2025 unpopular opinion thread

[Teethcanbesexy]

I skate solely running shoes cause skate shoes are hideous and needing a flat sole to skate is a myth

Maybe if your a beginner or something but it really doesn't matter

I'm not gonna say my favorite shoes to skate cause swag stealers but they have a indent in the middle of the sole and it's fine

Only landing flip trips can it get a little awkward but I don't flip my shit like that

Hoarding valuable information? Please spill the shoe beans

[Never Bored]

Some people are too good and it’s not fair. They should have to wear ankle weights or have lead planks in their shoes like in “Harrison Bergeron”

[91FeelGoodOnWood]

More people should skate iPath shoes.

[ferguu]

More people should skate iPath shoes.

iPath shoes should be more available.

[Texas_Tone]

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Ok back to the matter at hand here…..I prolly post this every year but my opinion is evolving:

Wax: 1) single discreet line when necessary on coping is now officially ok 2) everywhere else if you can’t handle the wax, it’s your problem 3) the first guy who says : ‘just skate faster’ is usually the first guy to never hit it…..

[close]

i spent so much of my life thinking wax was illegal because of older dudes that i look back on now and realise none of them could skate ledges or rails anyway. i got absolutely pumped a few times as youth "just go faster"ing on objects which were truly ungrindable without wax. also did not understand how people were noseblunting ledges. i thought i would never be able to do it, it was unfathomable.

i support wax usage, but i do believe it's worth working up incrementally to find a sweet spot. some people just lather past the point straight up and i still think that's obnoxious.

what are people waxing the coping for though? that is genuinely unnecessary.

[close]

Some coping really gets sticky, especially if it's rained and it gets a bit rusty. A bit of wax does wonders. Yes you can just wax your own trucks but it basically transfers the wax to the coping anyway so it's the same. I get that people are worried about slipping their wheels out or whatever but it's usually guys who aren't skating hard enough to be affected that are complaining.

[close]

Hard no on waxing the coping, not trying to die on a lipslide.  Yes you can just go faster to do 50-50s on the mini.  Ledges are fair game.

[close]

That rust comes off with a few grinds. Wax on coping is awful. I’ve eaten shit on fakie rocks and disasters and stuff because you slip upwards as you go down. Sometimes a little friction is good.

[close]

https://youtube.com/shorts/isvQEjMowwY

[close]

Hahahaha is that Auby?

Yea lol

[breezy_again]

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I have a disdain for Nike, nb, Adidas and can't stand how popular their shoes are. I have no problem with people taking their money, my problem is us giving them our money. NGL I skated the sb when they first came out so it's been a long while but they can't be that much better than anything else. Nothing a little super glue and insoles won't solve. Kook away

[close]

Agreed but NB in particular are an actual step up in terms of fit and support that I've never ever had anywhere else. Which sucks because them and Adidas really take the cake when it comes to the whackest looking skateshoes in the biz.

[close]

I third this sentiment. To go to the extreme, I don't care how comfortable, durable, or ergonomically perfect the shoes are, I will never skate something that looks like a running shoe with a big ass N on the side.

so you hate N's

[outoftheloop]

I don't care at all about current skate culture.

I did to some extent when I was younger then life goes on. I dont have a clue whats cool, whats wac, who most of these new names are or anything like that. I see a lot of insta clips from people who obviously rip but I have no idea who they are and I have no interest on keeping upto date.
Perfectly happy living mentally in my own personal golden era, occasionally putting on full lengths like stay gold or yeah right etc and blissfully being unaware of what is generally going on in the industry and i kinda like it that way.

Im sure this has been a thing since for ever, slightly older jaded guy stuck in his bubble but yeah, i cant imagine this is a hugely popular opinion.

[formula420]

^ fair opinion but then what are you on slap for?

[Sedition]

I don't care at all about current skate culture.

I did to some extent when I was younger then life goes on. I dont have a clue whats cool, whats wac, who most of these new names are or anything like that. I see a lot of insta clips from people who obviously rip but I have no idea who they are and I have no interest on keeping upto date.
Perfectly happy living mentally in my own personal golden era, occasionally putting on full lengths like stay gold or yeah right etc and blissfully being unaware of what is generally going on in the industry and i kinda like it that way.

Im sure this has been a thing since for ever, slightly older jaded guy stuck in his bubble but yeah, i cant imagine this is a hugely popular opinion.

Yes. This.

[EDMUND]

More people should skate iPath shoes.

I agree.

I’ve been skating NB 600s because they fit well. I like
NB, used to only skate Nike SB, yet things have gone too far… it feels like there is more emphasis on the new NB or Nike shoe that is being skated than the skating itself. Dark stuff.

The new Tyler Surrey part felt refreshing to watch because he’s skating a colorway where the N isn’t right in your face.

[leafman4000]

I skate solely running shoes cause skate shoes are hideous and needing a flat sole to skate is a myth

Maybe if your a beginner or something but it really doesn't matter

I'm not gonna say my favorite shoes to skate cause swag stealers but they have a indent in the middle of the sole and it's fine

Only landing flip trips can it get a little awkward but I don't flip my shit like that

probably the craziest take ive read in an unpopular opinion thread in a while

i respect it

[fakie nollie]

I skate solely running shoes cause skate shoes are hideous and needing a flat sole to skate is a myth

Maybe if your a beginner or something but it really doesn't matter

I'm not gonna say my favorite shoes to skate cause swag stealers but they have a indent in the middle of the sole and it's fine

Only landing flip trips can it get a little awkward but I don't flip my shit like that

Would you say you have a Dylan esque kickflip?

[outoftheloop]

^ fair opinion but then what are you on slap for?

Mostly I just enjoy looking at the setup thread as I enjoy seeing everyones setups and think theyre interesting aswell as occasionally beautiful. After that I just look around a bit because its a slow week at work.

[I-am-12]

This is a dead horse but I feel like ranting since I just listened to this topic on the Mostly Skateboarding podcast and this wasn't really brought up, though I'm sure most people here agree with me...still apparently unpopular IRL though.

Is it not obvious that kids and teens want to see (without realizing it) kids their age skate street and do hijinks and shenanigans? And just be silly and have a good time with friends on video? Jackass, baker 3, viva la bam, etc...that "type" of skating is still cool, and always will be. I actually hear teens regularly complain about lack of freedom, too much social media, etc and how they're somehow nostalgic for the "simple, free" life of the 2000s before social media, aka hanging outside being bored and making your own fun (aka skating).

Why do teen homie videos absolutely blow up on youtube, yet I hear nothing about them anywhere outside of the fucking video comments itself? Some of these videos are more entertaining than pro parts. Some group of teens doing crooks on a blown out rail is actually fun to watch if it's a homie video because of how raw it is, and usually there's tons of personality shown amongst them. Below are some examples (not all teen examples but still).







I mean why are we not funding this? Did we not learn from the success of Supreme in the 2010s that whatever the kids think is cool ACTUALLY is cool and good for business? Why are we putting Andrew Reynolds on a cover instead of Troy Gipson or something?

Again, this is a dead horse but jesus christ, it's so annoying how you have to go down 2 years of indie rabbit holes in skate culture to find entertaining videos as a non skater. In the past, you can find fisheye raw skating and culture in the menus in a Tony Hawk game.


Any IG conglomarate or major skate social media pressance (especially "normie" ones) should be blowing up these videos. It's literally a net benefit for everyone..


Skating's barrier to entry is even larger now because of this shit. Kids equate it to being good at an instrument or sport.

Imagine being a kid and your friend says "come play piano with me". You would immediately be "I've never taken classes though. I know it takes a ton of practice and classes and training to learn piano". They literally say the same thing with skating. This is the consequences of Olympic skating and SLS and massive handrail skating. We should be blowing up frog videos to cancel this shit out.


"I never went to skate camp so I shouldn't skate, I don't know how". Kids today literally see it the same way we would see indoor speed ice skating or bobseld or something. Some olympic bullshit that only rich kids do that have access to special coaches and training facilities.


Sorry to ramble and beat the dead horse, just felt like ranting

[Yakusoku2]

This is a dead horse but I feel like ranting since I just listened to this topic on the Mostly Skateboarding podcast and this wasn't really brought up, though I'm sure most people here agree with me...still apparently unpopular IRL though.

Is it not obvious that kids and teens want to see (without realizing it) kids their age skate street and do hijinks and shenanigans? And just be silly and have a good time with friends on video? Jackass, baker 3, viva la bam, etc...that "type" of skating is still cool, and always will be. I actually hear teens regularly complain about lack of freedom, too much social media, etc and how they're somehow nostalgic for the "simple, free" life of the 2000s before social media, aka hanging outside being bored and making your own fun (aka skating).

Why do teen homie videos absolutely blow up on youtube, yet I hear nothing about them anywhere outside of the fucking video comments itself? Some of these videos are more entertaining than pro parts. Some group of teens doing crooks on a blown out rail is actually fun to watch if it's a homie video because of how raw it is, and usually there's tons of personality shown amongst them. Below are some examples (not all teen examples but still).







I mean why are we not funding this? Did we not learn from the success of Supreme in the 2010s that whatever the kids think is cool ACTUALLY is cool and good for business? Why are we putting Andrew Reynolds on a cover instead of Troy Gipson or something?

Again, this is a dead horse but jesus christ, it's so annoying how you have to go down 2 years of indie rabbit holes in skate culture to find entertaining videos as a non skater. In the past, you can find fisheye raw skating and culture in the menus in a Tony Hawk game.


Any IG conglomarate or major skate social media pressance (especially "normie" ones) should be blowing up these videos. It's literally a net benefit for everyone..


Skating's barrier to entry is even larger now because of this shit. Kids equate it to being good at an instrument or sport.

Imagine being a kid and your friend says "come play piano with me". You would immediately be "I've never taken classes though. I know it takes a ton of practice and classes and training to learn piano". They literally say the same thing with skating. This is the consequences of Olympic skating and SLS and massive handrail skating. We should be blowing up frog videos to cancel this shit out.


"I never went to skate camp so I shouldn't skate, I don't know how". Kids today literally see it the same way we would see indoor speed ice skating or bobseld or something. Some olympic bullshit that only rich kids do that have access to special coaches and training facilities.


Sorry to ramble and beat the dead horse, just felt like ranting

I love you. Stump Boys or Y-Town Playaz are being noticed because of this. They were little kids doing homie local videos and now they’re not kids anymore but still very young and their skating is amazing.

[SwitchBenihana]

Damn, I read about 12 pages of this and it's the same 5-6 dudes complaining. Some of you serial posters need to lighten up and be less negative.

[SatanicPanic]

People wonder why Frog is popular, but I think this is why- it's just some young people having fun. That's cool.

[SwitchBenihana]

Chris Milic is like 35 and I'm fairly sure Jesse Alba is over 30. Even Nick Michel isn't young.

[Mallie]

Yeah, and they're less popular than they were 5y ago.

[Southernmost]

Chris Milic is like 35 and I'm fairly sure Jesse Alba is over 30. Even Nick Michel isn't young.

But their graphics look like a toddler created it so that’s why they’re still young.

[JM]

Three poor dead horses beaten.

Let’s end this horsicide.

[Plan9Customs]

What’s all this about Mikey Taylor being beaten?

[ferguu]

I mean why are we not funding this? Did we not learn from the success of Supreme in the 2010s that whatever the kids think is cool ACTUALLY is cool and good for business? Why are we putting Andrew Reynolds on a cover instead of Troy Gipson or something?

Again, this is a dead horse but jesus christ, it's so annoying how you have to go down 2 years of indie rabbit holes in skate culture to find entertaining videos as a non skater. In the past, you can find fisheye raw skating and culture in the menus in a Tony Hawk game.

Any IG conglomarate or major skate social media pressance (especially "normie" ones) should be blowing up these videos. It's literally a net benefit for everyone..

Skating's barrier to entry is even larger now because of this shit. Kids equate it to being good at an instrument or sport.

Imagine being a kid and your friend says "come play piano with me". You would immediately be "I've never taken classes though. I know it takes a ton of practice and classes and training to learn piano". They literally say the same thing with skating. This is the consequences of Olympic skating and SLS and massive handrail skating. We should be blowing up frog videos to cancel this shit out.

"I never went to skate camp so I shouldn't skate, I don't know how". Kids today literally see it the same way we would see indoor speed ice skating or bobseld or something. Some olympic bullshit that only rich kids do that have access to special coaches and training facilities.

Sorry to ramble and beat the dead horse, just felt like ranting

I'm pretty sure "older" dudes get the cover bcuz oldheads are the ones with the money. Follow the money...

Also do kids say this stuff? Like have u ever heard a kid say any of that? I always see kids sucking at skateparks but just having fun trying with their friends. The issue here is that our viewpoints are anecdotal. I really do think kids still care to try tho. It's not like SLS cancels out the existence of Frog / Jacuzzi / whatever else.

Man y u always down on the kids?

[I-am-12]

I'm pretty sure "older" dudes get the cover bcuz oldheads are the ones with the money. Follow the money...

Also do kids say this stuff? Like have u ever heard a kid say any of that? I always see kids sucking at skateparks but just having fun trying with their friends. The issue here is that our viewpoints are anecdotal. I really do think kids still care to try tho. It's not like SLS cancels out the existence of Frog / Jacuzzi / whatever else.

Man y u always down on the kids?

You're right, it's definitely anecdotal. It's anecdotal based on my 3rd - 5th grade nephews, who I noticed see skating the same way I saw snowboarding growing up (you need to take lessons and if you miss your window to start when you're 4 years old, don't bother). So I just assume other kids have this mentality.

To clarify, I'm saying it's more difficult to "stumble" upon good street skating with good filming and music if you're not already in that algorithm or know what to look for. Because people are only exposed to the "sport" side of skating, it creates a barrier to entry mentally for kids. It becomes no different than going to a expensive Violin camp or gymnastics classes, and (based on my nephews), they don't even bother trying skating because to them they believe they need special coaches and yada yada.


I don't think it's the end of the world and the world won't be deprived of good skate content because of it, this is just a niche internet forum topic I felt like typing out to pass the time since it was on my mind.

I'm not even forcing my nephews to skate or anything, I just noticed they see it different than how me and my friends saw it growing up (THPS, CKY, etc).

[I-am-12]

Different opinion:

I think people should be more welcome to trick tips among strangers. It provides the opportunity to meet more people and make friends, and trick tips are always good.

It's annoying when I see a guy having the exact same problem I had 2 months ago on a trick, but if I say "Hey what's up man, I actually have a few trick tips on that if you wanna hear them, I had the same issue 2 months ago" while we're both resting next to each other, it can be seen as rude? There's nothing wrong with just "nah I don't want to over think it" or "nah I'm locked in and don't want to confuse myself with more overthinking"

[BALARGUE]

Three poor dead horses beaten.

Let’s end this horsicide.

maybe but these type of detailed rants should come more often because I feel like it's good for debate / discussion and help see patterns and making sense of all of this. Especially because we all have our own sample and a different experience. There are many valid points in @I-am-12 post.

I think it as something to do, among many reasons, with the way marketing is still done (and a bit dated) and how nowadays kids function. Not way different than before as I am 12 said, but still a bit different.
Some of us are not into marketing the way it is currently done in this world (we're a bit old and skateboarding is kinda conservative in that aspect), and most brands still rely a lot on IG and "old skool" way of doing things. It's a bit embarassing to tiktokize all that to get attention and create momentum but it might be necessary in 2025.
Maybe embrace the influencers way a bit more and dive into the cringe fest (like Powell sure does).
At least use the current tools of your target demographic.

Of course kids, they still want to have fun and skateboarding will always be but they might be less interested in getting broken/hurt while trying to have fun with a skatebard. hence less invested. They might just need a lil push / influence.

I really don't think it's going to be enough but I hear Skate 4 is getting kids attention and some people fantasize an impact on popularity. It worked massively in the past with THPS, so why not ?
Nah it won't.

[ferguu]

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I'm pretty sure "older" dudes get the cover bcuz oldheads are the ones with the money. Follow the money...

Also do kids say this stuff? Like have u ever heard a kid say any of that? I always see kids sucking at skateparks but just having fun trying with their friends. The issue here is that our viewpoints are anecdotal. I really do think kids still care to try tho. It's not like SLS cancels out the existence of Frog / Jacuzzi / whatever else.

Man y u always down on the kids?

[close]

You're right, it's definitely anecdotal. It's anecdotal based on my 3rd - 5th grade nephews, who I noticed see skating the same way I saw snowboarding growing up (you need to take lessons and if you miss your window to start when you're 4 years old, don't bother). So I just assume other kids have this mentality.

To clarify, I'm saying it's more difficult to "stumble" upon good street skating with good filming and music if you're not already in that algorithm or know what to look for. Because people are only exposed to the "sport" side of skating, it creates a barrier to entry mentally for kids. It becomes no different than going to a expensive Violin camp or gymnastics classes, and (based on my nephews), they don't even bother trying skating because to them they believe they need special coaches and yada yada.


I don't think it's the end of the world and the world won't be deprived of good skate content because of it, this is just a niche internet forum topic I felt like typing out to pass the time since it was on my mind.

I'm not even forcing my nephews to skate or anything, I just noticed they see it different than how me and my friends saw it growing up (THPS, CKY, etc).

U should let em know that u don't have to be good at skateboarding to be good at skateboarding if u know what I mean. Unless they're very career conscious 3rd and 5th graders hahaha.

No points though, I think ur onto something. Like how Japan, the Netherlands, Woodward (still a thing? not sure) have those skate programs, and the best of those are the ones we see become pro 10 years down the line which is why we see so many pros from these areas. Like Lazer Crawford; he's a lil Grom glow up guy, he's fkn amazing. Or Heitor. Ginwoo as an extreme example.

I definitely think Skate 4 will impact popularity. Maybe not immediately but the seed is sown. I played Skate 3 religiously as a kid, but I didn't start skatin until many years later, but I still kinda "got it" as a result of the game addiction. Don''t see why history won't repeat itself.

The thing about trick tips is they can be a little personal. What works for one MIGHT work for somebody else, but from experience like 60% of the time they're doing the trick in a different enough way that it actually just throws them further off the scent. Or, if they're a beginner-ish, it just gives them too much to think about and it all falls down like a stack of cards. I think an individuals personal journey in skateboarding is quite sacred like that. The occasional tip is OK I guess, but I would always just say "keep this in mind" or something like that, not present it like it is the "correct answer". Depends on the person as well I guess. This actually kinda ties into the "you must be taught" thing your nephews are going through. There isn't really a right way to do most hobbies, theres just a way that is industry accepted. Like you could play the Piano all crazy like and make ur own style, same with skating. External objectivity really brings a downer on these things that are actually quite personal.

[steve]

Outside California, maybe its returning to the point where there will be 3-4 kids who skate in a 700 student middle school. There is nothing wrong with that.

Online content isn’t necessary for a kid to start skating. If anything, all the shit online pollutes the waters of early exploration and creativity.

None of it matters because at the beginning of the day and at the end of the night skateboarding is learning how to find balance on a piece of wood atop asphalt.

[Boomerforums]

I think maybe kids are just using skating as a hobby and not making it their whole personality like people used to

[DeanMaple]

I think maybe kids are just using skating as a hobby and not making it their whole personality like people used to

Finally