Author: Crossfire

It looks like there is a lot more to moulded urethane when it comes to skateboard wheel design. The chemical compound defines the wheel’s strength, durability, performance at high temperatures and on various surfaces, then there’s the design with width, radials, pretty graphics… You get the picture. After dual durometers and cores, the next logical step seems to make your wheel by incorporation air pockets. The result is the Cliché Air-Core wheel of which I got to test the 51mm variety.

I had heard through the grapevine that the Air-Cores really were the next best thing for skateboarders this side of carbon composites and precision bearings. Naturally I had to try a set and I jumped with joy as the four pristine urethane tires arrived at my door. I slipped them onto my axles and took them for a spin. Straight away you can feel how light the vacuumed cored wheels are, approximated the equivalent of riding with three wheels instead of four, so your pop snaps a little harder and faster. The session was on until I scooped up my deck and spotted a short slice through one of my rear wheel’s riding surface. Not stoked.

The disappointment didn’t stop there as I noticed that after a day of skating a concrete park (for those expecting scientific detail), the surface ridges had completely worn away. By surface ridges I mean the tread found on the riding surface of the wheels. Obviously the Cliché Air-Cores were soft. So soft in fact, that after a couple more days (no more than three) I had a heinous flatspot on one of my front wheels. Double not stoked.

I’ve been riding these 51mm Air-Cores for a couple of weeks now on wooden, concrete, brick and mortar surfaces and you can probably hear me coming like a Huey Helicopter with the flatspots I’ve scored. The worst part about riding with these flatspots is that I don’t ever remember powersliding to a halt, screeching to a stop due to something blocking my forward motion or failing to rotate fully of any moves. The only thing I can hope for now is that the flatspots will ride themselves out as the wheels wear down. Making wheel lighter with air pockets isn’t a bad idea at all, but using materials with as much durability as PVC plastic might not be the best technological innovation.

5/10

Ralph L-D

Rad, I thought as I was handed this Etnies Iceland jacket to review. I’ll wear that to the pub later to see how it performs in a controlled environment, that was the plan. That was the plan that never happened, because during the course of the day I decided to crack my elbow socket and break my scaphoid.

And so, the first outing the jacket got was to Kings College Accident and Emergency ward. Not the perfect situation to review a jacket you may think, but not so. I quickly discovered that the pockets worked as a near perfect makeshift sling to keep my arm all cosy on the journey to A & E. Once in the ward, the jacket (which reminds me of an 80’s puffa in construction) acted as both a cushion to protect my arse from germs, and a blanket, which would protect my legs from any stray vomit/spittle that may be spraying about from other hospital users.

There is only so much you can do to entertain yourself in hospitals, me and my brother whiled away the hours by watching characters such as ‘ski jump hat’ and ‘power brow’ and taking bets on how long the bag head would be in the toilets. You could of course pass the time by counting the amount of bamboo leaves that are printed all over this jacket (I reckon about 2350).

Luckily for me I was called for an x-ray before we had to resort to this. Whilst waiting for the results of my x ray, I discovered I had put the jacket in a puddle of what I hope was water, once again, the jacket came through- no damp had gone inside and the jacket dried in seconds due to the hospitals heating which I swear is extra hot to help the spread of bacteria. The detachable hood can act as a handy bag to carry your notes about, as well as acting as a neck support when attached to prevent you falling asleep on the person your sitting next to and catching head lice or other ailments.

Overall, this Iceland jacket performed really well in the hospital situation, it was warm and comfy, but didn’t make me feel like or look like the stay puft marshmallow man, and more importantly I didn’t contract MRSA while wearing it. Now that must be the sign of a decent jacket.

http://etnies.com/

Joe Sketch

I’ve have several pairs of Vans through my skateboarding reign and have to admit that even though they sell enough weird shit to comfort emo’s, they still rock a good skate shoe and the quality speaks for itself!

I’m on my second pair of TNT’s and thought it would be good to review these skonz after I killed both pairs, giving them a decent run and coming up with a full flavoured opinion about both pairs and how they differentiate.

Truth be told, my first pair was love and first sight, all black, really thin, skinny tongue and beautifully crafted. They we’re cruisers, flippers, carvers and techies all in one, with the best part being, they fucking lasted me longer than any other skate shoe I’ve had in the past 5 years! The second pair was slightly less of a desirable object to look at, but nonetheless, these bastards played the part and played it well. They came to the races fully prepared and ran the same distance with heavy obstacles along the way. They we’re slightly less skinny than the previous ones, but they were still pretty much the same shoe with the same results all the way through.

I’ve been told by many a Van Fan that this is they’re weapon of choice too and therefore I can conclude that these shoes wont let you down and they certainly wont break the bank either. They’re fairly cheap as far as skate shoes are concerned, but you won’t feel out of place when you rock them to a club or pub, they’re the perfect all rounder.

I guarantee you’ll be happy with these and remember, Vans will probably still be around years and years to come, long after the newspapers finally kills Dianna’s death off for good…or maybe not, that shit will probably sell for another couple of centuries too…Idiots.

Live FAST, Ride FAST
2P