skateboards.

[RODEO]

Way back in about '63 there was the tv show the MONKEES.I saw on there a board that they rode with skatewheels under it. I was about 10 at the time ,and I built one using a roller skate (the type with metal wheels ,that tied to your shoes!) I took it apart and sort of stretched it to either end of the board , As far as I know no one had them in this country or knew what they were.I used a piece of CHIPBOARD ! about the weakest board imaginable ,and painted it red . I drew round my hands and painted the 'prints' in black .It was an experience to ride!

[paul28]

Re: skateboards.

Wow it sounded fun. Very creative mate. I never tried to make one, I was given one by my mum though.

[Wil]

Re: skateboards.

The Monkees first time around would have been from '66-'68 which would definitely tie in with skateboarding in the States becoming really popular. I didn't get into it until the big UK craze in the '70s and even then, some of the cheaper boards were probably just as dangerous as your skates tied to a bit of chipboard!

Blimey, those skates that tied to the bottom of your shoes. I haven't seen a pair of those for years. Nowadays you can get trainers with the wheels built in!

[memoman]

Re: skateboards.

I got my skateboard september 1977.it was not state of the art.Black rubber wheels with normal bearing set.Flat wooden board with stopper on end.I got rid many years ago.They were popular then.Can't say you see many now.i think i saw them for sale in spain a few years ago.

[sixtyten]

Re: skateboards.

I started out (after the first attempt in the mid 70's, to make one, witth a plank and two halfs of a rollerskate) with that Flyer model.
Dead flat, no kick, hard rubber wheels that stopped at every piece of gravel, no grip tape

My last deck was in 1991, I had some inheritance cash and got a top of the range custom deck made. I was too old to skate even back then, doubt i could even do it anymore without breaking something.

[frame]

Re: skateboards.

I had one,I think,for a couple of days,fell off and it flew up the road under the front wheels of a car.I then decided it was'nt for me and got the Grifter back out.
Frame.
(probably didnt like the feeling of my palms scraping on tarmac)

[memoman]

Re: skateboards.

As kids when on the street with our skateboards a mate slipped fell off and "Bit the kerb!"He took a good chunk out of one of his front teeth.I caught up with him 25 years later an it's still a topic of conversation as it is visable everytime he spoke.My dad was given an absolutely mint raleigh grifter about 14 years back.But it sat rotting in his leanto shed.

[branny]

Re: skateboards.

I loved skateboarding. My mates had boards and I didn't. Dad decided they were dangerous. He relented and bought me one after a major sulk by me and a talking to off my Mum. The problem was a lack of decent surfaces to use them on. In the 70's, most of the streets were still cobbled and let's face it, it took a stone of microscopic proportions under the front wheel to halt your board and send you hurtling.

We used to go to a local shopping precinct and use the subways. BIG MISTAKE. Went down a fairly long run at high speed, lost control, hit a wall, fornt of board had ahuge chunk missing from the impact as did my backside courtesy of those large metal studs that they used to put on the pockets of jeans. Still have the scar today.

[mazzer]

Re: skateboards.

I used to love my adjustable metal strap-on-over-your-shoes rollerskates, spent hours on them. Then my pal Nicola got a skateboard - she lived at the top of a sloping street with a steep gradient - perfect for skateboarding down. We loved it!!!! Thanks for reminding me, I'd forgotten all about that.

[sixtyten]

Re: skateboards.

The classic Flyer De-luxe

[memoman]

Re: skateboards.

The classic Flyer De-luxe

Proberbly the same one i had.Rather basic but i never really progressed i can see why.Mine had a rubber stop block on the back which seems missing off this one unless its hidden from view?

[sixtyten]

Re: skateboards.

It never had one.
Looking at it from this view, it looks lethal

[memoman]

Re: skateboards.

It never had one.
Looking at it from this view, it looks lethal

It looks so much like the one i had it could have been it?I got it from argos september 1977.After all these years i thought it had a stopper.But then it was very basic.The price sounds about right too.

[sixtyten]

Re: skateboards.

I seem to recall a Black plastic version, with clear Red polyurethane wheels and a stopper. Can't think who made it, but that was the version most kids ended up with after the Flyer.
I recall the Black one being flat too, maybe a slight kick to it..

This was the next step up in cheapo Skateboards

[memoman]

Re: skateboards.

Mine was definatley the cheapo wooden one from your picture.No wonder i gave up.A mate had something more like the yellow one but his was blue and with the later style wheels.He broke a tooth.I don't really recall getting hurt.But with rubber wheels it was hardly fast.