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| Skateboarding FAQ |
And the Frequently Asked Questions in the alt.skate-board Usenet newsgroup these days are...
- 1. I want to get back into skateboarding. What should I do?
- 2. Equipment
- 2.i What is a "New-School Board"?
- 2.ii Why Would I Want One?
- 2.iii How Much Does a Board Cost?
- 2.iv Where Can I get One?
- 2.v What
Kind of Equipment is Best?
- 2.v.i Should I get Wood or Slick?
- 2.v.ii Wheels - Big or Little?
- 2.v.iii Risers or not?
- 2.v.iv How wide should my trucks be?
- 2.v.v Do bearings really matter?
- 2.vi Should I Wear Pads?
- 3. What Magazines are There?
- 4. What is a Skateboard Video?
- 5. How Do I learn To Skate?
- 6. Where
Can I Skate?
- 6.i What is a Skate Park?
- 6.ii What are some Famous Skate Spots?
- 6.iii Ramps
- 6.iii.i How can I Build a Ramp?
- 6.iii.ii What are the Different Kinds of Ramps?
- 6.iii.iii How Much do they Cost to Build?
- 6.iii.iv What kind of Legalities are There Regarding Ramp Building?
- 6.iii.v Who Should I let Skate My Ramp?
- 7. History Section
- 8. Jargon Section
- 9. Credits
1. I want to Get Back Into Skateboarding.
Beg, borrow, steal or buy a board. Go skate.2. Equipment
2.i What is a "New School" board?
This question is asked by many borne-again skaters who skated in the late eighties, gave up for a while, and are now surprised by the new style of equipment they find in the shops. "Old School" refers to the eighties type equipment many skaters on the 'net grew up with. For information about the older stuff (not such a frequently asked question), see the history section.-
New School:
- Deck = skinny, short-ish, almost-symmetrical, possibly slick, slight concave, possibly more nose that tail kick, anything goes graphics, no wheel wells, black grip, "Fuct" sticker.
- Wheels = small, hard, thin, with flat spots.
- Hardware = what hardware?
- Trucks = what design improvements?
-
Old School:
- Deck = wide, longish, asymmetrical, wood bottom, lots of concave, not much nose with wide tail, "death" graphics, wheel wells, snot-green coloured grip, millions of stickers.
- Wheels = large, not so hard, thick-ish, with no flat spots. Hardware = risers, nose guard, rails, Lapper, Grind Kings, Copers, grip, Tail Bone.
- Trucks = see new school trucks.
2.ii Why Would I Want A "New School" Board?
-
New School:
- Deck advantages = "snappy", nose room, saves trees.
- Deck disadvantages = snappy, thin.
- Wheel advantages = get up to speed quickly.
- Wheel disadvantages = lose speed quickly, flat spot easily, hang up on a tick-tack, can't handle "real" streets, too hard for some terrains.
- Hardware advantages = what hardware?
- Hardware disadvantages = what hardware?
- Set-up advantages = light, low centre of gravity, manoeuvrable, street credibility.
- Disadvantages = designed obsolescence, tiring as a mode of transport.
-
Old School:
- Deck advantages = foot holding concave.
- Deck disadvantages = no nose room, kills trees.
- Wheel advantages = lose speed slowly, flat spot with difficulty, don't hang up on a tick tack, can handle "real" streets, wheels exist for all terrains.
- Wheel disadvantages = get up to speed slowly.
- Hardware advantages = what advantages?
- Hardware disadvantages = noise pollution.
- Set-up advantages = last a lifetime, pool credibility.
- Set-up disadvantages = heavy, high centre of gravity, not so manoeuvrable, tiring as a mode of transport!
2.iii How Much Does a New Board Cost?
You can buy complete "toy" skateboards, made in places like Taiwan, in the appropriate shops. Here we're talking about the cost of what we would call a "real" skateboard, all of them made in the USA. There is a vast difference in terms of performance.- Australia = $AUS 300 for a complete good quality US set-up.
- USA = around US$100
- UK = about UKP 120+.
- Everywhere else on the planet = probably the same as Australia.
2.iv Where Can I Get a Board?
You need to either find a shop which specialises in skateboard equipment or use mail order (unless you know a sponsored skater, of course.) Check the magazine list to find your local mag, which will probably have adverts. If there are no magazines, or no skate-shops in your country you'll need to mail order from another country. The cheapest place will be in the USA, so get a copy of Thrasher which carries lots of mail order ads.- Australia = at one of about half a dozen skate shops in the whole country.
- USA = specialist skate shops in areas with high population, or by mail order.
- UK = at one of 30 or so skate shops, or by mail order.
- Everywhere else on the planet = probably the same as Australia.
2.v What Kind of Equipment is Best?
Stuff you get for free. The US stuff is generally the best to go with, by "real" companies. For locally produced stuff, best to ask a local skater.2.v.i Should I get Wood or Slick?
Wood decks are made out of plain maple laminates. Slick boards have a layer of slippery plastic bonded to the bottom.You can have just wood, but not just the slick part. Slick on wood if you require extra slide/strength. Slick decks are usually heavier than wood ones. Current preference of most serious skaters is for wood these days. It also works out cheaper.
2.v.ii Wheels - Big or Little?
Medium thanks.Wheel sizes plunged below 40mm in the early nineties, but since then they've increased again.
2.v.iii Risers or Not?
Small ones or none for small wheels.2.v.iv How Wide Should my Trucks be?
So your wheels are level or even slightly in from the deck edges, when set-up.2.v.v Do Bearings Really Matter?
Only if you want your wheels to roll. I never clean them or lube them as I'd rather be actually skating than toying with my board. Exceptions are during winter when there is plenty of time to do shit like that, or when something is really drastically fucking up overall board performance, or your board just went for a swim.But if you're serious about this kind of thing...
608zz bearings. Two to a wheel. make wheel roll. common bearings, w/ my opinions: NMB: standard, good, American (?); GMN: German, really good; Black Russians: really fast, black, don't seem like they're good until you're rolling on them; SKF, Singapore, shitty, slow, blowouts, Michael Fey; Swiss, Powell made, among others, super fast, not worth it for street, ramps, okay. This is a precision bearing (ah, hell, they ALL are) and I think it's a waste to get them grimy in the street. Quickies, Shorty's brand, fast, removable shield so they can be cleaned or rode w/o. The rating system for bearings is called ABEC. ABEC 1 is standard, and ABEC 3 is the best (as far as we're concerned). Swiss is ABEC 3, and Quickies is ABEC 1 w/ some ABEC 3 properties. [regurgitation mode off] Yes, in-liners use the same bearing. What a waste of an entry.
2.vi Should I wear Pads?
Not if you want to look cool and move well. If you are a vert skater this statement should be ignored if you want to live to a ripe old age, or at all, really.3. Skateboard Magazines
This list only includes commercial magazines which should be available via skate shops in the relevant countries. Magazines marked * should also be available at news-stands.There are details of magazines from these countries:
There's also information about specialist magazines concentrating on for example, Slalom and Downhill Racing.Video Magazines are also listed.
AUSTRALIA
- *Slam
- PO Box 823, Burleigh Heads, QLD 4220, AUSTRALIA.
BRAZIL
- *(?) Skatin
- Rua Paquetita 145, 70 Andar, Conj. 71, Vila Olimpia, Sao Paulo, SO, CEP, 04552, BRAZIL (11 2125233) [Still publishing? What about Trip?]
BRITAIN
- *Sidewalk Surfer
- 2a The Bridge Centre, Bridge
Street, Abingdon, OXON, OX14 3HN ENGLAND
Phone +44 (0)1235 536229
Fax +44 (0)1235 536230
CANADA
- * Concrete Powder,
- 7411 Elmbridge Way, Richmond, BC, V6X 2B8 CANADA (604 279 8408) [+ snowboarding]
FRANCE
- *B-Side
- 18 rue Marcel Miquel, 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux, FRANCE (4662 9568)
GERMANY
- *(?) Monster Mag
- Friedrich-Ebert Str 15, D 4400 Munster GERMANY (251 520052)
ITALY
- *(?) XXX Magazine
- Via 1 Maggio, 9 - 22073 Fino Mornasco (COMO) ITALY (031 880 562)
JAPAN
- Lovely Magazine...
- (03-3533-7985)
- *Fine
- [details to follow] (a big crappy fashion mag with maybe 3 or 4 photos of skating in every issue).
MEXICO
- *(?) Skate,
- #115-B, Col. Lomas de Barrilaco, 11100 D.F. MEXICO (516 96 333435)
PORTUGAL
- * Surf/Skate
- Rua de Jogo, fs Xico Morgado, Bolembre, 2710 Sintra, PORTUGAL (3511 4716958)
RUSSIA
- *Skeit Novosti
- 28 Volzhskaya St, Saratov, 410601, RUSSIA. (845 2 260509)
SPAIN
- *Tres 60 Skate
- C/Iparraguirre, 59, 2.0, Santurce-Vizcaya, 48980, SPAIN. (4 461 4474)
SWEDEN
- *Funsport
- Box 23126, Stockholm, F-10435, SWEDEN (08 330030) [various things including skateboarding]
USA
- *Big Brother
- 815 N. Nash El Segundo CA 90245 USA (310 640 7082)
- *Slap
- [Might as well use the same address as Thrasher]
- *Thrasher
- 1303 Underwood Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94124 USA (415 822 3083)
- *Transworld Skateboarding
- 353 Airport Road, Oceanside, CA 92033 USA (619 722 7777) e-mail:[email protected]
SPECIALIST
At the moment the list does not include zines. But there is at least one non-commercial specialist magazine which has been going for many years and has a truly international distribution via subscription.
- Slalom!
- c/o Jani Soderhall 14 Allee d'Arachon F-91370 Verriers le Buisson FRANCE
VIDEO MAGAZINES
- 411
- 1351A Logan Ave Costa Mesa Ca 92626 (714 641 7037)
- Thrasher
-
- 1303 Underwood Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94124 USA (415 822 3083)
4. What is a Skating Video?
A video tape showing skaters doing their thing, like eating strange objects, destroying property, crashing cars, chasing Bettys, throwing up, shooting up, blowing things up, and possibly some of the best skateboarding you are likely to ever see if you don't live in a major skate centre on this planet. May contain harsh language, distressing images, soft pornography, subliminal messages, back-masking and skating, music and image quality that ranges from "I could do better than that!" (So, why don't you?) to "Oh fuck, did you see that?" (No, I was ordering the pizza, can we rewind it again and see it in slow motion please?)5. How do I learn to skate?
Beg, borrow, steal or buy a board. Go skate.5.i What are the Basic Tricks?
Staying on long enough to do the next trick. Skating for years without breaking too many bones. Kickturns, fakies, backside and frontside airs, grinds, 50-50's, rock'n'rolls, board slides, Ollies, Texans 'cos they make me laugh (yeah!).5.ii What is Switch-stance?
Doing a trick as if you were opposite footed to what you naturally are. If you have no natural stance, you really are new school and shouldn't even be reading this. If you don't know what your natural stance is, you'd better keep reading.5.iii What is the difference between ramp and street skating?
Ramp skating happens on ramps, while street skating happens just about everywhere else except pools, concrete parks, slalom courses, roller rinks, contest freestyle areas, etc. Unless of course there is a bench or some other obstacle nearby. Street skating, despite its name, rarely happens on streets. The things you actually skate while street skating are pretty hard for cars and stuff to get at.5.iv What Other Forms of Skating are There?
Slalom, downhill (try it, it nearly killed me once), freestyle, vertical (not just ramps, there was a day when concrete skate structures were erected specifically for skateboarders), pool, utilitarian (skate down the shop for a coke), soul (skate by yourself at your local spot like I do), bank/ditch (my personal favourite)...6 Where Can I Skate?
Anywhere they don't bust you, and sometimes even there.Most skating at the moment takes place in areas not intended for skating. People skate anywhere and everywhere throughout our cities. Over the years different types of purpose built skate facilities have been developed, but few have matched the challenge of the every-day surroundings of our urban lives.
6.i What is a Skate Park?
It's a place for skaters to narc each other out and see who has the freshest pants this week. Some people skate too. I don't think many actually exist in the US due to litigation-madness, but in the rest of the world there are even free public spots to be scoped. Hell, there's even a good one in my home town.6.ii What are some Famous Skate Spots?
What a question!- AUSTRALIA The "Slushy" banks, 3 minutes skate from my house, Henley Beach, Adelaide, South Australia, AUSTRALIA. The "Sheister" banks, 30 minutes drive from my house, some-suburb-I- can't-remember-the-name-of-at-the-moment, Adelaide, South Australia, AUSTRALIA. Straight smooth, almost impossibly steep with little transition banks. The object of this place is to get to the other end without hurting yourself, with some style if possible, and maybe a trick along the way. Maybe not.
- USA San Francisco's "Embarcadero" has been the most heavily featured skate spot in the world during the early nineties.
- UK London's "South Bank" is probably the one place in Britain that is widely known around the skate world. "Radlands", the indoor skatepark in Northampton has also received plent of international coverage.
6.iii Ramps
6.iii.i How can I Build a Ramp?
Buy or, better yet, steal the materials and con a carpenter friend into helping you do it. Thrasher Magazine sell plans.Heckler Magazine has online ramp plans.
Also, a separate ramp building tips FAQ is available at DansWORLD.
6.iii.ii What are the Different Kinds of Ramps?
- Jump ramps = get boring pretty quickly.
- "Standard" ramps = 10 foot transitions, variable flat, a foot or three of vertical and at least one platform and set of stairs.
- Mini-ramps = all shapes and sizes.
6.iii.iii How Much do they Cost to Build?
Depends on the size and local material costs. I think my local "standard" ramp cost about $AUS14,000 complete with concrete foundations, two platforms, one set of steps, a bench, a bin, two trees, some bark landscaping and some safety fencing.6.iii.iv What kind of Legalities are There Regarding Ramp Building?
Impossible to answer in an international document like this. That would be different in different places. You'd better see "the authorities", council, or whatever.6.iii.v Who Should I let Skate My Ramp?
Anyone you damn-well like, and no-one you don't. Let people who are visiting have a go and maybe people you just met, but be careful they don't come back to rob your house, steal your belongings, burn down your ramp, rape your pets, etc.History Section
The history section is starting to take shape as a separate series of documents at the Dansworld site.Jargon Section
- Backside
- Turns or rotations in the direction your toes point towards, so that your back is facing the outside of the arc. Sometimes abbreviated as 'bs' or 'b/s'
- Boardslide
- A trick where you lift your front truck over the lip/coping/what-have-you and slide. Also: railslide.
- Fakie
- Riding backwards. We should note here that when riding fakie, your weight is balanced as in your normal stance, whereas switch-stance requires you to adjust your balance to suit a slightly different style of trick. I'd also like to point out that the distinction between switch-stance and normal is fast disappearing as people now immediately learn to ride both ways. Hopefully, in a few years, goofy-foot and regular foot will no longer exist.
- Flip Essentials
- Flip tricks are the core of
modern street skating.
- Hard flip
- A heelflip or kickflip varial the 'hard way.' Hard heelflip (also inside heelflip): b/s varial heelflip. Hard kickflip: f/s varial kickflip.
- Heelflip
- Ollie, front foot goes to the toe side of the board, flicking the board with the ball of the foot, flips. land.
- Kickflip
- Kickflip Ollie, Ollie kickflip, Ollie flip. Ollie, front foot goes to the heel side of the board, flicking the board with your toes, board flips, land.
- Nollie kickflip
- Ollie off the nose (nollie), kick the board with toes toward the heel side of the board with back foot.
- 360 flip
- A 360 degree b/s varial kickflip.
- Varial
- Rotation of board or body.
- Frontside
- Turns or rotations in the direction your heels point towards, so that your front is facing towards the outside of the arc. Sometimes abbreviated as 'fs' or 'f/s'
- Goofy-foot
- Someone whose normal skate stance is with the right foot forward. [surfers] As opposed to regular-foot.
- Grind
- Moving along an edge (coping,
bench, curb, etc.) with your trucks. Scraping your trucks along an edge
as you skate.
- Types of grinds:
- Crooked: nosegrind with nose sliding at the same time. Also: K
- B/s feeble: back truck grinding, b/s, toe-side rail grinding (sliding?) edge (front truck is over the deck). Also: grapefruit.
- 50-50: both trucks grinding.
- 5-O: just back truck grinding.
- Nosegrind: just front truck grinding.
- F/s Smith: back truck grinding, front body facing edge, with toe-side rail grinding edge also.
- B/s Smith: back truck grinding, front body facing away from edge (back to the edge), with heel-side rail grinding edge.
- (all tricks can be done b/s, f/s, fakie, etc. Explanations are for clarity and visualising)
- Types of grinds:
- Lipslide
- A slide where your tail is over the deck (imaginary or real, and two-sided curbs are temporarily being excluded from examples). You can get into this by either b/s or f/s 180 Ollie (approx. measurements for street tricks, real for ramp/pool), or fakieing into it, whether fakie Ollie or just lifting your back end (tail end) up over the coping/lip/ledge. (other possibilities: fakie lipslide may be called a switch boardslide) Also: disaster slide.
- Mongo-foot
- A style of pushing where the back foot is kept on the board, and pushing is done with the front foot. Very common in switch-stance skating. [viz. Bill Danforth] Also: wrong-footed.
- Nose
- The front of the board, from the front two truck bolts to the end. (and don't get smart and point to the _other_ end, asshole)
- Noseslide
- Sliding the underside of the nose end of a board on a ledge or lip.
- Regular-foot
- Someone whose normal skate stance is with the left foot forward. [cf. 'goofy-foot']
- Switch-stance
- Skateboarding in the opposite stance than accustomed to, and passing it off as 'normal'. i.e. a goofy-foot riding regular, and vice versa.
- Tail
- The back end of the board, from the back two truck bolts to the end. (for this one, too!)
- Tailslide
- Sliding the underside of the tail end of a board on a ledge or lip.
Credits
The alt.skate-board FAQ is the work of, among others,Dan Dunham [email protected]
Matthew B Gross [email protected]
Tim Leighton-Boyce [email protected]
John Nixon [email protected]
Rick Valenzuela
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