I used to skate in the mid to late 1980s and early 90s and I'm interested in getting back into it. I have participated in other board riding sports in recent years like sandboarding and dirtsurfing so hopefully, that should help a bit. Also did some snowboarding in the early 2000s. Back in the old days, I used to ride two Powell Peralta boards for street and ramp. One of those decks was autographed by Tony Hawk and Steve Caballero when I saw the Bones Brigade put on a demo in Adelaide, Australia. I would have put those boards to use again but they were stolen from my home so I'm up for a new board.
As most of my skating was done in the 80s, I’m drawn to 80s board designs and more interested in doing 80s tricks rather than the various kinds of flips that are done today. Though I would like to try ollie kickflips again. Back in the 80s, there were all these cool deck shapes like the classic fish tail. With modern boards, I’m wondering where all the curves have gone? As such, I’m not all that keen on getting a popsicle board with it’s plain straight lines. I also found a curved edge more comfortable to grab while getting air. And the extra width of the fishtail decks made landings more stable too.
I was set on getting a Powell Peralta reissue of a classic deck but looks like I may have to change my plans after reading a blog and some additional comments left by other skaters on that blog. Apparently, there are a lot of other skaters in the same predicament as me. Like me, they haven’t skated in about 30 years and want to jump back in and think that 80s style boards would suit them more since that’s what they used to ride back in the day.
However, apparently, a number of these people have found that they really struggled to do tricks and vert skating on these older style boards, even though they used to use the same kind of equipment over 30 years ago. The blog writer pointed out that our bodies are not the same as they were back in the 80s. I guess we were more athletic back then. I'm also a lot heavier now too. These bigger, heavier boards with huge wheels are proving to be a bit of a handful when folks of my generation get adventurous with our skating. Some of these same guys are noticing that they're making better progress with modern, lighter boards with smaller wheels – closer to the ground. It seems that wheel size in particular is making quite a difference.
Back in the 80s, I could ollie over a gutter and also over a ledge that was about a foot / foot and a half. Also ollied over a pile of 4 or 5 bricks on one occasion. Some time after I left the hobby, I briefly borrowed someone's board to have a go and I discovered that I could not ollie anymore which was a real surprise to me. I'm sure I was using the same technique and same foot placement etc. And about a year ago, I tried doing ollies on a skateboard I found at a rubbish dump (just fooling around) and I hardly made any progress at all. I may have gotten about a mm or 2 of air at the most. So it looks like I need all the help that I can get with regards to board design and wheel size. And I guess that means getting a modern board. I guess I could always get a Powell Peralta reissue later down the track. For now, I’m just interested in getting a complete (modern) board that’s all set up. Though I would still like a retro shape if possible.
After recommendations, Ive been looking at Globe boards recently. However, it seems that the Globe decks with the retro shapes are meant more for cruising and are equipped with great big 60mm soft wheels. On the other hand, their popsicle boards come with wheels that are bit too small for my liking (a disadvantage in rough / uneven terrain) and are super hard. A medium sized wheel would be ideal. And since I want to ride a mix of street and skate park, I'd probably need wheel hardness of around 95A. I guess I could replace the wheels of a complete board with a set of 95A wheels but the dilemma I'm facing is that 95A wheels only seem to be available in huge sizes – around 64mm. Are there any other brands that others recommend?
Topic: Returning to skating after 30 years (Read 4911 times)