Blaktrax: Winners Don’t Always Start First
Winners don’t always start first
Because it takes time to get it right. Like the first time you stepped on a skateboard. You weren’t as good as you are now.
But you learnt by your mistakes. To the point where you can go for it with the best.
It’s the same with making skateboards.
For example, skateboard technology leaves much to chance.Decks, trucks and wheels are all manufactured separately. In the hope that some might work together. But no one manufacturer makes all three, deliberately designed to bring out the best in each other.
Except for Blaktrax. We have analysed every important innovation. Learning from both success and failure. Retaining the good and discarding the bad.
The result has been Blaktrax boards, Traxion trucks and Surface Sucker wheels. All of which have been designed and manufactured to the highest possible standards to ensure that you can confidently go to the limits.
Each represents the optimum. But put all three together and compare them with any other combination. You will notice the difference in performance. As a complete package, Blaktrax is not a compromise. It’s the solution you’ve been looking for Because Blaktrax has been built to be better. Nothing has been left to chance.
Everything has been exhaustively tested. Both by skaters and by engineers. It means that when you go for it, Blaktrax will go with you -all the way.
BLAKTRAX is different looks alone tell you that But for good reasons.
Exhaustive research decided the design. Because the unique shape of the deck ensures that flex is not confined merely to the centre. Instead it spreads from the centre through to either end. Thereby absorbing sudden shock. With instantaneous and exact memory characteristics. Giving precise control in radical situations.
The camber absorbs the rider’s weight – so the deck is near flat in use. The best position for optimum truck performance. The kicktail is subtle, but sufficient to give all the extra leverage you need.
However the deck is not just technically better It’s also more functional. Handstands, nose wheelies, christies, endovers – all come easier.
Touching Blaktrax confirms the care, expertise and craftsmanship that has gone into its construction and design. The three carefully selected maple veneers are epoxy impregnated and bonded. The grain of two run lengthwise for stability. The other is cross-grained. So the flex is only in one direction to avoid twisting.
The deck itself is enclosed in a multi-stranded fibre-glass reinforced envelope before being completely bonded and sealed with high quality epoxy resin. The result is so strong that it needs to be trimmed to its final shape by a diamond cutter.
And, finally, there is a near-overall covering of aluminium oxide friction pad. Giving grip right up to the edge of the deck where it’s needed.
Surface Sucker wheels offer a startling combination of speed, resilience and grip. Thanks to a carefully selected urethane compound. Derived only after considerable research. And selected for elasticity, rubberiness and even wear. Giving a wheel unquestionably ahead of its competition.
Because, as with everything we produce, considerable care and thought has gone into the design of Surface Sucker wheels. For example, the bearing placement is wider than in many wheels. A full 7/16? In order to spread the load more effectively. And it’s positioned nearer to the centre of the wheel, which helps to ensure that it rolls fast.
The proof is in the performance.
TRAXION trucks have their axis where it should be Through the centre of the pivot and the bottom rubber Because, anywhere else. and unnecessary friction is placed on the pivot. Which slows response as other manufacturers have discovered to their cost. By getting the geometry right, Traxion trucks turn faster smoother and with vastly improved control.
Cast from a magnesium/aluminium alloy, chosen for its combination of strength, lightness and consistency the trucks have more metal where it’s needed. Around the baseplate mounts, pivot housing, axle unit, and action bolt retaining wells. Fully cured and hat treated for optimum tensile strength.
The axle is a heat-treated carbon-silicon/manganese alloy. But, unlike most designs. it’s not simply drilled and pressed into the truck. Instead, its cast in situ as a continuous unit. So the axle housing shrinks onto the axle to create an exceptionally tightly bonded and integral product, offering greatly increased strength.
Additionally, every rubber used in a Traxion truck is individually molded burnished, and trimmed bv hand. And because of their very high natural rubber content and resilient formulation, they compress smoothly and evenly. Guaranteeing smooth acton, fast rebound and long life.
In fact, the trucks themselves are guaranteed, unconditionally for life.
It’s attention to detail that places Surface Sucker wheels, Traxion trucks and Blaktrax decks ahead of the rest.
BLAKTRAX
Built to be better
25 Market Place, Penzance, Cornwall,
Tel: 0736 61120
Company/Brand: Blaktrax
Product Type: Skateboards, Trucks, Wheels
Decade: 70's
Year: 1978
Magazine: Skateboard!
Issue: Skateboard! #9
Country: UK