Author Topic: z-rollers  (Read 5441 times)

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Gest

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z-rollers
« on: March 14, 2007, 07:54:55 PM »
seriously i am so clueless as to what z-rollers are or the comedic value in them. so many references in magazines and i still don't know what they are. can someone explain to me what all the hype for this skateboarding pop-culture icon is? or what the hell they are?

mikefork

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2007, 07:59:26 PM »
i think they're those "trucks" where the hanger has a rolling pin where you should grind so you really glide on whatever you should be grinding


« Last Edit: March 14, 2007, 08:02:35 PM by mikefork »

256 Ply

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2007, 08:02:05 PM »
It's a truck that didn't grind, it had a roller that revolved around the axle. It's the truck version of Heelys.

256 Ply

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2007, 08:14:27 PM »
Contrary to what you'd think, it *did* actually feel like you were grinding, not rolling, because the axle was not fixed, everything spun so there was a lot of noise like a regular grind. But you could grind weird things that are normally ungrindable, like wood, bricks, etc. They had really bad turning, and would eventually seize up unless you serviced them with powdered graphite. A weird novelty that had incredible longevity because they were constantly advertised in Thrasher for most of the 80's. Not sure who ever bought them. The big burley Z-Rollers with the rubber roller were sold as luge trucks since a non-fixed axel is better for speed supposedly.

kinggeedorah

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2007, 08:17:52 PM »
Z belly's, however, were the shit

jrock

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2007, 09:01:20 PM »
ricky oyola rode for them ... Z roller Ricky...

"don't fuck with my Z rollers!"

i think Z also inadvertently invented slick boards with their "Z press on rails"...people used to buy a shit load of them to cover their whole boards, then companies started making slicks about a year after that...

MAGIK INC GROUPIE

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2007, 09:03:24 PM »
I can't believe this is a thread.

Z roller are about as dumb as Heelys and are actually quite similar.
A bunch of rolling components that don't belong there.

Gest

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2007, 09:04:49 PM »
dont give me that shit henry i was curious

jrock

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2007, 09:06:20 PM »
so was Z like a front for the Mob or what?  how the hell did they stay in business all those  years?

MAGIK INC GROUPIE

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2007, 09:07:23 PM »
Nah, I know.

Stand and Deliver

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2007, 09:08:48 PM »
Those things were heavier than fucking Gullwings.  How they stayed in business is beyond me.

Bruce Wayne

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #11 on: March 14, 2007, 09:13:11 PM »
anyone here old enough to have seen the z-roller video where oyola had the first part?
sometimes the "things" and "friends" you enjoy the most, will hurt you the most, and play an ultimate factor in how you leave this earth.
-sheffledge
half of you probably cant even tre.

MAGIK INC GROUPIE

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #12 on: March 14, 2007, 09:16:24 PM »
Those things were heavier than fucking Gullwings.  How they stayed in business is beyond me.

That's a VERY good question. I totally overlooked that. Maybe drugs, who knows.

I have NEVER seen anyone ride them that didn't ride for them. They were hella loud and the noise was
bothersome. They were cheap cheater trucks.

"Did you see how long he did that nosegriiiinnn....[cough]... manual?"

Stand and Deliver

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #13 on: March 14, 2007, 09:17:27 PM »
Ah, no copers though.

Lance

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #14 on: March 14, 2007, 09:43:36 PM »
I'd love to know what they had to pay Ricky to ride those fuckin' things.  I'd put a pair on my zagger if i could get em' cruise nasty and grind trees nastier...
Anyone else notice that Tony Parker is the Gino of basketball?

MAGIK INC GROUPIE

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #15 on: March 14, 2007, 09:54:13 PM »
Ah, no copers though.
Yeah but copers at least had some friction going on. Copers are like grinding plastic benches.


Those z rollers were just something that should have been in toys R us, and I was never fooled by them.
I was a poser and knew what's up with that.

Stand and Deliver

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #16 on: March 14, 2007, 09:58:14 PM »
^^^^ Very true.

j....soy.....

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #17 on: March 14, 2007, 10:59:41 PM »
i think daewon rode for z-roller too....they had rubber ones too...the metal ones kinda felt like you were grinding.....call me crazy...but i seriously think z roller made rails too....that like rolled so you could do a railslide like 5 blocks long....z-rollers were big in japan i think...well..not the trucks but the team....i remember they had some sick dudes....sometimes i bust a pat ngoho tailslide down the side of a quarterpipe.....

BIG, SWINGING DICK

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #18 on: March 14, 2007, 11:06:02 PM »
Fabian Alomar rode for Z. I should scan his ad--fs boardslide on the rail Guy noseslides in Video Days.

Gest

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #19 on: March 15, 2007, 06:55:02 PM »
yeah do that

SOFT 7

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #20 on: March 15, 2007, 09:54:47 PM »
Z rollers came from the company Z-Flex, started by Kent Sherwood. Kent is quite possibly the most innovative and progressive person ever, in the skateboard industry. He also was super progressive in surf board technology, and is now in the aeronautics industry. Kent is also Jay Adams' step father. Skateboarding would have taken a different path without him.

j....soy.....

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #21 on: March 15, 2007, 09:59:37 PM »
yeah i saw the movie...

sebastian toombs

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #22 on: March 15, 2007, 10:26:27 PM »
were does jimmy'Z fit into this?


ngoho slides, rad!

golgo13

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #23 on: March 15, 2007, 10:34:00 PM »
i actually have both.
rollin with the z boys and devastation.
local yoshi obayashi rode for them for years and years.
every kid here had a z skin or z rails.
i had some z rollers, the novelty wore off fast.

SOFT 7

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #24 on: March 15, 2007, 10:41:27 PM »
yeah i saw the movie...

what movie?

sebastian toombs

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #25 on: March 15, 2007, 10:44:07 PM »
"legend of z-roller"

Turiyan

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #26 on: May 29, 2013, 04:04:05 PM »
i actually have both.
rollin with the z boys and devastation.
local yoshi obayashi rode for them for years and years.
every kid here had a z skin or z rails.
i had some z rollers, the novelty wore off fast.


I actually rode Yoshi's board once.  They did not turn.  I wouldn't even attempt to grind a board with z's if I couldn't actually approach the obstacle.  I heard he was going to get sponsored by powell but they dumped him and George wouldn't let back on to go pro he had to start over.  All that work getting 3rd place or better in contests all those years and almost going pro was worth nothing.  Seems like a waste.


idealhandmades

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #27 on: May 29, 2013, 04:58:34 PM »
0:43 mark

Skate Shop
@idealhandmades

smokeDust

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #28 on: May 29, 2013, 05:48:40 PM »
There use to be a guy Pete in Danvers MA who use to skate behind Something Else skateshop on sundays in the mid 90s who had z-rollers on his board. I was young and thought they were lame, now I just like to try them once, he would slappy every curb and just go forever.[/img]

jam bra

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Re: z-rollers
« Reply #29 on: May 29, 2013, 06:52:33 PM »
ricky oyola rode for them ... Z roller Ricky...

"don't fuck with my Z rollers!"

i think Z also inadvertently invented slick boards with their "Z press on rails"...people used to buy a shit load of them to cover their whole boards, then companies started making slicks about a year after that...
Z press on rails! I had completely forgotten about those! I had some clear ones. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.