WEBVTT - Selects: How Skateboarding Works 0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:04.240 All right, folks, this is Chuck. It is in Selects 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:08.800 time March. That's what we're throwing back to today because 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:11.880 I picked out How Skateboarding Works. Boy, this is a 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:14.440 great one. This is a sort of vintage stuff you 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:17.479 should know all about skateboarding, full of stories about our 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.599 own skateboarding adventures as young posers that we both were. 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:24.640 And uh, it's good stuff. We talked about the history, 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:26.920 we talk all about and you know, of course it's 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:29.040 about a thing that some people are experts, and so 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:31.400 we get a lot wrong, but we get it mostly right. 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:33.480 And it was a good episode. So please to enjoy 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:40.440 How Skateboards Work. Right now, welcome to Stuff you Should Know, 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:49.040 a production of My Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:51.760 and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark and Charles W. 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:55.320 Chuck Bryant's with me. So stuff you should know. And Jerry, 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:57.760 of course is here, who just celebrated a birthday. Yeah, 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:02.000 happy birthday, Jerry and Valentine's Day run our Indian sweat 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:06.840 lodge that we call a recording booth. Yeah, man, it's hot. Yeah, 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:08.600 part of it's this thing. You want to turn this 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:11.360 off because this it really does put out a tremendous 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:13.600 amount of heat. Yeah, Josh's we have a lamp on 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:17.320 our table that we used to see. Well we can't 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:21.039 see any longer. Oh well fly I'm blind. Yeah that 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.720 did make it like three cooler immediately. Yeah, it's that lamp. 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:28.080 It's the lamp. And then like you know, just people 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:33.399 generating heat in here. Yeah, podcasters were a balmy bunch, 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.080 the blusters a herd of oxen in the corner. And 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.960 that doesn't help. It has been the best intro ever. 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.000 I think you think so, I think so, you're not 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:46.080 being facetious. No, did you know the word facetious? What 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:47.840 do you got for me? Well, when I was younger, 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:49.920 I knew the word facetious. It was a word that 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:52.320 my dad used a lot, so I used it in 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:57.440 like regular conversation correctly. Yeah, okay, But I've never seen 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:00.640 it written out, or so I thought. And finally one 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.640 day I ran across in a book again this word 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:06.320 I kept coming up on, and I was like, what 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:12.760 is that word fastidious? Facidious, facious, And I was like, 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:16.440 that's facetious. I don't know that i've seen it spelled either. Yeah, 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.440 it looks like facinious, you know, it looks like facet 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:22.639 like a facet of a jewel or something, and then 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:25.440 E S I O U S. Yeah, there's no I 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.520 would have so bombed the spelling of that, right. But 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.360 the thing is, it's like I was using it correctly 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.960 in conversation, and I had seen it in books. I 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:35.440 just never put the two together until finally one day 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:37.640 it clicked and you had to get your tattoo changed. 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.760 Facetious across the back of your neck and in the heart. 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:48.560 All right, So, um, skateboarding. Yeah, about the same time 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:52.520 that I realized the word facetious what it was correctly spelled, ass, 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:54.760 I was skateboarding at the time, So that's how it 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:58.840 ties in. That was a little skateboarder for a long time. Yeah, 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:02.400 I was too. I did not. I'm not old enough 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:04.880 to where I saw all the different waves of skateboarding 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:10.800 of the four, but I saw I didn't see the 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:15.400 first one. That's pretty funny. That would mean I'm dead. Um. Now, 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:19.120 there's plenty of old borders out there, sure, Yeah, but 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:21.800 I was of the age where I definitely had the 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:28.800 um small sort of plastic board with the single little 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:34.640 tail on the back only and clay wheels. No, oh yeah, yeah, 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:38.520 Clay wheels. It seems to me like that those the 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:41.920 skateboards from from biblical times. Clay wheels. That's what I 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:44.200 think of when I see clay wheels. What do they 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:48.160 even look like? Uh? Just brown? You know? Were they 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:51.600 super dangerous? Well? Yeah, and if you've seen the great 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:56.520 documentary um Dogtown and z Boys they go over. It's 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.200 a really good doc by the way, like amazing footage 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.800 that they have, even good music and highly recommended over 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:06.560 the movie version The Lords of Dogtown was Val Kilmer 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:13.040 in that No, Heath Ledger was. He played the the mentor. 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.680 I can't remember his name. Skip the Zephyr crew, yes 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:19.760 skip skip skip went on to found Santa Monic Airline Skateboards. 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:22.640 Oh yeah, yeah he was. He stayed on. It's like 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:25.840 a big influence in skateboarding. Looks good. So anyway, I 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:28.800 just wanted to point out that I have branched a 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.240 few different Like I started with a little clay one 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:33.719 and then in high school is when I got the big, 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:37.400 huge fat skateboard when they were super obnoxious. Yeah, let's see, 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:41.440 that's when I came into skating. Eighty four had like 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.520 a nice Lance Mountain um, it was my first board, 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:47.920 my first board, remember the Nash Tough tops. No, there 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.320 was it was blank on the bottom, there were no graphics. 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:52.920 But on the top cut out in the grip tape 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:55.560 was like a star that looked kind of like a 0:04:55.920 --> 0:05:00.479 saw blade, circular saw blade. And then the big difference 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:04.160 was the different colors of the board underneath, blue or 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:07.320 pink or yellow or what it was like neon green. Yeah, 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:09.680 you're a big fat one. Yeah, and looking back like 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:12.320 kind of corny. And I think after that is when 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.400 like true skater started being like, you know, we don't 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:18.359 really care that much about like awesome graphics, like we 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:21.320 just want a good board, good board. You wanted some 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:25.360 rib bones on the side. Do you remember those underneath? Yeah? Yeah, 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:27.640 But I don't think people like those now either. Oh no, 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.760 not anymore real skaters. No, that that the whole point 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:33.000 of those I think it was, you know, to let 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.599 you rail slide or whatever easier, but I think it 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.159 was also to protect those graphics too. It totally was 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.960 because I had a little big plastic bumper under the 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:46.400 tailpiece too, which is counterintuitive to the tricks. Yeah, but 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:50.080 I mean, like who cares about protecting the tail. It's weird. Yeah. 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.240 I was also a nosebone too. I was not never 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.960 very good. Oh I wasn't either. I don't mean to 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:58.080 give that. I mean I spent a lot of our 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:00.719 skating and I never got very good. I think I 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:04.880 pulled off one kickflip once, really once. That's good. I 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:06.960 thought it was pretty good too. That is the trick 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:10.760 that you most often see kids not landing driving down 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:14.120 the street. If you ever see a kid like I, 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:17.440 rarely see a successful kickflip just on the sidewalk. Oh yeah, 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:19.960 if you see somebody who pulls off a kick flip, 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:23.919 the chances are there somebody filming them because they know 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:25.280 that they're going to be able to pull off the 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:27.240 kick flip in l A. Actually I would see more, 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:31.080 you know, obviously better skaters out there in New York. Yeah, 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.560 all right, skateboarding. Should we get going with little history? Yeah, 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:38.640 let's talk about the history of this. This this is 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:40.800 so close to my heart. Man. I fell down the 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:43.640 rabbit hole the day watching like old skate videos and 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.680 like checking out old Powell Perelta boards. That was my 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:49.920 jam was Powell. Well, we mentioned that there have been 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:56.760 four distinct waves of skateboarding starting in UH nine and 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:00.720 each new wave like it's it's just wayne and popularity 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.520 here and there, and then come back strong or and 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:08.400 stronger or due to either uh advances mainly in like 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:14.200 skateboard technology right and trickery, yes, and um parental acceptance 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:18.200 because it never really goes away. Skateboarding is either ever 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:22.400 since its inception, it's either been mainstream or else forced 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.720 underground and like practiced by juvenile delinquents who kind of 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.720 kept it going and advanced it quietly until it came 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.440 back into the mainstream and parents were like, Okay, you 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:35.600 guys can skate again. But the true origin of the skateboard, 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:38.480 the first one that came out, first commercially produced one 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:42.600 was in nineteen it's called the roller Derby skate Yeah. 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:44.400 And before that, you know, if you've seen the movie 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:46.640 Back to the Future, when Martin went fly rips the 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.920 little milk crate off the front of the homemade wooden scooter, 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:53.720 that was where skateboards really came from. You just you know. 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:55.760 It was a sort of a homemade deal with like 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:59.000 a peach crate as the front of your scooter, a 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:01.920 couple of handles, yes, steel wheels, from roller skates. Yeah, 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:04.200 and that was super dangerous, right. But like you say, 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:06.120 if you take the peach create off and take the 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:08.160 handles off, you have that two by four with the 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:11.040 roller skate wheels. And they don't know exactly who did it. 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:14.280 They think actually several people probably did it simultaneously Marty 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:17.680 mc in the right in the forties. They think surfers 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.400 in California did it. There are kids in France that 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:22.800 were seen doing it in the forties. So it kind 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:26.040 of spread. It happened, it arose independently around the world 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.680 at about the same time. That's called the zeitgeist, that 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.320 is my friend. So now we're in the nineties, early 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:35.720 nineteen sixties, and it was I mean it really took 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:38.200 off like a rocket in the first few years of 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:41.800 the nineteen sixties, like, uh, fifty million skateboards were sold 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:45.840 in those first three years and it was everywhere. Yeah, 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:47.800 it was like the hot new craze. Well it was 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:50.280 like also like hula hoops and things like that, Like 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:54.280 it was America was in a crazy mood, a craze moody, 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:58.040 like whatever the big thing was. Yeah, and skateboard fell 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:01.480 into that big time. The problem is, uh, they were 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:06.480 pretty dangerous. There wasn't a lot you could do with them. 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:10.640 Now they because again there's steel wheels there. It's basically 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:13.960 two by four on steel wheels, ride down the street 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:17.439 and you could fall off of it exactly. That was so, 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:22.199 and I think because of the safety concerns, overnight skateboarding 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:24.960 just went away in like nineteen five. It was over, 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:30.199 but it's still kind of stayed somewhat popular as a 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:34.440 thing to do among surfers. When the waves weren't breaking, um, 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:36.839 they would just kind of sidewalk surf is what they 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:39.640 called it. And they never really saw it as anything 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:44.760 bigger than a supplement to surfing. It was just kind 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:51.480 of like it wasn't its own thing until uh the sixties, 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:54.520 the late sixties or the early seventies, when clay wheels 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:57.800 came about. You could do a little more stuff. I think, well, 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:02.520 clay was better than the wheels, but still bad, right, 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:04.520 and that's hit a rock in the road your toast, 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:08.040 and like that's when people started dying from skateboards, which 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.200 kind of led to its decline again. Sure, and then 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:15.280 some surfers the Zephyr Crew are the ones who like 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.360 broke skateboarding out once and for all. Well, Yeah, thanks 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:22.360 to uh Frank Nasworthy's invention of the Eurothane wheel in 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:27.240 nineteen seventy two. Yeah, he founded Cadillac Wheels, and all 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:30.760 of a sudden, it was like a smooth, like, steady, 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:33.680 silent experience on a skateboard for the first time. And 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:36.760 then you changed everything it did because it could grip. Um. 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.480 It wasn't just that it wasn't rumbly any longer. It 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:42.240 was like the you're a thing could grip like concrete 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:45.280 or could go over a pavement, yeah, instead of just 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:49.920 stopping and um. Yeah, all of a sudden, there were 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:54.760 way more surfaces that could be skated. And that plus 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:58.760 the invention of the truck yeah, which is basically an 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:01.480 axle for your wheels that not only allows the wheels 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:04.480 to revolve more smoothly, especially when you add a set 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:08.000 of bearings, Yeah, but it also allows you to maneuver 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:10.839 to the left or the right, which is a big deal. 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:15.280 Kind of opens things up there, twisty. And then the 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:19.400 kicktail also changed everything. All these kind of came together 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.000 at about the same time. Yeah, And you mentioned the 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:24.720 Zephyr crew in nineteen seventy five that held the first 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:30.640 um uh basically competition in Delmar, California, and that's when 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.280 and if you've seen the documentary, it's pretty great. I 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.120 mean they had sort of the holdovers from the sixties 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:39.880 doing like handstands and all these sort of square, antiquated moves, 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:42.840 and then these little punks came in there and just 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:45.760 like toward the place up in like the judges didn't 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:47.520 know how to judge them at the time because they've 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:49.560 never seen anything like it. Yeah, it's pretty cool. It 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.520 was a pool. They were skating in pools right, well, 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:54.920 at least. Yeah, the pool thing came a little later 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:58.680 because they there was a big drought in the mid 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:03.200 seventies in southern California and water was actually in short supply, 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:06.520 so people would drain their pools or not refill them 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.280 or whatever for the summer, and so they started busting 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:11.200 in the backyards and skating and pools. Yeah, and they 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:14.120 would bring their own pumps and hoses to drain like 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:17.120 all the muck out entirely and then just like skate 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:21.320 that pool. And there was um at one of those pools, 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.200 a kid named Tony Alva who was in that Zephyr crew. 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:27.800 It was Tony Alva, J Adams, and Stacy Perelta, yeah, 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:30.240 among others. Yeah, right, but those are like the big three. 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:33.120 Tony I was your guy, right, Stacy Perelta, Oh, I 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:36.120 thought you were like a huge Tony Alva dude. Okay, No, 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:40.200 I respect for Tony Alba, but no, I was always 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:45.080 pal Perelta. Um. But Tony Alva at one of those pools, 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.240 kept going and going and pushing himself harder and harder, 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.560 and then one day he cleared the coping of the 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:56.880 pool and like caught air, yeah, with his hand at first. Oh, 0:12:56.920 --> 0:12:59.280 he did like a hand plant. Yeah, that was how 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.360 that original it came about. But he did leave contact 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:04.200 with the pool, right, and no one had ever done that, 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:08.040 and everyone's like, and that was like the creation of 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:12.200 vert style skateboarding UM. And Alva went on at like 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:15.520 age nineteen to found his own skateboarding company. He was 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:18.280 the first one to use some Canadian maple Veneers, which 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:23.160 we'll talk about um. And it was like really innovative, 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:27.360 especially for a nineteen year old skate punk from southern California. Yeah, 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.920 they all were. Yeah, it's pretty amazing, like this collection 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.720 of kids were and it most of the ended up 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:37.320 being like very savvy, like wealthy businessmen. Yeah. And and 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.360 right after the del Mar competition, the Zephyr crew kind 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:44.280 of scattered to the wind and went in and found 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:48.400 purchase and and expanded skateboarding as a sport and as 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:50.800 a theme. And one of the things that they brought 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:53.560 with them from having been part of a crew is 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:59.040 to form their own crews um of people that they sponsored, 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.880 which made those people old pros. And those pros would 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.240 go on tour. And when those pros went on tour, 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:08.000 they were skating say Palm Pearl to skateboards and showing 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:10.800 local kids what could be done with the skateboard, and 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.160 those kids would go buy pal Parrel to skateboards and 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:16.880 go out and skate. And it that whole idea of 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:21.040 doing demos on tour with pros who were sponsored by 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:25.480 skateboarding companies really helped expand skateboarding in the eighties and 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:30.560 and created that third wave where skateboarding you just became it. Yeah, 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.360 I mean it was big in California and Florida. Like 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:35.400 my cousins were way into it in Florida early on, 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:39.240 but it really took off when kids like me and 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:43.240 Georgia and you and Ohio, we're skiing, you know, skiing 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.800 skating up my like steep driveway and trying to do 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.200 a little one eight turns going back down like it 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:51.080 was a wave. And I was, you know, it was 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.560 one of those silly little kids, like was so caught 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:55.080 up in it at first. Well, I had a kid 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:57.800 who lived across the tracks for me, who had a 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:00.680 half pipe, like a good half pipe that his dad 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:03.800 built him. UM, And that was part of that rise 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:08.560 in nineteen eighty three. I think that third wave where UM, 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:11.800 because I should say we didn't really mention UM. In 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:15.680 the late seventies, after Alva Skateboards was founded and and 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:19.080 pal Perelta was founded and all that, UM, skateboarding took 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:23.240 a hit mainstream wise, and it became associated with punks 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:28.320 and like just like like just punk kids, yeah, the 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:33.680 bad kids and who literally gave skateboarding a bad name. UM. 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.040 And so it was kind of driven underground again. And 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:39.200 then in the early eighties that experienced another rise and 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.680 its image kind of changed a little bit thanks to 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:45.120 the pal Perealta team, the Bones Brigade, who were actually 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:47.760 like they were all young kids and they were skateboarders 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:50.440 and all they cared about was skating. But they were 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:54.560 also like kind of clean cut as far as um, 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:58.080 as far as skateboarders went, like, they didn't do drugs, 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.920 at least they didn't publicly do drugs. Stacy Peralta was 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.320 a good kid, yeah, um, And so the kids that 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:07.360 he sponsored, like Tony Hawk, Mike McGill, Steve Caballero, Christian Hassi, 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:11.160 all those kids were good kids too, and they had 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:15.200 a tremendous amount of influence on the the skaters who 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:18.240 were into them. And so it kind of changed skating's 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:20.480 image a little bit too. It went from like being 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:24.600 something that like punk kids were into to something all 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:28.320 kids were into. Yeah it Um, it did go into 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.360 another four year lull towards the end of the seventies 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:34.040 before it started coming back in the mid eighties and 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:36.680 BMX had a lot to do with it that became 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:40.720 more popular, and um, you know, some skateboarder magazine shut 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:43.600 down or changed names to a different you know title, 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:46.720 and it, just like you said, it never went away 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:51.920 to the adherents of like like the true underground skateboarders, right, 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:54.520 It's always there's always somebody who's been skating at some 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.680 point ever since the ninet but in the mid eighties 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.080 is when it definitely came back, uh to the big 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:03.280 time mainstream. Yeah. And I can't tell if it's just 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.760 nostalgia on my part or else if that was when 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.760 it like really exploded, But like that was that was 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:12.640 my wheelhouse. Remember the videos Man Bones Brigade videos. Yeah, 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:14.439 and that was another thing too. That one of the 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:17.560 reasons why UM skateboarding was able to spread as a 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:21.399 sport or recreation or whatever UM was in part the 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:26.360 access to cheap VHS players because the Bones Brigade made 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:29.280 videos and people bought them, Like you could go to 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:31.600 your local skate shop and buy like a Bones Brigade 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:34.280 VHS tape for like twenty five or thirty bucks. You 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:36.480 kind of had to if you wanted to learn the 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:38.720 cool tricks, right, That's like the only place you could 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:40.320 see him at the time. Yeah, And then they were 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:42.080 produced in a way like you'd want to watch them 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:44.159 again and again, Like they think the fourth one, the 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:47.880 Search for Animal Chin, actually had like a plot and everything. Yeah, 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:50.880 So you would watch these things again and again. These 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.760 guys became like your heroes, and not only were you 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:56.800 watching them, do their tricks and and you know, watching 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.760 their videos, but like you also wore their t shirts, 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:01.880 like you got there deck and it said a lot 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:04.399 Like I had a Mike McGill deck. I really was 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:06.640 into Mike McGill. Yeah, I had a Lance Mountain deck. 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:08.880 Was really into Lance Mountain. And I like Tony Hawk 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:10.760 and everything, but I never had a Tony Hawk deck 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.040 like that. You identify with the skater based on your 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:16.800 personality type of yeah, and your style. Yeah, style had 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:18.800 a lot to do with it for sure. Uh. Then 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:23.000 there was another law in the early nineties because um 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:26.399 of the recession is what everyone seems to blame it on. 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:29.080 And I don't know, I thought it was weird. I 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:31.320 don't remember that happening. But now that I think back 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.399 late high school, early college, there wasn't a lot of 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:37.080 like skate stuff going on in that world. And I 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:39.239 wasn't skating at the time, but I was still just 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:41.879 young enough to pick up on that fourth wave. In 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:45.119 the early mid nineties. Well, thanks to the X games, 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:48.280 that's what really brought it back big time. And Tony 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:52.560 Hawk too, Yeah, he kept it going. His video games 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:57.760 definitely helped spread that fourth waves too. Um and I 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:00.480 guess it's never really gone away. Now is bigger than 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:05.280 ever skating. Yeah, yeah, Well another thing I think that 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:09.600 helped is that eighties nostalgic craze. Yeah, you know that 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:12.760 how the eighties inform everything today. Part of that was 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:20.680 that the I guess re exploring that third wave of 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:23.920 um skateboarding. So like if you're going into a Vand store, 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:27.600 they're all like old Powell decks are old like UM Vision, 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:33.240 Vision streetwear decks Vision, Yeah, and slime balls. Yeah. I 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:36.600 have and I still have a pair of Vans old schools, 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:39.080 the black and white checker No, no, no, those were 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:41.400 this I can't remember the name of those, the slip ons. Yeah, 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:43.840 the old schools are the black. They had the low 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:46.160 top in the high top that has the little sort 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:49.000 of white wave on the so yeah, but um, yeah 0:19:49.119 --> 0:20:15.920 I still wear those shoes. Yeah. So chuck out. We're 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:20.280 going to talk about the skateboard itself. You promised. Yes, Um. 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:23.159 There are three main parts. You have the deck, you 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:25.239 have the trucks, and you have the wheels. And like 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:27.960 we said, the trucks connect the wheels to the deck 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:30.240 and they service the axles on the front and the back. 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:34.720 It's a little t shaped thing. Um, and I remember 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:39.200 definitely like taking a lot of time to get your 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:42.800 trucks the way you wanted. Some people like them really 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:45.720 loose and some people like them a little tighter. If 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:49.199 they're looser, you can turn more aggressively. Yeah, but you 0:20:49.240 --> 0:20:51.879 also get wobble wheel, and you can get wobble wheel. 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:54.200 But um, yeah, I like my little tighter too. Yeah, 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:55.679 like you want to be able to turn, but you 0:20:55.720 --> 0:21:00.200 also I like the stability of a tighter truck. Yeah. Um, 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:03.920 you've also got your wheels which have a set of bearings. Yea. 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:07.160 And the wheels haven't changed too much. They're still polyurethane. 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:09.800 They've changed in size a little bit. But it's the 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:12.760 same basic concept, right, And again it still depends on 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:16.160 your preference. Like you can buy a pre made skateboard 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:18.840 that's all put together, but as you know, any skate 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.240 worth its salt buy's the deck, buys the trucks, buys 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:24.240 the wheels that they want, puts it all together. You 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:26.520 might as well just go to like a department store 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:29.440 by your skateboard if you're just gonna buy it all together, yeah, 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:31.840 with a little outfit that comes with it. If you're 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:36.040 skater one on one out yeah. Um. So the last part, 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:40.000 arguably the most important part, well one of three most 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:43.640 important parts is the deck. Yeah, and the deck has 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:46.800 evolved over time. We talked about how the tail kicked 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:51.199 up in the early seventies and yeah, that allowed a 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:55.440 lot of like tricks. Um. And the if you look 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:59.360 at a skateboard from the top or the bottom were 0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:02.320 you're looking at the outline, that's called the plan. And 0:22:02.359 --> 0:22:04.680 then if you look at how the tailor the nose 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:08.040 is kicked up, and then the concave to the interior 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:12.800 of the skateboard, which allows more control and stability. Um, 0:22:12.840 --> 0:22:14.720 that's called the concave. So you've got the plan in 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:18.240 the concave and those are part of the deck. They 0:22:18.240 --> 0:22:21.320 informed the shape and size of the deck and Um. 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:23.600 Then on top of that deck you have the grip tape, 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:26.400 which I thought that that would have been a recent innovation. 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:28.919 Apparently grip tape was invented all the way back in 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:33.800 for scooters. They did it back then, and a guy 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:40.800