The Most Beautiful Skateboards Ever . . . Ick!

**Parallel Man** · 10-18-2006 06:24 PM

First of all let me say that when it comes to skateboards I am an obsessive-compulsive pig. I always know exactly what I want and I wait as long as necessary to get exactly what I want. Plus, when I order new Icks I invariably always get gluttonous and get two: one with a medium flex and the other firm.

So I got two new 37" Ick Swallowtails. They are sweet.

The set up is pretty straightforward but very responsive. The British Racing Green Medium has Rads in the front with 1/2 axles and a 107 Split in the back spaced to match the Rad. The California Gold Firm has Rads with 3/8" axles and a 107 Split to match. I set them up with shaved Avalons all the way around.

I've wanted these sweet things ever since I saw Rick's prototype in the Ick tent at Morro Bay in 2002 and once I get an obsession, it usually doesn't subside til it's satisfied. These lovelies satisfy EVERYTHING!

Oh, I also got a new 34" Flattie:

Yes, it's what it looks like: a 6-wheeler. I told Rick a couple of months ago while he was finishing up the 37s that I wanted to do an exotic and unique 6-wheeler just for the hell of it. So I ordered his flattie as STIFF as he could get it. Then I put two Splits on the back and a Rad in the front again with shaved Avalons. Of course, living where I do I haven't had a chance to really stretch it out at speed on a big hill, but I've cruised some grades and found it as fun as I had hoped.

I hope I got the risers right for the inner truck. It has just a bit of space between the wheel and surface but makes a complete contact when standing on the board. What I don't know yet it what it will do at speed in a turn:

I really don't want to get into the 6-wheel debate. Whether it's legitimate, an aberration or the the shape of things to come doesn't interest me. It's just fun to ride. If it becomes the norm in downhill GS, fine - i've got one to race. If not, then it's like an ExSkate: just fun to cruise. Either way, I got one and I like it.

Y'all be cool.

**Fat Bastard** · 10-18-2006 06:30 PM

Suuuuch nice boards! That 6 wheeler loooks amazing. I'm shocked that with all the $$ of equipment you just showed off, your still using cupped washers...

I kid, I kid...very nice boards

**tyler87** · 10-18-2006 06:41 PM

Mmmm...Im still digging my PPS foamcore my gf just got me.

**Anton Milioti** · 10-18-2006 06:48 PM

nice boards

**WAX** · 10-18-2006 06:50 PM

pretty retro styled boards.....
wanna race....ICK Vs Pavel?
Parallel vs Surf stance....

oh yeah...Donald said to tell you hello....
and I gave my dad a copy of the photo you sent....

**Muttlips** · 10-18-2006 06:55 PM

Incredible boards, Wes -- you have an eye for the good thing, those are really beautiful, perfectly set up, adn I bet they're a blast to ride. (I'm equally obsessive with my wefunks, so I can relate!)

**Parallel Man** · 10-18-2006 07:00 PM

Wax.

I wish I would have had that 6-wheeler in Windsor. It would have FLEW down that hill!

Gilmour gave me a hard time about my Turner Blackbird not being as long as some of the boards on the hill, but I knew what I had coming and just kept it to myself. I keep think about my race against Evan. It was very close. I was impressed with myself. Maybe this Ick could have been the difference keeping speed through those big offsets in the middle?

Sometimes keeping secrets are a hard thing to do!

**Mile_High_Mark** · 10-18-2006 07:01 PM

But I can get Trackers for $14.95

**Fat Bastard** · 10-18-2006 07:19 PM

But I can get Trackers for $14.95

**badger** · 10-18-2006 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by Mile_High_Mark

But I can get Trackers for $14.95

But you can't get them at that price from MHM....

**revelation2** · 10-18-2006 07:49 PM

Those are just sick icks

**WalkTogether** · 10-18-2006 07:57 PM

The 6 wheeler is ####### ugly.

**bara** · 10-18-2006 08:04 PM

nah, that Ick is a beauty...it just has (4) too many holes drilled in it

**bean-a-reano** · 10-19-2006 04:31 AM

Excellent.

**The hippie from skog�s** · 10-19-2006 04:57 AM

Retro ftw!

**WAX** · 10-19-2006 05:22 AM

Wes wrote:
"Gilmour gave me a hard time about my Turner Blackbird not being as long as some of the boards on the hill, but I knew what I had coming and just kept it to myself. "

Gilmour was the one who rode the hill on his Heeleys....his opinions have severly been discredited in my book!!!!

**EBasil** · 10-19-2006 07:08 AM

Those are nice looking boards, Wes! Personally, I had no idea Rick was making swallowtails, and certainly had never seen an Ick with a wood skin!!! Wow! Even though that sixer violates all that is good and right in the world, and probably the space-time continuum along with several statutes in Singapore and North Korea... I like it!

The aggregate cost of just those 3 boards is kinda staggering!

**Parallel Man** · 10-19-2006 07:40 AM

Originally Posted by EBasil

. . . I had no idea Rick was making swallowtails . . .

Erik,

I think mine are only the 3rd and 4th he's made, maybe the 2nd and 3rd? I'm not sure. He had one at Morro Bay in 2002 which was where I first saw it and knew I had to have one . . . or two!

The original 37" white swallowtail went to Steve Evans for a while but he found the flex too stiff (or maybe the camber was too high? I forget the details.) That board stayed in Rick's garage for several years until Henry Julier bought it last spring. I might be mistaken but I think there was one other. Who has it or the color/flex configuration is unknown to me.

Like I said, though, no matter who has or hasn't bought them in the past, I saw them four years ago and swore I would have one someday. That someday has come.

Oh, why a swallowtail? Hell, why not? It has nothing to do with function, just ornamental. I have to admit, though, that it is very distintive.

**donald20** · 10-19-2006 01:10 PM

"beauty is in the eye of the beholder" to say so

as you admit yourself you go for the gimmick stuff,wes,which i think is ok and you openly admit that fact.
i can build those boards the same way rick does,make em look the same way,everything...
the germans have a saying which goes"we all cook with water".
on the boards i miss the functionality to perform excellent in any race,the shape just plain sucks,it's not effective at all.where's the concave?why is the board so wide in the middle section?
see when i started out making boards 2 years ago i took all my knowledge i had gathered from my manufacturing and skateboarding career and put it into the pot on the oven.but i needed fire to light the oven.so,after some time all the names we have on the team joined and gave their precious input,without them i wouldn't have been able to cook my soup.
in the end-when i have to be very honest,it's not the glimmer that makes the board good,it's the knowledge and experience of the racer,his input and what i make out of it.
perfect raceboards
suitable for any situation.

it was a challenge for me to make the boards shiny and stuff,evading all the laquer finish stuff,well i succeeded in doing so.

i do have respect for anything rick has done on boards also for bob turner i want to show the same respect.
but there's always a time when somebody else tops what has been done
and the time is now
i'm doing it
arrogant?
no
i'm just respecting myself and my team
if you are really into racing with ears wide open and you check into all the different stuff we already did(we still have enough aces/projects for the next 3 years up our sleeve),then you might also come to the conclusion that we rule!!!!!!!!!!!!
PAVEL RULES AS A TEAM EFFORT

there are so many things which have not been done yet,you will see our take on our ideas the next few years.we will try stuff nobody else has ever touched.
remember the roadster?
2 years old-the first stiff foamboard with a kicktail that works,a boardshape derived from a car,that's new and that's fresh stuff.
only a few ever had a ride on a rocka take the time at marions event to ask dom for a go on that board-do yourself a favor.
that's what we all need to get things rolling.no retro flim flam stuff.

i'n not into saying that you have to buy my stuff,absolutely not,but please show some more innovative stuff.
it's not about building up shiny toys
it's about racing and having gear that works.
that's what keeps the sport alive and kicking

**Parallel Man** · 10-19-2006 01:26 PM

I almost forgot.

Included in the box was a ratty, dog-eared wrinkled piece of paper. It's 16x12 and has got to be at least 30 years old looking at the brown/grey discoloration of the paper.

I called Carin Howell and asked her where this came from? She said it was a poster produced by in the '70s and Rick wanted me to have it. So I got an image of it into Photoshop, cleaned it up, whitened all the grey areas and recolored all the faded blue and red. It came out like this:

I have a ful res version on the computer that's 100% and comes in at 50 MB. This little jpeg, though, shows a really cool piece of retre skate history.