An email from Grind King...why are skateboarders hurting America

[CL]

Skateboarding is hurting America because people keep making dumbass articles like this one, and giving everyone the impression that Skateboarding is somehow...Hurting America. I've never even thought about if Skateboarding is hurting America, until i read this article.

[skategeezer]

you are right...the playing field is NOT level.

but it's not just China...it's INDIA..the world's biggest democracy.

hate to put it like this, but the software/call center industries are just a teeny bit bigger than skateboarding.

India is also rising...

[shadow9]

Originally Posted by skategeezer

you are right...the playing field is NOT level.

but it's not just China...it's INDIA..the world's biggest democracy.

hate to put it like this, but the software/call center industries are just a teeny bit bigger than skateboarding.

India is also rising...

Can we have a list of "Made in USA" companies?

[skategeezer]

that list is a toughie...

why?

because it has come to my attention that a number of companies who are making stuff in China are paying to have labels removed or are being extremely coy as to where their stuff is made.

shops are also complicit in this ...

folks don't have a problem with made in China. But they sure as hell have a problem thinking they are buying USA when in fact it's made overseas


and yes, we are working on an article on this...

[Wells]

Originally Posted by skategeezer

you are right...the playing field is NOT level.

but it's not just China...it's INDIA..the world's biggest democracy.

hate to put it like this, but the software/call center industries are just a teeny bit bigger than skateboarding.

India is also rising...

Customer service/tech support/software and manufacturing are completely different industries. Service/tech support/software requires telecommunications infrastructure and an educated english-speaking workforce. Manufacturing, not so much.

When was the last time you spoke to a tech-support person in China?

[arcane]

Originally Posted by shadow9

Can we have a list of "Made in USA" companies?

Or even better yet, how about a list of the companies that exclusively use Made in USA tools, machinery, production equipment, electronics etc to make their Made in USA products.

[mc99david]

well you can be sure dopamine longboards is made in america!!! haha.. shameless plug but i couldnt resist..

[moldyghosty]

I love how everyone is referencing Wefunk as a model of "how it's done". Maybe it would have been better to pick a business that was, well, still in business. I know he went to follow his dream with Toyota Racing, or something like that. But don't you think if he was making a fortune he might have either put that dream on hold, or let someone else manage?

[Trygve]

love my independents!

[Bruce22]

If it's made well, and it's from overseas, then it's still made well. If it's made well in North America and it's made well, then it's still made well.

Drop your cash on good quality parts from good companies. I love my different lenses for my Camera. They were made well, and cheap overseas. American companies couldn't compete.
On the other hand, my landy is high quality and it's from North America, and it's reasonalby pric...................... waaaaaaaaaaait!

Taht set me back taht much?!??1

Omgzzzz

Jk I love my evo, and I know theyre not cheap for a reason.

It's the market, not consumer. The Consumer goes for what looks good and is priced well. It's all in marketing.

[longboardorific]

Originally Posted by mc99david

well you can be sure dopamine longboards is made in america!!! haha.. shameless plug but i couldnt resist..

zealous board are cheaper, and also come from the us of a
sorry i just thought some people might be wondering

[streetheap]

Originally Posted by Wells

China already can make trucks just as good as America. My chinese-made Ace trucks are actually better made than my US-made Independents.

I concur. Aces are amazing.

[unrelated] The whole idea of something truly being created in one country from R&D on down the line is so ambiguous anyway. Typically, the smaller the company, the smaller the pie, and easier to keep track of who gets x dollars and who gets y dollars. Then there's the whole moral/political thing, and how O.J. should be in jail and...I just think it sucks that it costs me more to fill up a 15 gallon gas tank in my Cadillac (24 highway, 17 city, in case you're interested) than it costs to buy a set of these GK trucks. Blah. I'm skating to McDonald's, where my burger will be lovingly assembled by an international employee working for an international corporation, and heated to an acceptable temperature by a microwave oven. An American invention (Raytheon) manufactured by an international corporation.

[king edward]

Originally Posted by Mile_High_Mark

GK offers tons of graphics on their trucks. I'd venture to guess that cutting down on the number of variations would cut cost, and improve availability.

Here's where I stand in regards to this. I'm GK, I've been in business for a while. Why haven't I cut out the middle man yet? By this point in time why don't they have their own smoothing tumblers, materials connects, machine shop equipment? I'm just sayin', it'd be a lot to start, but it sure as sh!t would cut some costs down the line and you wouldn't even have to set up shop in commie China.

[enemy combatant]

Originally Posted by king edward

Here's where I stand in regards to this. I'm GK, I've been in business for a while. Why haven't I cut out the middle man yet?

Because, by and large, the skate companies are the middlemen. They don't press boards, they don't make wheels, they don't make shoes or T-shirts, and they sure as hell don't make bearings. They don't even really design this stuff half the time. They contract it all out to actual wood shops, plastic factories (who don't even formulate the urethane - they just pour it), wholesale bearing supply companies etc...

They hire a graphic artist and some "pros" for peanuts and the rest is all just marketing smoke and mirrors, advertising, and sales reps.

That's why the sturm und drang surrounding "mainstream" skate industry issues that skategeezer and rawls are always sweating about have so little relevance to Silverfishers who are into expensive low volume, custom, specialized equipment. As far as Grind King is concerned I just want some company to produce a truck under $100 with axles that don't bend but it doesn't look like it's going to be them (or anyone else) for that matter.

[Cranks]

Originally Posted by Wells

China already can make trucks just as good as America. My chinese-made Ace trucks are actually better made than my US-made Independents.

This isn't some skate-specific issue. Trucks are fairly simple manufactured goods. China can produce for less because they don't have to deal with pesky things like human rights, environmental regulations, laws against child labor, labor unions, on-the-job safety, employer-paid healthcare costs for workers, or corporate transparency. This is why it's attractive for businesses.

Unless and until that changes, all this BS about how America just needs to work harder or smarter or whatever Tom Freidman is spitting out this week is bunk.

nnnnnailed it.

[Alpha06]

Originally Posted by Wells

China already can make trucks just as good as America. My chinese-made Ace trucks are actually better made than my US-made Independents.

This isn't some skate-specific issue. Trucks are fairly simple manufactured goods. China can produce for less because they don't have to deal with pesky things like human rights, environmental regulations, laws against child labor, labor unions, on-the-job safety, employer-paid healthcare costs for workers, or corporate transparency. This is why it's attractive for businesses.

Unless and until that changes, all this BS about how America just needs to work harder or smarter or whatever Tom Freidman is spitting out this week is bunk.

Are you implying that the companies that employ U.S workers and choose not to outsource to china might as well give up and die?

The reason why Friedman is urging smart change is because China is not eager to improve its image and issues, which means they can keep ahead and offer cheaper comparable products. With our economy tanking, people will turn more and more to Chinese goods and less to American made ones if companies do not get smart, which means less jobs at home.

If China changed its image, improved its human rights, paid its workers more, stopped child labor, then we'd be closer to the same level.

Some places are flatter than others

[Colton]

im pretty sure my sheckler pro 8.5 is made in america

[enemy combatant]

Ace trucks have weak bendy axles and there are plenty of pictures documenting the fact on the internet. If yours are straight you must skate like a wimp.

[Slim]

Originally Posted by Alpha06

With our economy tanking, people will turn more and more to Chinese goods and less to American made ones if companies do not get smart, which means less jobs at home.

Actually, what's happening right now is proving the "earth is flat" theory wrong. As the value of the dollar decreases and transportation costs skyrocket, manufacturing in the USA is growing again. Many companies are finding that they can make their products cheaper here again than what it costs them to have them made overseas and transported back to the USA.

I don't have much to say about Rawls' points except to point out that it's pretty funny that a guy who had the chance to own his own truck company and practice what he preaches but couldn't "get the where with all to make it happen," still feels it necessary to sit back and offer advice to someone who has been actually running a truck company for decades.

My final comment is to say that the attitude expressed by several people here that the performance of the product is the only thing they care about is a damn selfish way to go through life. I can't imagine making purchasing decisions without factoring in the effects my purchase will have on other people. It's the same with any action we take - we have to look at the bigger picture. The only reason not to is that you're too stupid to, or too selfish to care: Neither is laudable.

[enemy combatant]

How about people not looking at the bigger picture because they are evil????