Category: Skateboarding Product Reviews

1992 Saw the birth of one Skateboardings most influential companies, Element. They established themselves quickly and soon became household names amongst skaters and those who choose to wear skate apparel.

For years and years they produced excellent skate products, whilst their team riders at the time (Donny Barley, Reese Forbes, Mike Frazier, Kenny Hughes, Natas Kaupas, Tim O’Connor, Bill Pepper, Rob Pluhowski etc) delivered world-class video parts on all fronts. Everybody knew of their talents as they ruled the scene, especially the Element Ramp scene!

Not one of the riders mentioned above are still on their PRO team; they’ve been replaced by the likes of Bam Margera, Mike V, Tosh Townend, Brent Atchley and many others. All of them are unique in their own way, especially Tosh and Brent, but Element has a different feel to it. People move on and companies change, evolve and come up with new ideas. Elements latest addition to the skate industry (besides the amazing Nyjah Huston) comes in the form of footwear. That’s right, they’ve taken the big step and decided to launch a shoe range.

Not a bad idea I thought at the time and looking back at it now, I remember checking their site and thinking the shoes don’t look half bad…till I actually received my pair of Travertines. They look like deck shoes crossed with Clarkes finest own brand casuals. I thought “fuckit”, they might skate better than they look, so I starting wearing them in a little.

The back of the shoe comes in really low and hurt the back of my ankle a lot. This gradually became less irritating as I continued to sport them, keeping the faith. Other than that, they were fairly comfortable and rather grippy.

I suffered a heel bruise whilst trying them out and realised that there was very little cushioning going on underneath my heels.

I was losing my faith in their shoe concept and fortunately for me, these shoes started perishing after the first skate and I knew that it wouldn’t be long before they fall apart. They say pictures don’t lie, so I documented my element shoe experience for the sake of it.

You decide…

“Shoes have always been on our agenda,” said Element Founder and President Johnny Schillereff. ” We feel that the time is now right for Element to enter this category. The line has been in development for some time and we are looking forward to bringing it to the market. Shoes are a natural extension to the Element brand and we will focus on delivering a fresh approach in design, functionality and performance.”

Since reading our reviews of Element Shoes on this very site, the company have told us personally that “Element took on board the criticism given and hope that in Autumn/Winter, all those out there who are Element fans will see the changes they are looking for next season in the new line of footwear.”

TWO PEE

The only thing you need to know about Crème boards are that they know how to craft wood for your pleasure! This is my second helping of Crème and it’s a sweet sensation.

Rodney Clarke has been in the game for a long time and he still represents wherever you see him, be it skating or chilling, he’s a humble dude with superb feet skills.

This shape, much like my previous model, is semi flat, but not too flat. It’s got a little bit on concave and will please even “Irish Steve”. The nose and tail have a gradual lift, nothing to be scared of, it’s easy to adapt to and will have you flipping 8 inches in no time. I find this ride satisfactory on all terrain, trannies, street, park, living room and even grass; it’s not failed me before and has lived up to my highest expectations.

It’s over analyzation (yadda yadda yadda), but fuckit, this is arguably the best board I’ve ever ridden! It’s a solid ride that lasts and lasts and lasts. You’ll probably go through two pairs of “Bam” Adio’s before you snap this one…in fact, I reckon the tail could last you the entire summer holiday (nollies for life)!

Investing in Crème won’t disappoint you, their boards are superb and will soon have you roped in to buying another one and another one…Shit’s Legit! It’s run by skaters, for skaters, so it only makes logical sense that their product is of the highest order.

9/10 – Nothing’s perfect

2P

Peter Hewitt. What a guy, from the first moment he appeared on my radar in 411 33, talking about feeding his addiction to skateboarding by skateboarding hard and fast, I’ve been hooked. He is possibly the most dangerous, on edge skateboarder that ever lived. No one else could walk away from failed mayday at some of those Oregon parks… So anyway moving on from the arse kissing, I was really excited to get a chance to try out the new Vox Hewitts.

Vox is a new company that looked rad from the outset and have an amazing team of underrated rippers that kill any terrain.

When I first got the shoes, I wasn’t too sure how good they’d skate. This was because they were mid tops and looked quite stiffly padded. Hmmmm, I wondered, what would Peter Hewitt do to break his shoes in… I know, he’d go out and drink 20 beers and dance in puddles of piss and puke. So I dragged myself and my friends on a night out. A few hours and half my liver later, the shoes were nice and broken in. Perfect, I love it when a plan comes together…

So next day, skating was on the cards. These shoes truly came into their own after only a day of skating, padded in all the right places, a good amount of support and the midtop wasn’t too restrictive. My feet were happy as a pig in shit. These shoes haven’t left my feet since I got them, they stink now and are finally showing signs of giving up the ghost in the sole department. This is the result of 4 weeks of skating constantly, which involved bombing a lot of hills and foot dragging for control, so is to be expected really.

Overall these shoes have been a great pair, my feet have enjoyed them and so has my skateboarding ability. I’d definitely buy another pair and happily give these shoes 9/10.

http://www.voxfootwear.com/

Adrian.

If my memory serves me well, Ricta was one of the first skate wheel companies to pioneer the ‘hard’ core element into the urethane world. Since then, it has become standard procedure. ‘Nuff said.

Ricta also boast a team of riders that many a team manager would sell their soul to work with. With professional backing like that, you know the goods have got to be good. ‘Nuff said two.

I got my Arto Saari 52mm wheels and loved the crisp white colour they have. In fact, these wheels are still white after a good roll around, so that obviously proves the urethane is high quality.

Now, with wheels it’s either hard or soft set ups depending on what you ride and how. Ricta are hard- very hard. This can become a hindrance on slippery surfaces, but I have yet to feel the wrath of a flatspot on my ride.

If you like it hard and white, get Ricta.

8/10

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
22/05/2006

Whilst skateshops stock up on the big names and flavour of the month product, there are still small operations running all over the land. Eothen Skateboards is one of these operations, and it’s about to step up to the next level. I tried one of the very first boards to come from this homegrown skate company a couple of years ago and was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t hear much from Eothen after that and wondered if people had overlooked the occasion, but I was wrong. There are now riders (Jack Ryder, Ben Bucklee and Tom Davey) and a whole new line of product to choose from.

The Kingdom deck is one of the new models that I got to test ride. The first thing I noticed was the shape: This board is virtually identical nose and tail wise. It took me a few minutes to figure out which way to set my trucks up… Next was the concave. There isn’t much, but I don’t mind that. In fact, the concave worked just fine and I din’t have any trouble trying to control the deck. There’s nothing worse than battling to control your board because it’s too flat or bent like a fish bowl.

Eothen boards are manufactured in the same warehouse as Traffic Skateboards – Ricky Oyola’s company- so you know that whoever rides these rigid maple veneers is going to dish out some beating, and needs a versatile board. Despite the odd bash and full frontal knock, each ply has kept intact which is good. In fact, the construction of this board is quite thick with no gimmicks or weight loss programs applied. So far so good, after a good 6 week session, this board is still holding strong.

Check out Eothen at www.eothen.co.uk

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
22/05/2006

Resin V deck
(Playstation graphics 7.5′)

7.5 is skinny! I’m skinny but I don’t like 7.5’s. You can put the grip on horizontally, but it’s still a skinny 7.5!

Blind seem to have a plethora of ply series out. This one is the Resin V deck. I think the “V” is for vertical…I perused the lil’ cardboard thingy that comes in the wrapping but like almost everything I read, it just bored me and I’m still non the wiser as to how they make them.

I think they have the normal standard top and bottom horizontal ply setup But in the middle there’s a load of thicker vertical ply’s, apparently more than 75! All constructed in the worlds biggest emerging market, the country where if all the citizens where to jump simultaneously, earth would move off it’s axis. A lotta’ people, a lotta’ ply’s.

Anyways it’s a Ronnie Creager! A straight up skateboard legend, one of the rare few who possess the skill on a board to do anything they want and make it look good, I’m sure he could skate a piece of chipboard and still be one of the best skateboarders ever.

Go to www.blindskateboards.com for the full story.

7.5/10

Mike Sutcliffe

There’s only so much you can say about a pair of Jeans, so I’ve racked up as much information as possible for the “dedicated followers of fashion”.

First off, these have a simple design and are very comfortable…super comfortable actually! The waist is pretty low and they sit nice and relaxed around your middle. No creeping up your belly or dropping off your ass, they fit well! The legs are 100% straight and have enough room for movement. They seem to be a relaxed fit, not Boulala (drain piped), nor Penny (baggy). They remind me of 501’s really, with a slightly wider opening at the bottom. They come button flied and sport the usual 5-pocket regime, with a cute I-path logo embroidered on each bum-cheek for the OG Look!

They are extremely lightweight with 55%/45% cotton-denim running together. These are perfect for the up and coming summer, trust me, it’s like skating in cords! Only thing is, they don’t rip like cords. I recently attended my aunts wedding and ran across the room, sliding on my knees for most of the evening and they haven’t ripped at all, nor have they gone white like my previous playground ones. They are bang on and I am really impressed by them!

These were designed for the summer, so go and get your sweats on…

www.ipath.com

2P

It’s not easy to review jeans i guess but it’s all down to quality i reckon. Element have been making quality clothing for ages now – these jeans are no exeption.

I must admit i always buy jeans that extra size up to skate in just for more space and flexibility, i always look out for the extra pockets so u can stash my daily usuables whilst out on a schralpe and these have everything you need.

They come with that semi worn look so you don’t hit the street with a total complex that you have the newest clothes on ever, some people like that squeeky clean thing but me, i like to be worn in and faded, you get me?

I have been skating in these jeans for the last 4 weeks and as i said, they may be difficult to review but it’s an easy task when they are still in one piece and without massive holes in them already and i have taken a few falls along the way, so it must say something about these jeans.

Pay Homage…

www.elementskateboards.com

Chuck Bangers

Can someone tell me how people name products? What is a Spackler? I just checked dictionary.com and it could not help me either because it doesn’t exist…until now that is. Element Clothing is up there in terms of quality and if i was shopping for some stylish, good qulaity skate clothing, i would start right here.

The Spackler is made from the softest cotton that stretches and moves wherever you do, so you always fee comforatble skating in these threads. You can quite easily look fresh out in a club with one of these on as well so they are worth the money.

Grab one today for the summer, you won’t regret it.

www.elementskateboards.com

Chuck Bangers

Let’s get the facts straight – Guy Mariano is a prodigal son for skateboarding, so when everyone’s favourite needs a board, you know the shape is going to be up there. I will put my hand up and admit that Girl have far from impressed me in the past with their non-existent concave and flaky wood, but this deck blew me away!

First of all the graphics are trademark simple – the Girl logo with Guy’s name. No skulls, tags, trippy shit or gimmick paint job.

Next, the shape – This board rode so well, I almost felt like the switch 360 flip was around the corner for my limited repertoire. It wasn’t, but I still put a couple of extra feathers in my cap. Girl has sorted out their shape problems and this board had just enough concave for fast response and good feel. Both the nose and tail were round which I like because it gives you a bit more room for slides and such.

Finally, the wood – The plies of this deck kept their pop after a good month or so of skating solidly, and when I did have the misfortune of firing the plank into something hard and obtruse, the wood simple indented and didn’t break away.

I’m so glad Guy is back and with boards like this skating is going to be a lot more fun.

* I snapped the board out of blind rage when stupid fruit-booters thought it was cool to wax the top of a perfectly skateable marble ledge so that they could bum slide to glory. Needless to say I ended my session in pain and lost control. I’m sorry. Don’t snap boards – crack heads.

9.5/10

Ralph Lloyd-Davis
03/05/2006