Skateboard Gear

So, skateboarding gear, specifically stuff for going down hills is a funny business. Sabre 38's have just dropped and are more expensive than I anticipated, so I suppose they arnt intended to be "regular rkp market" or "CNC precision rkp market" but something like "regular rkp market+1" which is interesting, and certainly adds something to the whole picture. A bit more of an investment than regular truck gear (indeed on the Vandem web store a single complete truck with the 38 plate is £60). Do they skate that bit nicer? Difficult to know. To be blunt, this is because nobody has bought any yet and offered an opinion, although the opinion of somebody else arguably isnt that useful to anybody but the person themself, and even then are any of us qualified to make an assessment of an item of skate gear beyond "seems fun skating this" or "this feels a bit ming"?

And that, is the purpose of this post; exploring the idea of opinions on hill shredding gear.

A case is my slightly coned green cult zillas. These are 83a (probably), started off 72mm, and by most accounts are really, really nice. Cult race wheels are famed by most to offer substantial levels of grip with a "predictable slide". Now this wasnt the case for me for most of my time skating them, and I now know this was due to poor weight distribution in a slide, that would have made any race wheel feel very choppy in a slide and cause similar issues with keeping feet in place on the board. However, some things have happened since that are quite interesting, starting with a paticular run, the one I made on the morning of Crash and Burn (and sit around and feel sad) race day.

So this run, this run was atrocious. Like, by taking part in it, I was insulting downhill skateboarding, it was that comprehensively shamefully shit. Starting at the top of Bopeep, I had been getting on with these wheels fairly well so far during the weekend. I had some issues with staying with the board during high speed slides due to my back knee rising slightly, this due to my inability to concentrate on what im supposed to be doing when skating a hill. Anyway, I could coleman them fine under 30. No issues there. Until this run.

I push off, I go for my "test slide" (something I got into that weekend to warm up before then hooning all the way to carnage corner, a single slide put in just a little way after pushing off, and some way before the initial right hander.) Well, this plainly doesnt work. I go into the slide, and my board just stops, I lose my feet and feel a bit sad. I imagine this must have been due to having my back knee up in a slide and shrug it off. I go for another slide (having decided to slide all the way down), and really pay attention to what im doing. I make sure my back knee is where it should be, and the same thing happens. This is a bit odd. Try again, same thing. Go down to the corner, just manage to keep my feet from falling off, and have to adjust them afterwards. The rest of the run didnt really transpire because I stopped to have tea and biscuits and a discussion about the pro's and con's of the alterative voting system with Adam Persson (without biscuits or tea or the pro's and con's of the alterative voting system).

But anyway, this was a bit sad, I felt like a twat due to being unable to coleman (all I do, when I think about it, that and harass Skippy in various forms over the internet). And I think to myself, do I want to be skating this setup? Is it the wheels, or the rest of the setup, or what, that means that sometimes, it just isnt going to work for me? I surely cannot be completely happy with this if due to nothing in paticular I can randomly utterly lose it.

So on the topic of the wheels, I skated them at a spot down in eastbourne, and the board didnt feel so good. These "predictable" wheels initiate into a slide ok, and when I pay attention I can keep my feet on the board, but they feel, well, not so cool. The slide is a honking great DERRPPPPP to a stop, that feels uncomfortable and well, I dont know how to describe it. Not nice.

But then, I bosh on my converters, wheels that are really, really cool, and at this spot, they chatter towards when you hook up the slide. Now that was weird, because when I have skated them elsewhere, they do not do this.

So how the eff do you assess skate gear then? How do I say whether I do like Zillas when they are supposed to be nice and can be nice for me, and then can feel cack at one hill, or cack for one weird run from hell. And is it even the wheels, or the setup in general?

On the subject of my overall setup, I am thinking things. One aspect of skating is footbraking, and at any kind of speed I cannot do this on my setup. Im running my trucks fairly turny, and its a short wheelbase, high topmount, so its not tricky to deduce why. I am gradually coming round to the decision of buying something like a sequel (31" WB, drop through), something that will be confidence inspiring and low, and perhaps more suitable for my gangly frame. I mean, I am fairly tall, and im skating a small topmount just because it fits a short tuck that I find nice at the moment and lets me get away with a cornering technique that is, to be honest, gay as fuck. I should just get a hencher board and learn to corner properly and switch up my tuck a bit. And get the benefits including being able to footbrake, easier slides, and not having to pay so much bloody attention.

Yeah I should do that.

Time to look at big drop throughs, and not really discuss it, because it all goes back to one thing.

A JOB.

And that is something I have no idea about. I cant brave the job world.

Oh yeah, theres no real conclusions to anything mentioned here, apologies.

Will

Aint gotta be organised, just gotta be fun.

Hello Mr Cameron.



 "I want to use the example of competitive sport at the Olympics to lead a revival of competitive sport in primary schools.
"We need to end the 'all must have prizes' culture and get children playing and enjoying competitive sports from a young age, linking them up with sports clubs so they can pursue their dreams.
"That's why the new national curriculum in the autumn will include a requirement for primary schools to provide competitive sport."

OH DEARY ME

So my last blog post was a bit of a rant, this is intended to be more objective but probably wont be. Anyway, olympics fever is in full swing, and now there is a scramble from politicians and public figures to insist that we need to "capitalise" on our "olympic legacy." And other such nice terms for the papers. I dont want to post something like "wiafheklhfhkasef" so I shall say this.

why the eff is there this obsession that competitive sport should be the only kind that should be pushed? Yes, it is nice to see the olympic success stories, but I would be equally as pleased if we didnt have an olympic squad at all. Because those people would be having fun doing other stuff. If this were the case, the media would be shocked and appalled, instead of accepting that there are more ways of having fun through sport/activities than the narrow scope of official, organised stuff.

There is so much money being talked about being put into getting organised sport pushed in schools. Heres an idea, what about setting some money aside, and then saying, hey children, society of the present and future, what do you actually want to do? What do you think will be cool to try?

Because for me, personally, downhill skateboarding is my thing, and I didnt find that through having to do the rugby or cricket or whatever that was on the school sports agenda at the time. If you ask people what they want to do, instead of insisting on what society wants people to do (i.e visible things for the sake of visibility and winning medals and international competitions), people can try stuff. Try stuff they might enjoy, instead of having to do things they might not being enjoying. Maybe one dude wants to sit and play the piano, guitar, whatever, because thats his thing. Maybe some other kid wants to read a book, or do some bloody hard maths problem, or go and climb a hill. And there will be some people who do want rules and organisation and winning medals. And thats cool too.

Society has got to encourage expression and people finding what they want to do in life. That might be something organsed and official. That might be playing skateboards. That might be something that cant at all be classified as a sport. Art, media, music, mucking around, having fun.

People do not have to conform. But they can if they want, obviously.


Will

.

Downhill skateboarding is a fucking stupid thing to enjoy. How incredibly silly that the major thing that I enjoy is skateboarding down hills, whilst living here.

We have found tescos cack hill, which contrary to the name is not a hill. It is a slope. It is cack. If you push like FUCK you can get enough speed to just about pendy a slide back. If you are on classics. I found a hill vaguely nearby but it is a bit shit looking really. It's just far enough away that I cant skate to it, it needs a spotter and its just a little bomb down to a slide on a screwed up surface. Skating a hill that needs a spotter on your larry is not going to be fun/any good.

And then, I'm constantly hearing stuff from the olympics coverage, such as (to paraphrase)

"So yeah I loved this sport so I just kept on doing it"

Such phrases provoke reactions from me that can be described as despair, irritation, annoyance and other such unfortunate things. I cant go skate a hill whenever I want. I get to skate a hill every two weeks (ish). This is utterly sickening. I cant find the same enjoyment from other stuff, as much as i've tried, I'm here to skate hills.

You get to skate hills whenever if you live in bristol, london, on the coast, down in cornwall, in wales, east, everywhere where I know there are scenes. Except here. The unfairness of this is something I just cannot get over. Why can I not go skate a hill whenever I want? I'd be there all the time. I want to be getting on it, like everybody else is. And I cant.

Fuck it.