i think there are enough extra setups floating around nowadays that skating is mostly accessible. maybe if you live in a food desert projects or trailer park miles from skateparks and urban centers it's tough but if you can get to a skatespot, you can bro your way into a setup even if your mama broke.
skating is free after the initial investment. kids don't need new boards very often either, $50 twice a yr. i don't buy that skating is cost prohibitive.
I have few problems with this:
Even if we pretend that everyone can get their first set-up for free, the idea that being a skateboarder is a fun low cost activity strikes me to be a stretch. I could simplify baseball to only being the cost of a bat, a ball and a glove, but we all know it costs more than that to actually play baseball.
1) Let's pretend there is a kid who gets hand me down shit his whole time as a skater. Riding hand-me down shit forever isn't the same as getting new shit every now and again. It would take an extreme level of dedication to ride shit all the time. Also, it is going to take a pretty awesome scene/friends who are always down to offer hand-me-downs. I've only known one kid (who is now in his late 20s) who has pushed through riding garbage the majority of his time as a skater. He only got a new set-up when he parents let him keep a bit more of his paycheck, because it was his birthday. Not surprisingly, he is tech as fuck and never jumps down anything.
2) If we look at things needed just to maintain a decent set-up it gets expensive real fast. We need to replace the hard goods as they wear out and we need to regularly replace our shoes. "Expensive" is a relative term, but I look back at when I was spending $145 on skate goods each month (2 decks/grip at 40, a pair of shoes at 50, and we'll add in 15 to account for the random shit that wears out every now again such as bearings, bushings, or trucks) and I don't know where that money was coming from. Especially, because this doesn't even include the money I spent driving in circles, paying to get into the heated indoor park, and on garbage at the gas station near the park/spot.
3) A skater who only goes through 2 boards a year, isn't really skating that often (unless they are like 8 years old). Hell, this is my first year where I've had a board longer than 3 months and I don't really feel like a skater anymore.
4) This only covers the basics to actually ride a skateboard. Riding a skateboard is completely different than being a part of the scene and being a skater. I know lots of people who own skateboards, few of them are actually skaters. Once we get into actually being part of the scene the overall financial costs and especially time costs increase. Cellphone footage and online videos have made things a bit more accessible compared to when I was at my peak, but now that I'm an adult and I have to save for a downpayment on a home, save for retirement, pay $500 a month for health insurance, pay for rent, etc. I look at all the money I was spending jumping around a skateboard while making minimum wage and realize what a fucking luxury that was and how lucky I was to have parents who could pay for my necessities and allow me to fuck around.
Topic: WHEN DID SKATEBOARDING BECOME SO PC? (Read 18346 times)