New Skateboarders

Skate bearings just have different lube and shields to industrial stuff right? So if you could be arsed you could buy some SKF (or whatever) 608RS, pop off one of the shields, clean off the heavy grease and pop in some thin lube. It’d work out the box, but I doubt it’d spin like a Bones (or whatever).

My mate works for NMB and he’s an old Skool skater . If anyone gets desperate I can put you in contact.

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This definitely has made a difference. I’ve got talking to a load of skaters of various ages at pretty much the only skatepark in the southside of the city not locked up & gated who are “getting back into it” after a decade off, or helping their kids get started or something along those lines.

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As an aside - me and the family went on a dawn patrol mission to Thornes skatepark the other day and for the first time in my life I was presented with the incredible spactacle of there being more female skaters than male skaters shredding. (Around 8 women + her indoors and my daughter for the record)
Amazing stuff.

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The skatepark here is busy all day every day at the moment regardless of what time I’ve been down and has been like it for a couple of months now, just got down there for about 8.20 when it would usually be dead and there was still at least 30 people skating with loads of others chilling, it does also seem to be the new extended summer holiday youth hangout mind…

I’m all for more people getting on it but definitely need to get back out to the village skateparks tbh as it’s getting a bit much, way too chaotic to really enjoy ! anyhow, that slap thread has got me prepping a monster Legacy order at least

I saw 4 teenage girls skating down the road today and another 2 boys on the way home. Pretty stoked as it wasn’t long ago you couldn’t skate down the road here without some fun house singing sk8r boi at you or getting harassed for being a mosher.

My 18 year old daughter is learning, it’s great, daddy/daughter bonding blah blah

Went down to the local at like 5:30am with her so I could get the whole park and she wasn’t vibed by anyone.

We had it to ourselves for about 20 mins beofre this dude turned up, about 30 ish. Helmet, full pads, new vans, proper board. I said ‘alright’ and he sat down and carefully changed his wheels (he had walked up the skateable path to the park, but OK)

He then went to the middle of the flattest area of the park, and proceeded to put his board down and practice doing 90- and 180- degree kickturns. For over an hour. And that was it. For an hour.

SO MANY QUESTIONS

‘Why did you change your wheels?’
‘How long have you been doing this?’
‘Why arent you, like, actually trying to fucking skate??’

After we left, my daughter, who had been swishing around as fast as she was comfy with and rolling down bits she hadn’t before, was like ’ If that’s what you had to do to learn to skate, I would have given up’

WORD. What a kook!
I think a load of the current boomers are all those dudes that say ‘oh yeah, I used to skate’ in the pub, and they are now trying to pick it up ‘for fitness’

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That’s amazing. I’ve bumped into loads of folk either starting for the first time or ‘getting back into it’ (which to be fair, was me a couple of years ago) but none of them have been like that. That’s exactly the opposite of what anyone wants from skating surely?

I’ve pretty much given up on tricks cos the muscle memory has gone and I don’t want to spend the little free time I have rolling up and down at walking pace trying to pop shit ollies for an hour, so I just set up a board with massive fat wheels and cruise around as fast as I can doing carvy turns with a stupid grin on my face.

That’s the important bit. The stupid grin.

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Do we need a thread now for skate drought 2020? Maybe someone can provide instructions on the best way to jack scooter kids for their bearings

This is the same with me.
I know exactly what to do, my legs just don’t want to do it.
Cruising and slappies for me thanks.

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Can’t even manage slappies any more, on the rare occasions I actually get it up (fnar) I generally manage to stall.

Don’t get me wrong, I support any and everyone’s right to pick up a board and enjoy it, I tried not to vibe the guy out.
The ‘so many questions’ were just in my head, I was perfectly pleasant to the dude and gave him space, etc. He had no idea I thought he was…whatever it is I think he is?

I dunno, I think it’s a touch elitist to reject any person willing to try.

weckingball can fuck off tho

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if i have learnt anything in my years skateboarding it’s that we’re all fucking weirdos and to “normal” people everything we do looks stupid

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Nah totally, I didn’t take it as you were negative to him, just agree that it doesn’t sound much fun. I usually end up chatting to anyone I bump into skating, some of the younger kids (I say younger, like early 20s, I’m not interfering with kids or anything!) seem a bit taken aback by it at first but that’s a big part of skating for me, I get so much joy out of it and I want other people to get that too.

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The type to own a transporter van with a patch of stickers on the bumper.

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An Ocean Pacific sticker and the sticker of some white reggae band they saw at a festival. Jurassic 5 playing from the stereo.

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always got a glasto car park sticker in the front window an all

What’s wrong with jurassic 5 and Glastonbury? Geez man can’t have nice things anymore

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Man I will talk to anyone with a skateboard. I probably seem a bit too chatty. Then people get confused when I go into focus mode and start skating and won’t chat at all