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Archive for May 2010

Ripstik Caster Board, A Competitor For Skateboard

Long time ago skateboard is all age favorite board, and its quite long that the Skateboard holding down the position. Now there’s a competition for the best Board and all age favorite board. And the competitor named as Ripstik Caster Board.

Risptik Caster Board described as a cross between a skateboard and a snowboard, the Ripstik caster board is the perfect ride for kids looking for the next big thrill. A simple weight transfer lets you turn or accelerate without pushing, just like when you’re carving down the slopes. The board is distinguished by its pivoting deck and 360-degree inclined caster trucks, which offer a snowboard-like carving ability.

 

Ripstik Caster Board offers lot of features such as nose, kick tail, spiked traction pads, and a concave deck design, which combine to improve your foot control–a must for tricks. With the 76mm polyurethane wheels and precision ABEC-5 bearing casters, skaters will enjoy a smooth ride on almost any type of pavement. Ripstik Caster Board is designed for children 8 years and up, the Ripstik’s plastic end platforms and metal torsion beam support up to 220 pounds. With Ripstik Caster Board; all age can be played with Rispstik.

 

Key Features of Ripstik Caster Board:

  • Inclined caster trucks
  • Concave deck platforms
  • Traction plates
  • Kick nose
  • Kick tail
  • Rubber-padded handle
  • Torsion bar
  • 76-millimeter polyurethane wheels
  • High-performance ABEC-5 bearings
  • For ages 8 years and older
  • 220-pound rider weight capacity

The new Ripstick Caster Board combines all the fun and excitement of surfing and snowboarding and puts it on wheels. Inspired by the classic shape and design of a skateboard; the Ripstick looks like something out of the future. Ripstik Caster Board can make a smooth quick 360-degree on just two wheels. Just stand on the sturdy traction plates and subtle movements propel the Ripstick even up a hill! The front and rear flexible panels are controlled by a spring-oriented bar located on the top of the wheels. The rugged polyurethane wheels are 77mm/85A with ABEC-5 bearings. Separating the two traction plates is a padded rubber carrying handle. So kids, are you dare to try the new experience with a whole new board? But, before you hit the road with Risptik Caster Board you must wear helmet and pads for safety.

If you want to buy Ripstik Caster Board, try to check at amazon.com. They usually give a great discount and a free shipping cost. Enjoy hit the road with Ripstik Caster Board, and keep safety.

 

Easy Skateboard Tricks

There are several easy skateboarding tricks that you want to learn in the beginning. Once you get the basics down of how to shift your weight and control the board you are in business. To prevent yourself from getting discouraged you need to remember that everyone riding a skateboard had to start sometime. This includes those professionals that you are in awe of. You won’t get to their status if you don’t take a step in the right direction.

The ollie is considered to be one of the easiest of all tricks to learn. However, it is also one that helps you later on. You see there are many flips in more advanced learning stages that use this trick as a basis to build from. Learning it from the very start offers you a firm foundation to work with.

Easy Skateboard Tricks

This is a very basic jump and that is important. Many newbie’s are intimidated by the thought of their feet being completely off the board. Mastering how to do this successfully as well as the landing give you quite a rush. Your feet need to be in the right position on the board to complete it. One needs to be in the middle and the other planted on the tail. Make sure it isn’t all the way at the end though or it will prevent you from completing a quality landing.

You may find it is easier to learn them is someone you know is helping you. For other people though this is discouraging as they feel intimidated. There are plenty of books, websites, and videos out there that can assist you. Getting those easy skateboarding tricks learned isn’t hard. You do have to take the first step though and get started.

A common mistake though is that a person wants to learn them all at once. Then your attention is going in all directions. There are precise steps you need to memorize for each of them. Start out with just one and work on it every day until you have it mastered. Then you can move on to the next one.

As you learn more of these easy tricks, make sure you do a refresher of the other ones you have learned. That way you don’t forget them along the way. Spend some time moving back and forth through those that you have learned so that you will remember all about them. As you increase the number of them you will find that it is getting to be more fun and less work.

Learning easy skateboarding tricks will help you to gain confident with your board. It will also encourage you to start trying more difficult tricks. As your skills improve you will find you want to spend more and more time on your skateboard. It can be a fun way to get exercise and to spend time with friends. It can also be a way for you to show off a bit and even open the door to competing down the line.

Easy Skateboard Tricks

Best Skateboarding Videos & Films

Skateboarding videos run the gamut from instructional tutorials, to a showcase of who’s hot in the skateboarding world, to an actual film that just happens to feature skateboarders. You may find that you like all three of these different types of movies or that one appeals to you more than the others. In this article, you’ll learn about some of the latest and greatest selections to add to your collection. At the end of the day, you’ll learn a lot about how to skateboard, while also reveling in what’s possible.

The most popular type of skateboarding videos out there feature professional skateboarders busting seemingly impossible tricks or planning great technical runs down city streets, set to a killer soundtrack. “Baker” videos offer songs by The Pixies, The Ramones, NY Dolls, 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. and feature skateboard footage of Mike Maldono, Andrew Reynolds, Elissa Steamer and Erik Ellington. In “Birdhouse” videos, you’ll see skating by Steve Berra, Tony Hawk and Andrew Reynolds, to the songs of Rob Zombie, Portishead, The Beastie Boys, Propellerheads and Moby. “Emerica” will show you Heath Kirchart, Ed Templeton and Kevin Spanky Long skating to an eclectic mix of Danzig, Motorhead, Devo, The Cure and Jimi Hendrix.

If it’s a plot that you’re after, then don’t miss one of the first narrative skateboarding videos ever made — “The Search For Animal Chin,” a 1987 classic featuring the Bones Brigade (Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain and Tommy Guerrero) on a quest to find the great skateboarding master of the world. You can also catch members of the San Francisco Scene (Jim Thiebaud, Jesse Martinez, Bryce Kanights, Doug Smith), the Bakersfield Scene (Chris Borst, Bobby Reeves, Charlie Dubois, Ray Underhill, Adrian Demain, Donny Griffins, Kevin Lambert) and the Rad Party Scene (Mike Vallely, Rodney Mullen, Per Welinder, Natas Kaupas, Arron Murray, Kevin Harris). As a bonus, your DVD extras will include all skate videos from the legendary Stacy Peralta.

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Skateboard Shop Items

When walking past a skateboard shop, the first thing you may notice are the graphic tees, the hoodies, the hats, belts and the sneakers. While most skate shops at the mall or around town do focus on apparel, you can also find stores that cater more to selling complete skateboards, wheels, bearings, decks, helmets and pads. You may also find skateboarding videos, music CDs with great skating compilations and information about a local skateboard camp if you’re lucky. Ideally, your local skate shop will be a place where you can hang out, meet friendly store clerks with similar interests and purchase items that will facilitate your growth as a skater.

Safety gear is available at a sporting goods store or a specialty skateboard shop. According to the Academy of American Pediatrics, skateboarding accidents account for more than 50,000 emergency room visits and 1,500 hospitalizations each year. Of these accidents, 60% involve children under the age 15. These children are generally inexperienced, do not wear the proper safety skateboarding gear, skate near traffic and try risky stunts. The most common injuries are bruises, abrasions, strains, sprains, fractures and dislocations of the arms, legs, neck and torso. Facial injuries like broken noses and broken jaws, as well as severe head injuries like concussions, blunt head trauma and closed head injuries are also prevalent. To minimize their risk, both professional and amateur skateboarders buy skateboard helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, ankle braces and gloves.

In addition to safety equipment, you’ll find that skateboard shops have various goods for your skater lifestyle. There’s apparel with skateboarding logos such as Element, Zero, Plan B, Baker, Blind, Independent, Darkstar, Birdhouse, Etnies, Zoo York, Volcom and DC. You can buy shirts, pants, hats, belts, sunglasses, socks, underwear, bathing suits, swim trunks and wallets that showcase your favorite brands and let other skaters know how you spend most of your free time. Often times, surf logo brands like Roxy, Quicksilver and Ron Jon will also appear in skate shops since the cultures are so similar. The one downside of purchasing skate apparel is that you wind up paying a lot more for these items. It’s not uncommon to pay $20 for a t-shirt or $40 for a pair of pants and they really don’t last any longer than other clothes. Sometimes though, you’ll find shirts that are good at wicking away moisture or pants that offer more range of motion, which could be helpful to your hobby.

A skateboard shop is also a great place to pick up a skateboarding magazine. Thrasher is one of the all-time biggest and best skate mags you could possibly find on the stands. It features full-color photography, interviews with skaters and information on music and other lifestyle elements. Transworld Skateboarding Magazine is another popular monthly selection that features top-notch photography, trick tip tutorials, travel stories from around the world, skateboard reviews, interviews and event lists. Slap is a newer magazine with a decent following who love the contests, merchandise and artistic photos. Beginners love Concrete Wave, which is 100% skateboarding, focusing obsessively on strict technique. With all these excellent items to buy, it’s a wonder skateboarders don’t come out of these shops with holes in their pockets.

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QA Skateboarding

Sometimes hobbies or recreational activities can change culture in ways that are not immediately apparent. Skateboarders are prime examples of this cross over. The history of skateboarding is very unique and fascinating. It has managed to influence music, clothing and even haircuts. That is saying quite a lot. If you are not familiar with this sport then it is time you get in touch with your skateboard roots. This article can help answer any questions you may have about this dynamic hobby and recreational activity. Who knows? Maybe by the end you will be ready to grab a board and head out to your local skateboard park.

What is skateboarding?

Skateboarding is a very popular sport and recreational activity in which people ride skateboards. It has morphed from people simply using a skateboard to get to a certain location into a worldwide pastime and profession. It is extremely popular with most kids and if the person is good enough at mastering the tricks and trades of the sport, it can lead to endorsements and turn into a profession.

Who are some of the earliest skateboarders known today?

Prior to the 1970’s there really were not any names that stood out in the skateboarding field. But that changed when skaters began to invent tricks using the skateboard. This drew attention and more people began to take up the hobby. Some of the earliest inventors of skating tricks and moves were Bruce Logan, Ty Page, Bobby Piercy and Kevin Reed. You also cannot forget the Z-boys in the list. Most of these early pioneers would practice in empty swimming pools because the walls allowed them to try vertical tricks.

How have skateboarding influenced culture, clothing and even music?

In the early days of skateboarding the culture was really surfer based. It did come about as a need by surfers so that image stuck for a decade or so. But then times changed and the people skating changed with it. No longer were skaters just surfers who had downtime. It became a culture all its own. Music, movies, hair styles and even clothing began to reflect this counter-culture movement. The first skaters were always portrayed as edgy and rebellious. They had haircuts that were partially shaved on the sides but long on top. It was not until filmmakers began to create movies that the skater image began to become accepted. Music choices changed from obscure punk bands to popular music. Clothing and slang often used by skaters was picked up from movies such as Grind and Lords of Dogtown. Those two movies helped show the world that skaters, for the most part, were actually good citizens not out to wreck the world and helped get rid of the negative stereotype that had haunted the culture.

What are some well known skateboarding movies?

One of the most controversial movies to portray skateboarding is Video Days. It was released in 1991 and is a short film that gives off a definite misrepresentation of the skater culture. In the film skaters are portrayed as being rebels with no respect for other people. That changed through with Grind and Lords of Dogtown. Those two movies helped young skaters immensely. The movies were very popular and actually showed skaters as being fun-loving and respectful. It also helped launch skateboarding into a true sport that thrived with healthy competition and a true testament to skill. Another well known movie is Gleaming the Cube from 1989. It is a movie that stars Christian Slater and really marks the beginning of a brand new era for skateboarders. It also happened to feature some of the best skaters in the business such as the world famous Tony Hawk.

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Buying Or Building Skateboard Ramps

For the serious skateboarding enthusiast, there is nothing like pulling a few tricks on skateboard ramps. Before there were skate-parks in almost every town, kids were forced to be creative and make their own structures. They’d rip down street signs and lay them on the ground to railslide down. They’d find old picnic tables and place them in the street to hop onto. They’d use palettes from the grocery store to hop onto. They’d buy pieces of plywood or giant pipes from the hardware store and fashion them into something they could do tricks on. Today there are actually kits that kids can buy to build their own or even pre-assembled ramps for purchase. So what types should you buy and where can you get them?

There are several different types of ramps to consider. Half-pipes and quarter-pipes are some of the most common. Half-pipes were originally made out of half sections of enormous pipelines placed together. Today, they are similar but are designed with a flat section between the two edges to allow for more speed. Quarter-pipes are much smaller — like one side of the half-pipe — and are best for practice maneuvers at skate parks. Mini-ramps are a type of half-pipe that are generally 2 to 6 feet tall. (To see minis in action, check out skate videos like “Cheese and Crackers,” where Daewon Song and Chris Haslam skate almost exclusively on these ramps and odd pieces of junk). Minis are good for practicing lip tricks and are favored for being smaller and more portable. Vert ramps, on the other hand, are needed for practicing the big aerial tricks. Like the mini ramp, the vert is another type of half-pipe, but this one ranges from 10 to 14 feet tall. At the top there is anywhere from six inches to three feet of vertical space, which is where tricks can be performed.

At a typical skate-park, there are many other smaller skateboard ramps and obstacles you’ll encounter. For instance, a pyramid is a structure built low to the ground, with four ramps meeting at a center deck. A spine ramp is two small quarter-pipes put together, usually with a rail or mini-lip in between. A bank ramp is about 8 feet wide by about 3-6 feet tall and 7-9 feet long, with a 30° slope. Launch ramps look very similar, but with a taller height and a steeper slope. A grind box is low to the ground (less than 4 feet high) and offers a long table-like space where a skateboarder can slide along a rail or along his board and try a bunch of tricks. Similarly, a fun box combines this tabletop feature along with some gradual incline ramp space. Sometimes poles or ledges are mounted for more versatility.

Given the cost of skateboard ramps, it’s no surprise that many skaters choose the D.I.Y. route. However, you’ll quickly find it often costs just as much (if not more) to assemble the materials for yourself. For instance, you can expect to pay anywhere from $70 (for a launch ramp) and $86 (for a grind box) to $235 (for a fun box) and $450 (for a mini ramp). At www.xtremeskater.com, you’ll find free plans for building your own mini half-pipes, 4 foot quarter-pipes, custom mini ramps, grind boxes, fun boxes, launch ramps and vert half-pipes. Each page covers the materials required (along with estimated prices), pictures, descriptions and videos. Another excellent site is www.diyskate.com, which offers free instructions, diagrams and cost estimates for skateboarding ramp building as well. You’ll find plans for wall ramps, kicker ramps, fun boxes with ledges, Jersey barriers, Chicago barriers, bank ramps, 3-foot quarters, micro spines, stair ledges, picnic ledges, grind boxes, grind rails and more.

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