Hey look, I’m not making this stuff up. This is a system for skateboard wheels that consists of an aluminum hub with interchangeable urethane treads. It dates back to around 2003 or so, possibly a little bit earlier. I believe they were made by Dragonetti, although I could be wrong. If not, I think it was some similar sounding name with an Italian sounding suffix. These pictures are from a used set, and I neglected to clean out the skatepark grime that accumulated on them, but you get the idea. The aluminum hub was actually a two piece fabrication. Pressure from the axle nut was supposed to compress the hub against the inner lip of the urethane wheel to keep it stable, but the reality was that normal use would cause the wheels to slip on the center hub. It seemed like a difficult but not insurmountable deficiency to overcome. This might have been a case where the product was rushed to market too soon. They don’t seem to be available anymore. In fact, this set belonged to Grover, and he was in contact with the manufacturer for a while about the performance issues. They said they had a solution figured out and were supposed to send him a replacement set under warranty but nothing ever came of it. The costs of the initial wheel and hub combo was moderately more expensive than a traditional wheel, but the replacement treads were priced to make them cheaper than buying a new set of standard wheels. There are some more pictures after the jump.

I’m not one for the unprovoked posting of a bunch of product releases as ‘news’ but the Riprider from Creature has got to be the coolest thing I’ve seen in forever and a day. It’s so simple, obvious… and beautiful. I’m gushing. Hey N.H.S., hook a brother up! Oh wait, I just blew my bargaining chips…

Nothing proclaims your love for a sport more than your desire to surround yourself in accoutrements adorned with symbols of your passion. If you can’t be killing the coping at a particular moment, you might as well be killing your lungs with a skateboard-themed lighter.

This broken skateboard belt buckle comes from a Polish website called Jazgot which looks like it’s aimed at the Polish Hot Topic crowd, or in their own words, “Punk Rock Rockabilly Emo shop”

[Source: SKATEpunk.pl]

I know these are easy targets, but sometimes there is something to be said for executing the idea, no matter how simple it is. I like these celebrity fuckup models from Think Skateboards. On the left is the Britney Spears series, and the right is the somewhat older Jailbait series.

[Source – Sirj Skateboardiing]

People love to complain about the frequency of advertisements in Thrasher and Transworld. When I first started reading Thrasher one of the things I liked about it was pouring over all the small ads in the back for all the obscure companies. When I acquired a stack of old Skateboarder and Action Now, looking at all the ads for funky skateboards and accessories was more interesting than the actual articles. Now I’m going to propose that you check out a magazine full of nothing but advertisements. Concrete Wave has been publishing a Buyers Guide for some years now. If there’s one place where you can pour over ads for obscure companies making odd skateboard products, this is it. Take the ad for Paris Trucks (Insert Ms hilton rides hard joke), above right. Who knew there was such a company? OK, lot’s of people that probably travel in a different circle. It’s actually a funny advert. They’ve decided to make an environmentally progressive “green” skateboard truck. In order reduce the carbon footprint as much as possible, they’ve gone to the extreme lengths of not actually producing the truck. I am amused.

The buyers guide is a print issue with no less than four alternate covers. The one above features a rad Dan Bourqui photo of Steve Stedham. The format has been changed up a bit and as a result is a lot more interesting to look at. The print issue goes to subscribers and is free at skateshops that carry Concrete Wave. You can also download a 27MB PDF here.

We get all kinds of great skateboarding business opportunities sent to the SnA corporate offices.

Dear Sir/Madam,

How are you? I hope everything goes very well at your side.

We are a specialized manufacturer and exporter which mainly deals with various kinds of skateboard shoes. Attached are some new styles of our products for your reference, pls check. If any interest, pls don’t hesitate to contact with us.

Any comments from you will be highly appreciated.

B.Rgds,
Steven

TOPWAY INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Quanzhou City,Fujian,China

Conahan does a lot of artsy fartsy stuff, some say he even likes saxophones. He’s got a pretty cool shirt design at his home base, Antigravity Press, called the Pool Pirate. It’s analog baby. Since we (OK, I) also want to appeal to the two street skaters that might read this site, I’ve come up with a more digital version called the Curb Pirate. To be fair, I made it out stuff I had laying around, including a cannibalized a font called SkulCApz, whereas Mark actually, you know, drew his utilizing some sort of skill set.

Getting ready to take a trip to Florida with my two and a half year old kid. Need to buy him a carry on bag. Must fight competing urges to barf and/or buy an Elmo skateboarding suitcase. See it larger after the jump.

Someone at my daughter’s school was trying to sell this flimsy p.o.s. and when there were no takers he gave it to her. She was appalled and brought it home before anyone could see her with it. Cummins Industrial Tools rechristened Tools now will sell you this deathtrap made in China to their high standards for $9.99. I’m guessing that means their standards when they were high on drugs. The shrinkwrap is probably adding significant strength to the deck. Those plastic baseplates are inspired by the old Tracker Ultralights. I am tempted to see which will last longer, the Cummins Bravo or $9.99 worth of beer.