it's a nefarious plot

When I was a teenager* all the top skateboarders (and everyone else) used rails on the bottom of their boards -- strips of plastic along the sides (and/or at the ends) of the deck.

Rails had the following advantages:
- You can grind a lot faster and further on plastic than on wood
- Decks didn't break in half as easily
- The board is easier to grab (when doing tricks) with side rails on
- And most significantly: decks didn't wear out from the bare wood being rubbed along the concrete or asphalt.

But that was back in the day. Now, almost nobody uses rails. And boards *are* lighter because of it, but the difference is miniscule. My brother's brother-in-law is convinced it's all a conspiracy, and I'm inclined to think he might be right. His idea is that the board manufacturers deliberately convinced the top skaters (many of whom they probably were the sponsors of) to stop using rails, which made rails uncool, which made kids stop using them, which made boards wear out in a matter of months. My son has gone through 4 decks in the last year or so - the ends grind down and the bottom edges wear out. At $30-50 per, deck manufacturers are making bank on this deal, and I think it's wrong. So there.



*1100AD