SF skaters, help!

[Goblin]

OK, so I'll be 35 at the end of the month, and I'm cultivating a relatively benign midlife crisis. I'm picking up a guitar again to relearn my three chords, and maybe learn to switch between them this time. I'm getting my tattoos reworked and added to, and my birthday present is probably going to be a pair of Nudie RRDS. Stupid, but cheaper than a divorce and a Porsche.

Anyway, I haven't been on a skateboard for longer than 20 minutes in literally like 20 years. I think my last board was a Powell-Peralta Caballero deck with a silver dragon on it, big clunky wheels, and an actual tail. I skated street only, but I missed all the switchstance stuff.

I don't know the first thing about skating now, but I want to pick up a decent board and start dicking around on it again. I doubt I'll skate with other people much, as I don't really feel like being the Grandpa from Hipster Bingo, but there are some places nearby where I think I can skate without anyone bitching.

How much do boards cost now? How have they changed - like what kind of trucks and wheels should I be looking for? What companies make decent **** for a relatively cheap price?

I just had some of the best times of my teenage life drinking bumwine, smoking up, and falling on ****** in parking lots. Also skating. I'm kind of fiending for it again and I don't mind looking a little ridiculous. I'm sitting in my office in an insurance defense firm writing jury instructions and blasting the Weakerthans, so incongruity is the Mr. Bubble in which I bathe.

Thanks as always!

 

[cheapmutha]

ok... this is a great idea. good luck with it.

for boards, youre probably going to want something a little bigger. look at black label and anti-hero, both use the same wood and are great boards.

trucks, indy makes the best, but venture is a close second. go with one of those.

wheels, id go with spitfire. ive been riding them for 13 years and havent seen better. they also come in the most diverse selection of sizes and hardness.

get good bearings, bones swiss are what i perfer. i think they cost around 40$ for a set(i dont buy the **** anymore), but they are worth it.

get yourself a good pair of skate shoes also... probably a mid or high top since you havent skated in a long time. nike sb blazers, half cabs, and vans skate his are good choices.

these are just my opinions, each person has their own things they like. what ive listed tho has done me well for 13 years, so i stand behind it. good luck!

 

[whoopee]

I haven't skated in a couple years, but in ~02-03 (in the throes of a very early mid-life crisis - what could be called a quarter-life crisis but not as the term is normally used) I bought a Girl deck, Destructo trucks, and Girl wheels for around $120 at a store. I think skating has gotten really specialised so you'd be well-served researching on the net or going to a local store and letting them know your prferences. For example, there are a lot of trucks designed for seperate use - Grind Kings are great for grinding, for example. I never skated enough to have that much experience but did find World Industries decks fragile, Independent trucks never had a good reputation among the people with whom I skated.

Another fan of the Weakerthans here.

 

[Goblin]

I'm 5'9 or so, at least that's what my license says. I weigh between 145 and 150 lbs. I don't know if that makes a big difference in what kind of board/trucks I'm looking for.

I doubt I'll do much other than skate around parking lots, down the street, etc. Ollies and simple grinding/sliding were as far as I ever got ... I could never do kickflips and ****. I'd kind of like to learn that. I'm about 90% sure I'll never be near a ramp/pipe/skatepark.

I never read Thrasher or TWS or any of the skate mags or really watched videos or anything except at friends' houses every now and then so I don't know a lot of the lingo or what different tricks are called.

cheapmutha, aren't you from Fla.? I grew up in Okeechobee ... in 1986, skating was something you did in Okeechobee when you felt like you weren't getting your ass beat hard or frequently enough by the local rednecks. :|

 

[denimdestroyedmylife]

I'm encroaching on my thirties and I've switched to longboarding for the pleasure of bombing hills, carving and getting low-----still hankering for a street deck, though, just for ollie thrills. Check out COOLESTSHOP for an original Gonz deck, pick up the indy trucks and some moderately fat wheels and you'll be set and comfortable-------perfect for ollies and skating fast. I find modern boards to be slow, they vibrate a lot and cracks in the pavement are serious hazards for the wheels. This set up will still be kickflip-able, though not great for the (overly)technical tricks in this post-Questionable era.

 

[cheapmutha]

goblin- if youre that size you could get away with any size board, just look at alot and see what fits your feet the best. id say get some wheels that are 55mm for a good all around wheel, its big enough to let you push less and its small enough to not bee too heavy to learn kickflips.

and fl is a little more relaxed about skating... i havent had someone want to kick ****** because i skate since about '96... maybe '97.

 

[cheapmutha]

whatever you do... do not buy this board

 

[Goblin]

Originally Posted by cheapmutha

whatever you do... do not buy this board

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

 

[shoreman1782]

Definitely buy this one, though!

Funny you post this, because the thread on Superfuture got me thinking of getting a board again, but I think the kids/cops here would frown upon that.