<p>You sound like a very poor salesman, Scott7.</p>
<p>People are losers for not liking skateboarders? So my friend that suffered a concussion walking down Peterson with her back turned who got ran into my a skateboarder TRYING to carve is a loser? Point is carving through ANY crowds is a difficult skill to master and most people doing it at UCSD have no business trying to do it. They put themselves, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, everyone else around them needlessly in danger. It’s too hard to predict pedestrian behavior already when you’re going in a straight line (i.e., a bike), but you make everyone else nervous and hesitant to walk, stop, change directions (etc.) while moving bilaterally.</p>
<p>This spontaneous chaos is the result of irresponsible skateboarders getting in the way of everyone while they’d be much better off just picking their board up and walking. And them blaming everyone else for getting in THEIR way? Read the signs. You’re breaking the law by riding your board through ANY foot traffic. Pedestrians have the right of way. Bikers can be just as guilty, but because they can get around from place to place even via detours much faster, you seem them bike away from heavy traffic and avoid these situations altogether.</p>
<p>Can someone give me an estimate on what % of people longboard/bike. Both options don’t seem very unappealing to me so i might just walk if its not too much of a hassle.</p>
<p>Agreed with Oyama. I have been almost run into many times. People at UCSD don’t know what they’re doing.</p>
<p>It’s hard to give percentages. Most people walk, I would say. Probably about 60%. And then it’s maybe 25-15 bikes/longboarding. Many bikers/longboarders are on-campus residents, that’s why it’s more convenient. Commuters mostly walk. (There are exceptions, obviously)</p>
<p>I personally have found walking to be the easiest option.</p>
<p>some people shouldn’t be on skateboards, but many shouldn’t be on bikes or any form of transportation. saying that nobody should try to ride a skateboard because some people can’t ride them well is like saying people shouldn’t drive because i know someone who was hit by a car. as long as someone learns how to ride before getting to sd, they’ll be able to handle skating around the campus. you would be surprised how much more maneuverable a longboard is than a bike. its easier for a skilled skater to navigate a crowd than any biker.</p>
<p>But WHY even try navigating through a crowd in the first place? You’re just being an ass and putting other people in danger for you to basically show off.</p>
<p>get the long board! i got one recently they are really fun. compared to a normal skateboard you go really fast and its really smooth. i would go for a sector 9, they are really nice, the prices can be high but you can always check ebay or something since they seem to hold up really well. i would also make you dont get one that is really long, i realize its a “long” board but some are just a little bit longer than a regular skateboard and i would prefer one of those for riding around campus instead of the really long ones. be careful when your first learning long boards can go REALLY fast without much effort and as a beginner you could lose control easy. HAVE FUN!</p>
<p>DO NOT get a sector 9. anyone with longboard experience will tell you that sector 9 boards come with bad wheels, bearings, trucks, and decks that will need to be replaced much faster than if you had started with a nice board. all that flex leads to instability at speeds and the ridiculous length widens your turning radius. for a campus, a board 38" or shorter is recommended. the earthwing super and mini glider come with kick tails, which will definitely come in handy at SD. they have enough flex to be comfortable, so with some 77a zigzag wheels, your ride will be super smooth, but still controlled and agile. a good setup with one of those boards would be around $200 and can last you a long time, so a sector 9 that will break down (plus they look pretty gay) is just a waste of money.</p>
<p>as for “showing off,” longboarding is about having fun. just because you’re a boring person doesn’t mean you should judge all fun activities. is surfing “showing off” too?</p>
<p>Are there “No Surfing” signs posted in the ocean to protect pedestrians? Exactly. The difference is that the act of surfing is fine in its scope and environment. If you see someone surfing away from open water and going into the shallow shores (where most people are just standing around the tide) then you’re putting other people in danger. Are you so dense as to not understand that MOST people longboarding (especially those who are completely new to the activity that you’re encouraging to purchase their first longboard) are posing threats to people just are just walking to and from class minding their own business?</p>
<p>I have NO problem with people who longboard to have fun, but there are times and places for you to use it. I don’t care if you feel your expertise is good enough to maneuver through a crowd of people, but that crowd is unpredictable and people don’t always just move in a homeostatic way–people will TRY to second guess you and take a last-minute step sideways in accordance to what they think you’re doing next. This is where people just get angry at skateboarders because anytime I see a discussion on who was at fault in a collision, skateboarders always blame the pedestrian for moving, even though you shouldn’t have been skating there in the first place.</p>
<p>And refrain from using certain derogatory words in your posts. You’re just making yourself out to be more and more immature.</p>
<p>I almost took your post seriously, iLoveSD, until I checked your post history. You seem to rage during every one of your posts.</p>
<p>And I never once said that I condone bikes maneuvering through pedestrian traffic either. Any collision involving a pedestrian and any vehicle, be it skateboard, bicycle, or otherwise, it’s the latter party’s fault. With bicycles, getting from point A to point B during heavy traffic is a lot easier than with longboards, especially if you’re new to longboarding and lack confidence/skill to get everywhere safely.</p>
<p>oyama, an experienced skateboarder can maneuver a small longboard better than you’d expect. the reason for the anti-skater sentiment here is that too many college students are idiots and buy a sector 9 mammoth longboard a few days before the get to school. not only do they not know how to ride their board, it’s so oversized and unstable that they crash into everything and everyone. if someone were to buy a smaller longboard (38" or shorter) and practice riding it for a month or two, they wouldn’t have a problem navigating through crowds of people. it’s not a hard skill to learn and especially on a mini-longboard like a miniglider or ceviche, which are basically shortboards with larger wheels, skating through ucsd will be easy. just master carving, foot braking, tight turns, and learn how to coleman slide in case of an emergency and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>That’s where I agree with you. If you have the repertoire of skills mastered and are confident enough to ride through difficult situations, by all means do it. But there are WAY too many people who ride through crowds when they should have no business doing so. There are longboarders few and far between that I’ve seen who can tackle Peterson Hill on a busy rush effectively, but there are way too many people relying on footbraking that end up launching their longboards into other people’s ankles when they panic. It takes a LOT of practice to get good enough to do that through traffic without getting someone else injured. Riding a bike just gives you the option of riding around traffic.</p>
<p>I was about to mention how funny it was to see a “Scott” posting on a longboarding thread and then promoting the Muir skate shop, which happens to be owned by a guy also named Scott… but after reading his posts, they’re definitely not the same person.</p>
<p>As for campus transportation, cruise in on a hot segway. Chicks love it… ;)</p>