Weston and a gumball working on science

Car time. Car time is what puts a company's team to the test. When it all comes down, rippers are a dime a dozen, but who can you throw in a car for a week, drive hours and hours, blow it out on arrival, get sick, get well, hang around the ink well... wait, that's dylan...

...then you're sleeping on a ramp in Rad Mike's garage. Then you're up and eat and back in the car and you never know where you're going... and if you're a minor and you've skipped mass days of school for the trip, you've got work to do in the car... So here we are helping each other out a bit with Wise Weston.

Fickle is a Wood House

Just a word about what our company is all about. We're all about amazing wood, American Wood, Regional wood that we design and pick up ourselves. We're about being face-to-face with Pennswood, and making sure that pressing houses like that exist and thrive in a difficult economy.

We're about making sure YOUR deck lasts longer, pops crisper, and feels more positive than the junk wood houses that are slacking off, or ordering non-domestic. We're always positive about any company switching to Domestic Sources, but we think Joe at Pennswood has it down. You'll feel it in our concave and pop. Fickle is addictive.

Notice how little attention to wood there is out there. That's simply because there's not a lot to talk about.

Yeah, we got tricks and lines. Yeah, we're picking up good riders, and we'll probably have a historic crew as time goes on, but what we're about for YOU is proving that Wood, Made in the USA, is still where it's at.

Now get out and go fast down something.

...and keep your eyes peeled for Fickle's downhill/pool sleds coming in spring!

on the way to Lex...

we go visit shops. we hit parks on the way. we hit spots as we see them... and we share clips because we want you to enjoy it with us.

the dry ridge park is one of the best flow parks around, built by Matt Dyck (of burnside fame). smooth with amazing flow. nice when its' not crowded.

Here's what Matt Simpson brings to the team.

All we're saying is put yourself in Nik's shoes. How annoying is that. and Weston... coveralls? how rad is that? order yourself a set of Fickle Custom-screened coveralls! Come and Get it!!!

Today's destinations

Today Lew, Kappa, Native, Ben, Weston and Aaron are on the way to Lexington KY to show up at Woodland and have a sesh for a couple hours. Look for us down there.

ben osborne

benjamin holds down quality frontside nocomplys.

Fickle Rep Crew

Here is a pic of Mike Mills with Michael and Daniel. Michael and Daniel held down our table for the Georgia Bowlriders Competition. Mike Mills is our Rep down in the Gwinnett County GA area. He is a real cool dude.

And let's not forget Kellie, who took so many pics and who supported Michael and Daniel and Fickle so much! thanks to all of you!

He and Lisa and their 4 girls had the team stay at their house. we slept on the ramp for like 5 nights!Mike is a class 5 ripper, too. he skates every day with a heart the size of a barn. Mike rolls around with the bowl rippers, and built ths awesome skateable bed for when the Fickle team needs to sleep in his garage.

Mike and Lisa, how can we thank you enough for letting us crash all over your place. We hope you didn't get the swine flu from Matt, and we're sorry that Elijah kept leaving bloody bandages on your sink counter.

ben osborne front tail

a small taste of ben...

you don't even know how fun it is to skate with these guys. ben is style for miles.

matt at bay creek in GA

matt is beast! he has an ankle fracture and is fighting off the swine flu here! No kidding. and what's up with his wrist? probly broken! the dude is a machine! Like having the whole bacon team rolled up in a pudgy 5 foot something kind of dude...

elijah was hurt johnson johnpiece

Untitled from Loki Skate Shop on Vimeo.

elijah fell and hurt his johnpiece on a rail right before our trip, so he only brought a cruiser and blew off as much filming as he could. mostly he worked on his dreads and picked ticks off weston's. so i'm putting this sort of "sponsor me" video of his up as a symbol of the rail crushing and flip-trickery that are his style.

who doesn't like a jersey barrier?

this was more of a quarter, but had mass steepness. everybody had a party that day at Bay Creek. That park has mass stuff that you can post up on and session together.

Native at Bay Creek

native, you a beast!

Dave missed the trip

Zion Skatepark and Fowler

Tami M and Fowler over at Zion are on our mind this morning, too. We hit Zion in the middle of reconstruction. It's closed right now, but Fowler gave us the gold tour and showed us around and treated us to a mini-ramp jam. we had major fun.

Half the team was round the corner at the watkinsville ramp, and half of us at zion. Zion is where we'll be posting up and staying on our next trip, for sure. then mike's ramp won't have so much sleepy drool all over it from weston and elijah's dreads.

everybody, make zion a destination! seriously, if you're going to skate in ATL area, make sure to get there. the place is going to be finished soon and it's epic, with Kris Markovich designing and building his tail off. Kris is beast!

no vids today

starbucks is harshing us. no vids will upload using their uplink. bummer. you'll have to post up in here and check out the drizzle as it comes, later. I'll see what I can do in Knoxville at Daniel's house.

Daniel and Amanda are Fickle's new reps in Knoxville. They are amazing and artistic and they love skateboarding from the soul.

Well, we're loading up for the road.

ben at bay creek

you all gotta understand, i'm in a starbucks right now, just yanking anything i can to put up for you. this mobile life is great, but a little pressed for time. there is a lot of better footy to sort through! from the knoxville ditch to this bit here, there is a LOT better stuff in the bag. we'll have joey do some edits and put up some quality later, just for now enjoy knowing that we are shredding from morning to night, minus car times!

wakeup

you're sleeeping on a ramp. it's the best.

saturday recap

Saturday... wow what a day. Bay Creek is a truly great park. Tons of "spots" to post up on with the whole crew and session, as well as some great moderate tranny. Nothing deepeer than 8 or 9 feet, but all with amazing flow.
Good street spots and a great halfpipe/snake run...

We did the old product toss and worst deck competition for a giveaway. Locals were very very cool to us. Great hospitality.

After Bay Creek, we headed over to New Gen, the local skateshop where the dude behind the counter put up with all my vibing and jive. You're a cool cat, counter dude. Maybe someday New Gen will have the power of Fickle at their command, with a full stock. Until then, see our man Mike Mills and get your fickle boards!

on the way out, I tried to hustle a deck to this real sketchy lookin cat outside. i was trying to scrounge up gas money, you know? and it turns out to be Chernobyl! He's down with ATL SKATER and His daughter is a RRRRIIIPPPER who we got to skate with a bit last time. She RRRIps! She's mass involved with GRO And Cherny himself is one of us old guys who are johnny come lately to the rippage. Cool to see him staple-gunning the deep end!

We ended up getting to skate Bay Creek Sunday, too, and Chernobyl and I got to talk more.

you know who else we met on Saturday at Bay Creek? This rad dude George whose journey into skating is chronicled in SnakeSession videos. This dude is epic. I mean in terms of the radness of never quit skateboarding and the panoramic of great beating hearts that quicken to the sound of thane on tranny, this guy's a GREAT. George, you inspire us to keep rolling, whether on wheels or head over heels!

So Bay Creek, right around the corner from New Gen, is a cool spot.

Saturday: Where we are...

Today it's bay creek from 2 to 4 at least, for as long as the weather holds. We're outside all the way as much as possible. come on out and let's skate!

Mike Mills: Fickle Rep Ramp

This guy mike who reps Fickle down there is BEEEEEAAST! Dude has mass latenight ramp jams at his house, while holding down a family with 4 kids! This place was heaven to stay at. Thanks Mike.

Empire Skateshop: Winder GA (click it)

thanks to jason and rosa at empire. all you locals within 20 minutes, get over there and buy some stuff to support them...

Knoxville: Wallows Ditch

What can we say? We ride in the car for hours and we get shown spots and we skate them for a while on our way... it's the life! Thanks to Daniel and Amanda for getting us introduced to Knoxville. We're looking forward to taking more time for this ditch next time through. Think we'll spend a night there.

Come Meet us: Friday 6-8pm

Come and meet us at Bay Creek tonight from 7 to 9pm. There's gonna be a sticker toss and we'll have some stuff available. If it rains, we'll be at TNT for the comp!

Knoxville:The Boardroom and Fetch Skate Shop

The Boardroom's got Fickle on the wall, now. Go on down there and pick us up! Keep us coming down to Knoxville!

We think we're in love. Fetch Skateshop has stolen our hearts! We're all going back to get matching Fickle Stencil tans!

Tomorrow: Friday

We're gonna be in Georgia. We know that much.
We're gonna hit an outdoor if it's clear, which it will be.
I'm thinking Duncan Creek around noon, yall...
We'll update specifics as we go... keep checking. hey, add Fickleboards.com to your rss feeds! if you don't know what that is, google it and do a little work. then our updates come to you!

Where we are today:

Fetch Skate Shop
The Board Room
Pluto Sports
The Knoxville Skatepark

Then we'll head to Brook Run Skatepark in GA. Where we hope to meet up with John from Woody's

Weston Gets wise on the Giving Beard

I don't know if it's being 15 years old, or being more than half wookie, but this kid's really funny to listen to. and he talks. I mean he talks and talks, but you're not like, "Kid, shut up!" because he's really interesting... I mean, here's a glimpse into his process! What's not to like? Rips the transition, as well, this one.

Thursday Morning, Oct. 22: Knoxville

Well, we got off okay from the Galaxie Skate Shop, at 4pm, Picked up Weston from the Florency KY Skatepark, and headed to Lexington to get Elijah.

We got him after a bit of a wait. Elijah's dad is our Lexington Area Rep. He grew up as a surfer and is this burly, gnarly wall of muscles driving around in a green vw beetle. He and Elijah got stuck on something and we ended up missing our Knoxville session, waiting at the McDonalds at 71/75 and 922. Brother Andrew, you have no idea how much we all dig ya, baby. (that's how he actually talks! Amazing he can keep a job)

The good news? Sesh without harrassment for 90 mins.

Here's a throwaway clip or 2. These cover departure to bedtime here in Knoxville at the home of our friends the Harts. The Harts are awesome.

We Leave Tomorrow: Georgia-Oct.21-Oct.26!!!

Tomorrow, we leave around 4pm! The I-931, Muffins, the Wookie, the Beard, Native Nik, and the Manchild will jump into the car and head down to Lexington KY to pick up GapRailGapRailGapRail. From there we head to Knoxville Skatepark where we'll session into the night with a possible late nighter at a local miniramp. We sleep that night at the hospitable home of Daniel and Amanda Hart. Don't miss the pic of their little guy, Zeke, on our Hesh Barney at the bottom of this page.

Then it will be Thursday.
On thursday, Unflappable Matt will meet up with us, making the in-car total 7.
We hope to visit our friends at Pluto, the BoardRoom, and a little place on the street called Fetch... then on to the Big G.A... for a week of skating mad parks.

more native nik

mass thanks and props to our rider Dave Kappa for his work filming and editing for Nik. Check out Dave's mayhem at HULK RIPPS.

native nik...

Headshot 8.25

Okay, we're getting fazed by people freaking out over our new size! 8.25's been a great size for a while, but with our hard-to-find concave, we're seeing total freakage happen everywhere.

Needless to say, we'll be putting another batch of Headshots into circulation with this width for a while. Black Logos too.

Fickle: Proud sponsor of the Georgia Bowlriders Championship

Fickle was a sponsor at this event last weekend. Thought you'd all like to know! We're proud as punch to be Made in the USA! Every time it got announced, we got cheers. The whole industry could consider the goodwill they create when they support the people who get things done here in the States.

Next year we'll get the team down there that week! This year, our team is there the week AFTER. So keep looking us up here for where we'll be the 21st through the 27th (this week!). We'll keep you posted so you can meet up with us!

Spotting: John from SC!

thanks for throwing that down on our Hesh Barney! and props to our very own Dave Kappa's Hulk Ripps Blog for keeping the sk803.net dudes on the radar! Dorian, John and dillon--you guys rip a block up!

Fickle in Georgia: Road Trip!!!!

by now you guys know that the reason we're so sporadic on the webmunication is because we're always piled up in the minivan on the way to something new.

Well, this is our third trip down to Georgia, where we've got great friends and a super Fickle Rep, Mike Mills, down there. We've also got a rider, Justin, who Mike has on retainer for us down there, too. "On Retainer"? Oh, that's where we don't really know the cat that well but we're gonna hook him up because he's down with the old Land Shark, Mike Mills, you know? If our rep says you're good, you're good.

So the crew is rollin down to old Gwinnett County GA, but not till after we visit with the Hart Family in Knoxville. You might remember the little grimer on the lip grinnin at us a few posts back. That is a little Hart kid.

So while we're on the trip, we'll be posting today's flipcammery and tomorrow's meet up. That's right, you can meet up with us every day we're out there, with New Team Member I-931 and the sticker toss! Come get an "Iron Clad" new iron-on Logo Tee shirt and a mess of Fickle stickers and cover up some gnarly bathroom graffiti.

Check the site daily to see where we've been, who we've met, and where we'll be for a meet up tomorrow! Starting the 21st. WEdnesday next week. Gear up and tell all your friends, cause Fickle's doing it again, and this time the revolution is partially televised.

So we drive away at like O-Dark-Thirty-Ay-Em to get our wood, and I'll spare you all the footage of dark highways and foggy cornfields... And we get to the 'Bucks and Nik's like good to go with 3-flips right out of the car... OK Nik, you're a machine... but we finish the 5 to 6 hour drive, pile out of the care at Pennswood's HQ there, and Nik's immediately in the parking lot across the street, nose-manualing the flying saucer sidewalk. He put this one down, but he made the three previous... this was just flipcammery and we wanted you to enjoy it.

Graphic Application

This vid is just one part of the process. Joe at Pennswood was amazing to let us experience this and share it with you. I gotta be honest, the initial idea with Fickle was to start making boards with a bottle-jack press, but after partnering up with Pennswood, we've found a home! This woodshop does it right, with classic skater-owned style.

There are about 20 steps to producing a board, and there are even steps after this one, so this is just one small small part of what goes into that plank you're trying to destroy!

You know what? That day at Pennswood, we met Henry Panza! He totally worked there for a long time and has mass history there! Henry Panza! dude henry, sorry i didn't recognize you. then the guys were like, "Joe, is that henry panza in there..." that was raaad.

Native Nik: PickupTrip

We talk about how we pick up our wood, but the next few clips are coming from the actual experience. If you have owned a black logo board up to this point: this is the trip where we picked it up...

Here we are after the first couple of hours. It's like 7am, and we've pulled into the Starbucks just a minute from Grove City's Massive Bowl Collab between Grindline and Skatopia's own Great Brewce Martin. (prayers and good vibes for Brewce's recovery btw!)
First Try 3Flip. no coffee.
and that's kappa smelling pants... kappa. he's so hot right now. kappa.

Galaxie Skateshop: Stocked at 8

The Galaxie Skateshop, our hometown son, has done sold out and stocked up so many times this month, we don't know what to do with you!!! We just dropped them 7 more yesterday. Go get you a Fickle down there!

Our visit yesterday was made all the sweeter by us coming through the door with our new Team Member, I-931, held aloft and "Ice Ice Baby" blasting the Newport Ghetto! In true Retro-Blaster Style, Fickle held an impromptu breakdance fighting exhibition with appearances by Fickle Old Lew and DJ BenjoSux!

how can we thank the Galaxie enough for their efforts to get a park built in Newport, as well as their tireless devotion to keeping skateboarding in "the fun". At just 2 years old, we feel their connection to our childhood hill-bombing. Thanks for making it family, Andrew.

Made in the USA

Okay I know you get vibed about this sometimes--oooh, our stuff's made in the USA! But you gotta hear this. Fickle is not only made solidly from fresh, top-quality. We are made in Pennsylvania by the company that has been supplying the East Coast for years and years with the best skateboard wood that this country has ever seen, no questions! Pennswood/Titan has stocked us up for a new era of amazing wood in the Midwest. So while other companies depend on partners who'll ship their wood a thousand miles (and who knows if they didn't mix in non-domestic wood), Fickle is sourcing our wood from the absolute BEST partner the industry could offer!

We are not only 100% American Made, with Hardrock Maple right at the cool line where it grows the gnarliest. We are also Midwest Regional! We GO THERE and GET our boards. We eyeball the shipment and verify the quality! We know the owner and check each board with him there! We skate their ramp and spend time talking about how things work.

So when you stand on a Fickle and you notice the amazingness of our new 8.25 14.75wb--the proper concave the elliptical kick...
...when you feel the reworked 8 and 1/8th with a shorter, street-metered wheelbase...
...when you get on board the "Man and a Half" 8.5 15wb...
You are tasting what true American Made skateboarding has to offer. You are participating in what we feel is a return to roots--making your boards in your country at a quality level that you feel very very proud of, with dimensions that will help actual human beings do better tricks.

Now go ride a fickle.

Sessions SkatePark: Stocked with 4

Get on down to Sessions in Springdale, not far from the big mall, and get you some Fickle! They got 4 yesterday and those things always fly down there. I hear they're like $40 there, which is tight! And don't miss their free session there tonight from 6-8!

And don't forget to get us off the wall at Demented Skate Shop just a hop and skip up near Hamilton, OH. Jake over there's the dude. I think they still got a couple on the wall over there for you to make disappear.

The Fickle "Headshot" boards are in!!!

Not only a new graphic, but a new SIZE! Welcome to the Roster, 8.25, old buddy! That's right! Fickle Boards now come in 8 and an 8th with a 14.5in wheelbase, 8.25 with a 14.75wb, and 8.5 with a full 15wb.
With the Matador concave, these are the deepest and poppiest decks around. Everyone who steps on one knows they're different--and change can be good, son! In this case it IS!

New Team Member

i-931! Welcome to the team! Look for him at all our spot and park appearances in Georgia next week.

Coming Soon: Fickle Fingerboards

yeah that's right. we're coming out with a high-end line of fingerboards. real pressed concaves and tight graphics straight from Fickle--the only wood you'll ever need for your feet or your fingers.

Rainy? Tired of carpetboarding? Get out a shoebox and build you a skatepark, childs!!! Fickle Fingerboards will be taking your order! Our new partnership with ProWood is on!

Keep eyes peeled here for the deets on how to get you some!

Here's why we're off the radar lately...

you know what we've been doing? Skating every day, together. There's skating going on with Fickle. Not filming spots to dazzle you, but daily skating WITH you out there...

How many of you got annihilated by Ben or Elijah in games of skate lately? Please chime in.

You know what was cool, recently? Last Sunday we went down to Newport KY where the Galaxie Skate shop (the greatest skateshop in cincinnati) had the whole street shut down for a block with all kinds of stuff goin on...

We repped our style, and Gary and Ed blew minds... minds know that Fickle wood is amazing, and our riders don't hurt the eyes... From there we headed straight to Louisville Skatepark to have a sesh. We can't tell you how fun it is to skate with Weston. We don't have to for those of you who do it on the regs.

Team Members: Update

We got Weston out near Louisville.
We got Elijah down near Lexington.
We got Justin reppin us on the DL near ATL.
We got Native Nik and Dave Kappa here in the Nati.
We got our TM in training, Ben at HQ.
We got Unflappable Matt Simpson... dude bruises like a peach.

Our new filmer, Tyler Italianlastname
Our new Video Editor, Joey Peak.
Our art department forming up with Lew, David True, Kevin Betsch, and Eric King (whose graphic is still in queue, and whose $20 are still in the mail...)... might not be so much an "art department" as a herd of cool cats who help Fickle find its way. Props to David True on our stylin Logo and stickers...

Check back to see footy. This winter's going to be about showing you the business...

update: why we don't post regularly

Well, the past 2 months have been primarily consumed in acquiring our ramp and moving it's pieces into our new warehouse in OTR, Cincinnati. This place'll be sick once we get it done. Hopefully by mid December our Training Facility will be in full effect. Free skatepark for Fickle riders and friends.

Our Lexington KY area rep built a sweet mini-half for Loki Skate Shop in Nicholasville KY. Mad sesh, and I Lew got to screw in the last piece of masonite. That there ramp is a terror, doh, foo!

Ben and Native Judged a comp down there at Lake Mingo skatepark, and Danny at Loki only has three of mad supply Fickles on his wall now.

Over at the Void in Lex, Reid Small has ordered up some more Fickle, too, so get in there and get wooded. Our wood is epic. Our wood partner in PA makes the best wood ever. No kidding. try it and see!