In skateboarding there are a plethora of different products of the same type, so how do you know which the best to buy is? This article will be going through a number of different products and will inform you on the benefits and the draw backs for each and whether or not it is worth investing in.
The first product I would like to walk through is the Globe Tilt shoe. This shoe produced by Globe is an all black shoe which has a white leather strap that runs around the sides of the shoe and the back. This shoe is relatively cheap since I was able to purchase this high quality shoe for about forty dollars. Another benefit of this shoe is its durability. The shoe has a triple stitch around the nose of the shoe in order to prevent damage from flip tricks. This feature is uncommon for a lot of shoes and allows the Globe shoe to be far more durable in comparison. Another great feature of this shoe is that there is a plastic insert under the material in the front of the shoe which helps to protect your toes. This plastic insert also enables your shoes to last longer when doing flip tricks since you would have to tear through the plastic as well in order to actually have a hole in your shoe. This shoe produced by Globe also has a great amount of support. Having good support is vital for a skater to keep his ankles safe and prevent injury. This particular model of shoe is a mid top meaning that the shoe should come above your ankle. This feature allows the shoe to act as a ankle brace and gives a lot of additional support to your ankle as well as shock absorption. On the same line of shock absorption is the amount of rubber used on the bottom of the shoe. Globe has increased the thickness of the rubber on the bottom of the shoe in order to prevent burn holes. Burn holes are holes which occur in the bottom of your shoe from pivoting your foot on the board repeatedly which in turn creates a hole through the bottom of your shoe. This is a great feature, but essentially also its only drawback. Since there is so much more rubber than a regular shoe it has made the globe shoe very heavy. Personally I do not find this to be very bothersome, but some skaters believe the lighter the shoe the better. Getting back to the benefits of this shoe though, the tong of the shoe is very comfortable and supportive of your ankle. The tong is about half an inch thick and makes if feel as if your feet are inside of a cloud. The last aspect of this shoe I would like to touch on is the durability of the laces. Typically most shoe companies give you very cheap laces which inevitable tear after just a few flip tricks. Globe however, has laces which are thicker than their competitor as well as encasing the ends of the laces in metal. By doing this Globe is able to substantially prolong the life of the laces. All in all, this shoe is a great deal and definitely worth the money. At a price of 45 dollars this shoe is second to none and definitely is worth the investment.
Beginner Trick Skateboard
Another product I would like to review is the element rail. There are a myriad of rails you could chose from but I have found the element rail to be the best for beginners. This rail is six feet long which enables you to have room to really slide your tricks. Another great feature of this rail is that it is one solid piece. Most of the skate boarding rails are comprised of two pieces which is great for storage purposes but horrible for durability. When a rail is comprised of two pieces it means that the middle of the rail is only held by a small pin. This pin will hold for a number of weeks but eventually the rail will begin to get deformed at the middle of the rail which makes landing any tricks nearly impossible. I had a rail like this one and after three weeks the rail was unable to be used and I had to get a new one. Since that rail had broke that is how I invested in the element rail and can inform you of its great features. A great feature that element incorporated into their design was the rubber pads on the bases of the of rail. The rubber pads sit on the feet of the rail and enable it to be used virtually anywhere. These pads make it so that the rail cannot be moved unintentionally. This feature although often overlooked is so important since other rail manufacturers do not incorporate this design. From experience I can tell you that having these pads will save you from having your rail fly out from under you and thereby preventing a horrible injury. The element rail has three settings for height which enables you to progress your skating without having to invest in a new rail. The three height settings allow the rail to be a few inches off the ground to at its max height about a foot and a few inches. The only drawback of this rail is also its greatest strength is its one piece design. This design although makes it very durable also makes it a pain in the butt to store. I currently live in an apartment complex and I can tell you that lugging a six feet metal rail up three flights of stairs can seem nearly impossible. For this reason I would only recommend buying this product if you have a way to easily store and access the rail.
The last product I would like to touch on are the Reds bearings. Currently there are about twenty different companies which make bearings for skate boards and most of these companies are extremely expensive. Although these other bearing companies have a superior product you will also have to pay about four times the amount that you could spend on a pack of Red bearings. The Red bearings are a mid grade bearing which are rated APEC 7 which just refers the number of ball bearings inside the Red capsule. These bearings go for about fifteen dollars and can work well for about two months, which are about a month less than the other brands. Overall, these bearings are decent but if you really have a need for speed I would recommend buying the Bones bearings. Bones bearings are much more expensive than Reds however and require a lot of upkeep in order to keep them in working order.
Skateboarding Products Review
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