buying a board. Well, pay attention to your style of riding. If you ride ramp, or bust burly tricks a wide board may be best for you. Narrow boards for techies, and small peeps. Many boards are made exactly the same way, no matter what the companies tell you. So board A should be just as light and strong as board B. So what about those crazy boards in the magazines with aluminum, carbon fiber, and shit all wrapped up in them. All I can say is stay away unless you have bucks to waste. An all wood board is best unless you skate a very particular way, like only on a ramp etc. Try out different widths and find the one you like the best, an also make sure your trucks aren't too narrow or wide for your board. Well, that's about all I have to say about that. Hope your next board makes you ride like a maniac! O-(<]: |