S9 speed boards

Replies to This Discussion

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Jacko on September 21, 2010 at 21:45

that story craig may all be well and true but you must understand its not up to billabong to 'promote safety'. remember it was not that long ago that faster more serious longboarding became really popular, before then all we really had was kids farting around on sector 9s. i can guarantee that most people on this site started that way. i started that way. when i first longboarded i had a sector, cruised around with no lid, no gloves, no safety, bombed big hills and wrecked myself big time, i did not know better, because there were no people what so ever around to show me what gloves were, what a helmet was, how to slide properly, all i had was my sector 9 i got from a surf shop. now 5 years later i ride a serious longboard AND a helmet for that sort of riding because i know its much more suited to that style. how do i know this? because the scene has grown so much that it allows the market to expand within our country and these sorts of boards become more readily available to the open market. its been only so recently that we see the big named quality longboards in local skate and surf shops, its was no that long ago the only place we could get them was online and thats if u knew where to look, not every surfy brah surfs the net all the time checking to see what cool skateboard toys he can find.
its also because of those groms and 'surfy brahs' that cruise around on their sectors bombing hills on 'retard boards' that has allowed the market to develop in such a way that has brought such big things as far as longboarding product goes in Australia. say if one in every 10 of those 'surfy brahs' that cruise on their retard board decided to check out something better and invested into a serious longboard, then eventually they would dive further into it and maybe stumble upon a website such as this and learn more about cool new boards and safety and all that, and hopefully they start to tell their mates and they all become more educated in such an epic lifestyle.
so before people start to rag on such a brand as Sector, saying they fuck the market or rag on the way they have advertised themselves as a board company or by even what sort of boards they sell, remember they were there since day 1, its where it all began for most of us, and frankly i rekon if sector werent around then we would not have what we got now. Its because of companies like sector that have allowed the evolution in the market of longboarding.
remember how young this sort of skateboarding is, and also remember its all skateboarding, there are all sorts of people riding all different ways, weather it be the way you want or not, either way theres folks out there turning wheels and thats all that matters
i see so many people here winging and complaining about 'whats good for the sport' or 'what people SHOULDNT do' when everyone should just go out and get stoked on riding their damn skateboard

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jezza on September 21, 2010 at 22:03

How the person rides the board is not the responsibility of the company (maybe a little 'wear you helmet' sticker might help). Theres no reason to 'hate' a company because of the people who buy that product, my only bif is their attempt to control the surf-shops-selling-longboards-cause-"longboardings like surfing on roads" market, through 'bully' tactics. Guess the internets no place for my opinion ;).

craig bond said:

the problem to me with S9 is miseducation. i work in a surf shop, and frequently have people have surfy brah guys telling me they've been 80k on their flexy cruiser (they're lying), because they think S9 longboard=bomb hills. not so. i get guys telling me they straightline bomb hills on their ala moana with sidewinders on? hmmm. i've been at spots where i'm wearing helmet gloves n pads, n had surfy brahs rock up n skate their S9 no shoes, no safety, n standing right on the back trucks.hmmm.
as S9 and longboarding gets more popular, i can see a lot of the guys with no idea getting hurt.
i know a S9 rep who's brother nearly killed himself (head injuries, internal bleeding, lots'o' hospital) on his S9
i had a 13 yr old kid in the shop the other day who broke his collarbone, dislocated his shoulder and took a heap of skin off on his S9 mini cruiser trying to bomb a hill because thats what he thought S9's were for. we had a chat, and i explained to him otherwise.
i guess i see S9(billabong) promote longboarding to the mainstream, but not so much how to do it safely.

• ▶ Reply

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Jacko on September 21, 2010 at 22:04

longboarding is like surfing but on roads... thats why they were made. there are no bully tactics. a big brand like billabong will say to a surf shop "we are a surf brand. you are a surf shop. we make surf style clothes and sell surf style longboards which fits into the surf style catagory. dont stock other stuff coz our stuff just sells better than it as we are more suited to this surf culture".

if you want skateboard service go to a skate shop. surf shops are not skate shops. people need to understand that

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Zane Julian on September 21, 2010 at 22:16

yes and yes
I lve S9 I lve sk8

Jacko said:

longboarding is like surfing but on roads... thats why they were made. there are no bully tactics. a big brand like billabong will say to a surf shop "we are a surf brand. you are a surf shop. we make surf style clothes and sell surf style longboards which fits into the surf style catagory. dont stock other stuff coz our stuff just sells better than it as we are more suited to this surf culture".

if you want skateboard service go to a skate shop. surf shops are not skate shops. people need to understand that

• ▶ Reply

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Dani on September 21, 2010 at 23:09

I started out the same way as Jacko. My first board was a S9 bamboo pintail. I think back now to some of the roads I rode on that board with no helmet, no gloves and no pads. Not just me but the 6 or 7 guys I was riding with. The thought scares the shit out of me now but, if I hadn't seen S9's under my mates feet and in my local jetty surf I would not be riding a longboard today.

The funny thing is that eventually I fell in with the current Adelaide crew (Leigh, Bow and Matty). They took me out to some bigger hills and showed me some boards that I had never seen anything like before. Evo, Jim Z ect. As I started riding bigger hills things like helmets and leathers became essential and I progressed because of that. The original crew that I was riding the S9's with no longer ride longboards. It ended up being to hard with all the constant road rash, sprained and in a few cases broken bones and eventually they moved onto other things. I think the large amount of people who buy a board from a surf shop will ride the board for a few months and then find another hobby and the board will either sit in the shed doing nothing or be used for nothing more than getting to the shops and back. The small percentage that stick with it will eventually stumble across Silverfish or ASRA or maybe just a local crew and start getting the message about helmets and gloves.

One of the things I love most about longboarding is that the people here (and similar sites around the world) care so much about the image that they are creating, that and the health and well being of their friends. Because of that attitude we are able to put people like Steve D in front of a news camera and sound like an intelligent, thought out individual (which of course, he is). The fact that people in the sport give a damn about how they are perceived to the media and general public (I believe) will work in our favor in the long run and hopefully create bigger and better opportunities for those people who ride really well and deserve it in the future. There are so many good riders in Australia (far better than myself) who should be touring the world and ripping with the best of them and if the sport can be put across as a professional discipline hopefully, one day, people like Benbro, Kam, Luca and Steve (again) will be offered that opportunity.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alex King on September 21, 2010 at 23:13

Maybe there should be a law stating that boards must be sold with a wear yer helmet sticker? Or maybe a brochure given to anyone buying a board that shows where and how much a helmet and gloves would cost. We need people to see us being responsible.

Jezza said:

How the person rides the board is not the responsibility of the company (maybe a little 'wear you helmet' sticker might help). Theres no reason to 'hate' a company because of the people who buy that product, my only bif is their attempt to control the surf-shops-selling-longboards-cause-"longboardings like surfing on roads" market, through 'bully' tactics. Guess the internets no place for my opinion ;). craig bond said:

the problem to me with S9 is miseducation. i work in a surf shop, and frequently have people have surfy brah guys telling me they've been 80k on their flexy cruiser (they're lying), because they think S9 longboard=bomb hills. not so. i get guys telling me they straightline bomb hills on their ala moana with sidewinders on? hmmm. i've been at spots where i'm wearing helmet gloves n pads, n had surfy brahs rock up n skate their S9 no shoes, no safety, n standing right on the back trucks.hmmm.
as S9 and longboarding gets more popular, i can see a lot of the guys with no idea getting hurt.
i know a S9 rep who's brother nearly killed himself (head injuries, internal bleeding, lots'o' hospital) on his S9
i had a 13 yr old kid in the shop the other day who broke his collarbone, dislocated his shoulder and took a heap of skin off on his S9 mini cruiser trying to bomb a hill because thats what he thought S9's were for. we had a chat, and i explained to him otherwise.
i guess i see S9(billabong) promote longboarding to the mainstream, but not so much how to do it safely.

• ▶ Reply

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Dani on September 21, 2010 at 23:17

Rob mcwhinne should be added to that list of riders too.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matthew Pascoe on September 21, 2010 at 23:38

In many ways sector9 is pushing a very good scene and continues to evolve and change the way newcomers look at the sport. Sector9 IS about safety!!!! They gave us the learning curve series and this great video on SKATE SAFETY!!

• ▶ Reply

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Owen on September 22, 2010 at 0:07

whats really funny about you guys saying that it is S9's responsibility to get people aware about helmets, S9 do put wear your helmets stickers their boards and they sell helmets and gloves, I work in a surf shop and we are bringing in S9's better boards and gloves and race wheels, but to be able to bring those pieces in we have to sell all the other boards aswell so we can make money.

BTW these new boards look cool.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by craig bond on September 22, 2010 at 2:45

ha, another time where the typed word misconveys a message.
i wasn't hating on S9, i was more commenting on a situation i've seen develop as the brand and the sport grow.
i agree with dani n jacko, n i started out on a S9 too! had it not been for ado and clayski and my first night out on an evo, maybe i'd still be a surfybrah standing on the back truck.
i wasn't saying it's S9's responsibility to make sure their boards were ridden safely, more just a misconception held by the everyday punter about what some of their products were intended for. i guess i'd rather see budro or evran up in a surf shop window wearing their helmets and ripping which might change peoples perception of the sport, rather than a girl on in her bathers and socks skating around, which maybe fuels the misconception.
n dani, your point about people caring about our image is bang on. i think we need to care in order to keep skating, since the facet of skateboarding we enjoy so much is based on the premise that we break the law most of the time we skate (talking about being on roads etc). the safer and more intelligently we conduct and present ourselves, the better our chances are of the sport growing in a direction where one day the mass population sees what we do as legitimate and fun, rather than just thinking of us as irresponsible hoons who are making the roads they drive on dangerous.

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page