Introductory Overview:Tensor Ten 5.75 Low trucks

I recently picked up a set of the new Tensor Ten trucks in size 5.75 low.

Two reviews of Tensor trucks precede this review. I tested the Tensor Response in size 5.25 low, which were nice, light trucks with good pop and ollies, but suffered many, many quality issues. Then, Tensor improved their Response design and quality, and I tested their R2 trucks in size 5.5 low, which were greatly improved in quality but still had issues in turning with the overly soft stock bushings, and, although sized as a 5.5, actually had only an 8" axle, making the trucks too narrow for 8.25" boards. Installing Bones bushings on the Tensor R2 trucks made them into excellent trucks for technical skateboarding.

Now, Tensor has stepped up their design and quality yet again with the Ten truck.

Tensor Ten Magnesium trucks in size 5.75 Low

The quality of these trucks is top notch, higher build quality than any other truck out there. No casting marks,

THIS NY Times article is what we're about: Skateboarding Past a Midlife Crisis


Yet the author missed an opportunity to talk about street skaters and former freestylers - we're out here, too! Backside airs are one thing, but how about us geezers popping kickflilps, railflips, and casper flips? The geezers with the bruised shins? That would be me.

Injuries! Mongo pride! Tylenol!

One harsh truth about skating with an old body is that injuries hurt worse and linger longer than when you were younger. A fall on Monday will still be painful on Saturday.

Right now, I'm nursing a number of injuries:

• turf toe on my push foot
• bruised tailbone
• bruised palm on my right hand
• tweaked wrist on my left hand
• tweaked rib on left side
• bruises all along my shins and knees from flip tricks
• smashed up left thumbnail

The turf toe is taking an especially long time to heal. I've been pushing mongo so that I don't have to use my right toe so much. (I'm regular footed). A lot of people say "don't push mongo", but when I was living in Europe during my teen years, there was no such word as "mongo", because nobody cared what foot you pushed with. To my readers in Malmo, is this still the case? Do European skaters care what foot you push with? 

I have always pushed with whatever foot felt natural at the time, so, front foot pushing (mongo) for nose tricks

More equipment for sale on ebay

Help support this blog and get yourself some sweet skate parts at a deep discount! Most parts are lightly used, everything starts at 50% of store price or less.

http://myworld.ebay.com/the_bertrand

Mention that you found my auction through this blog and get some free gear: bearings, stickers, Bones bushings, wheels, and more!

Thank you!

Tired of your white wheels?

I recently came across a video from OJ Wheels that depicted a way to dye your skateboard wheels a different color using Rit dye. The video explains the process pretty well, so I thought I would try it on some of my favorite wheels: Kontrol wheels.

I picked up some Rit Dye in Amarillo Yellow and Royal Blue and took two sets of Kontrol wheels off my shelf. The pictures that follow document the process I followed:

I tried both powder and liquid versions of Rit Dye.

Dopamine Skateboard Company 8.25" Mellow deck

Today, I received an 8.25" deck that I ordered from Dopamine Skateboard Company. Dopamine is a new skateboard company out of West Virginia that is producing and distributing some pretty compelling skate equipment. I was really impressed that they offer a choice of "mellow" or "steep" concave. I really like mellow decks - decks that don't have really steep noses and tails. A lot of skaters like steep concave decks - decks that have sharply upturned noses and tails. The side-to-side concave is usually not part of the "mellow" designation: side-to-side concave is referred to as "flat" or "deep". The terms "mellow" and "steep" are reserved for the angles of the nose and tail of a skateboard deck.

In any event, skaters who want steep decks are easy to please. In a 5-deck press, which is how most decks are pressed, the top 3 decks are pretty steep concave, while the bottom 2 are usually pretty mellow. Skateboard manufacturers sometimes offer to distributors a choice of "mellow" and "steep" decks. Dwindle, most famously, pride themselves on a "single deck press" technique that makes each product of a particular shape meet the same specifications. So, if one Dwindle deck of a certain shape is mellow, all Dwindle decks of that shape will be mellow.

So, I picked up a nice, mellow 8.25" deck:

8.25" Mellow Dopamine Skateboard Company deck. 14" wheelbase.

Bunch of equipment for sale on eBay

I buy, at full price, all the equipment I test for this blog. I try to recoup some of my costs by selling the parts on eBay when testing is complete. All of the items are in good to great condition, you'll truly have nearly a full life of use for all the items I sell. I auction used items at 50% of what I paid for it, with a Buy It Now price of 75% of what I paid for it. Please help support this testing!

Head over to my eBay page to peruse my offerings.

Thank you!