Anyone here ride skateboards in the era between the pencil boards of the 70's and the modern popsicle stick deck.

Posted by Malfunction1972@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 49 comments

My memorable boards.(All pics cursody of Google )1st one is my first "real" board, a Nash Outer Limits factory setup. 2nd is my first "professional" board, a Powell & Perelta Vato Rat with Tracker trucks and Vision wheels with Gorilla Rib rails. 3rd is my favorite board, a Vision Mark Gonzalez with Indy 169 trucks, Santa Cruz Slime Ball Coffin cut 98D wheels. When I started it was all street style and homemade ramps (launch and mini 1/2 pipe). Skate parks were still a few yrs off in Columbus Oh.

[-]

LeeQuidity@reddit

Nash skateboards. Oof. I knew they sucked, but didn't know at the time that the one I owned was a Nash, as it was missing the branding. I remember when the skid plates eventually wore down, you'd get some mileage making sparks with the screws that held them on. That was fun.

[-]

Malfunction1972@reddit (OP)

I remember when that went down. Was his girlfriend and he buried her at a random spot in the desert if I remember correctly.

[-]

LeeQuidity@reddit

Wasn't his girlfriend, but Wikipedia and a news report about his parole reversal indicated that the victim was a friend of the ex-girlfriend and, "that Bergsten [the victim] was made from the 'same mold Brandi [ex-gf] was made out of'"

[-]

ZumaThaShiba@reddit

I still ride a Caballero/Powell Peralta! Cruising only, no tricks anymore. I think old school decks are works of art

[-]

Malfunction1972@reddit (OP)

Yes, fully agree.

[-]

PotPumper43@reddit

BONEITE!

[-]

LeeQuidity@reddit

"Check out my new skateboard deck! It has Boneite!"

"Boneite? Sick! What is it?"

"I dunno, but it's supposed to make it waaaay better!"

[-]

Malfunction1972@reddit (OP)

Now that's a term I haven't heard in a long time.

[-]

Prime_Choice_Depths@reddit

Sims‘ Lamar model Tracker trucks and some Snakes

[-]

Boxofbikeparts@reddit

Yes, we used to put the biggest fattest wheels we could find on them so we could roll over stuff easier.

The younger kids thought it was cool to put the smallest wheels on their decks, and they would have such a hard time learning tricks until they borrowed our grampa decks with the fat wheels on them.

[-]

GreatGreenGobbo@reddit

Those are vintage now and worth money.

A buddy of mine still rides one.

[-]

Malfunction1972@reddit (OP)

Yeah, if I still had any of them I'd still be riding at 53.

[-]

Fast_Independence530@reddit

I have an 1989 Variflex "The Ripper " factory board. Still have it and still cruise it on occasion. I'm 57.

It is fun to pull up to an intersection and have a guy at the corner hear the board come up, look down at the board then up at me and take a little step back in shock as I am standing there in dress slacks, dress shirt, dress vans , and gray hair....

[-]

mstermind@reddit

I tried skateboarding for a period of time when I actually got my own. Quickly realised it wasn't my thing.

[-]

Malfunction1972@reddit (OP)

I bounced between skateboarding and freestyle BMX from 12yo to 28/30

[-]

mstermind@reddit

My dad bought me an old bike when I was like 14 but I didn't have many cool things as a child.

[-]

Malfunction1972@reddit (OP)

Same, I worked my ass off for my cool things. Daughter once asked how I knew how to make/repair so many things and I told her. We was pretty poor when I was growing up. If I wanted something I either worked my ass off to buy it or got a junk one and figured out how to fix it.

[-]

mstermind@reddit

Yup, that was exactly the same situation for me. My kids have infinitely more things than I did, but I still tell them to be careful with what they have and if something breaks then it's on them.

[-]

Malfunction1972@reddit (OP)

Soo many yard sale stereos. But hey, I liked my music lol.

[-]

Jetski43@reddit

That’s kind of funny because I sold my 8 track stereo to raise money for my first skateboard!

[-]

ClockOk7733@reddit

I had a hammerhead Christian Osoi and also a Lance Mountain deck.

[-]

RunRunRabbitRunovich@reddit

I still have 3 boards on my enclosed porch that my husband and I use to skate around the neighborhood. 1 from the mid 90s, a Girl deck that I got in 2001 and a Sector 9 that I bought from the Board Gallery in Santa Monica in 2003

[-]

The_Sleestak@reddit

I’ve been skating since I was 4 (1978). While I’m now down to longboards and the occasional ramp session, I never left it completely.

[-]

RVAblues@reddit

This bastard was my first board (beyond a little plastic banana board I had as a little kid). I think I had this one from like 10-12 years old and then replaced it with one I built when I was 13 or 14. that one was great—but I loaned to a kid who stole it and sold it and by then I was driving, so…meh.

I wish I had any of them now though.

[-]

Troutsicle@reddit

I used to have the neighborhood fix-it garage circa 1986. I would customize the neighborhood Nash/Variflex boards by tracing the outline from the one kid that had a Vision board onto the K-mart board and cut it out with a jig saw. Also did plenty of nose and tail pad removals, lol. I myself rode a hand me down variflex. Never learned to street skate other than cruising a straight line. I got into Tierney boards in my early 40's for awhile and still snowboard.

[-]

Coderado@reddit

Started on pool-style decks and kept skating through the 7" street deck revolution.

[-]

TakeMeToThePielot@reddit

Valterra like Back to the Future but then I got serious and built a Kryptonics Rypstik and that’s when we all started building quarter pipes with “found” plywood and nails. Wow that seems like forever ago (because it was).

[-]

th1sisjnn@reddit

yep....

[-]

GlossyBuckslip@reddit

Oh for sure. My bike of youth was replaced by the skateboards of my teens.

[-]

GladosPrime@reddit

Ya it was so heavy and i sucked

[-]

Neuman28@reddit

I had the Vision Gonzalez. Build quality was bad as the tail broke off after maybe 4 months of use. Big bummer. I think I got the Santa Cruz Natas Kaupas after that. I also had the Caballero board at some point. lol at the first frame with the truck guard. Decked out like a poser with a ton of rail guards, nose guard, kick guard etc!

[-]

NotARealBuckeye@reddit

I had a habit of breaking boards. Our local bike shop started stocking skateboard stuff and that was our local hangout. I had a Lance Mountain, then a Tony Hawk, a Per Welinder, all Powell Peralta and finally a H Street Ray Barbee before I hung it up at 17 or so.

[-]

ColoradoAfa@reddit

This brings back memories. On the board I remember the most, the wheels and trucks looked like the first photo, but I could only afford the brand where you had to cut and drill yourself (I think it was called Naked uncut blanks), the thing didn’t quite go straight but it was still fun! It had a layer of plastic on the bottom to make it slide better.

[-]

ColoradoAfa@reddit

I just remembered too about T-bone wheels, the giant ones. So cool!

[-]

BreakfastUnited3782@reddit

That goddamned ship anchor..... Hell yeah I did.

[-]

RecbetterpassNJ@reddit

I had that Mark Gonzales in purple. I tried, but never got good at tricks. Just used it to get to baseball and soccer practice. Might still be in parents garage somewhere.

[-]

Pypsy143@reddit

My first skateboard had metal wheels. I lived on that thing!

[-]

Yasashii_Akuma156@reddit

I skated for a while in my teens, had a Dan Guerrero board and a Per Wellinder that I lent to a friend and he let a car run over it. Eventually stopped hanging with skaters and hobbies shifted to starting a band.

[-]

Kamimitsu@reddit

I wanted a board so badly... but my parents being cheapskates they got a Valterra board (as seen on TV!) which was heavy as shit and completely flat. It really made learning to skate hard, so I gave up pretty quickly.f

[-]

Malfunction1972@reddit (OP)

Same with my Nash. Amazing I kept with it after riding that board.

[-]

Fishmike52@reddit

Skated on a bunch. Vision ghost, Billy Ruff and Tony hawk.

Have you tried eskate? I’ve put a few 1000 miles on my backfire boards in 2 years

[-]

bibdrums@reddit

I had many when I was a teen/twenties. My Kevin Staab and Jeff Philips were my favorites. Currently have a Powell blank that’s about 10 years old. Haven’t ridden it in a few years since I fell off and broke my elbow.

[-]

Tepidopterist@reddit

Yes, I still have that Mark Gonzales board, along with an old Gator setup, as well as a Rodney Mullen freestyle skateboard from 1985

[-]

chompsapex@reddit

first board was a Variflex factory build, also had a Hawk (eagle skull/cross), Mountain (cave painting), a GSD mini (loved that thing lol), Fogtown Beast, tried a Zorlac but it was so damn heavy, had a Guerrero flame, a Vision Grigley, tried freestyle for a bit with the chessboard Mullen, and I'm sure a few that I'm forgetting.

Rode Trackers for a while and switched to Indys. Didn't have a wheel brand loyalty.

We had a good skate shop nearby and my paper route money all went to decks and baseball cards lol.

[-]