teh Forum

Anybody here into skateboards? I used to hate them, but against all expectation, I'm finding them fun. The new Carveboard Stik looks a blast.

I'm well into them and am a full-on skater poser (meaning, I have not owned a deck since I was 7 years old, but I still buy skateboard mags, vids, and the like). I've been thinking about getting a board for gliding around Tokyo, but was also intrigued by that Carveboard; I'm holding off on purchasing anything until the winner of that contest is announced...

For Tokyo cruising, the Stik looks the biz. Have you seen that long introductory vid they have on their site? I think those boys are probably more proficient than me, but being able to do that would help ease the pain of being for sure. There may even be some proper skate facilities in Tokyo somewhere.

The T-board is really for downhill and may be a bit heavy as an Edokko accessory.

There's nothing like the sight of a skateboard for bringing out the repressive instincts of anybody with one iota of authority. I hadn't realized this until I started my investigations of the possibilities.

bringing out the repressive instincts of anybody with one iota of authority

That's one of the attractions, isn't it? Certainly, Edo is full of people who have exactly one iota of authority and this would draw alot of ire; please refer to Construction Site Traffic-Guidance Workers and the like (the "little generals" and "sidewalk matadors" who wave you forward, even on one-way streets).

There are indeed some good skate spots in Tokyo (Komazawa-koen springs to mind).

I've seen another board which has about 16 wheels and is supposed to be good for simulating the snowboarding effect; I'll try to suss out a pic.

The only place I have seen skaters in Tokyo is the poor kids that hang out at the Harajuku gates of Yoyogi-koen trying to make due with nothing to skate on except an odd cone to trick over.

Ocean - hows the dirt surfer or whatever mountain style board you're riding this week? Are those things really any good? No substitution for snow I imagine, eh? You should have seen Danz's attempt to snowboard down a giant (I'm talking HUGE) sand mountain in Izu. He didn't strap in and the board shot out right away, down the mountain, sparked across the rocks, and torpedoed into the surf never to be seen again.

Well I'm playing T-board at the moment, and it's actually quite fun. But I did whack the crap out of my arm when I fell off in front of a car, and 3 weeks later, I'm not convinced that there's not some bone damage in there. Hasn't stopped me riding it though. It's not snowboarding for sure, but laying down carves always feels good. The Dirtsurfer's a blast too. I took it to Fujiten resort in Yamanashi, and I got up to snowboarding type speeds riding on the grass slopes.

What was Danz riding - an actual snowboard? How well does sand hold an edge? Not well I imagine... I hope that wasn't his Dirtsurfer that disappeared into the foaming brine. "These are pearls that were his wheels..."

Goemon, that would be the Flowboard/Flowlab with the lotsa wheels, no? That or the Stik would be my choice for Tokyo. I'm looking to add one each of those to my collection at some point. BMW also make a nice looking board.

Ocean: Yes, it is the flowboard:


Thanks for reminding me; it gets disparaged so much by skaters though, so I haven't seen/tried it myself. Was thinking about getting one of the Arbor skateboards since I ride an Arbor Woodie on the snow; it's all about brand loyalty...

Forgot about the urchins at the entrance to Yoyogi-koen! They don't flip tricks there for lack of "natural" surfaces to use; they flip tricks there to get attention.

I was looking at Arbor's site the other day, and wanted to ask somebody who knows about boards how they rate their snowboards. They have the most beautiful boards anywhere. Are they a good ride? They're getting a distributor in Japan soon by the looks.

I don't think you'd go far wrong with the Flowboard. A lot of people rate them highly. Might need a leash at the start though. I have doubts about whether you can slide them to a stop.

Ahhhh... I was a "sk8r" back in the day when it was all about the whale tail boards... I've always wanted to try one of those longboards.... they look like they'd be good to get around non-crowded parts of town with.

Check it out...

Ocean: I'm not someone who knows about boards, but I can tell you about "my experience with my Woodie" (that sounds dirty, but it's not...). I ride a 163 and have had this one for about 2 1/2 years. As you mentioned, it's very beautiful and is easy to pick out from a crowd. I found that it tended to wobble a bit doing straight-aways on the hard-pack gelande, but that may be more due to my inexperience and (relative) high center of gravity. Carving on the gelande , however, is not a problem and it "bends" / brakes easily. It handles perfectly in the powder though and that's really where I like to go anyway, gliding through the trees.

I have Burton Custom bindings on it right now, but I'm planning on switching to Flows this summer. Hoping to buy one of the higher end, last year models at a bit of a discount.

GLEAM THE CUBE!!!

Flows are the way to go. I'm kinda regretting getting Burton SI as they're a bastard to get out of in pow (not that I'll be seeing too much of that prolly from now on), and they put pressure on my front foot at the interface.

enderman, are you not a skater then? I guess you board so much in the winter that you don't really get the urge in summer. :x

I dress like a skater

No, I never really picked it up, although all of my friends did. I wish I had now. Back then I was a skier, but had I boarded then I am sure I would have. I definitely don't like pavement though.

I started BMXin. Been riding around the industrial areas of Redmond jumping off loading docks and things. It is really fun to go racing around with my buddy at dusk. The whole place is like a big playground.

Had one nasty spill and remembered why I don't like pavement, but overall it is tons of fun. I think learning to bike is a lot more fun than learning to skateboard. You can do so much more right off the bat and you can go fast which I really like.

...plus I hear once you learn you never forget

I used to love riding dodgy bikes in the dark in wasteland in the UK. When I was a kid my family used to drag me to the opera and I hated it. Finally I persuaded them to let me stay at home if I promised to be good and not go out. So one night, I got back from my 'opera night riding' on a local golf course and found my parents car already in the driveway.

I 'acquired' a BMX bike here but couldn't quite get over how small it was - I kept wanting to put a great long saddle post on it which isn't really the point of BMX.

Pavement is fucking horrible. It takes no prisoners. I had a small bing on my hip yesterday and the bruising seems to go really deep. Also my right arm still doesn't work properly and I'm going to have to take it to the hospital this week... Pavement is hot too.

When I was 12 we used to "liberate" bikes from the local community pool and running them through a battery of tests. Well, actually, we used to try to run them through walls, truth be told. Generally, we would ride them to the local candy store, but dutifully return them to their original (final?) resting place in somewhat dented fashion. I feel very guilty about this.

Ocean: did you get a skateboard then? Judging by the way you are throwing like a girl, I'd say yes.

http://www.gmaxskateboarding.com/game.asp

I've got a Freebord and a T-board which are basically skateboards. One day I might even try getting a real longboard.

I can't believe how this shoulder grief won't go away. It's not completely debilitating or anything, but the pain seems to be nomadic. After throwing stones this weekend (like a girl) it went for a sojourn in my elbow. Now it's back in my shoulder again. One of my fingers hurts too from skidding off my ('borrowed') bike on a wet tramline in Matsuyama. That bike went back to the station with its basket all dinged in and the handlegrips torn up... Boy did I feel like a twat lying in a puddle in front of the tram station with my liberated bike and liberated umbrella all crumpled up.

Well get db and you together and you would have two working arms. Which one is yours? Too funny if you would have two left arms.

Ocean How do you like the freebord?

I just saw a segment about them on the discovery channel last night... they look sick!!! They had people carving away down the street... It looked exactly like a snowboard carve.

I got one of the X-80 small boards and it's a bit like riding a snowboard that's too small. It feels like you're going to catch an edge at any moment.

They do slide like a snowboard, but that's not necessarily a good thing - I try not to slide when I'm snowboarding, and I prefer my wheeled toys to be pure carving machines too. From that point of view, the T-board is better.

But the Freebord ride is supposed to be very adjustable, and the place we're moving to has perfect skateboarding hills - long, wide curving hills and smooth road - so I may put skyhooks on it and give it another go down there.

ender, it's my right arm that's hurting. What did db do with his arm?

I can't remember if it was his right or left. Mostly he just complained. He has a blown out rotator cuff. There are certain things he can do with his arm fine and then certain things he can't do at all. Last I heard he was going to weekly physical therapy to see if he could avoid surgery. He could answer himself if his lazy ass would ever check this forum. I think he spends all his time on this financial software development forum these days tho.

I gave you guys avatars. Feel free to delete or replace them, but I thought I would help you out a little.