Midsommer Norton

There's a new concrete skatepark near us in Midsommer Norton and it's pretty good... We went there this week to try and catch it empty, and here's what went down:

Local Legend Ricky Snarr - Alva impression.

Fred, 360 flip a 36" Globe Slide

The really cool thing about this park is all the weird stuff in it. Instead of just making a normal bowl and street course, Ian Jennings at Maverick Skateparks went the extra mile and has created a unique park with a lot of character. It's on the site of an old Castle, so there are turrets (with battlements!) to air and grind. There's rocks to grind and slap throughout the park, there's a crazy curved grind rail, a rainbow rail, steps, grass gaps, all sorts of oddness. But the park flows really nicely, and if you just want to flow some transitions, there is a bowl section that definitely lets you do that.

Fred hits the Rock. A Rock! In a skatepark!

The Snarler, still ripping in his forties! More from Ricky soon.

Hats off to Kate Mayher at BA3 skateshop in Midsommer Norton for getting this park going, it's taken around ten years from idea to fruition and it's well worth the trip! Get there early if you want some lines though, it gets very busy after 10am in the school holidays. See you there...

More photos on the Lush Flickr Pages.

Hamburg Boardercross

Our friends at AAA Distribution / Subvert Skateshop in Hamburg have a boardercross race on this weekend - on a closed road, built on an old garbage heap landfill site! Rad.

Here's a video of them building the course... looks pretty crazy!

More info and a video of the course on Facebook and the Event Website. If you have a free weekend and some sharp elbows, go to Hamburg this weekend!

MegaBerm!

Family Slide Tour - Day 1

Family Slide UK Tour '10 - DAY 1 from Will Edgecombe on Vimeo.

Slide Tour Getting Closer!

Sergio and Co arrive in the UK tomorrow for a two week long visit!!! Will Edgecombe and Mark Short have put together four events during the tour, so you have four opportunities to skate with these legends of downhill sliding.

The dates are:

25th July - Dartmouth

28th July - Falmouth

1st August - Firle Bostal

3rd August - Greenwich


- Events will run in a jam format, all aspects of downhill riding are welcome.

- Tuition is available if asked for. Wanna learn how to skate sideways? Sergio can show you how...

- £10 minimum donation to skate.

- Bring and Buy - in true Bue Peter Fashion, bring yer skate stuff, buy some skate stuff, with all proceeds going to the cause.

- Ltd edition Tour Tshirts available at the events

- More info on Will's Blog.

These are the first of hopefully many downhill days with the best skaters the world has to offer, so get down there and support the tour!

Here's a random photo from the Lush archive of the last time Sergio visited these shores... Take yourself back to the 2005 Summer Session, and the infamous Hill Number Nine...

We'll be at the Firle Bostral and hopefully Greenwich jams too. See you there!

New Lush Acid Drops 62mm

Here's some more details on our newly-released wheel - the Lush Acid Drop!

It's small and perfectly formed for all sorts of longboards and cruisers at 62mm x 46mm. It uses a nice Super High Rebund Urethane that we've been playing with for a while, takes a 10mm spacer and features a mechanically bonded core so you don't rip the urethane off when sliding.

But there's something else about this wheel that sets it apart from the crowd - it's flippable to give different ride characteristics! We even printed it with graphics on both sides...

You can see from the diagram below that the wheel has two different profiles - a concave side with a thick square lip, and a convex profile with a rounder, blended edge.

If you run the wheels with the Rounder Edge on the outside, you will get a slightly narrower wheel track, which combined with the shape of the wheel, produces a grippier, more responsive ride, better suited to pumping, slalom, and smoother road surfaces. When we set up our completes with this wheel we use this edge.

Rounded "Grippy" edge

However, flip the wheel over and run the Thick Square Lip on the outside, you will get a wider wheel track, and a better slide profile. The wheel has less grip, but the trade off is better wear, a quieter and more predictable slide, and a slightly "softer" ride, better suited to rougher roads.

Square "Slidey" edge

Now you really can get your tweak on... there's nothing stopping you running different colours at each end of your board as both colours are the same duro. You could even run them flipped at the front and regular at the back if you wanted...

Mikey R, slidey side out at the BVR Jam

Available in Bottle Green or Retro Amber, from a Lush Stockist near you, right now!

Welcome to the team - Chris Vanstone!

It's about time... we've just hooked up Chris Vanstone on Lush (he's riding for Cult Wheels too).

We first met Chris at a Peak District Summer Session back in 2004, and he made his mark by bombing everything at Mach 10 in a piss pot and kneepads. Since then he's been popping up with increasing regularity at races, posting fast qualifying times at the Eastbourne races and in 2008, got further in the heats on his Lush Revolution than any other UK rider. He went to Kozakov for his first race on European soil in 2009, and he left yesterday (with a GoPro) to join teammate Pete Connolly at the Almabtrieb IGSA World cup.

Anyone who's been fast enough to keep up at St Aubin Epinay, Bo-Peep and Gspot this year knows that Chris has been killing it for ages  - and we thought it was high time we helped him out. Welcome to the team bro!

Dawn Raid

Camped overnight and did a dawnie on Stoked/Gspot on Friday. 40mph straight out of the sleeping bag was fun... Cheers to fellow Cult members Chris Vanstone and Jesse Tighe for sharing some runs and stoking the fire up. More photos on the Lush Flickr.

Fire...

Sexy skateboards at early o'clock - that's a Composite Kilima prototype, a bit flexier, but definitely still good at speed! More news soon...

Chris and Jesse, in tight, the photog was scared...

The last corner at Stoked is fast, and not many people can skate it as fast as this, Chris Vanstone, last run before Almabtrieb. Send it!


Dawn raids at this time of year are amazing. You can skate in daylight at 4.30 in the morning, there is no traffic, so all those hills which you can't usually get are fully on. So make the effort and Get Up Early, Skate Safe and Have Fun!

New 2010 Kuni - sneaky peak

While we're putting the finishing touches to our new website, here's a sneak peak of one of the new graphics that just came in... the Kuni 2010 "Knotwork" graphic.

The latest incarnation of the Kuni is a little bit shorter and proportionally fatter than previous versions at 38", so it's a more responsive ride with a refined standing platform. It also features a hugely uprated spec, with our 6" truck and new 62mm 78a Lush Acid Drop wheels. Look out for a feature on the 6" truck soon... we've had them in for a while now and are convinced that you will not find a better truck and bushing setup for the price.

Lush Longboards' Fancy Dress Charity Skate - Bath to Bristol 2010

It's back...

This year, we are doing things a bit differently.

A long-time friend of ours, and a well known member of the UK scene, Dr Mike Johnson aka "Longboardbuddha" aka "Longy", has recently been struggling with cancer. We thought it would be appropriate to raise some money for a charity of his choosing, and he has this to say...

"Skateboarders are a dysfunctional group of people. They have chosen a hobby, sport or pastime (call it what you will) that puts them in a class totally of their own. Now imagine a group of skateboarders even more dysfunctional that enjoy downhill skateboarding and you have an eclectic group of folk that to be honest are madder than a bucket of spiders.

The idea that Lush Longboards and the event organisers corral and control this disparate group and manage to put on an event like the Bath to Bristol charity skateboard event fills me with pride. In past years they have raised oodles of cash and raised the profile of the various charities they have chosen to support..

In March of this year I was diagnosed with cancer, a shock. I was a fit skater and felt better than I had for years. It was a bombshell to be honest. As soon as the news sinks in another set of problems raises its head. Who do you talk to? Who can offer support? How do I deal with these problems and fight the disease at the same time? Mix these factors in with a dysfunctional downhill skateboarder and you can see it's a whole recipe of disasters.

Enter Macmillan nurses. From day one Macmillan nurses have been a pillar of support for myself and my family during times that have been, to be honest, horrible. Cancer is a tough battle, you need people who can offer support, help and advice through tough times. Macmillan nurses have stood shoulder to shoulder with me throughout.

Some of the people that will skate in this year's Bath to Bristol event for the Macmillan nurses are the greatest people I have ever met. I have ridden down hills, streets and parks with most of them. Argued, laughed, and cried with the rest. They are my 'ace in the hole' in that whenever I feel humanity not worth a second look, they restore my faith that love and not hate will endure. I have been constantly amazed by their humility, humour and absolute zest for what they do and this connection between the Bath to Bristol event and Macmillan nurses will be a major positive note in an increasingly negative world. 

Get to the Bath to Bristol event, raise some cash, dress as something that inspires people to laugh. Its the best medicine!

Love Longy xxxx 

Fancy dress is obligatory this year (well not obligatory, but expect some heckling if you just turn up in shorts and a Tshirt!), we'll be doing prizes for the best costumes, a prize draw for everyone who raises over £50, and some random other giveaways. Go to the Justgiving page to pledge your cash to Macmillan Cancer Support!

For more info about the event, please contact the lovely jo@lushlongboards.com.

There's also a facebook page and forum thread for you to talk about it on.

See you in October!