Thoughts on NHS

[j....soy.....]

I know it's slap and all but it's not all about hate....NHS.....indifference....

If you run the comparables for brands that make all hardware....its number 2.....1) DLX 2) NHS 3) could be a tie....Dwindle/crail/Powell? 

[FUBAR]

I guess it’s more of a west coast thing.  People keep talking about little kids and old dudes with NHS brand stuff.  I almost never see Santa Cruz or Creature stuff in the wild here in Pennsylvania.

I skate both NJ and PA and this is where I see it. Always SC stuff though, no Creature.

[IpathCats]

nah

....Nah

[synikal]

NHS is super corporate, really doesnt care about their small shop accounts. During the first year of Covid lockdown they were vicious about their policies. (we all understand covid was hard times, but damn)

 besides the huge, untenable minimums (if you want indys, you better order 200 pairs at a time), they were one of the only suppliers we have that was actively selling direct to consumer at full price, while offering literally nothing to us on B2B (business to business, wholesale) . Wholesale site would be blacked out with every item "N/A" while the fun factory DTC website had almost everything you could think of. full pages of decks, trucks, wheels, grip etc. Absolutely nothing for shops. When we emailed our rep about it, he essentially just shrugged it off and said it is what it is at this point. product for DTC, none for shops. this held up for the majority of 2020 and a good chunk of 2021.

during this time we would also regularly see the major shops in the area (huge insta following, pro team riders, massive online shops, etc..) constantly posting the arrival of new NHS goods. when we would email our rep about it, again, shrugs it off. When i asked him to please notify us if any product is ever available for us to order, he told us to order from Eastern, which is over 2000 miles away. multiple requests for notification of availability of product, never given such courtesy. we aint the hottest shop in town but we've been around for quite a while, day one account with NHS.

Very cold, non core, corporate establishment with very coveted and essential skate product. its really too bad we cant survive without indys or mob grip or else we wouldve ditched NHS years ago (to be fair we mostly order NHS thru secondary distributions at this point)

[boogs]

What are they gonna do with all that money they made this year?

[manysnakes]

they were one of the only suppliers we have that was actively selling direct to consumer at full price, while offering literally nothing to us on B2B (business to business, wholesale) . Wholesale site would be blacked out with every item "N/A" while the fun factory DTC website had almost everything you could think of. full pages of decks, trucks, wheels, grip etc. Absolutely nothing for shops. When we emailed our rep about it, he essentially just shrugged it off and said it is what it is at this point. product for DTC, none for shops. this held up for the majority of 2020 and a good chunk of 2021.

That is pretty fucked. No wonder my local shop sells Indys and basically nothing else from NHS.

[Not_Bruce]

no thanks truck nuts

[bigbevev]

Their boards are heavy, And as an adult black man the whole of nhs gives me racist vibes. This is all i can add.

[Murge]

Nhs is just kinda meh.

Had 1 SC and hated it in like 2014. But their team is good. Blake Johnson and fabby Braun are all fun to watch I don’t mind knibbs. They all are talented. I think as someone posted earlier let sc be old bowl dudes and legacy guys and make a cooler deck company with the younger street dudes. Would skate their boat shape but would spray over the dot

Currently on an 8.8 creature stumps and love it.
Previously had 1 creature in like 2013 or 14 and the wood felt soggy and splintered and chipped fast. But one session in on the 8.8 stump and it’s great. I assume quality has gone up. Really enjoying it and creatures team and history is pretty sick.

Typically skate Indy then ace then back to Indy. It’s a good jack of all trades master of none truck.

Never skated OJ. But nomads seem cool

Never skated Krux. Just no printed trucks. Seems kooky

I like mob but I wish there was a mob like grip not under nhs. Not sure my reason. I just feel like the corporate nhs part irks me to support them.

Bronson suck.

[fs5050]

I miss my polka dot krux

[bombsaway86]

I used to ride a lot of Creature and Santa Cruz decks. Last Creature I bought was in 2019. I was looking at a Willis Kimbel deck at the shop the other day and it seemed like the quality has gone down significantly. I ended up getting my first Madness deck instead (really nice)

Independents grind really nice, but they’re really unstable if you want to ride them loose. They’d be great if I rode my trucks on the tighter side. I prefer Aces for the combination of stability while also being able to get nice deep turns

OJ makes the best cruiser wheels. I haven’t tried the elite wheels, but I’d give them a shot.

[alonelikeastone]

I still ride Indy. The bushings are garbage.
They really should, and I have said this for years, use today’s technology in an older stage truck. Let’s Rowley sort it out. Give him what he would actually ride. With a version based around the bones bushings.
The money they must make for Powell around bushings is crae.

[manysnakes]

I still ride Indy. The bushings are garbage.
They really should, and I have said this for years, use today’s technology in an older stage truck. Let’s Rowley sort it out. Give him what he would actually ride. With a version based around the bones bushings.
The money they must make for Powell around bushings is crae.

I ride Indys and I love the stock medium bushings. They perform excellently with the trucks and last longer than any Bones bushings I've ever owned, which tend to blow out for me in a matter of days sometimes. I do usually end up replacing the bushings at some point during the life of the truck, but that's like $6 and they break in within an hour or two.

The "old stage" Indy is the Ace, which is effectively a clone of the Stage III. The story goes that Joey Tershay even brought the idea to NHS, and when they turned him down, he went and had the thing made himself. Ultimately I think Indy is correct not to dilute their brand with different shaped trucks. Just imagine the costs to tool up for a full size run of new trucks (which costs several hundred thousand dollars), only in order to make a new version of a truck you already replaced two decades ago. Who is the market for this, especially when you've got Ace already out there? People who want to use Bones bushings?

[The_9]

Does anyone outside of the US give a shit about USA made?

[stringsnthings]

The products are good quality but the marketing for all their brands just doesn't draw me especially Santa Cruz and Krux. Wish Santa Cruz would go back to that knot logo they had in the early 00's and stopped relying on the likes on Tom Asta and Maurio McCoy rocking the screaming hand. Thats not there era/style/aesthetic at all.

[GumOnMyGrip]

The products are good quality but the marketing for all their brands just doesn't draw me especially Santa Cruz and Krux. Wish Santa Cruz would go back to that knot logo they had in the early 00's and stopped relying on the likes on Tom Asta and Maurio McCoy rocking the screaming hand. Thats not there era/style/aesthetic at all.

I liked the Knot logo too…
Miss the Erik (Eric) Bork era of SC.
Wooten is an absolute beast in person though…

[Paperclip20]

I like Mob grip, I think Jessup does the job just as well though.
Indy's are solid but not my favorite truck.
The board brands just don't appeal to me.

Like others have mentioned they do support many people I do like though and that I can appreciate,

[The Mad Rapper]

Every other distro has much cooler brands and vibe and graphics and teams and marketing and literally everything but NHS seems to Dad the other ones and nobody can overthrow them... (DLX, Baker Boys, Tum Yeto, Dwindle.....)

[mooraga]

-Indys are my trucks (149's) I love that they give me a little wheelbite when I land too hard (yeah Im weird but thats how I skate), also had Krux; they were OK but I stick to Indys
-Mob works, sometimes its overpriced at my country but its OK. Never buy their transparent griptape, a little dust or water and you are dancing on those big grains, this probably happens with every brand btw
-Their wheels are shit, especially Rictas, I've been a victim of their ease to squareness
-Never ever cared to try creature or santacruz, a friend recently skated a creature and lasted 2 short sessions till the tail broke dramatically (ok he landed bad but he went through it like it was nothing and it was a flat ground trick )

they make good trucks, thats it

[gsosa]

Does anyone outside of the US give a shit about USA made?

Not really

[Space Cowboy]

NHS has some good stuff, like Bronson raw have been the ideal bearing in my experience, however their clothing materials for nearly all their brands have been garbage in my experience

[stringsnthings]

Expand Quote

The products are good quality but the marketing for all their brands just doesn't draw me especially Santa Cruz and Krux. Wish Santa Cruz would go back to that knot logo they had in the early 00's and stopped relying on the likes on Tom Asta and Maurio McCoy rocking the screaming hand. Thats not there era/style/aesthetic at all.

[close]

I liked the Knot logo too…
Miss the Erik (Eric) Bork era of SC.
Wooten is an absolute beast in person though…

Yeah Im thinking like Jayme Fortune, Eric Bork, Stacey Lowery that era. I like several current riders for SC but the brand is stuck in the past and a lot of dudes on SC would fit much better on other brands.

[The_9]

Santa Cruz lost sight of what made them great at the height of their power imo. They were the punk alternative to the clean cut Bones Brigade. For me the brand should have a more Hesh vibe, drop people like Asta and focus more on skaters like Winkowski.  Issue with this would be the overlap with Creature.

[Mr. Stinky]

NH-Ass. (JK, I buy some NHS stuff here and there, but the branding is corny as hell.)

[Mbrimson88]

Expand Quote

Does anyone outside of the US give a shit about USA made?

[close]

Not really

There are a few guys here in AU who are all about the USA made Indy trucks and will not touch anything without the stamp.  I would never take them for USA supporters as there is little patriotism for anything, or so it seems, but maybe they are misguided or the misinformation got to them about how Indy trucks that are made elsewhere are rubbish.

Whatever floats your boat guys, but as far as the new ones, they all skate the same and will not cost you extra now they are getting progressively harder to find.


I think more people have been wary of the lack of logo on the front of the baseplate, than where the trucks are made, with at least one saying he didn't want the fake ones (without the logo) and only wanted the real ones...

Had to show the Independent Trucks instagram showing no baseplate logo to convince him that is how they are doing things now, but he still didn't seem that keen on them.

Go figure.

[Noble Experiment]

Skating a Creature right now. Haven’t had it for that long but so far it still feels pretty decent, but one thing I did notice is it’s getting all dented n chipped up a lot easier than the BBS boards I usually skate, skating the same prefab park that I normally skate too. The BBS boards I usually skate don’t really dent or chip at all actually. With this creature tho, if my board accidentally runs into the side of the ledge or lands primo on the edge or something, instant dent. It’s still skating alright but definitely a sign of weaker wood. Will probably just stick with BBS boards after the creature runs it’s course.

As far as for other NHS products:

Indys: love em. They were the only trucks I skated for more than a decade straight. Been on ventures now for the past couple years tho which I also love, but I will not hesitate to put back on my set of beat up stage 11s if the board I’m skating calls for it, haven’t had to in a while tho but they’re ready.

Bronson: I broke a couple bearings last year at the park and I asked this random skater if he had a couple he could spare and he gave me a couple lightly used Bronsons. Not sure what kind they are (G3’s maybe?) but they’re still running strong in my front left wheel to this day. Don’t really have much else of an opinion on Bronson other than that.

Mob: not bad when it’s not peeling up on you or cracking on you or creasing up on you half the time.

OJs: had a friend who had a set of their elite formula wheels. I got on his board and rode around for a bit and tried a couple powerslides; they felt grippy and slow. Made me glad I was riding formula fours.

[Tommy G]

Creature - not big on their graphics, but their boards are great
Santa Cruz - I haven't tried their boards, but it would be cool if they went back to the early 2000's logo, I could rock that
Bronson - I know most people on here hate Bronson's, but I've had some G2's for a while and they're great
Ricta - had a pair of the All-Star's (I think that's what the name is) and they wore out really quick and flatspotted. I'd be willing to try out the clouds for a cruiser though
Indy - still got mine, haven't had any issues, may switch to Ace at some point once I wear em down
Krux - I'm not big on Krux's graphic trucks and damn near every poser has a pair of them, but I may give 'em a shot one day

[JF]

With 7, or so years of being pro for Santa Cruz/NHS, I still have love for them. They should’ve stuck with the old school logo instead of the regular “Knot” logo.. during my time with them the pros had a lot of say and control when it came down to the team, board graphics and advertising. Jeff Kendall was always a straight up guy, shit, I got a royalty check from them 6 months ago for a couple of old ass clips they re-used thanks to Jeff being a stand up guy. I always respected the fact that they gave mike Frazier a pro-spot on the team and they listened to the team when we asked them to put Alex Moul on.. when I got booted/left the team the TM at the time could’ve just been honest with me on the reason they cut my salary and wanted to get rid of me, I never understood why they couldn’t just tell me the truth about it (in hindsight of course)..Other than that, it was my 2nd favorite sponsor I’ve ever had (next to riding for ATM, who was awesome to travel with along with the other random dudes that went on tours with us and John falhee took a big chance on me back in “98 when I was a piled out, late teen, pessimist a-hole) anyway, I liked being on Santa Cruz, I know that the era that I rode for them they consider the lowest point of the company’s history, but it was still a great time and good memories.