The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about skateboarders newfound preference for blank, un-branded skateboards. When kids first start skating, the allure of name brand boards is strong, but as skaters become more advanced with their tricks, they break more boards. Thus, paying the high prices that “cool” boards command can get pretty lame if you’re snapping a board a month.
The Wall Street Journal reports on the 12 million American teenagers who skateboard:
They are the industry’s prime customers, both devoted to the sport and savvy. And when they started out, most of them invested in premium boards and other branded gear. But as they got more serious about boarding, many decided they just didn’t care whether they used the industry’s top products, including the pro skateboard “decks” with graphics and branding that can cost between $40 and $70 without the wheels and the axles known as “trucks.
While some skate shops are buying up foreign made plain decks for less than half the price from mega-discounters on ebay and passing the savings to their customers, other companies are simply trying to build better boards
The large skateboard brands have begun adding new technology, such as special footplates, air pockets, and layers of hemp fabric, Kevlar or fiberglass to absorb shock. The Habitat-brand skateboard deck has bamboo on the top to strengthen it.
NHS Inc., a Santa Cruz, Calif., company that owns several leading skateboard brands, has doubled its research and development budget to $500,000. Using cameras to film skateboards mounted on special board-breaking machines, NHS discovered that the top, rather than the bottom, is what usually breaks, prompting the company to add a special Kevlar layer.
Wall Street Journal: Avid Boarders Bypass Branded Gear
[via Ypulse]
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