Her Indoors bought The Lad a £30 all-in-one skateboard on holiday a couple of years ago. The deck was fine - they are all the same nowadays; nice 7.5" trucks - when I was a kid they went to 6.5"
But the wheels were tiny hard things and the bearings were useless. It wouldn't even accelerate going down a modestly steep road on the caravan site. Give yourself a good push and it ground forward a few feet and then stopped again. We tried going off the ramp at the site skate park; I managed to stay upright, he fell off. The 'board was duly relegated to the shed.
I have finally got round to upgrading:
- OJ Super Juice 60mm 78A wheels - the largest and softest they had in the shop (I'm sure these used to be in orange only - they had any color except orange. The shop doesn't stock the Kryponics Reds, which would have been my first choice), so I chose yellow. £41 a set.
- Bones REDS bearings. Bones are the industry standard at just under £20 a set, so I went one better and got the REDS. £27 a set.
- plus some 'speed washers' they had kicking around in the workshop and a three-way skateboard tool. £5.
- the bloke in the shop said there's no need to bother with spacers, and he didn't have them in stock anyway.
- to be honest, I think the trucks could do with new rubbers as well. You can only adjust between 'straight ahead' and 'wobbly' - you are supposed to be able to adjust how much they respond when you lean into a curve. I have ordered a new set from eBay for £4.
I am pleased to report that it is now disconcertingly fast, even down my garden path that drops about 2" over a 20 yard distance, and hits the house wall with a reassuring clack after you've jumped off in a panic. I'm sure all this stuff costs about the same in £s as it did in the late 1970s. Back then, this lot would have costs year's pocket money. In real terms, it's now basically free.
Debate Magazine
