Pennsylvania

I'm in Pennsylvania for a while.  There is a park about 10 minutes from where I am staying so I put together a park board to roll around on.  That was silly, I have been there 5 or 6 times so far and I spend about 10 minutes on the popsicle stick and then head to the car for whatever plastic board I took with me as a back up.

Bantam

Fucking Leaves.  I couldn't find the broom this day.

Nickel

Riprider

My inside skateboard.

This is ridiculous, but you know.  Sometimes you need to skate over to the fridge for another beer or skate to that bathroom in the middle of the night.  Here is my new set up for that.

Cadillac Wheels that I have had forever, mostly because my floor is smooth and these are too small for me to ride a lot outside.  Also the slowest, cheapest, genericest bearings I had.  Mostly because I dont want to go to fast.  Its a tight turn between the bedroom and bathroom through the kitchen and the slowness will help me not crash into the refrigerator when half asleep.

GFH little trucks.  These things are adorable.

GLOBE!

Globe Traction pads on the top.  It took 2 to cover the whole thing.  Makes my feet less grumpy if I happen to be barefoot.

Flexdex Retrodex deck.  nice and short, but wide enough that there is no foot bite with the narrow wheels and trucks.

Silly or not, I now have a dedicated inside the house skateboard.  Awesome.

Anyone get a new skateboard for Christmas?

I havent gotten anything new for a while, I need some motivation.  If you got anything go to the forum www.plasticskateboarding.com and post some pics.

Penny Tattoo

still fresh.  the red will go away.

Flexdex Retrodex

This is the Flexdex Retrodex.  I ordered one because I like the Flexdex Grenade and thought this was similar enough to a Grenade with a tail so I should try it.  I didn't have a setup in mind so I threw on something to try.  I was going to just swap everything over from a Green Banana Lil' Nanner, because they are similarly sized and I didn't really love that setup on the Green Banana.  The setup was Ace 00 hangers on Independent Stage 9 baseplates, Bones Reds in Sector 9 wheels and Khiro barrels and short inserts, red in the front, yellow in the back.  The Stage 9 baseplates are only grilled for new school, like the Lil' Nanner so switched them with some Independent Downhill baseplates I had been waiting to use on something.  The longer kingpins in the new baseplates let me use a Khiro tall insert in the trucks instead of the short insert.  Put together, I took it for a test ride.  Maybe it is just because I love every skateboard I ride, but it felt really good.  The small wheel base and the taller bushings make it turn ridiculously tight, no wheelbite with 1/8" risers.  The flex is noticeable and fun, but not too much. The grip tape is really course, that might be the only thing I would change.   

Compared it to the Grenade.  It it about the same width, and maybe a half inch longer.  The length of the tail, about 4" comes off of the wheelbase so it feels much quicker to turn than the Grenade.  The difference in flex is very noticeable just stepping on the board.  Riding, the difference didn't feel so much.  The wheelbase and the shortness of the Retrodex pretty much keeps your feet right above the trucks so you don't feel all the flex.

Flexdex Retrodex and Flexdex Grenade

Retrodex and Penny

More when I get some time riding it...

Check out the Flexdex thread on the forum:

http://plasticskateboarding.com/forum/index.php?topic=15.0

Changing trucks on Penny, Nickel, Stereo Vinyl Cruiser, Globe Bantam, Fish Skateboards and others.

Changing trucks on Penny, Nickel, Stereo Vinyl Cruiser, Globe Bantam, Fish Skateboards and others.

These are how these various plastic and fiberglass boards are drilled in my experience.  I am also posting this at the forum,

http://plasticskateboarding.com/forum/index.php?topic=21.0 

If you have any additions or corrections, please comment here or on the forum and I will look into it and make the changes.  Hopefully this list will make decisions on upgrading trucks a little easier.

Hole Patterns on plastic or fiberglass skateboards

Creature Riprider - standard new school

comes with Bullet 105s, will work with any new school drilled truck in that size range

Fish Skateboards - non standard, a little smaller than old school

Mine came as deck only, will work with Penny or Stereo trucks, or with minor drilling any old school truck with about a 6" axle.

Flexdex Classic 29 - standard old school

Mine came as deck only, will work with any old school drilled trucks, size depends on your preference.

Flexdex Grenade - standard old school

Mine came as deck only, will work with any old school drilled trucks, size depends on your preference.

Flexdex Slalom v30 - standard old school

Mine came as deck only, will work with any old school drilled trucks, size depends on your preference.

Globe Bantam - standard new school

Comes with Slant trucks with 4.75" hanger.  Will work with any new school drilled truck in that size range.

Green Banana Eco Cruiser - standard new school

Mine came as deck only, will work with any new school drilled trucks, size depends on your preference.

Green Banana Lil Nanner - standard new school

Mine came as deck only, will work with any new school drilled trucks, size depends on your preference.

Nickel - standard old school

Comes with Penny Nickel 4" hanger trucks will work with any old school drilled trucks in that size range.

Penny - non standard, a little smaller than old school

Comes with Penny 3.125" hanger trucks, will work with with minor drilling any old school truck with about a 6" axle.

Stereo Vinyl Cruiser - non standard, a little smaller than old school

comes with Stereo trucks, will work with Penny or Stereo trucks, or with minor drilling any old school truck with about a 6" axle.

Plastic Skateboard Forum

plasticskateboarding.com/forum

I have been thinking about this for a while and a few commenters have mentioned it so I went ahead and made a little plastic skateboarding forum.

Anyone want to come join?  Its pretty much just me hanging out in there right now and I am having fun by myself, but everyone is welcome.  

And please, invite others who skate, start some threads, post some pics and make suggestions.  I will add whatever boards we need, if we get some people active in there it should be lots of fun.

I finally got a Creature RipRIder

My buddy Charlie sent me some pics of a skate shop he was in in California.  In a corner of the pic I thought I saw a Creature Rip Rider.  I have wanted one for a while, but have not seen them for sale anywhere a couple years.  I immediately called him back and asked him to obtain and mail it to me.  Charlie being an awesome guy did just that and it showed up today.  While I was waiting for it I looked around online and it seems that Creature re-released a limited number of them after not making them for 3 or 4 years.  I still have not seen for sale at any local shops or online.

My first impressions were that it looks really cool and looks like it will have wheelbite like crazy.  I took it for a ride around the neighborhood.  I was already thinking about what risers would look cool in it, but surprisingly it was not bad.  I tightened each truck 1/2 turn and could carve fairly tight without any bite.  

The Bullet trucks feel okay, I think this is the first set I have ridden so Ill hold my opinions until I get some more time in on them.  I will say that the bushings feel really good for stock bushings.  

The no name bearings and OJ IIIs felt awesome.  I like OJ wheels and the bearings felt smooth and fast for not even being broken in yet.  

The Coffin shape seemed just for style at first but after riding it is a really functional shape.  The wide part up front makes a comfortable platform with lots of leverage for such a small board.  

The deck is about 2" longer than a Penny and almost that much wider up front.  It feels noticeably bigger than the Penny when riding.  Its dimensions are more like the Globe Bantam but the Creature feels longer, probably because it tapers to be pretty narrow.  

The RipRider seems a little more flexy than the Penny, closer to the Bantam.  I am impressed with this board.  I can't wait to get some more time in on it.

For more discussion please check out plasticskateboarding.com/forum 

I hate when this guy is at the beach.

Although I do have to admit, I don't hate his mohawk.

Penny Vs. Stereo Vinyl Cruiser Comments

The comments act funny when there are over 200.  On the original Penny Vs. Stereo Vinyl Cruiser page ( http://libertyfl.blogspot.com/2011/12/penny-skateboard-vs-stereo-vinyl_27.html ) we have been over 200 for a while and I have been deleting 5-10 a week just to be able to see the new ones.

For more discussion please check out plasticskateboarding.com/forum 

Please Comment here if you want to comment on that page so I don't have to delete as many peoples posts over there.

Sorry this is a boring post, Im waiting on a buddy who picked me up a new board so as soon as it gets to me I promise a more interesting post (:

Thanks

Cut Down Bennett Vectors

#skateboarding #Pennyskateboards #Fishskateboards #Bennett #Vectors
The other day I finished my cut down Bennett Vectors.  I wanted some that would fit a Penny or Fish deck.  I have a purple Fish Skateboards deck that I think I will put them on but for now I threw this setup together because I wanted to ride them and didn't have the panhead hardware I wanted to use with them and the purple deck.

This setup is a Fish deck, the Vectors, cut down to have a 3" hanger and 6" axle, Penny wheels, Bones Reds and Riptide bushings.  It felt tall and tippy.  I feel like some less restrictive bushings will help that.  I already changed the Riptide chubbies and barrels to a set of medium nipples.  It feels much better, really quick.  I might even go softer with the bushings, at least in the front.

Kingsalojr from Instagram asked what tools I used so here we go.  I will say that I did not do this the easy way.  Better tools would make it easier, but I have done 3 sets of trucks this way so it works.  THe only things not in the photo are a Dremel, sharpie and a c-clamp.  Below is an idea of the steps I use.
1.  pound axles out of hangers with hammer(make sure they are pressed in axles, not cast in)
2.  cut axles and hangers down to size.  I have used the dremel for this in the past but I think it is just as easy and makes a nicer cut with the hacksaw.To get the hangers cut straight I put them in the vice and cut across the top of it.
3.  Hard part.  Threading the axles.  I taper the end of the axle with the dremel(if no dremel, use a file for this, will work the same just take a little longer) then put the axle in the vice really tight.  Then take the 5/16ths 24 tpi die and sweat and curse and lean and turn until I have about a half inch or so threaded.  I don't have one of those 2 handled wrenches for the die so I used a big c-clamp to make it easier to turn.
4.  With a file, I flatten and clean up the ends of the hangers.
5.  Pound hanger back in.
6.  Assemble truck, you are done.
Some of those steps might be a little over simplified but you get the idea.  As you can see, you cant get a much more haphazard set of tools to do this with than I do so this should be easier if you have access to some better stuff, but is completey doable with next to nothing.

Skateboarding is fun.

Cut Down Bennet Vectors in progress.

I want some Bennett Vectors that will fit on a Penny sized board.  The smallest they make are 4.25" hangers so I guess I have to make them.  I am in the process of cutting some down to make them have 3" hangers and 6" axles.

The other day I pounded out the axles and cut the hangers down to size.  That part was very easy.  then came the cutting and threading of the axles.  That was not so easy.  I have done this with 2 other sets of trucks.  I have cut down a set of Randals and a set of old school G&S trucks, both to about 110mm.  On both rethreading the axles wasn't easy, but I was able to do it by hand without too much trouble.  Not so with these axles in the Vectors.  I even went and bought a new die to see if that was the issue, but still couldn't get it.  I ordered some bar stock so I can make some from scratch and as soon as it gets here I am going to finish these up and see how they ride.

I will eventually use them both together, but I think I will pair one up front with a Midtrack in the back for a tiny slalom inspired setup and see how that feels for a while first.  

Now I am getting to excited to play with these, I hope that bar comes soon.

Penny Time Prize

@pennytimegame @pennyskateboard #pennytime #thanks

I have posted about Penny Time before, it is a very fun iPhone game.  It has only been out for a few months and already had a contest where you could win a real Penny for doing well in the game.  To get one of the Pennys we had to be in the top 15 scores for the contest level.  I barely squeaked by and was 14th in the first Penny Time Competition.  After a few verification steps, and a little wait on shipping and what not, I received my new Penny yesterday.  It was raining like crazy, but I still got across the street between bursts of rain to take some pics.  

Thank You Penny and Penny Time.

My current Penny is a 2011 model, so I was excited to get the 2012.

And it is a great color combination too.

I cant wait to get out and spend some time on it once this bad weather breaks.  

Thanks again Penny Time and everyone reading this should go grab their app.  Im not so good at video games and I just practiced a little bit and now have a brand new Penny.

Globe Bantam

It has been raining a lot here so I put some new grip tape on my Globe Bantam yesterday.  It didn't take as long as I thought to cut the edges along the decks pattern.  I had this idea for a while and kept putting it off.  I like how it turned out.

For more discussion please check out plasticskateboarding.com/forum 

Holes

To fit standard old school drilled trucks like Tracker Midtracks on a Stereo Vinyl Cruiser, Fish Skateboard or a Penny, there is a little drilling that needs to be done.  Some people say they have been able to just force the bolts through, but I have not experienced this, I have drilled all mine.  

A comment on another post asked for some pics of the holes drilled.  Here they are.

The Left is the stock hole.  Right is the drilled hole.  As you can see, we are not drilling a whole new hole, just opening up one side of the existing hole because the standard mounting hole pattern is just a little bit longer than the Penny / Vinyl / Fish mounting pattern.

This opens up our choice of trucks to anything really narrow and drilled for old school mounting.

Penny Grip Tape

The other day I picked up a piece of the Penny grip tape that I have seen around lately.

It was a little pricy at the local shop, but looking around its not very expensive online.

Penny has a cool idea, marking the bottom in a diamond pattern so you can cut out shapes that will match the diamond pattern of the deck

I finally got around to putting it on today.

Before anything else, I had to stencil and spray paint my dogs logo on it for good measure.

The old grip came off easy.  Usually I will leave the deck in the sun for a little while to soften up the grip to make it easier to peel off.  That wasn't necessary on the Penny, I guess because there is just less surface area for it to stick to.  I had Jessup on the deck previously, and it did leave a little stick residue behind, no big deal its getting covered right away again.

The pre-cut holes didn't match up perfectly, but for the ease of not having to take the trucks off to apply grip tape, I can live with that.  I will update after a few weeks of riding when I have a feel for how well it grips and holds up.