The Complete Book Of Skateboards And Skateboarding Gear

The variety of skateboards, wheels, trucks, and gear available for skaters is incredible. It's easy for skaters to get confused when searching for the right board suitable for their size and the kind of skating they do. Wingate eliminates the confusion by explaining the difference in such things as board sizes, the similarities of rubber wheels, and the importance of maintenance.

Eleven-year-old Sibby Henry liked her old life. Now she's living in a new town with her nan and pops, and is mad at her dad for messing everything up. On her first day of school, she sees a dope skateboard park. But she can’t use it because her precious board is gone forever. To make things worse, Freddie, a super skater and a super jerk, dominates the park. Sibby tries to stay cool, but when Freddie gets in the face of Sibby’s friend Charlie Parker Drysdale, things get too hot for chill. Never one to back down, Sibby accepts when Freddie challenges her to a skateboarding competition. She won’t let anything stop her from proving herself.

This incredible book combines a history of skateboarding that spans the twentieth century; 693 color photos of decks, wheels, trucks, and other gear that illustrate the sports's dramatic changes in design and graphics; photos of famous riders in action over seven decades; a huge list of skateparks in the USA; and a glossary to help the newcomer get a handle on skateboard lingo. Full pricing information is provided. This book is a required reference for skateboarders, past and present.

The way apparel has been worn and created by skateboarders has had a tremendous impact on popular culture at large. Skateboarding Is Not A Fashion documents all aspects of this aesthetic movement; from its roots in the 1950s as an offshoot of surfing culture, to the 1980s. Nearly every area of garment design was touched by skate wear's aesthetic - influencing the design and fashion of innumerable media from printed T-shirts to board shorts and denim to track suits along the way.

From skateboarding's distant origins in the 1940s to the heyday of the Z-Boys to Tony Hawk's lifelong and lucrative career as a professional skateboarding icon, this book showcases what skateboarding was in the past and what it's now evolved into. In the last half century, skateboarding has evolved from a simple, idyllic child's pastime that originated in southern California to becoming a worldwide youth culture phenomenon. This now-mainstream action sport has spawned a multi-billion-dollar commercial market for skateboarding equipment, skateboard-related media and entertainment, as well as skate-inspired softgoods like clothing, shoes, and accessories; and it is likely to soon become an Olympic sport. Skateboarding: The Ultimate Guide is brimming with fascinating history and engaging stories from skateboarding's 60-odd year existence and evolution. Covering the action sport's origins, myriad breakthrough developments, pioneering heroes, both "street style" and "vert" or ramp skating, unique popular culture, and likely future, this book will delight anyone with an interest in this individualistic and compelling athletic pursuit.

Every culture has a creation myth, and skateboarding is no different. The Ollie forged a new identity for skateboarding after its invention in the 1970s, and it lies at the root of nearly every significant move in street skating today. This groundbreaking no-handed aerial has also affected the evolution of surfing and snowboarding, and has left a permanent impression upon popular culture and language. This, then, is the story of the Ollie, the history and technology that set the stage for its creation, the pioneers who made it happen, and the skaters who used it to start a revolution.