Back to the future of a better mousetrap.

The Curve Extreme Sport is just a design concept now, but if it ever gets produced it will be another in a long series of over-engineered and likely very expensive skateboards. The biggest feature is that the traditional trucks have been replaced with a system that places one elongated footbal-shaped wheel on the front and the back. The effect is half Z-Roller truck, half flowboard. I know this is just a guy (Gary Chang) exercising the left half of his brain a little, so there’s no need to tear this thing apart. That won’t stop me from pointing out a few obvious flaws and showing you some more pics after the jump. [Source: Yanko Design]

The Curve Extreme Sport

From Yanko Design:

Curve Extreme Sport is a skateboard concept with hopes of creating a new sport. The design has a pair of Motor GP-inspired tires that taper on both ends to allow the rider to make sharp turns during a high speed down-hill race. Thanks to the drafted angle of the tires the contact point is minimal, as a result the rider can skateboard with minimal friction which means maximum speed and greater agility.

Traditional skateboards have four wheels therefore, it travels as a flat surface. This new design has two wheels, thus allows the board to move in a line.

The idea of making the contact patch smaller on a skateboard wheel for increased speed is nothing new. Someone in the 70’s actually made a ball shaped wheel. I can’t remember what they were called though. The two point contact is supposed to translate into “maximum speed and greater agility” but could more likely generate greater instability at high speeds. Also, it’s unclear in the renderings as to how the wheels actually attach to the deck, and no enlargements are available. There are probably a couple hundred thousand Gary Chang’s out there, and a lot of them are designers. Yanko seems to be the original source of these renders, but it doesn’t provide a source link.