I’m seeing a lot of ride-able toys (for lack of a better word) advertised in the past few years.
I thought it might be cool to list the different variations.
First we have the skateboard, which has changed over the years, but it still the fundamentally the same thing. A board with trucks and 4 wheels.
Scooters have been popular too.
When I was a kid we had this kind of scooter:
And then it must have been about 10 years ago when Razor scooters hit the market:
I remember seeing this “Powerwing” design sometime after Razor scooters became a craze.
Razor appears to be the current leader in producing ride-able toys with different wheel configurations.
Just recently we got my son a Razor Ripstick, which is like two boards connected by a twistable spring loaded bar and each with a caster. If you like to carve on a snowboard, you’ll probably enjoy this one.
Then Razor put a caster on the back of a scooter to make a caster scooter:
Now they’ve brought us the Sole Skate. I guess it’s like a 3 wheel skateboard. Is that back wheel a caster? Does it have a typical skateboard truck?
I don’t know when the skatebike first came to market, but I don’t think it was ever a big craze. I gather that most of us had never seen one before seeing it in these forums.
Are there other ride-ables worth mentioning?
What’s gonna be the next configuration to sweep the world?
The Huffy Green machine is for ages 6 to adult.
Up to 180 lbs. I bought one way before my son could ride it and was doing spin outs all over the driveway. Unlike to the ones from the 70’s, this is made of steel and has a regular bike tire on the front. It can take a lot of abuse.
Awesome! Back in my skateboarding days, a buddy of mine bought one of these snakeboards at a local shop. I remember it being very difficult for anyone to learn.
The two platforms pivot independently.
It looks like an update of the (steel) X-15 from the 60s. It had a single stick to steer it, like the rocket plane of the same name. This tilted the two rear wheels. You pedaled the front wheel. It was usurped by the Big Wheel in the 70s, which was probably a lot cheaper to make. But it took a few years before they added the hand brake that allowed for the skids.
This is a three wheeled scooter, with two platforms rather than one, and which can be propelled without the feet ever touching the ground. Easy to ride, but seemed a bit limited when I rode one.
A scooter on which the platform is a treadle, connected to the rear wheel by wires. You ride it using a rocking motion to provide the power. Not sure what it is called but has a label on it “POWA”.
and most fun: freeline skates, also called drift skates.
You ride them very much like a skateboard, but it is much, much harder to begin with. A little bit like stand-on roller blades, but with the TWO wheels pointing sideways with respect to your feet and direction of motion. Great fun if you can avoid doing the splits.
Finally, does anyone know of a web site where I can buy genuine tyres for a skatebike. I have tried various wheels from a skate board supply shop, but none I have tried seem to allow the device to work properly.
I first saw one of those at a sporting goods store in Washington in 2002.
Most people who have been around these forums for a while have seen these things pop up here quite a bit. I first saw one in 1983, but they probably “peaked” in the late 80s when they were being featured/advertised (the Le Run) on MTV.
I also saw one of those in that store in Washington in 2002.
Also saw one of those in that store in WA. That was a pretty cool store. They had enough space to play with all of those. It was on the single day between the 2002 NAUCC and Unicon 11. I ended up buying… a Razor… pogo stick! Air powered, so you can pump it to the desired rider weight. And it folds up. Found a link: $39.99 (if you act fast)? I paid $99.99 in 2002…
Looking for skatebike tires? You might find the right sizes by searching for scooter tires, depending what size you need. I think most of the ones I’ve seen were 16" though. You might have to by a whole skatebike to get an original tire though…
Somebody had one at a big bike ride event i was at in 2008 (with a dozen or so other unicyclists). This was the Strawberry Fields Forever ride, metric and full centuries, out of Watsonville. The Magic Wheel is like a heavy, cool-looking BC wheel with a training wheel. Easier than a BC wheel, but still pretty challenging. Did I mention it was heavy? I can’t remember if it was one of the unicyclists who brought it. Also I’m surprised at myself for having no pictures of it! I took a few pictures on the ride, but it was a RTL training ride and I was working hard to keep up with the Beau Hooverses and the Chuck Edwallses.
