Changes are afoot. One of the last bastions of scooter-free skating in the UK is to go. Rampworx, the UK’s biggest and possibly busiest indoor skate park has buckled under the pressure of the scooter-moms. One of the top skate parks in Europe, they have until now had a bar on scooter use in general sessions, opting instead for bi-weekly Scooter only nights but this is to change.
Is this the end of a great institution?
Continue reading Rampworx Scooter Nursery?
Today’s update to the (slow) series is Mark Lee skating in Manchester. As the light was fading, our guide JP brought us to this gem with enough time to grab a clip, and maybe a decent photo. I wasn’t expecting to get much of this as the rail is ridiculously long, and it turned out to be demonically fast. A few test tries later and Mark nails this slick farv all the way down. Not that he was bothered as you can tell from his face.
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As I missed the fun and frolics of this year’s Winterclash I’ve been limited to catching my updates through the clips and edits that others have been posting online. Seeing them pop up on my Facebook feed has kept me up to speed on what was going down in Eindhoven and who was killing the park.
However, it dawned on me that Facebook feeds don’t last so I have been back through and have put together a list of the footage that I have seen so far. I’ll be watching these until an official edit comes through, so would appreciate any contributions to the list that I may have missed.
First the edits:
Having just received my new Bake Frames setup, I put them onto my Xsjados for a quick test. They weren’t as fast as I’d hoped to see on a 72mm flat setup. I worked out the problem though; I was missing the bearing spacers.
Far too many people misunderstand what contributes to a good skate setup. They will pay through the nose for ABEC 9 bearings (which will reduce friction by less than 1% over cheap unrated bearings) but then don’t use bearing spacers.
Bearing spacers are the small (typically aluminium or steel) tubes that go inside the wheels between the bearings. Without these, tightening the wheel bolts puts lateral forces on the bearings, causing a huge increase in friction and wear damage. With the spacers in, these forces are removed and only radial forces are applied, which the bearings are designed to take. Your rolling resistance will drop dramatically when using spacers.
In this video you will see the very clear difference between the skate with the bearing spacers and that without. Seriously, make sure you have them. They are cheap and improve your setup immeasurably. That and having the right bolts (6mm vs 8mm) for your frames will not only make your skates faster, but they will last longer as well.
Rip off, or just similar? There seems to be some controversy around the new skate from Seba. Shown here in a shot by Kate Egan from the Lady Rollers Organisation at Winterclash 2013 this weekend is the new CJ Wellsmore model (left) alongside the Carbon IV model from USD (right) released last summer. There is no question that they are a very similar design, but is this copying? There are only so many ways to lay out a boot, especially given the constraints of using a fabric covered carbon boot, but have Seba gone too far?
It looks like Jordan Maders has been hard at work again and smashed out another edit in super fast time. It’s the official video for Laced 2013, the latest in the line of events from the Laced Series. I can’t believe he’s managed to put out such an edit in less than 48 hours, especially considering the Red Bull afterparty at Aloha. Enough from me – watch:
If that’s not enough for you, then below are the other videos I’ve seen posted and will add more as they emerge. Continue reading Laced 2013 – Official Video Edit (and others)
Haven’t posted any images recently so thought I should get these up. Just a few shots I took at recent sessions at UKSKate Park and Rampworx.
Want this. It’s exactly what I like in a park – a simple design with rails, boxes and the odd (huge) quarter thrown in for fun. Details below: Continue reading The “BackYard Skatehall”, Karlsruhe, Germany
So another brand hits the the streets, or will do with a little help. Following in the footsteps of Irish brand Kaltik comes Bake, another frame company based just over the water in Liverpool.
The first frame to be released is to be early in 2013. It is a freeskate style frame, accepting a flat setup of 72mm wheels while retaining a (limited) H-block. As with all frames, these are a compromise between the speed, smooth ride and control of the big wheels, and the low centre of gravity and grind space of an aggressive frame. Having a longer wheelbase than some of their competitors while retaining an absolute minimum height should make these great for bombing hills, riding natural transitions and general fun skating. The H-block that it allows will also mean they can still function as an aggressive setup (though you will really need to commit).
So, here’s where you come in. The guys have invested a lot of time, effort and cash into getting to the prototype stage and now they have set up a Kickstarter project to move forward. If you are unaware of this phenomenon, it is a way to raise production capital by pre-selling to customers. Basically, if they raise their target then the frames go into production. If not, you keep your cash and no frames (at least not yet).
I heard that there was going to be a few skaters at UKSkate last night, so I decided to take the opportunity to bring my camera down and shoot some frames. Had a good evening (and will post some of the pictures when I get to them) but once the park emptied I couldn’t miss taking some up to date panoramic photos of the three rooms.
Check the panoramics below; click an grab to pan around each room:
[ptviewer image=2012/12/UKSkate-Beginners-Panorama-2012.jpg imagewidth=2000 imageheight=386 horizon=193 hfov=360 auto=0.1]Beginners/Scooter Area[/ptviewer] Continue reading UKSkate/Bones – View the park