httpv://youtu.be/DUEQg3D07XM
Somewhere along the way a few kids got the bright idea to practice their skateboard and snowboard tricks on a trampoline. You get air, and plenty of time to pull an Ollie. But skateboard decks and snowboards were not so kind to the trampoline.
Continue reading SIA: Bounceboard and a Trampoline Trains for Tricks
There has been a lot of development with skateboards – including composite decks – but now ARIS Sports is taking a new turn that will allow riders to change the way they turn. The ARIS Blade Runner features conical wheels, which also feature carving wheels with the diameter or regular wheels at the trucks, but become narrower towards the outside.
The boards, which will be available in three models including a snowboard styled deck, long and short boards. Each will cost about $200 and these will be available later this year.
ARIS Sports Official Website
[Via Gizmag: ARIS Sport throws a new curve at skateboard wheels]
Corn sometimes gets a bad rap. It is partially blamed for the downfall of the some Native American civilizations, which relied too much upon it, and more recently anything with corn syrup causes some people to run away. But corn does hold some promise, and we recently heard about the CornBoard.
The skateboards are actually made of corn stalks and husks exclusively by Stalk It Longboards! Kind of an interesting twist on what might otherwise just end up in the trash!
Stalk It Longboards Official Website
Corn Board Manufacturing
The name NewWood probably sounds like it should be made from virgin lumber, but actually it is anything but. NewWood Manufacturing, located in Elma, Washington, has been in business for a year producing utility board created from post consumer wood waste, mixed with discard plastic bags. And while it has a number of uses, it will soon be the surface for skateboarders.
We’ve seen skate decks that have taken advantage of recycled materials, and even skate decks that have found life after they’re seen one too many spills. Now the 99.9 percent American made NewWood material, which is reportedly flexible, durable and all weather-resistant, will be used by OC Ramps as a skating surfaces – with plans to eventually use it on all surfaces. In the future we could even see old skateboard decks recycled with other wood and plastics to make NewWood surfaces! Video after the jump
Certainly you have heard someone say, “as American as baseball and apple pie;” but neither of those had their true origins in America. In reality, the saying could be “as American as skateboarding and Moon Pies”, both of which originated in the U.S.A., just on opposite ends of the country. Since we cover health and fitness, we’ll stick to the skateboarding and leave the Moon Pies for another day.
Even though skateboarding started in California in the 1950s, much of the production of parts and decks has been moved overseas. SHUT Skateboards of New York City has bucked this tread and continues to produce skateboard decks in the United States from American lumber.
Video after the jump
There is no denying that the skateboard came about when surfers put wheels on short boards to ride on land when the surf wasn’t up, and now some surfers from Huntington Beach, California are essentially reinventing it all over again with the Hamboard. What makes this one different is that it basically combines modern skateboards with a surfboard, resulting in what the creators called “a really big skateboard” or “basically an uber longboard or longboards.”
And the word from the creators is these boards, despite the length or possibly because of it, can carve and flow quite well. The surfers behind Hamboard have also noted that opinion has changed from those who simply to dismiss it to those who want to try it. So it could be the reinvention of sidewalk surfing all over again.
Hamboard Official Website
[Via BeSportier: Extra Long Skateboard – Hamboard]
Last year we reported on MapleXo, an Oregon-based company that was turning broken skateboard decks into iPhone cases. Now we caught this cool video that shows how some crafty individuals are using old decks and recycling them into sunglasses.
This is possible because most skate decks are still good old fashioned wood. Makes us want to think twice about those carbon fiber bike frames, tennis rackets and even hockey sticks, as well as other items that still can’t be so easily recycled.
Skateboarding was born in America, but the sad truth (at least for purists) is that many of the parts are now made overseas. Fortunately there are still a few companies out there that are producing products to let boarders grind it and show some American made pride.
Based in San Diego, California, Kontrol Wheels is still producing skateboard wheels in America. The company was founded by Dan Eager in 2004, after he and few other engineers came up with a new technology to mold urethane wheels.
This new urethane-molding process not only eliminated much of the physical labor, but also created a superior skateboard wheel. It even reduced the amount of waste that came with conventional manufacturing.
Video after the jump
There was that old Brady Bunch episode where Bobby kept uttering the immortal line, “Mom said not to play ball in the house,” and some silly scenario ensued. Well Carol Brady probably wouldn’t have approved of the PAS House, a full-scale, 753.5-square foot prototype house being designed in Malibu,CA by Francois Perrin of LA-based Air Architecture.
Come to think of it Mike Brady was an architect, but yet he never came up with something as revolutionary as this design for former pro skateboarder and Etnies footwear founder Pierre-André Senizergues. The house, which will feature a sofa, bed and furniture from the Skate Study House collection is actually designed to be skateboard friendly. The concept was part of a the recent Public Domaine/Skateboard Culture at the new La Gaite Lyrique museum in Paris, but the completed residence will measure 2,200 square-feet and will be designed to overlook the Pacific in Malibu. Continue reading Skateboarding is in the House
This hasn’t been a banner week for skateboarding. The northern Utah city of Richmond is considering banning skateboards on city streets. There have been complaints that skateboarders ride in the middle of streets, but one city councilman reportedly expressed concerns that the boarders threatened the safety of pedestrians, especially children.
Won’t someone think of the child? But seriously, how is it that the boards are threatening children – are the kids walking in the middle of the streets as well? It would seem that skateboarding on the sidewalk would threaten the safety of pedestrians.
Meanwhile, ESPN has announced that it has eliminated women’s vert skateboarding form the program at this July’s X Games in Los Angeles. This event reportedly struggled to sustain a viable competitive tour, and the X Games was the only remaining major competition.
On the plus side women’s street skating will remain a part of the X Games program.
What do you get if a BMX bike were to somehow mate with a skateboard? Technically this is impossible, not just because the BMX bike and skateboard aren’t actually living creatures, because even if they were they’d have different chromosomes and thus not be able to produce an offspring. But getting past those issues, we return to the question at hand, and since this sounds like the makings of a mad science experiment gone bad – let us also say that a third ingredient is added to the mix, namely a scooter.
So now we’re really crazy. But the result would the sbyke, the invention of Bart and Steve Wilson, who apparently broke their BMX bike, ruined a perfectly good skateboard and created a scooter-like contraption.
The sbyke – which is confusingly pronounced “spike”- has a fixed-position front wheel that isn’t turned using the handlebars but rather by the shifting weight of the rider. There is a break attached to the handlebars to stop this thing at least.
(Video after the jump)
One problem with learning to ride a skateboard is simply maintaining balance. Staying on the board is the other problem, but again it comes down to balance. If you could solve the former problem, the latter one would be less of an issue.
Now it seems that a few people have tackled the problem by incorporating the same technology used in the Segway scooter into a deck, which was unveiled at Maker Faire 2011. The question here is whether this things is technically still a skateboard or just a revised Segway with a flat board?
The first day of summer, also the longest day of the year is now also going to be the day for the 9th Annual Go Skateboarding Day. June 21, 2011 will bring together the skateboarding community and let them get out en masse for a day dedicated solely to skateboarding.
Go Skateboarding Day, presented by The International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC), works to honor and unite participants in the spirit of skateboarding and since its 2003 inception, has prompted cities to build skate parks, promoted local skate shops and raised money for local charities.
“Go Skateboarding Day is a great day for everyone to rid all obligations and go skate, “said IASC Chairman of the Board, Don Brown.! This June 21 will be another great day full of smiles, fun and lots of rolling as millions of skaters around the world unite and charge their local terrain.”
Go Skateboarding Day started out as a small group of colleagues skating to the Huntington Beach Pier and has grown into a worldwide event with millions of participants. Last year, millions of skateboarders participated globally in more than 500 events held worldwide. If you are possessed to skate, than June 21 is the day for you!
The International Association of Skateboard Companies Official Website