Bob's Trick Tips

Flatland boards -- are HERE!

2008-04-01T14:28:11Z

If you are interested in flatland freestyle, and you need a sweet sweet board to get your flip on, the Small School Cooperation has what you need. SS has multiple models of FS board -- from very traditional 1980s size stuff to larger, more modern decks. Check out the web shop. They have boards in stock, ready to be abused! But wait - there's more! SS also has the proper trucks and wheels and whatnot to make these boards purr like a kitten and then BAM -- roar like a lion. The School can also answer your questions about how to set the boards up.

Upcoming Freestyle Contest

2008-02-06T21:54:46Z

Freestyle Contest. Inglewood, California. Check it out.

New Fletcher vid

2008-02-03T21:05:51Z

Fletcher was in the Dallas area yesterday, so I met him at the skatepark in Irving. Check out this footage:

A couple of things

2008-01-11T14:21:31Z

A couple of things of interest... Randal Trucks has just released the improved version of their website. You can now buy individual Randal parts, allowing you to customize your longboard/downhill board. Check it. Bob's Trick Tips has a YouTube account, on which I'm posting occasional stuff. That is all.

Review: Loaded Dervish

2007-12-12T15:52:25Z

A couple of months ago, Loaded Longboards sent me this killer setup. Well, actually mine is a little different. I stole this image from Mile High Skates, where you can purchase this fine beast. Loaded has been making some of the most innovative boards around for a couple of years now. Having the Adams on their crew hasn't hurt either. The Dervish is the most recent addition to their line. Like all their boards, the Dervish is built from Bamboo and Epoxy/Glass. Its a totally environmentally friendly board. The Bamboo/Glass construction gives it a really snappy flex. Not bouncy at all -- but responsive. The board is 41.5" long, 8.5" wide, with a 33" wheelbase. You can see it compared to a couple of other boards here. As you can see, the trucks actually mount on the top of the board, dropping through. This lowers the board, making it more stable while carving and ripping your favorite hill, sidewalk, or parking lot. With the cutaway nose and tail, you can run pretty much any size wheel you want and have not worry at all about wheel bite. My board came with the new 10" Gullwing Charger trucks. They are great trucks. I'd recommend either them or a standard Randal-II 180mm truck. I set this up with 72mm Pink Powerballs and Biltin Bearings. The first thing you'd notice if you picked up my setup is how light it is. Even with big wheels, the sucker is light. That's because the board itself if really light. Like their other boards, the Dervish comes in a couple of different flexes. A softer flex (Flex 2) for you lightweights, and a harder flex (Flex 1) for big tubs like me. If you've ridden any of Loaded's other boards, like the Vanguard, you will find the Dervish is very different. It has less camber, straight rails, and is just a little more predictable in any riding situation. However, like the Vanguard, the Dervish is bi-directional. You can ride it either way -- both sides are exactly symetrical. A huge and special thanks to Loaded Boards for continuing to support Bob's Trick Tips, longboarding, and innovative thinking. Here is a rad video of the Adams riding the Dervish. These guys are just the worlds absolute masters of this kind of riding. Makes you want to buy a Dervish. Well -- do it!

Switch straight pressureflip m-80

2007-12-02T23:40:57Z

Erwin Schuijtvlot, in the Netherlands, filmed this great trick and submitted it. Erwin is really, really good at this stuff. This trick is just the tip of the iceberg... Erwin skates for Chaos Brothers, and you can check out his other stuff on YouTube

]]> Download the video here. 1. Footposition: I do this trick switch stance because this way the trick feels more natural. As with any pressureflip foot position is very important. I got the toes of my back foot on the tail with my heel hanging off close to where the back wheels are. Front foot is over the front truck with my toes haning of a bit to compensate for the backfoot leaning a lot on the heelside of the board. 2. Pop / Press Just before I pop I build up pressure in the backfoot which is all "released" on the pop. I flick straight downwards and a bit to my back to make to board do a full flip in kickflip direction. 3. Jump / pivot I do a quick and just high enough jump and catch the board with my front foot first on the nose. The backfoot follows pretty quickly with a bit of a kicking motion towards my back to make the pivot happen. With most rotation tricks the upper body spins ahead and the lower body follows, with this trick the opposite happens hence the kicking motion.

Skating last night

2007-11-20T14:28:30Z

Went skating last night. Blogged about it over at the Small School Cooperation website. I don't think I've officially mentioned that I'm "on" Small School. Well, I'm on Small School. I begged Jeremy, and he put me on. So that has motivated me to skate a lot more.

Bones STF Review

2007-11-16T03:18:07Z

I'm sure many of you have been riding Bones Street Tech formula for a while. I bought some over the weekend, and I'm totally blown away. The wheels are simutaneously smooth, hard, fast, and resilient. Really really good. I've put these on a standard 7.75" wide newschool board, and I'm using them for freestyle. I could go on and on. I love 'em. Bones STF have replaced Autobahn Dual Duro as my favorite wheel.

Small School Skate Jam

2007-11-11T14:47:20Z

I've been in Wake Forest, North Carolina this weekend for the Small School Skateboard Skate Jam. Gonna skate a bit more today before I have to go to the airport to fly home. I shot a little video yesterday of some of the guys...you can see it here on the Small School blog. No footage of me, but hopefully Sean Burke got maybe a little. I'd like to know I maybe did a few good tricks.

Some videos from Fletcher

2007-11-08T21:15:56Z

I'm sure many people, perhaps thousands, have been helped by the videos that Fletcher helped me with years ago. They're all still here, but of course most were filmed when he was 12 - 15 years old. Well, he's a little man now, and off at college, and making his own videos. Yes -- I'm super proud of the little punk, and look forward to the day he's old and fat and riding longboards with me. Here's a link to his Youtube account, and check out this vid:

A little freestyle

2007-10-19T18:17:42Z

Shot a little video the other night. Mostly my friend Justin. FYI -- for those of you have been coming to this site for a long time, if I look older, it's because I am. Started the site back in 1999. I'm now 43 years old. Crazy.

A new trick clip

2007-08-02T02:07:19Z

Loaded Longboards and Adam Colton asked me to provide a trick for the new Loaded Challenge Series. In case you don't know, this is a contest Loaded does. You replicate the tricks in their videos, and then you can win some prizes. Its a cool contest. Anyway -- here is the clip -- the No-Comply grab. Like the one on this site, but with a longer explanation. For all the Loaded Challenge clips, check out their youtube account.

Back from vacation

2007-07-05T14:44:52Z

OK, I'm back from vacation. If it will just stop raining I will try to get some new tricks taped and try out a new, higher-quality video format. In the meantime, check out this rock band from Louisiana. It ain't punk rock, but its not too bad.

New blog

2007-06-25T13:36:10Z

Here's a new skateboarding/music/politics blog. Check it out.

concretelunch.net

Rebuilding the site

2007-06-23T03:44:45Z

Hello everyone, Well, today was the second day that BTT has been back up, and traffic is returning. So thanks to all my readers -- I appreciate your patience and continued readership. I am slowing tweaking this new layout, making small changes to the fonts, etc. You will notice that the pages with the video clips are still pretty messed up. I'll be fixing them maybe 5 a day until they are all done. The vids still work -- the pages just don't look real great. I'm planning to keep using this blog format, with the black, white, and gray colors. Nice and simple. Once I've got things rebuilt to my liking, my plan is to start producing some better quality videos. The old site, and thus all these vids, was built back in the days when everyone had slow dial-up connections. The videos had to be short. That's no longer the case. So future videos will be of higher quality and longer. I'm also planning to make each of the new videos into a Podcast format, so you can put them on your iPod. That is all. Now go skate. Bob