Goran Karacic Interview.

Goran Karacic is probably not a name most people know. Living in the European country of

Croatia, he doesn't live near too many other riders, and so his unique style of riding is relatively unheard of. He does have a presence on the forums, and occasionally will post some pictures, but thats about it. All of that is about to change, with this interview. Goran prefers to ride vert over street and park. When he contacted me with some pictures to try to give vert riding more exposure, I jumped at the chance for an interview. Goran has a website that you can visit for more pictures, and info on Goran himself.

Interview and Intro by Jordan Jasa.

Name, Age, Location:

Goran Karacic, 20 years old from Zagreb, Croatia

When, and why did you start riding?

Back in 2001 I used to skate, got a scooter as a present, and messed around with it. Continued skating but eventually I got back to scootering in late 2004. But it was a hard time till 2006, getting a decent scooter here was impossible. Once I had a decent scooter, I was hooked, and even today, it's the same awesome chill feeling everytime I go out and ride.

What was your local scene like back then?

Underdeveloped, like every other non-football sport. It was just sad. Even skating/BMX riding was underdeveloped.

What is the scene like now?

It's getting better and better. These days, I'm not the only scoter rider at my local park anymore, and I get mails from people all over Croatia asking which parts to get, and where to get them. So yeah, it's getting bigger and bigger, feels good.

What made you start to ride vert?

I used to ride miniramp 24/7, but I was never really into tech stuff. I always did simple tricks, but high in the air... once the miniramp got too small for me, the next higher thing was the local vert ramp.

What do you like about vert more than other disciplines?

I love how it impresses the hoes at my the skate park, they scream when I ride...haha :D But really, I just love the awesome feeling of being free while flying around. I ride street and park from time to time, but vert is such a different thing, once you get to air out 5-6 feet and do tricks on that height it just feels too good.


You have 26 wide bars. Why such the extreme length?

Speed wobbles. Once I started getting above the coping, speed wobbles were an issue for me. But these days, it's just a part of my style, I can't imagine going back to smaller bars, 26 is just too comfortable. And yeah, I haven't lost one single trick, but my style improved so much.

What are the other specs on your current scooter?

I ride a Micro XT deck with the reinforced Micro XT zero offset fork. Bars are homemade mild steel tube + seatpost with the FireEye CaliBar on top of it all. Front wheel is a green machine, and the back wheel is an old micro metal core. The whole scoot is a bit less than 14 pounds.

Where all have you traveled to ride your scooter?

I've been all around Croatia, few times in Austria... visited some relatives in Germany and shredded their local park too. Oh and Switzerland, probably the best trip ever. Riding with soo many people at Freestyle.CH was just amazing. All in all, I just tripped a bit around Europe.

Who are some of your favorite riders?

BenJ is awesome, not just a good rider, but an awesome person too. Ruben Ahmad is a great guy too, can't wait to ride sometimes again with him. Martin Nogol, Johan Walzer, Javi Trepat, both Cajas guys and many more. All great riders with great personalities. Video wise, I love watching Dan Holms videos, he's just amazing. I'll stop here, there are soo many more great riders, but it'll just go on and on and I'll never stop :D

Who are some people you'd like to ride with?

Like I said, Ruben Ahmad, that guy is just too chill, but so are all the others I met in Switzerland too. But if I could pick a location and rider, it would be a vert session with Martin Nogol and Dan Holm.


If you could be sponsored by any company, who would you choose?

I don't really know, I love Micro for having such a heavy deck that fits my needs, I like how the Eagle team looks more like a family than a team. TSI has amazing stuff in their repository, MADD is getting big these days too, Phoenix Scooters are developing a vert deck. No need to mention Lucky really, the are pulling off great stuff too. Such a hard pick, every company has something I like about them, but for now, I got the most support from Micro, and I'd just love if I could become a part of their team too. But seriously, I wouldn't mind any company that would support and appreciate a vert rider in their arsenal.

Last words?

Hope the interview and the pictures motivate more people into riding vert. Be prepared for more stuff, this is just the beginning :)