Before that, the mounting holes on boards were closer to the nose, putting very little baseplate metal between the bolts and, say, a curb.Īs nose- and tailslides became standard, skaters would literally shave their bolts off on the rough concrete. According to Wilson, advancements in street skating spurred the first big change in 1993. Though Independent has produced 11 different stages now, there have only been a couple of big changes to Independent geometry over the years. Maybe the magic is in the technical specs of each stage. Still, that info didn’t exactly settle anything. “The turn is more responsive,” he explained, offering at least some insight into the mind of an old-school Indy rider. Luckily, Swedish artist, Insta skate favorite, and JK Industries rider Ludvig Håkansson was more forthcoming. But when pushed to reveal why he’s a longtime member of the old-school Indy cult, the Englishman wouldn’t say. “I’ve ridden Stage VII Indys exclusively since 2005,” he said. When asked, Rowley confirmed Wilson’s words. So there are some team riders that skate those.” “We have some team riders that swear by certain stages,” Wilson explained. Your favorite street skaters aren’t immune to vintage Independent madness, we learned. It’s not just aging bowl riders who obsess over such minutiae either. Each new stage has featured minor upgrades, shaving off aluminum for weight, “pinching” the baseplate for durability, or adding support “wings” to the hangers, which swoop down distinctively towards the pivot creating lightweight strength. The first Indys came out in 1978, designed as a combination of what brand manager Keith Wilson describes as “the two things from the best trucks: the turn of the Bennett and the modern durability and adjustability of the Tracker.” Those first trucks are Independent Stage Is. Indy assigns each of its new trucks a numbered “stage,” denoted with Roman numerals, probably because that’s simply the most punk way to label something. Of course, as any skate nerd knows, the cult’s knowledge isn’t all that mysterious if one digs a little deeper. Scouring garage sales and eBay, some of them are willing to pay more than $200 for the right kind of ancient aluminum. Their obsession has created a long-running underground market for vintage Independents. Yup, among the Indy faithful there’s a smaller, even-more-hardcore cult devoted to riding old-school trucks from the ’80s and ’90s. Though your average skater is happy to ride Independent’s most current product, some diehards are committed to older, rarer trucks. But even among those with faithful followings, no company boasts more devoted maniacs than Independent Trucks, which has seen devotees grinding down to the axle and getting the brand’s cross logo tattooed on their bodies for almost 40 years. Others are loyal only to certain brands, which occasionally act as sects unto themselves. And within skating’s self-selecting society, many dedicated sub-factions have emerged over the years. Only those willing to slam stay in the game.
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