Fresh UK skate culture, decks and tricks
From Blackpool promenade planks to shopping centre granite, the humble public bench is Britain's most underappreciated ledge. We've graded the nation's seating on grindability, wax-friendliness and how quickly a security guard will ruin your session.
Turns out the lads selling you wonky apples at 6am are the same ones heeling the flat bar at the seafront come noon. We spent a week chatting to five market-working skaters in Southsea, Manchester and Cardiff about early starts, board setups and the sacred art of the bank holiday session.
Trucks feel off but you don't know why? Before you drop £150 on a new setup, spend a fiver and twenty minutes with a skate tool. Here's everything you need to know about bushings, kingpins and getting your trucks dialed to how you actually skate.
Every session ends the same way: a sweaty pilgrimage to the local shop for whatever's within arm's reach of the till. We've scientifically (ish) ranked Britain's finest post-skate fuel on sugar hit, messiness and how quickly you can be rolling again.
We slapped seven of the cheapest griptapes in Britain onto seven sacrificial decks and skated them until our shins gave out. Here's what survived the drizzle, the mud and the inevitable grey fade.
While councils spent decades charging £4 an hour for a ramp with a sign on it, skaters up and down the UK quietly built the best skateparks in the country — illegally, overnight, and for free. We spoke to the crews behind the pours.
Every skatepark in Britain runs on a dialect you won't find in any dictionary. From the shame of pushing mongo to the art of the polite 'snaking' accusation, here's your survival guide to sounding like you've been skating longer than a bank holiday weekend.
Every decent independent skate shop slaps its logo on a deck and swears it's the best thing since grip tape. We bought nine of them, skated them into the ground, and ranked them on pop, weight and drizzle performance. Your pocket money has been warned.
Festival season is upon us, and your deck is about to face its sternest test yet: a field in Somerset. Here's how to survive the demo weekends, coach rides and portaloos with your setup — and your dignity — mostly intact.
Marketplace sites are awash with knockoff decks that look the part and snap on contact with a kerb. We put a counterfeit head-to-head against the real thing — here's what gave it away before your birthday money went to splinter heaven.
Stuck at beginner level no matter how many hours you put in? It's probably not your board — it's your habits. We break down the five most common mistakes keeping new skaters grounded, with rainy-day drills and pep talks from UK skaters who smashed through the plateau.
We strapped in eight budget completes from UK shops and own-brands, then thrashed them on everything from smooth Bristol plazas to ankle-breaking Victorian pavements. Here's how each one scored on pop, durability and rain-soaked street cred — plus our signature Juice Rating.
From Southbank's famous ledges to hidden bowls in the Welsh valleys, we've mapped out ten UK skateparks that justify a full day of travel. Each one comes with a signature trick to tick off before you head home.
While fair-weather skaters hibernate, a hardy crew from Manchester to Plymouth treat a proper soaking as part of the session. We caught up with the UK's most waterlogged riders to find out how they keep rolling through the grey.