I hope everyone went skating on Wednesday, June 21st – It was Go Skateboarding Day!
In any case, Chicago felt wood and urethane rumble and roll through its city streets as Emerica rode into town for Wild in the Streets 2006.
Apparently the day was a huge success and no-one got arrested- which is a surprise in a city like Chicago.
What better way to start your third decade on this planet than skating with your pals in a foreign land with free booze and wallrides galore?
Geoff Rowley just turned 30 during the Flip Feast Tour of Canada which travelled through Toronto and Quebec, but it wasn’t all about skating as the boys broke it out on a mad donut ride for kicks.
Heroin’s skateboard stick insect, Colin Fiske has just arrived in England, so keep those eyes peeled for some mental wallride/slide variations.
Congrats also go out to Stephen ‘Rogie’ Roe who has found a spot on the Vans squad, Well done!
Woo Hoo! Dave Allen has turned pro for Death Skateboards!
Expect to see a lovely 8.5 wide deck adorning the feet of many a gnarler and ramp rider in the near future.
For any of you lucky enough to live in Leicester, or take a wild trip on one of the previous Crossfire Riot Buses, you might remember a skatepark called The Edge.
Well, The Edge is no more and now the skaters meet at the Boardroom. Due to new ownership, Leicester’s Boardroom skatepark has had a major re-vamp with a sick mini ramp, bowl and street course. Check the photos and then go skate!
Jahlada’s first skateboard video project is in progress. Entitled “The Learning Curve”.
The DVD is set to drop in 2007 but sneak web previews are up for grabs to those who want to watch some London street footage featuring Chris Peacock, Mike Sutcliffe, Chris Ault, James Edson, Paul Rimmer, Leo Rhodes, Fred Albrow, Finn Andres, Carl Magalit and many many more.
Click here to visit the footage.
It would seem the premiere Euro skate shoe company Aeon Footwear is shutting shop in a bid to concentrate on skateboard manufacturing..? If this disaster strikes, that’ll leave a lot of foreign heavy hitters floating on the shoe market.
However, in light of the crashing market a new French board company, Metropolitan Skateboards is about to hit the streets. Headed up by skater/filmer/ badman David Couliau, Chloe Bernard and David Dupas, these goods should be aimed at a higher aesthetic than other French companies.
Finally, seeing as we’re in Euro land, Belgium has given birth to two new things:
A magazine- POP, and a pro model for national scandal meister David Martelleur on Yama Skateboards .
Never slow to leech the extreme youth market, MTV2 fell off their pedestal when they saw Danny Way get gnarly.
So, everyone’s favourite madman is up for an award at the MTV2 All that Rocks! Ceremony for Sickest Sports Moment. Danny’s up against Moto-X rider Mike Metzger with his Ceasar’s Palace jump, and Shane Dorian’s surfing of the big Tahitian tubes.
To vote for Danny, click here: http://mtv2.mtv.com/mtv2/ontv/atr/#/mtv2/ontv/atr/category.jhtml?categoryId=sports
Things are all a bit up in the air at the moment concerning Lyon getting a second free skatepark. Despite being home to France’s strongest skate scene and several skateshops, and two of Europe’s most notable skate companies (Cliché and Antiz), the town just can’t seem to get it together for a new concrete park to be built on the Rhone river bankside smack bang in the middle of town (below the graffiti ledges/miniramp for those who know…).
Apparently Jeremie Daclin is in heavy talks with the local politicians, and sketchs of a plaza with lovely connecting bowls are floating around somewhere… Note to Jeremie and Lyon officials – Look at Stoke and Prissick!
I have to admit that I received these shoes seond hand- But that actually works in their favour as you will soon find out… The Es Accel Plus is a jazzed up version of the classic Es Accel being in that extra flair was added with an ankle strap. Why an ankle strap on a lo-top shoe, I don’t know but it definitely makes for a steady shoe on your foot and that beats broken and twisted ankles any day!
So, like I mentioned at the start, these shoes were passed on to me by a friend who had barely skated them, plus he’s the opposite stance to me (Goofy) so it all works in my advantage. I owned a pair of Accels in the past and knew they were a staple for good skate shoes, but the Accel Plus is that level higher of fresh-o-meter. Firstly, the material Es have used a synthetic suede, is bloody grippy and tough. No slippery leather of grazed suede here. When the material does wear through, it reveals a weird fluffy white coat which does stand out on a pair of black shoes, but remains nonetheless resistant to a good scrape.
Another sweet feature to the Accel Plus is the gum sole. You just can’t go wrong with a gum sole on your griptape. Look how many companies are ripping the ‘vulcanised’ gum grip at the moment! The sole does wear away gradually, and the grip fades, but that’s only after a good solid few months of skating. Any sole that maintains it’s function of connecting you and your board for a few months or more is a good sole.
Finally, we’ll finish on the ‘plus’ factor of this shoe, the ankle strap. Like I said earlier, it definitely secures your foot like a seatbelt and doesn’t dig into the top of your foot because of the padded tongue. However, the stitching last about a week before it starts to rub away and the cut material starts to flap about in the wind- This rates pretty low on the fresh-o-meter. I just fixed it up with some shoe-goo, but I can imagine some people will straight cut those things out if they look like that.
All in all, the Es Accel Plus is a top skate shoe. It’s simple and functional. I know Es have been getting a bad rep for making footwear oddities that try and look tech but end up looking like badly tuned blobs. Then there’s the argument that Es are trying to disguise every shoe as an Accel, but I don’t see the problem in this at all. The Accel blueprint is one of skateboarding’s finest and most copied shoe of all time. I’m still skating mine, and if I get a chance to ride some more (especially with this synthetic material!) I will without hesitation.
9/10
Ralph Lloyd-Davis
22/06/2006
