Kicktails taboo for esk8/longboards?

I belive “longboarding” doesn’t exist, because its all “skateboarding” some are just longer than others. the longboarding you knew of has changed into a hybrid, embracing everything in every form before it in order to save itself from a dying market. I personally love studying all the different forms of skating and why things are the way they are, and longboarding is a fiction, unless you call it a group of skateboarding forms/genres which includes DH, FR, LDP, Dancing, tech sliding, skogging and many others, and then you can see how the term loses all meaning…so let’s stop with the camps, there is no longboarders and shortboarders, there’s actually about 40 different forms of skating all with specifically different names and setups and styles, they each have a name, call them that instead of longboard or skateboard…don’t overly simplify it that way, or if you do, call it ALL skateboarding including electrics, cus that’s what they are…I have more longboards with a kicktail than not and the last time I raced DH, the kid who won had a chopped tiny penny board with trucks from 1979…so all bets are off…a kicktail is a worthy and functional addition to any skateboard and not knowing how to use one is never an excuse. Why do tech slide skateboard all have kicktails if the form of skating “tech sliding” doesn’t involve ollies, kick turns, or anything that uses them?

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I agree longboarding is skateboarding. but skateboarding can be longboarding too. yes its the same. but its not! and calling everything skateboarding makes more confusion.

Longboards have become a more general group than skateboards. where as skateboarding has become a crazy narrow park/trick thing.

and as for tech slides, thats more of a hybrid practice trick thing. the short wheelbase on a popsicle makes slides and spins easier…

boards > (surf, skate, push, esk8, snow, snowskate, skiboard… etc )

But actually, when longboarding grew big, it got a whole new audience, ie a totally new type of people that were riding those boards. The skateboarding culture was different (at least the one I grew up in around the mid 80s) than what came with longboarding. This latter was more a (hipster) transportation device and many of those that used longboards had never skated before and were not even familiar with the culture, all the (iconic) riders aso. To many ppl the longboard became somewhat of an accessory, something I never experienced with skateboarding.

Im not saying that’s bad, but to me that was very weird at the time. I couldn’t grasp the fact that people used these silly looking boards but were so unfamiliar with skateboarding.

And never would have have thought that I too would one day get my own longboard… (although I believe my board would be considered a hybrid?)

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Really dude? Why does everyone have to conform to what you want to do? I have ridden decks with kicktails, hell ive got one right now, but I don’t use them as I dont need too.

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I thought this was a pretty cool trick/longboard video. Like the ultimate hybrid between longboarding and skateboarding. Same brand deck I have but mine is smaller. It’d crazy that he can do those tricks with such a large board. I’m assuming not too many people do it though.

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that’s one stealth looking board. Man, those batteries must be thin!! :grin:

lol :joy:

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I wish I could sk8 like that… Love watching the freestylers with their insane skills.

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some more…

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It’s so weird. I’m definitely not a “longboarder”. The power turn or whatever is called was cool though

See there you go trying to call what you have a longboard and confusing yourself, lol. I would just use a more specific name, I prefer hybrid for my 34-36inch double or single kick tail hybrid longboards…I can ollie them, I can ride a bowl on them and then take the same board and bomb a hill at 40mph, so yeah, they are truly hybrids now if you can set one up just right for all occasions, and that’s exactly why I think “longboard” is a useless word now, when you tell me you longboard, what am I suppose to picture or assume you actually do? bomb hills? tech slide? LDP? surfskate? well let’s take a look at surfskating because it lives in the "longboarding genre right? I mean Carver is a longboarder company in all the longborder mags right, not the skate rags? So why is it that they all are shorter and have even smaller wheel bases than a normal park skateboard? they also all have kicktails, lol, and yet their not made for ollies or kick turns, what gives? Because they use a softer and larger longaboard wheel they are now longboards? NO dude, we had giant soft wheels before “longboarding” was even an industry coming to being in the 1990’s, it makes no sense to someone my age who has been watching it all for so long. Oh and that’s another thing, we never use to call it park skating, it was just skating cus that’s all there was…but I’m cool with calling it park skating now that there’s so many other kinds it stands next too, but I’ll be damned if I sit here and let skateboarders and longboarders square off like they are in some sort of gang or camp when they are not, they are just ignorant to all the things…lol

“Hey those are those stupid reverse longboarding trucks dude, you should get some real trucks…”

Reply: "No actually they are a reverse kingpin truck, yes commonly used on what you may call a longboard but in reality they are downhill skateboards and the trucks are to avoid speed wobbles. Traditionally a “longboard would have a traditional kingpin truck as it’s long wheel base does the same thing, and they have been around since the 1950’s”

“All those guys do is roll around the skatepark and do flippy ollie tricks and smoke weed all day”

Reply: “Well actually doing a kickflip or even just an ollie is very hard, they are actually practicing or drilling their muscle memory in order to do stunts or tricks in the name of showing off and being cool, skateboarding is about style and chicks dig stunts dude, duh!”

“Longboarders are just commuters who like to look pretty while mall grabbing their matching longboard and walking though the food court”

Reply: “Well actually longboarding includes downhill which is just about the scariest and craziest thing you can do on a skateboard so I wouldn’t put them all down when their balls are big enough to crush your car”

“Skateboarders are haters, just because they can do an ollie they think they can hate on electrics and call us cheaters for not pushing”

Reply: “Well yes, we are cheaters, so embrace it and be proud of it, like a skater who can do an ollie, stand up for yourself and your passion like a skater. And frankly, doing an ollie or 360 flip is no easy task, how about giving them some props for their time and effort to be good at what they love the way you work hard at what you do too? now shake hands, shut up and let’s go shred@!!!”

If the subject of kicktails brings about divide, then we have more serious issues than I thought…

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This one was more my style. Downhill is insane. It reminds me of my first time trying to bomb a hill. It was super steep and I was of course on a regular skateboard. I fell so hard and just rolled lol. I’ll never forget that. Maybe that’s when I shouldve taken up longboarding about 20 years ago lol

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They do take something away though. If you have a kicktail, you can’t tow your board by the front truck suitcase style.

Most of my other (non-powered) boards have a kicktail. But you lose a lot of functionality once your board starts getting so heavy. Kickturns and wheelies, sure. But it’s not like you’re going to be ollieing a 20lb+ board. And slamming the nose down is bad for the electronics

I’d rather lose the kicktail than have to carry around my electric skateboard by some awkward handle

I drag my very very heavy electric skateboard around by the tail so I can do exactly that…just drag it backwards dude and let the nose roll on the ground, lol…been there done that, lol

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Why not grab the rear trucks then?

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cause the board has a double kick lol

Because there’s a motor there. On my motorized skateboard.

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also, arguing about the way you CARRY or are able to CARRY your skateboard is foolish when talking to people who RIDE THEM! lol

I say the same thing each and every time I see a new bag or backpack for carrying a skateboard: “YER SUPPOSE TO RIDE IT DUDE!!”

Even with something as bulky as the boosted board dual belt drive, there’s enough room for a decent purchase on the trucks. Never had issues grabbing my boards by the rear.

well… even skateboards were carried back in the day… when climbing up halfpipes! :smile: