On a Roll

When Charlotte was two she wanted to sit on my skateboard and to be pushed around the house. The problem was that she would sit too far back on the rear kicktail, and she would fall off onto her back.

Then the waterworks would come. That's not fun for anyone.

This gave me an excuse to look at longboards. I had always thought they were cool, and most decks have no kicktail.

I was reading a longboard forum when I came across a project called a "short-longboard."

Some skaters were taking a short street deck and moving the trucks out onto the kicktails. The idea was to give the deck a "longboard" feel. Some skaters installed wider longboard trucks and bigger wheels to enhance this effect.

The truck on the left is in the original position. The truck on the right is in the new spot.

One complaint about this modification was that the ability to "kick up" the nose or the tail was eliminated. That caught my attention. So, the board will have a lower center of gravity, and it can't tip forwards or backwards?  I already had a beater board in the garage. Why not grab the drill and see what happens?

The small skate wheels were fine in the hallway, but the driveway at our first house was a bit rough, and the cracks were wide enough to stop the board. I added rubber wedges for comfort and used larger Sector Nine wheels to roll over the tough spots.

Original sized wheel on the left.

I think the "short-longboards" were a fad that died out quickly, but this board has been popular at our house for years. When Charlotte grew older, she'd ride the board down to the bottom of the driveway where I was waiting to catch her. Now she rides the sidewalks solo.

Here's her newest short-longboard - the used Sector Nine wheels are even bigger on this one.

I offered to put wider trucks on the board to help with speed wobble, but she wants to keep the Monster trucks because she likes the evil eyes.

Full disclosure: She does not know her multiplication tables.

I'm looking forward to the time when she'll dare to stand on the board, and we can ride together, but for now she's being safe and having fun.

That's all that matters, really.