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| Pre-1980 Vintage Gear (6027 Posts)
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More Krypto blah blah blah
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On 10/25/2001
the Boardman
wrote in from
(12.80.nnn.nnn)
BTW - the bottle greens were very popular in the 70mm size. A GREAT longboard / wheel on smooth surfaces. The 70mm red became a hot commodity when the true sliding characteristics were unleashed with that wheel and the speed it generated. Living in Boulder Colo. the home of Krypto at the time, I had Krypto's coming out of my ears before I had a set of Road Riders.
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Krypto Star Tracs
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On 10/25/2001
The Boardman
wrote in from
(12.80.nnn.nnn)
Many of the 65mm green and orange Star Tracs were cut for slalom by the factory and ended up on many boards in the first ARA season. The hot ticket was greens unless the course was too fast and offset. Then oranges on the back were the ticket for grip.
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Star trac
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On 10/25/2001 Herbn
wrote in from
(205.188.nnn.nnn)
the yellow and orange were both redundant hardnesses,but supposedly less resilient,supposedly for better grip /speed control on "steep surfaces",i asked the same question about the wide-trak,no answers,i don't think more than a few sets were made, maybe only one;for that ad.
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megatrons
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On 10/25/2001
loneskater
wrote in from
(159.87.nnn.nnn)
i remember those megatrons. they were polished and looked good. i got a board from a friend of mine in about 81, Alva pig, Megatrons and tunnel rocks alternating colors blue and orange. i rode it a Solid Surf in Ft. Lauderdale just before it too closed its doors forever. anyway if nobody does a scan for you i will but it will have to be on the weekend.
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Kryptonics
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On 10/25/2001 mad-rat
wrote in from
(217.39.nnn.nnn)
I posted that original Alpine Sports ad a couple of years ago on here. Incredible how this place has changed in that time.
The ad was from December 1977, and all those wheels were being sold at that time. The bones were around then.
The mag mentions the new 'rounded' edge Kryps are on the way, so the second generation of Kryptonics available in solid colours and three sizes must have shipped before Christmas 1977.
The original Kryptonics line up was called by the name Star-Trac. I have one of their first ads, it's headed 'Star-Trac - Tomorrows wheels today' Kryptonics wasn't even the 'brand' at the time, just the manufacturers name.
they were described as such -
Blue - 80a - Fast and smooth with good traction
Green - 85a - (translucent) Fast, harder, less forgiving than Blue
Red - 75a - Smooth repid acceleration and prolonged momentum, our fastest formula
Yellow - 75a - Ultimate traction and slower for steep and/or rough surfaces
Orange - 85a - (translucent) Harder, less forgiving than yellow with similar performance
Observations:-
The red is stated as 75a not the 78a we are familiar with. Was this a typo? or were they softer in the initial offering? Am I being anal? Should I go out and skate?
The Green and Orange (amber) are the same hardness, were they the same formula? It implies it has the same performance as the yellow, but they were slow. I know the amber's were used for slalom in the early days. I have a cut down set with the sides lathed by the kryptonics team.
There is also a mention of the 'Wide-Trac' A wheel that looks like a Sims bowlrider, very wide. I've never seen one in the flesh, has anyone?
Peter
P.S. Rich, good to meet you at last at the Z-Boys showing.
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Flyaway
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On 10/25/2001 Duane
wrote in from
(65.201.nnn.nnn)
I saw that helmet at Purple Skunk, trid it on, and hated it. It has only "soft" foam, not the soft foam over rigid foam like most quality helmets. With only a molded plastic shell and soft foam, I consider these toy helmets and not something I'd put my egg in.
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flyaway
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On 10/25/2001 loneskater
wrote in from
(159.87.nnn.nnn)
yesterday i was in "play it again sports" (a resaler of used sporting equip) they were having a pre winter blowout. there was a black plastic version of a flyaway helmet (white pinstripes, it does look good) for $4.99. since it was as almost new and looked the equivalent of the current pro-tecs i bought it. there is a sticker on the front of it "FLYAWAY" in the old graphic style. i know it isn't the real deal, so what is it?
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Emerald Kryptos.
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On 10/25/2001
Preston
wrote in from
(63.10.nnn.nnn)
The emerald green Kyptos. were hard to find even back then, but I got mine in D.C. when I was working in the Chevy Chase Bicycle Shop, just looking through a box of seconds, and cheap knock-off wheels, and the color caught my eye, and I kept looking and found all four. But after I road them one time I did'nt like the feel, but I loved the clear green so I still have them.
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Alpine K's
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On 10/25/2001 Solid
wrote in from
(217.204.nnn.nnn)
11 pages long!?! Bring it on!
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Krytonics
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On 10/25/2001
Stevie B
wrote in from
(213.122.nnn.nnn)
I just happen to have another page of the alpine sports ad (it was 11 pages long and one of the main reasons to by the mag)to hand as I was scaning stuff for my site it has all the info on the wheels in the picture hardness price etc I'll send it to adam and see if he can put it on the scans page.Its from around nov 77 as the same mag has a report on the longbeach world championships which where on 24/25 september
Still looking for a scan of a MEGATRON TRUCKS AD if any one with a Skateboarder Mag collection would be so kind
http://britishskateboardmuseum.i8.com/
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K's
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On 10/25/2001 SS of S
wrote in from
(217.204.nnn.nnn)
PS so are the ones in the ad 1st or 2nd Gen?
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K's
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On 10/25/2001 Solid State of Sheffield
wrote in from
(217.204.nnn.nnn)
That's cool, seen the scan ad... Any ideas when the 1st gen came out, tho? And when they settled on the familiar colour code system?
I know there were other oddities such as the bottle green and yellow shown in the ad, amber and black (or did I imagine the black?!?) Any background on these?
True about the blues, too: mine were mistaken for rubber by some young kid cos theyre so dark!
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Kryps
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On 10/24/2001 Duane
wrote in from
(63.21.nnn.nnn)
The pics on Hugh's site say 85A for the green, I believe it, the early kryps were accurate for hardness (unlike now). These wheels all felt softer due to the thin outer lips. I have both 70mm and 60mm in red, hardness is still 78A. For me, no comparison, the red smoked the others hands down, part of the thing with the green and yellow is how rare, I recall few shops even having them. I have never seen a set of the wide-traks (like bowlriders), at least not that I remember. Its amazing to look at the color of the blue in the pics, I have a set of 2nd. gen that are nearly black, almost all of the blue ones on ebay are badly darkened with age.
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Kryps
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On 10/24/2001
Scabs
wrote in from
(65.80.nnn.nnn)
I can tell you first hand that the first generation green was SOFFFFFFFTTtttt!!!! I still have a set NOS and NFS.
Here`s the ad link...
http://www.ncdsa.com/scans/alpine_sports_wheels.jpg
Notice that they were available along with the original Bones, OJ`s and Yo Yo`s. It is an add from a euro retailer and may be from his stock `cause I thought the Bones came out AFTER the 2 gen Kryps?
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K's
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On 10/24/2001 ss of s
wrote in from
(217.204.nnn.nnn)
Herbn, is that in the scans section, what year is it from?
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Ad shot
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On 10/24/2001 Herbn
wrote in from
(64.12.nnn.nnn)
the ad i sent to Hugh and is posted on his site,has the three o.g. colors plus yellow and translucent orange.I did see an earlier ad listing only one hardness (85a) and i think two sizes.
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Them ol' Kryptos'
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On 10/24/2001
Preston
wrote in from
(63.10.nnn.nnn)
Here's a bit of info I remember, at the Catalina Classic back in 78'. While the company big names were giving out stickers, caps ,& t-shirts I was getting autographs, so I missed some of the goodies, so I went to the guy that was giving out Kryptonics t-shirts, and he told me "go over to the van and get one from Chuck, he started the company, he'll give you a couple." That's something I'll never forget, I met Chuck Demeris, and I still have a set of the wide bottle greens, (not for sale).
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krypto story
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On 10/24/2001
Paul K
wrote in from
(195.110.nnn.nnn)
sorry about the skate/state thing, confusing with a well known online retailer.
anyway I think it was dependant on the surface you were riding on, if it was a good smooth surface, the greens were really fast, i think thats why they got used as a Park wheel a lot.
Me and a load of Mates in South East london Had the lime greens, cos Alpine sports were selling them for a Quid each as opposed to £4 for reds or blues...we didn't really care they were still krypto's
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Kryps
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On 10/24/2001 Solid State of Sheffield
wrote in from
(217.204.nnn.nnn)
Cheers, Paul.
Its always been lost on me, this idea that harder is ever faster, though!!
I would swear the K's got slower as they got harder ie. red-fastest, green-slowest. That was certainly my experience. We craved speed, but red Kryps were for what NCDSA would call 'butt-boarding', too ludicrously fast on Sheffield's hills to stand up with. The blues were manageable, green I admit I never tried.
So anyone able to fill me in on the early K's genesis?
By the way it's State not Skate!
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krypto story
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On 10/24/2001
Paul K
wrote in from
(195.110.nnn.nnn)
Solid skate of sheffield
Not really related to the Krypto story, but i also recall the Rubber skate wheels instead of stee/clay.
my first board was a bit of 1/2" ply with an old "Jacko skate" separated & screwed underneath, it still had a point at the front & a square tail if only to distiguish it from a plank
Red Krypto's (70mm) back in the 70's in the UK were the ultimate in wheels, particulalry on pavements
i always recall the reds were fast but grippy, blues were a little harder and faster & the lime greens were hardest & fastest but not so grippy
Paul
London
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Kryptonics... the early years
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On 10/24/2001 Solid State of Sheffield
wrote in from
(217.204.nnn.nnn)
sorry Arab... looks like I didnt read your post properly... ok but still doesnt cover what happened between their early urethane rollerskate wheels and the mid 70's.
When did the familiar red/blue/green triumvirate first emerge?
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Early Kryptonics
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On 10/24/2001 Solid State of Sheffield
wrote in from
(217.204.nnn.nnn)
Thanks for some fascinating urethane-related stories! Keep em comin... one thing that confuses me tho.(See Scabs' post) Kryptonics' strap line is 'Feeding the addiction since 1965' I have never come across any reference to Kryptonics wheels that predates the mid 70's. I understand that they made rollerskatin wheels before they made skateboard wheels..? When did Kryptonics start making dedicated skateboard wheels? Were their rollerskate wheels particularly renowned before? Where they urethane? Did their skateboard wheels cause a stir immediately? Were they regarded as the best/fastest/most expensive? In my brief memory of the end of the UK boom (78-79) they were certainly held to be the last word in wheels, all others you rode either cos you couldnt afford K's or you couldnt handle em! You kind of built up to them. I never went on to Reds but stayed on Blue cos the Reds were just TOO fast!
Anyone able shed light on the 'dark ages' (for me!) of the early 70's?
Another thing....my earliest recollection of skateboards was about 1976 and they had rubber (not clay) rollerskate wheels attached. Did this phase bypass the US completely?
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kingpin replacement
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On 10/22/2001
loneskater
wrote in from
(159.87.nnn.nnn)
to herbn, thanks, luckily none have sheered at the base. with your explanation it seems a doable job, but i never knew.
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Stud removal
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On 10/22/2001 Herbn
wrote in from
(205.188.nnn.nnn)
If they havn't broken off,which sounds like the case,nothing fancy,they just unscrew,clamp the base in a vise(wood jaws if your really picky)grab the sucker tightly with big vise grips and unscrew,(lefty loosy)no big deal.With a lathe that has a die holder replacement studs can be easily made use regular kingpins and cut off the head.Some machinist supply shops may actually have studs like the originals,i've never checked they're easy to make(if you have the tools).If they've broken off,you'll need a milling machice,first mill the jagged break into a smooth surface then center the mill and switch to a drill,a "Q" sized drill is perfect 21/64's will do(SH1T,i actually knew that Q was the right size but looked it up anyway:)cleaning the threads out with a bottoming tap,and locktight a new one in place.
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tracker bases
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On 10/22/2001
loneskater
wrote in from
(159.87.nnn.nnn)
herbn
how do you replace the fixed kingpin? i got a couple of old bases (with the different casting imprints too) that could use new ones. i have access to machinery but i have been afraid to screw em up.
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