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  1. #1
    Yoshi P
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    Skateboard(s)/(ing)

    I haven't seen a post about this pop up in a while so I figured I'd make one. Long story short, since I started Final Fantasy back in 05' I haven't touched my skateboard and as a result I've ended up gaining 45lbs that I'd like to promptly work back off. Besides that, I'm really kind curious as to what I've missed out on in the past 4 years that's come to skating brand wise. A quick check on CCS and I saw Grind King is no longer sold, which was by far and away my truck of choice back when I skated. I also used to skate Flip wheels which also appear to no longer be made. As it stands here's my current setup that I made about a month before I started Final Fantasy.

    Girl Rick Howard deck 7.75
    Flip Wheels
    Grind King G6 Trucks
    Bone Swiss Ceramic Bearings
    Shorts hardware (ancient)
    Shorts dooks riser pads

    Now it has been awhile since I stepped on my board, but when I plopped it down the other day and started kicking around 7.75 felt like a giant plank and I didn't really feel the pop of the board like I remembered it. I was going to consider swapping back to Enjoi, but someone had told me they aren't as good as they used to be and Shorty's doesn't appear to make boards anymore.

    Can anyone recommend some decent boards or decent sizes? My main problem when I skated before was I couldn't get enough spin on my flips when I skated Girl, but I liked the concave of the board the most. I liked Enjoi from what I remember, but I really don't want to drop the money on a board that's a piece of shit if it's true what I heard. Also are there any good trucks that took the place of Grind King? I fucking hate Independent and didn't really recognize any of the other newer brands.

  2. #2
    Like a boss yo
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    When I had skateboarded, I had bought a board from Element. Good board, if kinda pricey though. The trucks they make as well are decent. Never had a problem with the brand for the couple of years I did.

  3. #3
    CoP Dynamis
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    I skated back in highschool, about a year or so before I started FF, haven't really touched it much since then even though I quit FF a bit ago... I'm just lazy.

    Here's what I ran, if I can remember right. I guess I could check since I have my board in the trunk of my car, but meh...

    Alien Workshop deck 7.5
    Habitat wheels.
    Destructo Trucks.
    Some kind of Abec5 bearing that they no longer make.

    So yeah... pretty old board I guess with ancient crap on it. Last time I tried skating it still had decent pop though! Haha.

  4. #4
    Ridill
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    I loved my tensor mids. Those were awesome. Bones swiss were really good too. Not too expensive, since ceramics are like 100$. Wheels are pretty whatever are cheapest to be honest. The only thing that matters is the hardness. I believe hard for street, soft for ramps? Been a looong time since I skated, and boy do I miss it. I tried skating like am onth ago. I was like "I wonder if I can skill treflip", turns out no I can't. I can skill kickflip and stuff, but I get tired after like 15mins, and I used to skate like 6hrs a day x.x. I had a Chocolate board, and it's not bad. I think elements are really good though.

  5. #5
    Yoshi P
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    I'm in the same boat. I used to skate 4-5hrs a day after school every day and 7-8hrs a day during the summer. Now that I've taken a break, I'm 15min and already tired and ready to go. As for element, I've tried them a long time ago and if I remember correctly the concave was good for flips, but it was a little overbearing on my foot that it U shaped instead of being comfortable. Dunno if they're made any differently today though, or I just kept getting a bad board style. My pop is also shot, it makes me a sad panda

    Also I was curious as to if anyone skated Almost. I didn't realize he and Daewon had teamed up and made a new board, but I can't seem to find them anywhere. Are they defunct?

  6. #6
    Relic Shield
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    Quote Originally Posted by TacoTaru View Post
    A quick check on CCS and I saw Grind King is no longer sold
    WHAT THE SHIT?! They was also my favorite, really really really really light (to me) and sturdy. They also looked cool as fuck.

    Quote Originally Posted by TacoTaru View Post
    Flip wheels which also appear to no longer be made
    ..........................what do kids use these days?

    Quote Originally Posted by TacoTaru View Post
    I fucking hate Independent and didn't really recognize any of the other newer brands.
    Agreed, heavy as shit to me.

    I'm in the same situation for the most part... although I'm just going to use my old board. It's an Element Fiberlight and at the time that was new and nobody knew if they was awesome or not. Found out it sucks but owell I don't want to buy a new one. Still got my badass gold rims that cover the bearings though. Speaking of... I can't remember what I have... I think it was Black Panthers.

    If 7.75 feels large though... I remember having a Powell 7.375 and the pop was amazing (was doing ollies as high as my mailbox). It wasn't as curved as my Element though but still had a lot of flip. Honestly, you can't go wrong with the pioneers. By far my favorite board of all the ones I've owned. It was really short though... might want to go to a skateshop and see if they have one you can look at. It was and probably still is perfect for me.

    Edit: Whew, got ahead of myself on that Grind King thing... they still exist. D: http://www.grindking.com/catalog/ind...?cPath=1_23_40

    Skate America has Flip btw http://www.skateamerica.com/store/Flip_C136.cfm (trustworthy... ordered from them way back in the day)

  7. #7
    Yoshi P
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    My first Enjoi was the best deck I ever owned, but I could never get a board to replicate the experience I had with it. Best one that ever came close to it was my Shorty's Wall deck that I picked up. Had just the right curve and a hell of a fucking pop. I broke 3 Alien Workshops in a week and half and wrote that brand off forever at that point, but I think it was honestly fault boards and my shop refused to replace any. Stupid question, but is there any technique to getting better pop? Like I said, I'm out of shape now and out of practice, but I'd like to get back to where I was which was 8 board stacked. I'm wondering if it's just going to be about shedding the pounds to get it back or if there's better foot placements that will go better.

    Also good to see another Grind King fan. My friend and I swore by them but everyone else hated them. I remember wearing my first pair down to the fucking pin before I retired them. Lasted me 3 years and I've never broke a pair. Just caught your edit, and cool thanks for the info. CCS was unfortunately the only reliable online skate store I could remember and they only had Grind King pins, but no trucks. Thanks for the info :D.

  8. #8
    Relic Shield
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    As corny as it sounds, the only thing I can remember effecting my pop was my confidence. The more confident I was the higher I would get. Probably just need to get a little experience again and you'll be doing that in no time. Every time I went to a new skatepark I'd have to do the "big ramp" like 3 or 4 times before I could manage to look like I knew what I was doing.

  9. #9

    filp is still being made maybe ccs isnt carying them anymore. i know this because A. my friend is filming for their next video and B. i see them at my skateshop i go to all the time. As for getting a skateboard try to avoid china wood, that might be the reason why your friend or whatever said the board sucks. As far as choosing a good board AWS is good, id say Delux is pretty good wood too. for size its just what you feel fits you, but if you have bigger feet id suggest getting a bigger board, id suggest getting a bigger board 7.75+ just because its more board to land on, most pros skate a bigger board (if that matters to you at all) and a lot of the time their pro boards arent what they ride shape/width wise. concave is just going to be different from board to board thats something you gotta decide on. trucks i ride venture, royals are good but wheel bite is a bitch if you have a decent sized wheel a lot of my friends ride independent but you said you dont like them for whatever reason (personally ive never rode them). bones wheels are pretty good and dont flat spot very easily if you powerslide alot. As for getting all of this shit. GO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SKATESHOP. IE not zumiez, ccs, copelands ect. dunno what a skateshop is in indiana but shit is a lot better than any of those stores i listed. also avoid gimmicks because in reality they are shitty.

  10. #10
    Ridill
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tricen View Post
    I can skill kickflip and stuff, but I get tired after like 15mins, and I used to skate like 6hrs a day x.x.
    lol same deal, messed around a while back, was still pretty good for like 5 minutes then I had to sit down ><

  11. #11
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    Get Wet is the only local skate shop in my area, and I plan on supporting them as exclusively as I can. Like I said, I haven't been skating in almost 4 years, I was just using CCS as a reference points since it's been so long since I've done anything. Thanks for the advice though.

    fwiw I hate independents because of heavy they feel. I've skated boards of my friends with Independents and the setup felt very noticeably heavier. As for Royals, I've never stepped on a board with them, but I'll give them a go if my GKs ever blow out on me; I ride 54s on wheels.

    Since you seem to have a good knowledge of board quality, what's your thoughts on Enjoi/Almost? I liked Enjoi before but it's been ages, and I remember skating a Deca before I snapped it in half, and loved it. Gives me hope for Almost, but I'd like your thoughts if you have any insight on them.

  12. #12

    7.88 Rick Howard Girl deck
    7.75 Indy series 9 trucks
    54mm Mark Appleyard Ricta wheels
    Abec 7? Red Dragon berrings

    Always loved Girl/Chocolate distribution and board feel/durability. Indys are a classic and have always served me damn well; though Royals were a thing of beauty as well. Can't go wrong with Red Dragon berrings; cheap, reliable, and smooth as hell. I liked Ricta and Spitfire equally, but was biased with Ricta since it had the awesome, elite Flip team

    God, I miss skateboarding all the fucking time but I really have no drive anymore

  13. #13
    Ridill
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    Quote Originally Posted by TacoTaru View Post
    My first Enjoi was the best deck I ever owned, but I could never get a board to replicate the experience I had with it. Best one that ever came close to it was my Shorty's Wall deck that I picked up. Had just the right curve and a hell of a fucking pop. I broke 3 Alien Workshops in a week and half and wrote that brand off forever at that point, but I think it was honestly fault boards and my shop refused to replace any. Stupid question, but is there any technique to getting better pop? Like I said, I'm out of shape now and out of practice, but I'd like to get back to where I was which was 8 board stacked. I'm wondering if it's just going to be about shedding the pounds to get it back or if there's better foot placements that will go better.

    Also good to see another Grind King fan. My friend and I swore by them but everyone else hated them. I remember wearing my first pair down to the fucking pin before I retired them. Lasted me 3 years and I've never broke a pair. Just caught your edit, and cool thanks for the info. CCS was unfortunately the only reliable online skate store I could remember and they only had Grind King pins, but no trucks. Thanks for the info :D.
    Oh yeah, I had a Rodney Mullen Enjoi board. That shit lasted FOREVER. I even took the trucks off and tried to snowboard (didn't work). Took me forever to break, and it was just an overall good board.

  14. #14

    enjoi is good i used to skate them alot i rarely skate anymore because i sucked so bad i figured why waste my time and started filming skateboarding and i get a lot more enjoyment out of filming skateboarding than i do actually skating dunno why just do. never had an almost board but im not really hyped on them very much. AWS, Skate Mental, and Girl/chocolate are boards i reccomend but like i said its how they all feel stand on the board awhile before you buy it shit i used to take like a hour and a half just to pick up a board because they used to last me so long (i sucked )

  15. #15
    Hydra
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    First off, shame on all you for not skating you guys should try to squeeze at least an hour a day. I always considered skating > all including FF but in close second. Although for a while I reduced my skating habits because of FF but realize I had more to gain from skating. So maybe I don't have a relic in FFXI but hey I can tre-flip and that definitely looks cooler than a relic (especially to chicks :3 ) imho

    As for boards obviously the bigger feet you have the wider the board. It took me years to find the perfect size, Started out with 7.625 which I thought was the perfect size, tried 7.5 waaay to small couldn't control the board, 7.75 love this size but still something was lacking, then one day my friend gave me a Zoo York 8 deck, I loved how much more balance I had on it, how much pop I got, the landings where so much smoother...

    Personally I love 8.0 decks I make them my bitch (I'm also size 12 according to fallen shoes but I think they are a bit smaller than your average shoe).

    Set up:
    1031board (it's a blank deck that I got out of emergency because I snapped my Zero) Size 8 this brand is I think a branch off of BlackLabel boards
    51mm Pig Wheels (they're ok)
    Royal Trucks (meh there's better)
    Zero Black Widow Bearings
    Lucky Riser pads
    and independent hardwhere

    Now For boards I personally (if there's money) usually buy Zero Decks to me they are the best boards great pop, great durability, awesome concave.

    Other Notable boards: Mini Logo (Blank decks these are usually a lot cheaper) Great fucking boards almost like a zero. Baker boards are nice too, heard good stuff about enjoi as well but never tried one (But Mullen isn't on there so meh) Zoo York are pretty decent too. Had a Consolidate board that lost it's concave in like a week never skating those again. Element boards are light have nice pop but, the tail wears down soooooo fast, and finally the 1031 board I currently use has nice pop, doesn't wear down as fast but needs a bit more concave

    Wheels: probably doesn't matter at first so any pair will do. There are some that supposedly don't get flat spots but I haven't tried.

    Bearings: Bone swiss because they are just so fast, I like my Zero Black Widows though they haven't broken on me yet. I'd advise to stay away from Lucky Bearings for they break easily

    Trucks there's a few you could go for

    Venture which are the cheapest ones I believe, pretty sturdy I think they are great for beginners or people getting back into the skating world.

    Tensor: Light, sturdy, and have a plastic or some shit on the ends of them so you can do slides better (Nose and Tail slides). I believed the company is owned by the Godfather himself Rodney Mullen

    Thunder: Haven't really tried them but I've heard nothing but good things. Chris Cole and Jamie Thomas use them as well

    Royals: Just plain suck I dislike them and I'm never buying a pair again, but this is just my opinion.

    Hardware: is pretty much all the same to me

    If you want some shoes that don't fuck up as fast, Try a pair of Fallen Shoes (check out their video if you can) on they are the only things I skate now-a-days.

    As you can tell I'm pretty into the Brand Zero (Owned by Jamie Thomas) and Fallen Shoes (also owned by Jamie Thomas) Also one of the best skaters alive (Chris Cole) is on that team (Check out some of his stuff pretty sick) but just because he's one of my favorite skaters doesn't mean I'm biased. I've had many boards and many shoes and I honestly think Zero & Fallen are one of the best.

    Remember skating takes time and practice, don't brush it off because you can't kickflip in one day it took me 4 months to learn to ollie properly and another 3 months for kickflips. Some people *WILL* learn kickflip in one day but don't let that discourage you. Everyone learns at a different pace. It takes lots of time and energy and practice but it's the thing I'm most proud of. Also be friendly to other skaters we're a small community and well the police already hate us and always try to put us down, we don't need to fight amongst ourselves. Work together, strive to get ahead put your best into it ( I sound pretty generic right now lulz) and remember if you get frustrated or are tired STOP SKATING, take a break leave it alone until the next day these are usually the times you get injured the worst.

    I've sprained my ankle numerous times (at least 10 each ankle that I can remember) and have even broken a foot. Sprained both my wrists and gotten so many bruises, I got some in spots that I didn't even know I had. but as soon as I heal (sometimes even before I fully recover) I'm back on the board. A lot of people quit because they get some sort of minor injury and just never get back on it like I said don't be discourage they call it an xtreme sport for a reason. I've been skating 7 years and I'd do it all over again hell I wish I started when I was younger maybe I could have been sponsored by now. /end wall-o-text and/or rant.

    Hope this helps

  16. #16

    Boards:
    For bards on the cheap get yourself a Mini-Logo from Powell. They may not look like much but the price is right and it's pop is absolutely stupid and they have a large selection of concave sizes and shapes.

    I'd stay clear of Dwindle brands (Enjoi/Almost/WI) since their reputation is pretty iffy. I've heard of boards lasting anywhere from days to months and their price tag is pretty big.

    I absolutely adore Habitat decks, owned 3 so far and more to come I'm sure. I just love the feel of the board and its pop. Love the graphics too, nice and simple. Made in the same factory as Alien Workshops.

    Zeros come recommended too. Very solid boards and I think Mystery are made in the same shop too.


    Trucks:
    Not sure if Grind Kings may be out of production, I often see them quite a bit on eBay. Only other reverse kingpin model is Silvers I think.

    I used to ride Royals way back and I loved them, fantastic for grinding but I sort of ground them down to the point where I can't use them seeing how there's no hanger left and the Kingpin nut peeks through.

    Using some Destructo Mids at the moment and they're great for my style of skating but on the heavy side.

    Word of advice, buy spare Kingpins and a steel-bit for a drill. The new button-head Kingpins everyone uses gets jammed in the baseplate when it snaps and is an absolute shit to get out.

    Tensors were designed by Mullen and distributed by Dwindle, made of some weird alloy to keep weight down. Try these out before you buy if you're interested.
    I rode some a while back and hated them. They did this fucked up thing where the truck gives in as if you were turning when you put pressure on the side but it doesn't actually turn.

    Also don't buy into all this "Low Truck" bullshit. Low trucks are barely lower than Mids and don't really give you the fantastic stability and pop people always go on about.
    Lows are also a pain in that if you tighten the trucks the nut will peek and fuck up your grinds unless you also swap the Bushings and even that is a pain on Lows.


    Wheels:
    Wheels are, as always, soft for grip and hard for speed. In general Street/Ramp skating you want hard wheels as soft weels are generally the domain of filmers and Longboarders, though the floor you're riding and personal preference play a big part too.

    Size is the big thing. Ramp skaters tend to be on the 55mm+ side of things and Street tend to stay under that. It's all preference though.

    I'd go for blanks but other than that it's all about whether you want a Single or Dual-Core wheel.


    Bearings:
    Bones Swiss are stupid good value for money. They're great bearing and will last for months.


    Shoes:
    Vary. There's so many brands, types, and preference it's almost impossible to recommend. What I will say is keep an eye out for 2 for 1 deals.
    I've been riding a pair of DCs for months and they're only just giving up the ghost now, but getting the right DCs is hit or miss.

    I've got a pair of Nike Zoom Tre waiting on the wings which I only hear good things about but they are very pricey in comparison to others.

    I'd steer clear of Vans though. Fantastic grip but the material they build the shoe out of dies pretty quick.

    Oh: Invest in Shoe Goo too.


    Once thing I've noticed in years of start-stop skating is that you never forget what to do. It's just a case of getting your feet to do what your brain tells it to. All about timing.

    I'm trying to get back into it after my surgery last year and it's hard. Fortunately I was never very good so not much to relearn. Try and get some friends to skate with though.
    Going out solo is no fun and most of the reason I only go out once every 3 weeks to skate is that I've no one to bullshit with anymore since everyone quit.

    As has been mentioned get shit from your local shop. Some even print their own boards cheap.

    And all that "too heavy" shit? Stop being a bitch and pop harder.

  17. #17
    Brown Recluse
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    This was my last skateboard I had.
    http://www.skateandannoy.com/feature...grigley471.jpg

    I loved that board. Then I got a car, and I never skated again. That was almost 20 years ago.

  18. #18
    Tyven's Xbax Fren
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    I used to skate quite a bit up through college, till I blew out my knee trying stupid shit off of a 7 stair.

    I used to roll on this:
    Aesthetics Sal Barbier Centipede deck 7.5
    Indy Trucks (idr exact specs, I know they were tall though)
    Spitfire 51mm wheels
    Red Bones Bearings

    wish I still had that stuff, it would be fun just to roll around again. I also had really good luck with Alien Workshop and Habitat stuff, but it's been like 7-8 years since I've rode so idk how good they are nowadays.

  19. #19
    Ridill
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dimmauk View Post
    This was my last skateboard I had.
    [!img]http://www.skateandannoy.com/features/ebay/2008/ebay060/images-big/grigley471.jpg[/img]

    I loved that board. Then I got a car, and I never skated again. That was almost 20 years ago.
    Man I remember we had a vision skate shop in town that was like in the basement of a strip mall when I was little.


    My parents took me there once, I thought it was the coolest thing ever, except it smelled really funky, like a skunk had died in there or something.


    They wouldn't ever take me there again, for some reason.

  20. #20

    I can't remember much specifics, but back when I skateboarded I used:

    Element Deck
    Destructo Trucks
    Spitfire Wheels

    Element is definately a great brand. Can't go wrong with them. I've used the board over a span of 5-6 years and it still functioned properly.

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