Category: Skateboarding Product Reviews

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Skateboarding Product Reviews

Unabomber Wings Zip Hood

Regular visitors to this online mag will know that every year we get sent one package from the folks at Unabomber that puts a smile firmly on our faces. Yep, you guessed it, our package that is filled with the goodness of the infamous Unabomber Wings Zip Hood has arrived.

I have probably worn this hood more than any other. Why? Because it’s simple I guess, because of that logo, the one that has always been something i’m proud to wear as it never seems to get old or stale. It’s not fashion, it’s not even a statement, it’s just good old Unabomber and thankfully the good people who run the skate company nowadays have not changed it for fashionable reasons.

The one thing that has changed this season though is the hoody itself. For the first time I noticed that the 2011 version of this classic is actually thinner with an 80% mix of cotton to 20% polyester. One observation is the less bulky appearance under a big jacket so I don’t look as goddam fat. As for the design, some say that the classics are the best, others will always opt for the new, but in my rule book I go by the saying of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Get one today and keep warm.

unabomber winged zip hood

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Skateboarding Product Reviews

Review: Mrs Wilberforce ‘Tee Number Two’

We’re big fans of limited tees here at Crossfire so imagine our delight and surprise when we were given two super limited t-shirts to wear and review from the creative mind behind Mrs Wilberforce. Hand printed in East London by none other than the lovely Stu at Lovenskate, the aptly titled ‘Tee Number Two‘ (it’s their second t-shirt design) that I’m currently wearing is just one of ten available in white. The tee you see on the right is one of ten available in black. This simple, homemade and ‘keeping it local’ ethic is evident in all things Wilberforce: keeping things super limited, using high quality material (standard American Apparel crew neck) with unique (and rad) designs while ensuring that they’re affordable to all those on a shoestring belt-wearing budget… so you know, everyone in East London. That includes me.

His attention to detail in the shirt design is sublime. Not dissimilar from the dystopian symbols of early Palace artwork, the tee utilises a photo of industrial smog perfectly positioned within a sharp, off-kilter square frame that makes great use of inverted colours… a long way away from the squashed penny drawings of Tee Number One (featuring the Mrs Wilberforce Logo) but it is still something very much in continuation with the Mrs Wilberforce brand, even in the early stages. I love it.

Mrs Wilberforce have also put their talents to designing skateboard decks (check the awesome cruiser here) and collaborations with bands and filmmakers. As we enter 2011, Mrs Wilberforce is just six months old but on the basis of what we’ve seen so far, we’re absolutely starving for more.

Joe Moynihan

You can buy the new tee at the Pioneer New Year Jam this weekend! Go and pick one up before they’re all gone.

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Skateboarding Product Reviews

Review: Unabomber Wheels 54mm

Let it be known that here at Crossfire we think that the Unabomber ‘Wings’ logo is one of the all-time best logos created by a skate brand. Sure, it gets credit in that it’s instantly recognisable and brings back fond memories of rummaging through wardrobes and drawers in search of your favourite hoody (find me a British skateboarding who never owned at least one Unabomber hoody and I’ll tell them the exact point where their life went wrong), but when do you hear it mentioned alongside the likes of Jim Phillip’s ‘Screaming Hand’ or the Thrasher logo? It arguably has an equal cultural significance, at least on this side of the pond and we reckon that it should be the result of more drunken tattoos. Regardless, when this package arrived with these 54mm wheels bearing the gentlemanly wings we were super stoked to have a long overdue re-watch of ‘Up The Rebels!‘ and go shredding on the brand’s new urethane.

I frequently choose Unabomber Wheels due to their affordability and reliability and with their new urethane formula (wryly named ‘neurethane’) they remain very high up in my list of favourite wheels. The Daft Punk-esque tagline ‘Harder. Faster. Longer.’ is as legit as the tune itself and after a mighty powerslide session or seven these still feel fresh out the pack, withstanding the notorious violence of waxed-up floors of multi-storey carparks and wearing only a tiny bit of subsequent bruising.

Unabomber also have some new bolts out in regular raw silver and black and blue and white. It goes without saying, they do the job and they do it well. Check ’em out, throw some stickers on your board and go fly.

Stanley

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Skateboarding Product Reviews

Review: Habitat Footwear – Quest

In 2009, Habitat celebrated their ten years of making high quality skate products and pushing a brand image that highlighted some of skateboarding’s more pure ideologies by expanding into the tough market of skateboard footwear. What I’ve always loved about Habitat was how their products are designed to not jump out at you; in a way they try to avoid attention by just doing their thing and knowing, deep down that they’re doing it right. This dynamic has been breathed into their footwear and I know I wasn’t the only one to give this notion a warm welcome; there are enough tacky hi-tops and regurgitated half cabs on the shelves now and we were in need of something reserved, practical and made with skaters in mind.

The Quest is one of the six models that dropped last year and my first pair of Habitat creptillians that have seen first-hand the darkside of the griptape. On first glance, it’s the perfect low-profile shoe: thin tongue, seamless toecap, smart colourways and vulcanised sole. It skates like a dream without the need for the often-redundant technical tomfoolery that’s attached to many a shoe’s description. As a vulc, the incredible board feel goes without saying but what sold this shoe to me was the comfort; there is a subtle inner-padding that’s frequently absent on low-profilers that feels awesome when paired with PU footbed. This was not a rushed business venture by Habitat, this model is a tangible example of how effective being proud and meticulous about your brand can be.

This particular model is one of three collaborative shoes with mid-century artist Charley Harper. The detail on the outside is so intricate that I wore the shoes for three days without even noticing it. But when you do… oh boy is this stuff legit. The outlines of various animals are very lightly engraved into the synthetic/nubuck outer with such precision that it’s an appropriate companion to the shoe’s practical rigor. I look forward to trying out another pair and you should probably have a go too.

Joe Moynihan

Austyn Gillette gives the shoe some loving below.

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Skateboarding Product Reviews

Review: Real ‘One Life, One Chance’ 8.25″

It’s hard to gage what’s Real and what’s not in these fast yet utter disposable times we live in.  Misconception is humanity’s biggest downfall, much like the young aspiring gangster going the extra mile to hurt others for acceptance and rank status, so too does youth culture engage in drug and alcohol use to be seen as accepted and cool.  Toby Morse (a.k.a. Toby 1), frontman of the hard-core punk band H20, devoted husband and loving father is living proof that a Positive Mental Attitude can get you much further in life than substances or weapons ever will!

Toby’s toured with numerous amazing bands, including Sum41, New Found Glory, Rancid, The Use, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Dropkick Murphys. Amongst a sponsorship from Nike and being head to toe covered in skin art, some find it hard to believe that this punk rocking legend has never touched alcohol or drugs in an industry where many find these attractions hard to escape!

Toby’s taken it upon himself to go out to schools across the U.S with the intention of educating the future leaders of our world by making them see that there’s more to life than being accepted, showing them that being a lifer is far more rewarding than being a knifer.

In aid of his quest for a better future, Real Skateboards produced a deck along with a few other skate goods which will see part of the proceeds go towards helping Toby reach more kids.

I’ve had the pleasure of riding this board for the past month, it’s a beautifully finished 8.25” bomber with standard concave, balanced nose and tail lift with a custom PMA graphic slapped on the bottom.

Not many people out there are interested in changing the world, but Toby is, don’t let his efforts go unnoticed, support Toby and help him help others by getting your mits on one of these boards. It’s Real board, so you know it’s gonna be a good ride, DLXSF is commited to skateboarding, so if you haven’t already done so, it’s time you give something back to those who give to you.

Alan Christensen

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Skateboarding Skateboarding Product Reviews

Line Check: Holiday 2010 2 of 2

The Holiday Season is always packed full of great products to chose from so here’s our second round up of what we’re stoked on arriving in skater-owned-shops right now, including a few last minute gift ideas at the bottom (because we can’t be the only ones shopping for them on Christmas Eve). Click here to see part one of the Holiday 2010 Line Check.

Vincent Alvarez name came up quite frequently when asking others who their favourite skater of 2010 was. His pro model for Chocolate was approved by the masses, and the watercolour line is classic Chocolate aesthetics.

Unbelievable right? It’s true, Alien Workshop turned twenty years old this year and to celebrate, all their riders got some classic AWS iconography attached to their name on these rad decks.

It was a good year for rippers getting the deserved bump to pro status as Boots’ first pro model for Death came out this month. Cliché close up for the holidays leaving us with this little team model to get bamboozled over.

Theeve have reportedly the lightest, strongest, straight up best truck on the market. If you have a little extra Christmas pocket money this year maybe you should try a pair out. Thunder continue to bring the goods with Marc Johnson’s ‘special blend’.

Momentum keep rolling out amazing looking wheels for the stocking filler hill bomber market this Holiday season, this time employing the capable hands of Andrew Pommier to decorate their urethane.

OJ Wheels made a welcome return to the urethane spotlight this year. Click here for a review of the the Street Razors.

It’s definitely the time of year to stock up on these badboys. So be sure to keep your head warm this winter, but also rep skateboarding while you do it, and who better to rep than the good folk at Girl, Chocolate and Fourstar?

Lots of good stuff from the Soletech camps are entering UK skateshops right now. éS may be renowned for keeping your feet secure above the good wood you ride but they’re pretty rad at keeping you warm and not a flu-stricken wreck too while you’re off it.

Etnies take the tried, tested and massively approved classic approach with these awesomely plain and simple hoods.

Emerica unsurprisingly go a little leftfield with their winter warmers, fully repping the kind of grandpa festive sweater steeze that some of us here at Crossfire love a little more than the others. Make your own mind up on that one but we’re all down for Heath Kirchart being rad.

More goodies from éS who have already won us over with their amazing Bobby Worrest collection earlier this year.

Only one pair of trousers are on our Christmas wish list: these perfectly crafted cords from Altamont.

Nick Dompierre’s pro model for DC is hitting UK stores this month, alongside more boot throwback goodness from Supra’s Tom Penny.

Simple, effective and guaranteed to have perfect board feel; standard practice for Emerica.

Hsu’s are such a great shoe to skate and this camel colourway is an excellent move. It would be rude not to give the pro shoe to come from this year’s SOTY a mention too, Leo Romero’s purple model is dope.

Perhaps it was the little interview éS ran this week with team rider Kellen James, but we’re definitely super stoked on this SK8MAFIA collab on the Square Two.

John Rattray is simply the best around. Rep Scotland with these in 2011. It doesn’t matter if you’re not Scottish, John Rattray is and therefore you should start wishing you were.

Need some last minute gift ideas? You can trust the Crailtap camp to deliver the raddest stocking fillers this year.

And there’s no way we couldn’t include these… amazing holiday merch from the ever rad DEVO. Watch our interview with frontman Mark Mothersbaugh here…

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Skateboarding Product Reviews

Review: Creature ‘High On Fire / Skinner’ Deck 8.8″

I think it’s weird that the majority of Americans get their foreskins chopped off. There’s something very unmetal about the idea of circumcision. I’m sure the act of it is gnarly and all, but the premise… it’s just too… too hygienic. It’s like saying “Let’s cut off our eyelids to stop getting eye boogies” and probably looks just as stupid. And It always reminds me of Kraftwerk for some reason. I don’t know why.

But I bet everyone at Creature has whooping great big,dangly, elephant trunk foreskins. I bet they trip up on them and can double them up as sleeping bags which keep them snug as a bug. A bug wrapped in a luminous green foreskin. I mean look at this dude that Mr.Skinner’s drawn for their ‘High On Fire‘ Limited edition board; he’s frozen solid. Probably because he hasn’t got any foreskin. You’d be surprised at what a couple of inches of skin can do to raise your body temperature. I wonder if the guys in High on Fire have foreskins? Maybe that’s why Sir Skinner chose to draw a frozen Ice barbarian; a bit of a private joke perhaps? Maybe Skinner specialises in Circumcision, hence his pseudonym… It’s all making sense now.

I’ll admit I haven’t listened to High on Fire in a while. I think it was around about the time that I heard they were touring with Mastodon and Converge that I stopped listening to them. I thought they were quite good, but they can’t be that good if they’re sharing a stage with fags like Mastodon and Converge. I thought I best pay the band a revisit in light of this review and even resolved to buy their latest LP. Admittedly I didn’t have a clue what their latest LP was called, so I got Bertha out and surfed the intergalactic cyber spaces in search of metal knowledge. It turns out they’ve got a wikipedia page dedicated solely to their latest album and everything. They must be famous. The album is called ‘Snakes of the Divine‘. Sounds a bit too biblical for my liking, but I suppose snakes are evil and evil is pretty cool. According to the LP’s wikipedia page “The album cover art and track listing were revealed on the band’s Myspace page on January 6, 2010.” ?! I stopped reading there because they’ve obviously been hanging round with Converge and Mastodon for too long and have turned in to complete pussies.

At this point I was starting to get confused; why would Creature release a skateboard in conjunction with a band who have overly detailed wikipedia pages? I put it down to the fact that the brutes at Creature probably don’t even know what the internet is and so have no idea about how unmetal High on Fire have become. They’re probably way too busy painting everything snot green, destroying concrete coping and having sex with hot horror punk girls. And hopefully punching them in the face afterwards and poking them with broomhandles whilst telling them how stupid and worthless they are and making them cry by telling them that her Stepdad gets off smelling her used underwear. Proper metal.

The size of this deck is proper metal. It’s fookin huge. 8.8″! It’s the same shape as Stu Graham’s pro board and he’s definitely proper metal. And the graphic is metal. It even comes with a special pack of three Creature/High on Fire Dunlop guitar pleks; which is kind of metal, sort of. And is a limited edition of only 400 and each one comes individually numbered. Which isn’t metal at all. But it has all the right things you need in a skateboard; made of wood, has holes in the right places and everything. So I’d recommend going and buying it. No, maybe go buy Sam Hitz’s new Creature board because I know French drew it and he’s got foreskin and isn’t in an unmetal metal band with multiple wikipedia pages.

Zombie

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Skateboarding Product Reviews

Review: Hubba Wheels Mike Wright 52mm

The UK has it’s very own secret weapon in the skateboard game. He’s truly got his own thing going on, pulling out tricks you didn’t think possible and combining them with life threatening stunts that will leave you wet in your y-fronts and shaking with anxiety. If you don’t know of this Northern marvel, then I suggest you quit riding a board with handlebars and 2 rubber wheels, otherwise referred to as the scooter. These contraptions are for girls, won’t get you laid and instantly become a hazard when used during fierce electrical storms.

Mike Wright’s wheels, like most out there, are pretty standard in the sense of being a 99 duro, come in a pearly white urethane and allow you the option of selecting 52 or 54mm sizes. I didn’t know Mikey’s age, so I was a little bit sceptical about the 2 ales on top of the black Union Jack that wraps the outside of the wheel, but it turns out he’s old enough to get dirty on liquor, so I don’t have to worry about any underage drinking skateboard union mom chasing me round the streets to confiscate my rollers!

I can safely say that my first Hubba experience has thus far met expectations and after a power trip in Eindhoven’s Area 51 skatepark, Amsterdam’s indoor facility as well as the city’s 8 ft concrete kidney bowl in moister than average conditions, they held up beautifully and still rolls fast and round to this very day.

Get wet.

AC

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Skateboarding Skateboarding Product Reviews

Line Check – Holiday 2010 1 of 2

Across the UK, skater owned shops are currently getting fresh packages from distributors dishing out the new products for the Holiday Season. Understandably, there’s lots of quality goods included in these packages and condensing our favourites into one Line Check didn’t seem as appealing to us as running two of them. So before you head out with the intention of blowing your Xmas savings, have a look at our selection of some top shelf products that are arriving in your local skate shop now.

Antiz have never been afraid to tell it like it is, so with the help of Ben The and Ludovic Gabriel they have produced the ‘Ass‘ Series. Just like everyone has an opinion, everyone has an ass; and the Antiz pro team are no exception to that rule.

Skate Mental have a huge range of decks available right now but those are our chosen six above, including O’Neill’s of-the-moment ‘Call Of Duty‘ deck and Matt Beach’s super rad Tre Flip model that provides Ewoks with the publicity they have always deserved.

Kill City are keeping things street in South Wales with their ‘Spray Paint‘ and ‘Marker‘ models. Note how good those sizes are; for those of you out there with pixie feet who haven’t made the jump up from 7.5″ here’s a good excuse to man up.

Tyler Bledsoe’s debut pro model for Alien Workshop is in shops now with a suitably trippy graphic to cause your own Mindfield to relapse. Crayon hooked up with the CSC mascot, ‘Boxman‘ and his model designed by the wonderful Philip Morgan is now available fresh from the press. Hype! are making a name for themselves with some superb web edits and quality decks to match and Karma hooks up with the insomniac Alex Maw who knocked up a couple of rad designs for their latest decks. We’re stoked on these.

Ace Trucks are starting to become a common name in UK stores so if you’re looking for something new to get your grind on with then try these out. They are selling fast having already made an impact on a competitive truck market in the US and are set to do the same here.

OJ Wheels have made a welcome comeback into the urethane spotlight this year and are our selected wheels alongside Andrew Pommier’s Tin Toy series for Momentum.

The winter warmers are in stock! Now, unless your skin is made of thinsulate material then you’ve probably noticed it’s absolutely bloody freezing outside; have a look at cozy jackets and shirts from Matix, Fourstar, Addict, Independent and Etnies right there above.

Ok, so we were so stoked on Beach’s 360 flipping Ewok that we had no choice but to include the matching tee in our t-shirt round up alongside other graphic gems from Girl and Hype! Uzi does it now…

Soletech may be reknowed for their innovative progress in shoe technology, but you shouldn’t think that less effort is put into their threads. éS and Emerica make some of the best clothes going and the cords and chinos you see above are nice, simple and ridiculously comfortable.

But if it is shoes you’re after because the ones your wearing are soaked through with melted snow then be sure to check out Habitat’s Footwear range. Like Soletech, they’ve got the talent and experience to dabble in more than just one area. We have a Habitat package to give away this month that includes a pair of their awesome shoes; click here to enter. And as per, DVS bring the goods with simple and effective designs in dope colourways. Port should be really considered more often.

Check back for more recommended products in the following weeks.

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Skateboarding Product Reviews

Review: OJ Wheels Street Razor 53mm

Back in the day, OJ Wheels made the best urethane in town, so it was with open arms that we welcomed them back into the limelight, as their recent resurgence – complete with new riders aplenty – resulted in an online presence as instantly reliable as their name was back when it was all fields and shops were closed on sundays. The wealth of experience OJ have making quality urethane makes the brand one of the most trustworthy names in the wheel-making game. We were given a pair of 53mm (also known as the optimum size for getting radical) Street Razors to cruise and bruise on, a set of wheels with a reputation for being many a skaters favourite wheel in the late 80s. Sadly I was too busy rolling on whatever urethane Mothercare made their pushchair wheels on back then to compare results now, but the buzz on the new formula was too much not to be stoked all the same.

I’m sure some of you would wonder why a company so reknowned for making the best ‘thane in game would change a tried and tested formula. Well, for once it’s not the fault of ridiculous transient trends (although the sizes available suggest otherwise), but the US Environmental Protection Agency simply doesn’t let that traditional shit slide in the land of green and machine. The good news is that when OJ are brought into a new arena, they pack a mean punch. Coming in at a slick 99a durometer, OJ’s design permits for a smooth slide solid enough to satisfy any powerslide activist while not compromising on flatspot defence. Wheels are my most frequently purchased piece of hardware (sod the steps, I slide with the best!) and these have proven to be a reliably durable set that go easy on the bank too. Top shelf urethane since before I was born… they still got it.

Stanley

Check them out in action in this rad clip featuring the unmistakable stylings of Jason ‘The Kid’ Adams.