PRODUCT
PATROL
After all the hinting we've done to
get manufacturers to send more stuff,
we finally received two very generous
shipments of equipment. Walker
Skateboards in Florida sent us four
new decks, while out on the West
JIM MCCALL
WALKER
STREET
Coast Santa Cruz Skateboards sent
us two complete decks. Quality and
experimentation with products put
both companies at the top of the
industry.
The Walker quiver features many
Scornice
different shapes and designs. The
ones we will review this month are:
the Jim McCall Freestyle and Street-
style, the Street Classic and the Scor
pion. None of these have wheel wells,
which is the way to go for strength-
the higher you fly, the harder you
The McCall Freestyle has your
basic nosepicker shape and size with
slight edge concave and longer nose
area. The dimensions: 274" long.
7%" wide, 4% of nose, 5½" of tail
and an 11% wheelbase.
In the market today street boards
tend to have blunt noses for impact
and greater width at the rear truck
for landing those big jump ramp airs.
The McCall Streetstyle is no excep-
tion. The numbers are: 29%4" long.
94" wide, 3" of nose, 6" of tail and
a smooth-turning 154" wheelbase.
This street model seems to have
been made by a different company
than the freestyle deck, because it
has three different colored stains and
is more rigid.
A board with a similar multi-stain
job is the new Scorpion shape, which
looks to be more ramp and pool
oriented. It features a wider nose for
optimum foot placement, which.
tapers back to narrow hips and then
broadens again to a wider tail area.
Neither of the two multi-colored
boards has much of a spoon nose,
but they do have comfortable.
concaves in front and even smooth
concaves through the tail. The
measurements: a little over 29½"
long, 9% wide, with a 3%" nose,
a 6% tail and a quick-turning 14½"
wheelbase.
Finally, we have the Walker Street
Classic. The name fits this little deck.
A great board for the smaller skater,
it has a killer spoon nose and a quick
kick tail for ollies and up-curbies. It
looks like it would take the abuse that
you guys/gals give a board. Set it up
with 131's and 90A's and you're
golden.
Many shops on the West Coast
don't have Walker boards, so we sug-
gest that you Cally kids write to them
and get the full story. Walker
Skateboards, PO Box 1331, Cocoa
Beach, FL 32931.
Santa Cruz sent us a complete
Street Roskopp with Indy Stage V's
and 95A Slime Balls, a set-up that
was designed with the street kid in
mind. The first thing that we noticed
about this board is the wooden riser
pad under the back truck. It is the
prototype for a new Cell Block 3. It
has a pyramid design which
distributes the impact of landing over
a larger area of the board, instead of
just the front of the rear truck where
KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
most boards tend to snap. We tested
the strength of the Cell Block 3 and
found these truck risers really withs-
tand the harsh landings. Look for the
finished copy in plastic and in stores
soon. The idea is simple, and it will
hopefully make any board last
beyond the jump ramp zone.
This new Roskopp board is small
and comes with a "tri-tail" design,
which is now standard in the Santa
better grip
Z
KNUCKLEHEAD
FayTa
Cruz line. At 29%4" long. 9½" wide,
with a 3" nose, a 6½" tail and a
15% wheel base, the Street
Roskopp is a step in the right direc-
tion for smaller street schralpers.
The other board sent by Santa
Cruz is a Claus Grabke with 159mm
Indy Stage V's and 97A OJ's.
Grabke's new board is quite different
from the board he had with another
company not long ago. It is shorter
NEW
Z XTRA KICK
20° spoon tail
+5° xtra toll kick
and has the "tri-tail" and Cell Block
3 proto-type and proves to be an ex-
cellent board for street or ramp. The
board looks like a rocker, because the
edges of the board slopes upward
from behind the front truck. The
Grabke is just under 30" long, and
10" wide with 3" of nose, a 6%" tail
and a 14½" wheel base. Check 'em
out at your local skate warehouse.
And lastly, the wheels. Everyone
knows how popular Santa Cruz
wheels are. Bullets, Rockets, OJ II's
and Slime Balls-there is something
for everybody. What a lot of skaters
don't realize is that the durometer
varies depending on which company
made the wheel. Whereas a com-
pany may say, "This is our new 97
durometer wheel," the wheel may
turn out to be a 95 or less. This incon-
sistant use of the scale could lead
someone to buy the wrong set of
wheels. Santa Cruz says their
numbers are accurate, not advertis-
ing hype. All of the compounds vary
a little bit, and the shapes and sizes.
are all a matter of choice. Look for
some surprises from Metiver in the
future; he has been living and
breathing wheels for a long time. A
little hint on Santa Cruz Speed
Wheels: if you feel they are a bit too
hard, boil them in a pot of water for
about a minute and they will soften
up by about two numbers or so. Don't
over boil 'em, though! It seems the
people at Santa Cruz and OJ have
every situation under control. Write
to: Santa Cruz, 4401 Soquel Dr.
Soquel, CA 95073.
Send all products for review,
names of products you'd like to see
reviewed or news about the latest
consumer scams to Product Patrol,
c/o Jake, THRASHER Magazine, PO
Box 884570, San Francisco, CA
94188-4570.
functional
cut-aways
106
NATAS KAUPAS
SuperCush
Suspension
To order direct, send $2.00 per package to SUPERCUSH,
P.O. Box 884234, S.F., CA 94188. Specify hard or soft formula.
HE
29
30%
10
10%
shope your own-
7 ply mople
Z Skateboard Blanks
Z Unpainted deck
Z Products,
Joe Tran
PO Box 5397,
Santa Monica.
foto George Wilson
CA 90405
29 30%
I
10 10%
Street
tech
77-RolleR
+
high quality
SPEED BEARINGS:
oiled Germans
GMN 608ZZ
=Z fastest
(213) 476-4857
107