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!