Category: Skateboarding Product Reviews

Pretty much all the best things in the world have the word ‘thunder’ in them. My entire childhood was spent watching Thundercats, and thinking how hot Cheetara was even though she wasn’t real, and how the line of inter-species relations had been seriously blurred. Thunderstorms are still awesome, watching nature electrocute the shit out of us with a two-fingered salute of lightening bolts hitting your Nan’s house. And also an ice hockey team based in the bland, uninspiring town of Milton Keynes. Yeah ok, so not everything with thunder in it is good.

Thunder Trucks however are well up there on the list (second only to a woman dressed as a cheetah), and these Erik Ellington signature ones are bloody good. This is the first time I’ve ever skated Thunders and whilst I was disappointed that the sky didn’t crack open when they slashed the coping, they did a damn good job at the whole turning a skateboard thing.

They took a bit of breaking in to get them as loose as I’d like, but usually that happens with most trucks. Once there, they were silky smooth and felt a lot more solid than some other trucks I’d ridden before. Within a few hours, I had transformed into the almighty Thor, and was laying down the hammers all over the place.

Ellington knows his shit, and he’s not gonna put his name to anything that doesn’t deliver the goods. And if a truck can make you feel like a Viking god, then I’d definitely put my name to it. Thunder trucks – HO!

Moose

History has been made this year. Before so much as a month had passed I, perched upon the edge of my bed pretending it was a sofa, watched and was inspired by the inauguration of the first African-American President of the United States. Only this week I sat, again in my pseudo-lounge, dry-heaving up any hope I had in the future of the UK as the BNP were elected their first ever County Council and European Parliament seats. Evidentially, as this year has shown, making history isn’t necessarily a good thing. But, on the bright side, it is always interesting.

And Real Skateboards have been making history too, of a sort. I don’t need to explain the obvious; any wood that DLX produce is something you can be proud of ruining, and have a great time doing it. This deck is no exception; it’s solid, rides like a dream and has massive pop, which makes a gorgeous noise, almost as nice as let’s say the sound of an egg hitting Nick Griffin.

But this deck also had me itching to get the paint scratched as soon as possible, see, the history being made by Real here is that the graphics are the worst things you have ever fucking seen. I cannot begin to describe the monstrosity, only by congratulating Real on their effort to bum out whoever lays eyes on it. See the picture to get what I mean.

Like I said though, good or bad, it is always interesting, and I’ve had more fun with this deck than perhaps any other, in a weird, post-post-modern, not-even-ironic way. I’ve grown to love it. I encourage you, reader, to do the same. Did I also mention their decks come with a free DVD of the team annihilating any spot they choose to shred and also comes with loads of free stickers?! I raise my mug, pretending it is a glass, and propose a toast to Real for making even more history!

‘Roll forever!’

Stanley

Bones Wheels made for Concrete put to the test.

Aaaaah Bones Wheels. The last time I had a set of Bones was back in the 80’s. A lovely set of lime green G-Bones. G Turns, sess slides, power slides and waxing the road to learn those uBer stylish backside powerslides are all coming back to me.

By now I have given away my age and lost the interest of half the readers on this site, but let’s just say that Bones have a lot to live up to from such fond memories and younger readers should probably take note of this review.

I was stoked to get my hands on a set of Bones made in this Century, but as soon as I saw them I was bummed. They look like they are made by Argos! Remember those first Darkstar wheels? Shiny plasticy things? This new “anti flatspot” technology see’s wheel companies moving away from traditional pure urethane and incorperating weird materials like silicone but all that aside, I had a new rig set up and Mile End was my end destination.

The thought of shiny, plastic wheels on that ice rink filled me with visions of swellbows so I took my old wheels just in case. To my suprise, these wheels were fantastic! They were super grippy when they had to be, even in “that corner” at the park, you know the one i’m talking about, but they don’t bite on tailslides either.

The graphics are printed using a heat press, so unfortunately they might last and the overall wheel is pour moulded which means you don’t really need to break them in. Although they are 54mm, they have a cambered sidewall so they actually feel smaller especially on the likes of rails which means it’s easier to pop out of tricks. I hit up some sketchy ledge backlips and nosebluntslides but they could not even defeat these babies. Maybe the anti flatspot formula works or maybe I was just lucky, either way I am still smiling.

I am yet to try them on street or wood but if you looking for a medium/ hard wheel for concrete, these might float your boat. Well done Mr Powell, or whever is running Bones Wheels. Twenty years later I am still stoked on your urethane!

Brendan

Wheels wheels wheels, that’s all you needed to get the girls in the glory days, now you need an iPhone, tight ass jeans, mixed with a nice checked shirt and be a bass player in a band. We can all buy the phone and the jeans but the band thing always passed me by, I guess the only band, if you could call it that was a group of skateboarders hanging out in town with one guitar between them. That was my band. And every great band needs the right equipment so I have been rolling Think’s 52mm Ready Rider wheels for the last 3 weeks and boy do they roll.

First up THINK have combined the bearings into the wheel, I guess this is skateboarding’s way of addressing the global economic crisis and in times of watching your wallet so I suppose it makes sense to throw in the bearings as part of the deal. This would be attractive to any parent making the purchase at the shop. It’s not like Dad or Mum are going to know or care about Swiss bearings or other branded bearings that could fill their shoes but hey, these come ready to roll, which to be fair is great. I never liked having to take old bearings out and put them into new wheels, but that’s because I am lazy. So lazy in fact I once ate my dinner in the shower as I was running late. (Hotdogs, just one handed eating).

However, I am not too lazy to test these wheels and anyone that has skated the bank at Mile End knows you need plenty of speed and slide to clear the small bowl at the base of it. These boys passed with flying colours. Blunt slides and tails slides didn’t flat spot them and I was very surprised as these tricks are a real test of any wheel.

Next test was drinking 8 pints in the Metropolitan pub with the crew, then skating to the Arts Club as fast a possible over the best and worst terrain throwing in power slides and hitting stones, Again these wheels came out tops unlike Ken who decided to keep hitting the floor as hard and as fast as possible. He said someone put something in his drink, I said yes, vodka! This is no easy ride and would welcome anyone to join us on the late night mission. I will however put this out there though; there’s five free pints to anyone that can beat Laurie Sherman to the Arts Club on a skateboard, fuck it…..would be hard on a bike.

Overall these Think wheels and bearings are top stone. 9/10 as they are white, fast and still not flat spotted and always get you to the club on time.

More at Think Skateboards.

Harry

Leo’s got it all, youth, talent, style and his own pro shoe on one of the most successful shoe companies out there, I’m sure he is pretty happy with the cards he got dealt! It’s hard to deny the fact that this little bugger is living a good life, he kills it at skateboarding, doesn’t Sheckler himself and always produces good skate footage, a good formula if you had to ask me!

He’s first signature shoe on Emerica has to be a big seller, my guess for this statement is based on the amount of skateboarders I see repping these kicks, truth be told, I’ve been wanting to try them out, but just never got round to it. Our friends at Sole Tech came good recently and a pair of black and gum Romero’s found their way to my house and have been on my feet ever since.

I can’t really fault the design to tell you the truth, the shoe is borderline perfect! Everything I look for in a shoe is represented in strong commodities, they’re ultra thin without being flimsy, the sole is of good Sole Tech standards and the tongue doesn’t sit on top of your foot like an extra thick maxi pad designed to withhold the Hoover damn if it burst! I like the look of these too, simplicity has always drawn me to a pair of kicks, too many features usually means mo-money, so simple works for me.

These shoes come in so many different colourways and they also do a midtop. Don’t sit on the idea if you fancy the look of them, go and get them as they are super-good for skateboarding and last longer than you’d expect.

2P

Crawl…Walk…Skate

As you may know, Mr Layton has been on the Vans team since the summer of 2006 and now reps his very own Johnny Layton Signature Collection. including apparel, faded classics and the full line of endorsed pro skate heaven.

For the last month I have had the luxury of having these black beauties on my feet and they have skated well, so well in fact that once I blew them out (no shoe lasts forever) I had to delve back into the mix to get some more.

I found them to be comfy and skateable straight out the box with the classic vulcanized sole and waffle malarkey doing wonders in the grip department. There’s not much protection from the constant abuse of ollies so you know what these ended up looking like in the end but the outcome is simple; they are black, they look cool, they were super comfy and J-Lay as he is called is one lucky fucker. Click here for the full rock and roll briefing and colourways.

Paul Samuels

Who hasn’t seen Mindfield? If you answered “me” to this question, then I suggest you stop reading now, buy some rollerblades, attached 10kg diving weights to each side of each ‘blade’ and ride off a pier somewhere far away from society to remain at the bottom of the ocean for all eternity!. You won’t be missed, I promise!

To me, Dylan’s got a really good section in this film; he executes everything with style, precision and he oozes control. The opening line speaks for itself and sets up the rest of his section perfectly, watch it again, it’s good! You can tell he’s a grounded person by his skateboarding and I’m looking forward to seeing much more of him in the future.

His board recently made its way into my roll-of-fame and I have to say the shape is exactly what I expected, a nice medium concaved 8 inch deck with an even-ish nose and tail ratio that allows you to get loose in a bowl as well as wild on the streets. I like the shape of this particular board a lot, it’s probably as perfect as they come if you like to skate a bit of everything. It’s solid, but rather light for it’s girth, that always good. The graphic promotes the new Alien Workshop bideo, not sure why, because everyone’s seen it and if you haven’t, you know what to do!

I recommend this ride to anyone who loves a bowl, bank, rail, ledge and hip, it’s a good all-rounder and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with this beast.

Emilio Gonzales

BAKER BAKER BAKER, yeah buddy, this shit’s hotter than dessert sand! I’ve been a massive supporter of the Baker movement since day one, up the anti, down with sketch, film everything and fuck the Olympics, that’s how they roll and truth be told, if you don’t like the way the cookie burns then get fucked!

Dustin’s ride, much like his outlook on everything he does is pretty extreme to say the least. The board’s shape at first glance looks a bit like an elongated egg, but when you get you’re head around humpty’s pointy nose and sharpish tail, then you’ll realise that this 8 inch piece of maple actually makes a lot of sense. See, I think this board definitely caters for the street rats of today, it’s light and snappy and this less rounded nose and tail combination allows you to flip in and out of shit with a bit more ease, thus making the shape technical by my standards and therefore it’s a street deck.

The board’s wrapped in an 80’s style vision graphic and reminds me of that show on the skatemag where this clinger-onner points a camera into skateboarder’s faces and asks them questions about their birthdays…nice!

Say it with me…”I like Baker, I like Baker, I like Baker, I like Baker, I like Baker, I like Baker, I like Baker, I like Baker, I like Baker, I like Baker, I like Baker, I like Baker”…now go and get yourself noticed, ride BAKER WOOD!

Crawl…Walk…Skate

2P

So Tuesday was as hot as porridge and I had just found a gap in my work day. 2 words flashed before my eyes ‘Mile End‘ – a new concrete heaven that has recently popped up thanks to Gravity Skateparks. Now what better place and time to test the new Flip Geoff Rowley Ace deck that has landed on my desk.

The graphic is an ‘Ace of Spades‘ image and is pretty stoking if you ask me. I never buy boards for the graphic but I was really taken with this one, it’s simple and it has a skull on it which is usually a winner although the downside was that I had to grip it with a sugar spoon! And im talking proper pussy spoon, it had a coin on the handle with the queen on it!!! Double hard bastard I am!

So after I managed to complete a near impossible grip job much to the surprise of most of my friends, I finally got to skate a new board in a new park, oh and it was good! The board was a real joy to ride to be fair, I was a little doubtful of its performance simply because the shape was not what I was used to, the tail is surprisingly round and it kinda spun me out a bit every time I looked at it, but it skated really well and the pop was super nice. If anything the round tail just acted as a clear sign as to when I was riding it the wrong way!

The pop of this board was pretty impressive and made the gap fun to skate. It was also a good all rounder when it came to the ledges and rails, really sturdy wood, I felt I could really chuck it around without it cracking under my feet.

Hat’s off to Flip for releasing another super good pro deck from the UK’s finest.

Martyn Thomas

Once again the lovely people over at Iron Fist have come correct and sent me through another package of this seasons range. Opening the little box was just like Christmas morning except I wasn’t hungover and my boss isn’t usually round mine Christmas morning singing Avril Lavigne as he loves to do everytime anyone sends me anything to review. The tit.

Anyway… moving on. Rifling through the shirts I was once again impressed at the quality of the gear. All the shirts are top notch lightweight cotton that you know you aren’t going to be pulling piece by piece out of the washing machine for the next few months.

The artwork featured on the shirts ranges from the religious, to tattoo’s via the grotesque (Mrs Dickfingers hates, properly hates, the “Field Trip” shirt with the kid on the front which is always a good sign) but my favourite has to be the homage to the Bones Brigade complete with well known 80s skate logo “borrowed” for good luck.

In short, these bad boys are perfect for skating, or chilling throughout the sunny summer months so get yourselves down to your nearest skateshop and pester them to get ’em in.

You can check out the full range at www.ironfist.tv

Dickfingers