quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by TRD:
I’m guilty too. I purchased a “real” skateboard for my son when he was nine years old. I thought $80 for a deck, grip tape, trucks, bearings, and wheels back then was way to much, but I didn’t what to get something from a big box store. Fast forward to today, my son is thirty-three now and still skates. On occasion we laugh about that old deck and how it had the big graphic with just the word THINK. Kids don’t always show you that they appreciate everything you do for them, sometimes it doesn’t come out until they’re an adult. He turned out to be a good man and I am very proud of him.

Those “Think” spray tag boards are still around. I’ll be in about $150 when I am done.
Grabbed some Thunder trucks and clear grip tape at the local shop today. It’s a bug shop with a few decks and accessories.
The only actual skate shop here anymore is the National Zumiez.
I’ll run over there and see if I can grab the rest. If not will just get it online.

Wearing out shoes is probably not a concern for your son yet, but DKL has a new non abrasive grip tape that you might want to look at.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
Jeremy,

Independent makes an aluminum and titanium truck. Super lightweight. Wasn’t sure if you had seen these yet.

I saw those when browsing.
I find it pretty wild that almost nothing has changed substantially in the last 20 some years. I am buying nearly identical products to what I skated with.

The local shop had both I went with the Thunders as they are pretty heavy trucks which I want to start him on. I want a really solid planted board to get things started to get him comfortably balanced maneuvering the board on the ground then we’ll work on some tricks.

Went with an 8.25 deck and 147 Thunder truck to give a nice wide stable base. Likely will have the king pins tightened a little heavy and Won’t be a corner carver for sure but I don’t really want it to be yet.

Though clear grip tape is new to me. The deck has the cool Element/Ghostbuster logo up the center of the top of the deck so I had just planned to cut the center out. But grabbed a sheet of clear.

TRD I saw that grip tape today and will keep it in mind for any future builds.

Go overboard, no. An AR is not overboard.

Your posts about the boards, trucks, etc sure bring back memories.

The last board I skated was a Steve Caballero mini. It was a fantastic board and I think the best skating I ever did was on that board.

Deck arrived today!!!
Tomorrow is the big day I am stoked!

My son was okay at baseball (never applied himself to his greatest ability) but, I still have gloves in the $200 - $350 range (2008 era $$) to include an outfielder's, pitchers, infielder's (cause a Padres infielder told me they were all different) and catcher's (cause I needed something to catch with).

Still have them a nearly a case of Pony League balls still in their plastic wrappers along with the well oiled mitts.

Bicycles for my kids. I never thought they were overboard, I got them what I would want. Looking at the miserable heaps of crap their friends rode...

Grandkids? Oh hell yea, guilty as charged.

Hell Yeah! @black92LX I 100% support your efforts here. Top shelf skate is 100x better than WM or Amazon trash, it will work better, last longer and result in a more positive experience. Possibly creating a skater.

If you have to cut some costs, do it with the hardware and trucks 1st, then wheels "Mini-Logo" is the off brand of Powell and is acceptable. +1 on a quality deck, then make sure to get quality bearings; nothing less than Bones Reds. (~$5 more gets you clear grip tape, kid might like that a-lot if the top side is interesting). Also drop <20 on wrist guards (Ask me how I know LOL)

Good luck, my kids kid will be ready in a year or two, I'm going to get him one of those custom decks you can have graphic to picture of your choice printed on.

Birthday is upon us he opened his stuff after dinner and is at swim so I have a bit of a break before he gets back and we have cake.

So here is the first build:
Element Ghostbuster Deck
Thunder Trucks
Independent Hardware
Shorty’s Black Panther ABEC 3 Bearings
Mini Logo A Cut Hybrid 53mm 90a wheels
Warehouse Soft Shock Pads
CCS Skate Tool
Black Widow Clear Griptape

Overall I think this will be a pretty heavy and stable board to learn on. Once he starts getting comfortable maneuvering the board on the ground and he seems to like it we may see about going with some titanium trucks to lighten it up and get some faster bearings but it will be a long time before I buy him some Swiss Bones Ceramics considering they alone cost more than this build.

I was going to cheap out on the trucks honestly but the local shop had the Thunders in and that is what I rode so I had to splurge.

Nearly identical to mine when I skated.
Though I was much older so I started with Black Panther ABEC 5s and then moved on to Swiss Bones Ceramics.
The deck graphic was different but still an Element. I rode Pig wheels and risers with Lucky Hardware.



I saw the custom decks on CCS skateboard and have a couple I may do as art in my shop.
Any other places to get them?

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

Any other places to get them?

Nice! (I ride Thunders to)

Two places I found:

https://www.customskateboards.com

https://www.boardpusher.com/custom/

A young kid, just starting out. The feeling of the board squirting out from under him might be a hinderance...

This little Philly based company sells made in America SMALL wheels ($28) I have a set. They are high quality... 42-44mm wheels "Accelerate" quickly but "Max out" just as fast. They are noticeably lower to the ground, and you can take any spacers off. Just a thought

https://www.boardycakes.com

quote:

Originally posted by reflex/deflex 64:
Bicycles for my kids. I never thought they were overboard, I got them what I would want. Looking at the miserable heaps of crap their friends rode...

Grandkids? Oh hell yea, guilty as charged.

Yep. No shitty bikes for my kids.

My son wants to try a skateboard. He is 9. His older cousin has a longboard. Should I borrow that and have him try it? I do not want to spend $100+ to have him touch the board one time and then never again.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
My son wants to try a skateboard. He is 9. His older cousin has a longboard. Should I borrow that and have him try it? I do not want to spend $100+ to have him touch the board one time and then never again.

Won’t hurt to try but longboards are a little bit different animal.

So we built the skateboard together tonight. He did pretty good for the first time just worked on a little balance and getting the feel for turns.
Skated for about 15 minutes just to get the feel. Took me a bit to get semi comfortable as it has been probably 15 years since I was last on one and closer to 20 since I was skating daily.

Going to be a good time I do believe.

Like buying my daughter a Cesar Guerini o/u 12 ga? Of course not. Or giving her a Hi-Power AND 10 mags, or a Glock 19 and 1000 rounds of ammo? Of course not. That would be bad parenting. Her husband, however...

Daughter wanted an upgraded bike from her little $40 Walmart bike. I got her a Trek.

If she gets into acoustic guitar, she will be set pretty well: Martin D-28, Martin D-15, Martin D-18 and Gibson Hummingbird.

This is quite clever as I never knew these were custom builds. Ive seen enough well used boards and figured they just came that way. Never would have guessed they are custom built.

Yeah. College.

Kid is now a doctor.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
This is quite clever as I never knew these were custom builds. Ive seen enough well used boards and figured they just came that way. Never would have guessed they are custom built.

There are just as many preassembled boards out there too.
I used to skate so I had a pretty idea what to get and where to look.
I think/hope it is a little more meaningful to him and helps him enjoy a little more.
He was so stoked to tell his brothers about the different parts when they got home.
He was also kind enough to let them try it too.