I have witnessed some insane stunts over the years but I have to tell you the most impressive thing that sticks with me is someones style. A simple trick done extremely well with a stylish twist is more moving than watching someone drop a huge gap or set of stairs.

I think people misinterpret style with skill. Yes, skillful riders often have a good style but style is something different than skill. With in a few minutes of watching someone ride you can tell if they have style or not. They may not even do a crazy or technical trick but you can tell they feel good on their board and can rip.

For those of you out there that think you have to learn every trick in the book, don’t waist your time. Learn a select few tricks, and learn how to do them well. In achieving excellence with a few tricks you will find you will be able to widen your range of tricks more naturally. In my early years I thought you had to learn every trick every way to be good. I failed to realize a sloppy hard trick is not as beautiful as a clean easy trick.

A good style implies good control. Good control means you are closer to everything you can’t already do. By that I mean the more comfortable you are on your board the easier it will be to learn new tricks. As you progress you will find that you will land tricks you have never tried before first try because you have become so comfortable on your board.

Anyhow we would love to hear from you guys so drop a comment or send an email.
TJ

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Most skateboarders find themselves at some point or another at the skill level to be able to grind and slide rails. The problem is rails are not always easy to come by and can many times be a little too expensive. That said I thought I would share a few ways to get cheap skateboard rails without breaking the bank.

One of the first rails I had was an extra bunk bed guard. It had a 2” diameter and was painted white. We drilled out two pieces of wood as the legs and we were ready to go. The coolest thing about the rail was that it didn’t have any sharp corners so it wasn’t intimidating. If I remember correctly it was the rail I learned smith grinds on.

Another great source is old bead frames. The angle iron used on an old bed frame can easily be used as a skateboard rail. This is especially useful on a box or as coping for a ledge. Frame up a quick box, screw on the angle iron and away you go.

The last example I got from a remodel that was taking place at my college. They were tearing down some old railings for a walk way they wanted to redo. I cut up the scrap with an abrasive saw and welded up a quick rail. If you have the resources to do this I would give it ago, I built my rail about 7 years ago now and it is still going strong.

That’s it, if you have any other ideas on where to get cheap skateboard rails I would love to hear about it.

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1. Skate America (www.skateamerica.com)

Skate America is an excellent site dedicated to skateboarders of all shapes and sizes. There are extensive collections for all ages, from adult men’s and women’s, to youth, and even toddler’s. Within each subsection you can find great deals on almost any clothing item or accessory you can imagine: shoes, shorts, sunglasses, sweatshirts, t-shirts, hats, belts, backpacks, and even watches and wallets. There is even a special section marked “$10.00 and under” for the frugal shoppers among us.

2. Skate Warehouse

Skate Warehouse is another great site for finding quality skateboarding clothes online. The Skate Warehouse website is simple and easy to navigate, and provides for fast and efficient browsing through clothing and accessories. Each item has an enlargeable sample image with a 360 degree view, so you can see exactly what your purchase is going to look like when it gets to you. The site also has an incredibly extensive “Sale Items” section, where you can find mark-downs on anything from t-shirts and shorts to backpacks and beanies. You also have the benefit of free ground shipping or $5.00 two-day shipping on all orders that total $75.00 or more.

3. Element

Why waste your time fumbling through some retailer’s shelves for a specific brand when you can buy clothes right from the source? Almost every manufacturer of skateboarding clothes has it’s own website, and Element is no exception. At elementskateboards.com, you can browse their entire collection of skateboarding clothes and accessories, as well as collections from select brands under Element’s wing. You can browse by item category, or check out some of the featured items by scrolling to the bottom of the catalogs page.

Whether you are a professional, an amateur, or just someone with an interest in the skateboarding subculture, skateboarding clothes can be a great way to express your individuality and sense of style while supporting the pastime you love. You can find skateboarding clothes at hundreds of outlets online, so keep searching and you’re sure to find something that suits your style.

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Over the last 30 years the skateboarding industry has exploded to the point that can not be ignored. Does the name Tony Hawk ring a bell? I’m sure it does and the reason is that our culture has latched onto the world of skateboarding.

With this rise a new commercial niche was being formed around a subculture that identified it’s self as something different. Kids began to find an identity in this new world and began equipping themselves with the latest skateboarding goods and gear. No longer were they products of society, they were now individuals.

The dynamic of commercializing skateboarding goods has proven to be a tricky one for the power house retailers. The audience that these big wig sellers were use to selling to was the exact opposite of what the skateboarding community valued.

This opened the door for grass root skateboard companies to rise out of no where and become market leaders. These companies are fueled by a love not by profit and have provided an industry with merchandise or real value.

The trouble now has become filtering out the junk large companies are stuffing down out throats and finding core skateboard shops that sell the decks, wheels, and clothes that are truly worth buying.

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We will start with the deck. Boards range in size by width, length, wheel base, nose length and tail length. The main metric however is the width of the board. The most common widths you will find are 7.5” 7.75” and 8.0”. If you are to think of it like small medium and large you would be spot on. Smaller riders tend to go with smaller boards and larger riders tend to go with larger boards.

For a kid that is just starting out a smaller board would be the way to go. The wider the board the harder it is to flip it. So, start there for the little ones and let them grow into wider decks.

As for trucks, the only concern is to match the width of the deck. You can’t really go wrong with the brand as it is personal preference and a new rider will probably learn to like what ever they start with regardless of what they are. If in doubt go with Ventures.

On to wheels. Wheels are defined by their diameter and hardness. A good middle of the road diameter is 52-54 mm. For the hardness go with 98 to 101 durometer rating, if you don’t know the durometer rating don’t worry. Unless the wheels look like jelly you are ok. Oh, and do not buy dual durometer wheels! The salesman may try to sell you some cool new “technology” but do go for it.

That’s the skinny of it, if you have any questions let me know.

Technorati Tags: decks, trucks, what to buy, wheels

There has been some buzz around an online product “secrets of skateboarding” and I thought I would take a second to fill you in. I want to first say that Secrets of skateboarding is a real product that provides skateboarding trick tips.

What we have here is someone who took the time to address a lot of the main areas of skateboarding that people have questions about or want to learn. They go through how to ollie, kick flip, important steps to landing heel flips, and much more. This will help you learn how to skate fast.

The guide seeks to get a little deeper into how tricks are conducted. Rather then simply walking you how tricks are done in general they get into the details that are usually not addressed.

It is always good to get another persons perspective on how to ride so I would get a copy of secrets of skateboarding and learn those tricks that you just can’t figure out.

The other cool thing with this product is that they offer a complete money back guarantee if you aren’t satisfied. So what are you waiting for click the following link Click Here!

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What you should be aware of is whether or not they have the video you plan on getting them, and if it is a new skateboarding video or an old one. For the most part videos don’t go out of date but like anything else the newer it is the more hyped they will be.

To help you out I have found two videos that are new.

The first is Tony Hawk Trick Tips Volume 3 Skateboard Instructional Dvd. This would be great for a beginner or someone who just needs that extra bit of instruction. It features;
•Tony Hawk and Mike Vallely have an entire section dedicated to “old school” skating
•Bucky Lasek joins Hawk in giving away guarded secrets about vert skating
•For the advanced and daring, Tony explains how to do the elusive 900

The second video is not instructional but defiantly has some crazy riding. It is more suited for a more mature rider who knows what to appreciate when watching a video. Any one who has been riding for a few years or seems to think little of Tony hawk will appreciate this one.

Here is their write up on it: “5 Long years in the making, Flip finally has released Extremely Sorry. Everybody put it down for this video. Expect some raw, mind-bending skateboarding and incredible quality film making. Full parts from: Geoff Rowley, Mark Appleyard, David Gonzalez, Rodrigo Tx, Ali Boulala, Luan Oliveira, Bob Burnquist, Rune Glifberg, Tom Penny, Lance Mountain, and Shane Cross (RIP). Also featuring Louie Lopez, Curren Caples, Ben Nordberg, Willow, and more. The Flip team is consistently pushing skateboarding to new heights while keeping it core”

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What I find interesting is that it wasn’t that long ago when the social acceptance of skateboarding was less then great and now you see it all over the media. What was the catalyst for such a change in perception? Don’t get me wrong I am glad the change is occurring but the thing is skateboarding has remained the same.

My opinion is that once people in the media decided there was room to make money with skateboarding and they found a way to market it (the X games) and the general public began to accept skateboarding more and more. Consequently skateboarding and all “extreme” sports began to become a little more commercial in the publics making them social acceptable.

What are your thoughts, have you been around long enough to see this dynamic take place?

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That’s the main idea so get started and make any style skateboard ramp you choose. This technique works great for boxes as well.

Quick update; the ramp in the photo has seen some where and a few things that could have bee done to keep that form happening are;

1. Keeping plywood templates 4 feet apart. When I built the pipe I didn’t think keeping the ply wood 6 feet apart would be that bid of a deal but with time it was a bad decision. The longer distance allows the 2 x 4s to flex more which ultimately means the surface is not as stable.

2. 3/4″ plywood for the decking. Believe it or not the decks take a lot of abuse. For every rock or 50-50 the top deck is used. I used 1/2″ and a few spots are beginning to get soft.

Here is a video of some local rides skating this very ramp

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