Skateboard

The skate truck project continues to move forward in the background of the other big projects and developments. Nothing ever stops. Movement is important. Initial designs for the G6 started almost as the G5 trucks got finished. I had a lot of ideas that I wanted to get ‘on paper’ when I was setting them … Read more

It’s finally time for this problem to be solved. I’ve been wanting this for a very long time! Now testing can begin without constraints. I’ve been contending with the availability of wheels that conform to the needs of my skateboard project. I need tall and soft wheels for ease of travel over rough road but … Read more

Here we are again. Another draft of the skate truck. They are getting pretty. The G4 trucks were working very well and there had been enough time on them to figure out what needed to change next. Functionally, they were pretty good but there was still room for improvement. I had some changes to add … Read more

In my workshop at the university, I’m constantly instructing students and others that designing at the mill is a fools job. It’s not where we do this work. We should be arriving at the machine with a fully sorted design with all of the issues worked out. This is obvious stuff that somehow doesn’t occur … Read more

In early November, I got the new G3 skate trucks finished and mounted. This was just before a big trip to Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City. That was a great thing as I was able to log about 40 miles on the trucks. This was a massive test in exactly the conditions that I’ve … Read more

This is the third draft of the new skate truck. It’s for the adult skateboard concept. The truck to match the theme of what adults should use for daily drivers. It’s a semi-precision truck that hopes to balance the quality movement of a precision truck with the ease and comfort of a commodity truck. The … Read more

The initial prototype of the new skate truck had seen enough riding and evaluation to go to the second round. The trucks were working out pretty well but were still not really where I wanted them to be. I’m looking for a real premium experience with these and the work has to go on until … Read more

I was forced to give up riding skatepark back in 2008. The years of punishment needed to come to an end. At this point, 11 foot falls to concrete were really starting to ruin my month. Skateboarding is a young man’s sport. Still, the pure joy of cruising down a hill or across town on … Read more

Skateboard steering is a very challenging thing to model. I’m used to doing some incredibly complex calculations for my bicycle projects but producing this calculator pushed me to my limit. It took me three days of full time work to finally get the math correct. I had done a calculator like this 20 years ago. … Read more

When putting a skateboard together or designing a truck, we need to understand the inherent stability of the system. Control is everything and we can influence that with our choices. Often, we will talk about trail when looking into this. The trail is simply, the length of the lever that is influenced by the ground … Read more

One of the most important characteristics of a skate truck, but almost totally ignored, is the roll center. I was one of the first people to discuss this back in 2000 (20 years ago!) and I’ve seen a few people replicate my explanation but not many. As I’m wrapping up the design of the new … Read more

I know a few things. After 51 years on earth I’d have to. Two of things that I know more than almost anyone I know is bicycle design and skateboard design. I’m pretty good with a couple other things. This is about skateboards. Sadly, while I’ve been making some serious progress with producing some important … Read more

A long time ago…2014…I did a skateboard project, the Skinny Little Bitch. It was an interesting idea of a board but it really didn’t work out. It was no fun to ride. The board was too tall. The wheels were small. The trucks geometry was off because of the height and with reduced leverage from … Read more

I’ve done a lot with skateboards over the years. More than most. With the addition of a pair of sisters, ages 4 and 5, in our household I had a new project. A skateboard for a child. Many would say, aren’t all skateboards for children? No. Most skateboards in the market are sized for 17 … Read more

You know how you’ve been doing something for a long time? Like, a really, really long time. I’ve been doing skateboards for that long. I’ve wanted a tool since I started. I finally made it. It’s a drilling fixture for baseplate holes in skate decks. I’ve actually needed this several times in the past few … Read more

This project was a fucking wormhole. I didn’t want to go down it but it’s gravity was just too strong. It was also a perfect example of the engineering process and how it goes, for better and worse. I started riding skateboards for real in 1984. I was 14. Sure, we played with toy skateboards … Read more

I’ve been working on this for a while. Nothing serious, just picking at it. Most of my skating these days are done around campus at work or on odd days in San Francisco or when I travel. I love skating so much. Even as I get older, nothing makes me smile quite like stepping on … Read more

I had some old Independent 101 mm skate trucks laying around and a set of wheels collecting dust. I figured I’d put them to work. An Indy 101 mm truck is very narrow. Typically, you’d be using side set wheels in a modern context to make these work for anything but a child’s board. I … Read more

I’m a known hater. I love some things though and one of those things is skateboards. Riding them specifically. Because of that, I really don’t like stupid gimmick skateboards like the 4 foot longboards or toy plastic novelty decks that have become all the rage lately. The pain inside me that occurs when seeing people riding … Read more

This is a post long overdue. Way back in 2001, I was in San Francisco and Oakland visiting for a west coast marriage reception for my new wife and I (a long since dissolved affair). I had needed to move back to Massachusetts to pick up the pieces of the family business after my father … Read more

When I talk about a long skateboard, I’m usually talking about something very different from what most people are talking about these days.   Let me first make a clarification. There is a longboard that is used in real skateboard racing, downhill and slalom. I’m not talking about competitive skateboards used in these specific racing … Read more