TOP TRENDS 2015

2015, for myself at least, went by in a flash.  A lot of big things happened, starting with another great competition at SD, numerous street jams, a ton of amazing videos, and overall growth of the sport. Take a look back at the trends that made the year 2015 stand out from the rest:

1. The 2015 “Street” Uniform:

-Hightop Converse

-Dickies (slim straights, cuffed)

-Dad hat

-Coach jacket

-Polo shirt

Not too long ago this instead used to comprise of Janoskis and five panels.  Instead, another Nike owned brand, Converse, took the scoot scene by storm, with riders everywhere lacing up a pair of hightops.  Dad hats have been in vogue as well- spurred in part by Sky High’s limited release of a few different dad hats, and by secondhand shoppers everywhere. Or maybe it was an attempt to pull off the “dad bod” everyone was talking about like eight months ago. Clothing trends do stay for quite a while so I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of dad-fashion continuing into 2016.

2. The Sex Change

Probably my least favorite trend of 2015 has been the on purpose sex change.  Into grinds, out of grinds, in spins, kids everywhere do them as if it adds any real value to a trick.  These Caitlyn Jenners, as I call them, require little to no skill.  It’s fine if you think they’re fun to do, but don’t act like a boardslide to sexchange out is any cooler than a plain boardslide.  It’s a gimmick, and will surely die out.  I have to admit though, Brian Chavez’s half cab sexchange to switch front board was an amazing use of a sexchange. Will it continue on in the new year? I’d say it’ll mostly die out, but keep living on through at least a few people.

3. The Feebzer

Nathan Flemongo ia Root Industries

Already the topic of many discussions were “feebzer/hanger/feeble” and their smith counterparts.  Tying into the “zeach” as well, the merit and actual existence of these tricks were debated widely over Instagram and Facebook.  Regardless of what you call em, it seems these are here to stay.  Lets hope the conversations about them are over, now that we semi-officially have proper names for them.

4. The Full Whip

this trick wood b kooler if I tagged sum real pros #skyhighscooters #forefrontsupply

A video posted by Lanky Lenny (@jimmynachtigal) on Oct 12, 2015 at 2:22pm PDT

Yet another trick with a big year is the full whip.  Full whips have been utilized by a few riders for years, but it wasn’t until the past couple years that the average rider started throwing them.  We’ve seen them thrown into feebles, 50s, out of grinds, manuals, in spins, in flat combos, switch...it even has its own hashtag, #fullwhipfam. Don’t expect to see these lose popularity anytime soon, they’ve definitely become a bread and butter trick.

5. Rider Owned Companies

A big growth in rider owned companies also highlighted this past year- out of the UK, companies like Elite and Revolution made waves on Instagram, especially after arriving in the US due to another new rider owned company, a distribution called Forefront Supply. Established rider owned companies like TSI, Proto, and Tilt had huge years as well- TSI moving into a new shop, releasing the Paramount, generally being the street deck of choice, Proto with the Intermission video dropping, as well as finally putting out the Orion deck, and of course Tilt with Tilt2 and all the new parts they produced.  Affinity has grown by leaps and bounds as well, producing one of the best T-bars right here in the USA.  Have to mention Hellagrip too, easily the most-ridden griptape out there. I'm definitely missing some here, but make no mistake, these companies will continue to flourish in 2016.

6. Rise of Crews/Crew Videos

@fatcatsruleall dropped a dope full length "DC Diaries" this weekend. Scope it on Inside now. #FatCatCrew

A video posted by Inside Scooters (@insidescoot) on Sep 9, 2015 at 2:05pm PDT

So while we saw big videos from manufacturers, crews/crew videos made a splash this year too.  “Whats Hillary Duff Doing?”, the DC Diaries, Cuff Crew, Michigangg, Chi Guys, who could forget Friendly’s LUX finally being released, the list goes on, but it’s been awesome seeing riders come together to produce content without the backing of a real company.  These are the core dudes doing it for the love of riding, so I hope this trend only continues into the new year.

7. Webisodes

Thumbnail Via Capron and Corey Funk's Youtube

A few scooter riders started making webisodes this year.  In a time where riders have more followers than their own sponsors, it’s been becoming less important to make actual edits and instead project a lifestyle out there that the scooter market (young kids) can relate to. Lucky’s Tanner Fox has found huge success with his webisodes, currently sitting at over 200k subscribers to his Youtube. These webisodes document the day to day life of scooter riders- from chilling around at home, riding hoverboards, going to the park, and generally just dicking around. The kids love it. This is so far fairly contained to SoCal riders, but as more realize the importance of connecting with their audience in a way that plain riding videos can’t achieve, We've already seen Jake Hershey take a more mature approach via his "Mondaze" series, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty more webisodes in 2016.

8. Overall Progression

Decided to mix it up tonight with a Cashroll Tailwhip! #nitrocircus #utah #scooter #fun #mixingitup #cashroll #tailwhip #1showleft

A video posted by Ryan Williams (@rwillyofficial) on Nov 20, 2015 at 10:06pm PST

The best trend, however, has to be the continued progression of scootering in general.  People are doing pegless tricks like nothing, and pushing what can be done on various obstacles.  One of the coolest spots people have hit this year are wall-rails.  These are perfect for inside 50s, and 2015 has seen a lot of crazy wall-rail variations.  On the park side of things, you got dudes throwing 540 double flairs and insane tricks over the mega (shoutout to Rwilly).  It’s getting so hard to keep up, with people dropping bangers on Instagram like it’s nothing (“chill clips”). This is another trend I’m sure will keep going!

Honorable mentions: 5050 grinds, loose scooters, foot fenders, bs half cab manual fs 180, using Hollowsquad/Xavier Wulf/Bones in videos, charging 500 bucks to make an edit, and talking shit on the internet.

2013 Scooter Trends

Another year has come and gone.  Scooters have continued to progress in multiple ways, from Ryan Williams pushing the limits on the Nitro Circus, to new, innovative products being designed, to more and more riders taking filming seriously.  As in any other year, certain trends have emerged from the wildly diverse scooter world.  Some may pass into 2014, others may not.  This is a short list of a few of the trends I thought were the biggest.  Keep in mind that this isn’t a “best” list, nor a “worst,” just what I found to be popular in scootering over the past year.

-Starting a “Crew”

There have always been different crews of riders in scootering, but most of them were of OG riders who all eventually parted ways, to go on with life or a pro career.  I think the first crew to really set off the new generation was Friendly.  These guys were affiliated only by friendship, rather than because they were sponsored by the same company.   The pictures and videos they’ve dropped show how fun scootering can be.  2013 saw full lengths and other montages by more crews than I could name.  Do I think it’s necessary for a group of friends to call themselves some fruity name?  No.  But do I back the time and effort they put into making videos?  You bet.  Peachy, Concrete, Trend, Basic, Venture, Kooky, Funky…the list goes on.  So while the number of scooter crews got bigger, so did something else…

-Big Scooters.

There was a time when having tall bars made you wack.  In 2013, if your bars were less than sack height, you might be considered the odd man out.  The bar height trend is directly related to deck size too.  Demand for bigger, more comfortable decks increased, and to compensate, bar height was raised.  There are still plenty of shorter decks for the younger, smaller guys out there, but with the advent of decks like the 22 inch Threshold, more and more riders are opting to upgrade their size.  And why wouldn’t you?  Girls love a big deck. 

-Handrail Hucking.

Over the years, there’s only been a handful of riders willing to toss themselves down gnarly rails.  But over the past year, we’ve seen tons of younger riders on the come up, looking to prove themselves.  The result?  Thrashing unlike what we’ve ever seen before.  It was just a matter of time before we started to ride handrails on a more regular basis, but the progression we’ve seen over the past year is remarkable.  Who would have thought that Zack Martin, a relative unknown until 8 months ago, would be backlipping Rincon?  We all know Jessee Ikedah is on another level, but his peg abilities down rails are unrivaled.  And let’s not forget Mr. Backlip himself, Tyler Bradley.  Anyone can wildly huck themselves, but when you watch T-Brad ride, he makes it look so easy and natural.  I could keep going.

-S4S

This is one of the more annoying trends I’ve seen.  Instagram is my favorite social network.  It’s extremely popular among scooter kids, and mostly everyone under the age of 30.  It allows you to share your pictures, short video clips, and connect with those of similar interests.  Many riders instead choose to use it as a popularity contest.  Giving shoutouts in return for shoutouts to gain followers…it wouldn’t be so bad if it was only once or twice, but there are riders perpetually doing this.  This type of thing has been going on for years (remember the sub4sub comments on Youtube?), but that doesn’t make it any less wack.  Ya’ll be thirsty.

-“Trippy” Editing

You all remember the film burn.  Popularized by the likes of Nickeh, it was imitated by a legion of aspiring filmers and editors across the world.  This year the cool thing to do was adding in trippy visuals with a psychedelic song.  Nobody did it quite like clothing company Satori did.  Of course, you can say they just copied skateboarding’s Pyramid Country/Palace, but they were the first to really do it successfully in scooters.  There was also another kind of “trippy” that swept across the scooter world.  Juicy J’s army of codeine fueled riders produced more videos than I could count.  This wasn’t the only trend in video editing either…

-Old Movie B-Roll

To add onto this, we also saw a lot of videos with footage from old movies as b-roll.  This originally seemed like a cool idea- Tyler Wheeland’s Nimbus fork edit featured pictures from WWII because Tyler has always been interested in wars.  And McKeen’s Addict So What part had a lot of footage from old b-list horror movies, and it felt like it fit the vibe of the part.  I’m not sure if the same could be said for a lot of the videos of 2013.  It’s different when you’re bombarded with images that you have no idea what their relevance is to the rider.  But kudos for trying. 

-Fashion

I wasn’t going to include this one after discussing the topic so thoroughly in my last article, but there were some aspects I didn’t include.  A lot of guys, myself included, have been into dressing nicely over the past year.  I do it because I think it’s good to look good, others because they are so “into fashion”.  White button ups, dress pants, parted hair, it’s all a part of the look.  Some have even gone so far as to start tucking in their shirt. The fashion trend seems to have kept mostly in the circle of OG “street elitists” but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it more widespread over the next year.  Insert Dylan Rieder comment here.

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So there you have it, a list of what stuck out to me as the biggest scooter trends of 2013.  Honorable mentions include:  The myth of the Tilt wheels, crewnecks, standard definition, Miley Cyrus, hurricane fullcabs, drinking, motorcycles, and kickless rewinds.   Agree?  Drop a comment and let me know.  Disagree?  Drop a comment so I can delete it.   

Zach Martin Promo

This is about to be sick as hell.  Zach has gotten so good.  Full video drops 12/8/2013.

Zach Martin- Trend

Zach is part of the "Trendy" crew from SD and he kills it.  Lots of gnarly stuff in here.  Best clip was at 4:15, shoulda been his ender!  Don't get me wrong though, the ender was super dope too.  Hyped on this edit.