Local inventor bugs out with new skateboard truck design
By: JP Raineri
A Temecula entrepreneur says his idea to roll into the skateboarding business came to him in the shower.
Jack Kay, a local entrepreneur, is a long-board rider with a passion for bringing a new style to the sport. He has invented a new top-mounted truck system that accommodates all long-boards that range up to nine inches wide and work with most wheel/bearing combos.
The unique design looks very similar to a pair of spider legs coming out from the top of the board. Kay calls his invention “Tarantula Trucks.” The term “trucks” is used to identify the mounts for attaching the wheels to the board. They provide the steering mechanism for the board by turning in the direction of the rider’s lean
“The idea came to me while I was taking a shower and I just ran with it,” Kay says. Kay took his design ideas to Matthew Loveless, an engineer he went to school with in Arizona. Together they have developed a product that is different and offers a unique riding experience.
From paper to product, it’s taken about 6½ years, seven different prototypes and a broken collarbone to get the group where they are today.
“It’s been a very long journey and I’m very happy with this product,” adds Kay. The patent just came through for Tarantula Trucks in February and now Kay and his company face the daunting task of marketing.
Kay figures he’s tapped into a growing market.
A 2002 report by American Sports Data found that there were 18.5 million skateboarders in the world. Of the skateboarders contacted for that poll, 85 percent who had used a board in the last year were under the age of 18. Nearly 75 percent of them were male.
Kay’s persistence is paying off, as he has been getting noticed by some of the industry’s top skateboard manufacturers. The reviews he’s received in some industry publications have scored him meetings with some highly-regarded firms.
Of course, riding a skateboard and passing out free stickers and business cards is seen as a good way to get noticed.
Kay says he’s in it for the long haul. He hasn’t ruled out selling the concept and design, the deal would need to be right.
Skateboarding was likely born in the late 1940s when surfers in California wanted something to surf when the waves were flat. It was therefore often referred to as “sidewalk surfing.”
The first skateboarders started with wooden boxes or boards with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. The boxes turned into planks, and eventually companies were producing decks of pressed layers of wood, similar to the skateboard decks of today.
Long-boards are most commonly used for cruising, downhill racing, slalom racing and, of course, long-distance transportation. A long-board is a skateboard with a longer and sometimes wider shape.
As skateboarding spread across the nation to places unfamiliar with surfing and the surfing culture, the long-board developed an image all of its own.
They can be shaped in various different ways, depending on the type of riding intended.
Their greater weight and bulk makes them less suitable for many skateboarding tricks, but they contribute to a fluid motion by providing more momentum and the design allows big turns or quick, short carves similar to surfing techniques.
The current generation of skateboards is dominated by street skaters and skaters looking for thrills via vertical ramps, big air competitions and events like the X Games, but some riders still use skateboards solely as a form of transportation.
Until recently, skateboard trucks have been mounted to the underside of the board.
In the case of the long-board, that constricts riders to a lesser degree of turning, but it does allow riders to go much faster while still maintaining stability and control.
Kay and crew work with standard bushings and bolt patterns that require no special tools. They use aircraft-grade aluminum for the base plates and C&C machined parts for the axle assembly.
The trucks include a pair of X-shaped retaining plates put underneath the board to keep the bolts from pulling through.
They trucks can be ordered online. Kay always encourages riders to wear wrist, elbow and knee protection.
To find out more about this new phenomenon, go to www.tarantulatrucks.com.
They also have a MySpace page and a Facebook page and Jack Kay can be reached through any of the three sites.
This article was originally published by The Temecula Valley News, you can read the original article here.
