Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: BREAK IN PERIOD (Good rating means it doesn’t take long to break in)
Rating: SOLE DURABILITY
Rating: UPPER DURABILITY
Rating: STYLE
Rating: OVERALL

My first shoe review in awhile. The Adidas City Cup cupsole shoe. This is one of those shoes that’s incredibly close to being perfect, but the negatives are quite bad. First the good. It’s one of the most comfortable shoes ever. Great shape, sole thickness, board feel, grip. There are really only two negatives, but as you can see they are huge. First is the durability. That toe piece wore out real quick and there is nothing under it. The other negative is there is quite a bit of heel lift. It’s not so bad on normal skating, but I found heelflips to be impossible in these shoes. So overall, if you don’t have razor toe like me and don’t do heelflips this might be a great shoe for you.

On a nice sunny morning where clouds rolled in quick I met Rob at the mellow Valmont bank. We started with some carvy 360s, no complies, nollie shoves, nosestalls on the side curb. I got a second try kickflip to fakie. Rob had a pretty epic primo slam a couple tries later. Rob had no comply bigspin. I did a few of my basic flippers. Rob did a sick front tail to fakie on the side curb, wallie nollie turn around on the side wall. I got a sketch axle stall on the side and then we left to go back to my house to meet Dave at the school. He had waxed up the main top section. He was doing super long slappy noseslides and lining out 180s off the curb cuts and cabs on flat. I was able to get the backside slappy up onto the curb pretty quick this time. It felt nice. Rob had some struggles going, but still managed some great back 50s. One with a no comply out. I couldn’t get up on a frontside slappy for the longest time. Dave had several slappy crook shoves and almost lined one out with a switch crook shove. I was doing a lot of kickflips. This time got the line of kickflip off curb, kickflip up curb, kickflip into the curb cut, backside slappy. Felt fun. Dave was doing 180s out of the curb cuts the hard way. Rob had focused his board and was chilling. I got a few slappy front crooks. They didn’t grind far and I didn’t ride out of them well, but I managed to follow one with a little treflip out of the curb cut. That was the highlight for me, felt good to be trying hard.

(setup 8.5″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 379 brown/gum size 12, nb# westgate insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

On a warm day I picked up Kevin, made a run to Emage then ended up at York St to meet Cass. It felt very hot and bright when we got there. Luckily some clouds would come in from time to time and keep it from being too hot. After an initial period of dorking around (for me that is, Kevin’s warm up is to 50 every ledge first try) we skated the manny pad area. I had a first try nose manual. Man the big setup feels great for manuals. Kevin and Cass were doing tricks up the little angle iron ledge then off the manny pad. I had started to shy away from it as the narrowness scares me. But I want to be able to skate the same ledges as others so I forced myself to front 50 up it. I did it so slow and sketchy, but Cass loved it. Ha. Kevin had done the 5-0 then noseblunt right out of the gate. I think he had done 50, 5-0, tail and nosegrind first try. We all did front noseslides up it. Cass locks in so good Jason would be proud. Kevin got a good one too. I had a sketchy one or two that slid out. My switch ollie up then switch front noseslide was fun. I did a fakie flip after, but Kevin had panned away. Went back for the fakie flip and slammed in a fun way. Kevin was trying noseblunt to fakie for a long time and I started posing front 5-0s on the out ledge. I know it looks like nothing, but I haven’t 5-0d anything like that in a long time. It felt really cool to try it. Kevin ended up giving up on noseblunt to fakie and got a first try front blunt. It was so sick. I had tried a few kickflips up too, one turned into a weckable kickflip manual, most I didn’t land. I would get the 5-0. As you can see it wasn’t pretty, but man it felt really cool. That was the end of the session. Then we hit 303 then ate and drank while watching the Nuggets. Fun times.

(setup 8.5″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 379 brown/gum size 12, thin rubbery adidas insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

After dinner I went across the street for a short session. I wanted to do some slappies, but there was some kid learning to bike and he kept following me ringing his bell like an idiot. So I went over to the regular non-painted section. It ended up being super fun. I was feeling a little better physically. I had slappy crooks, slappy front crooks, back 50s, back 50 back 180 out for the first time in awhile, front 5-0, front 50 back 180, front tails. First try 360 flip, halfcab flip. I haven’t been skating flatground much lately, but those two were fun. I went in on fakie nosegrind 180 out. I technically got a couple, but they were really weak. It was fun trying it though.

(setup 8.5″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 379 brown/gum size 12, thin adidas insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Still feeling incredibly tired and sore on a nice night Saul wanted to check out the freshly painted curbs across the street. I couldn’t refuse. Ed joined as did some kids learning to bike. Ha. I think Saul nailed like 10 perfect backside slappies to start the session. He seriously does them so good. Ed started going frontside because he’s so good at those. We found one section that grinded better than the rest and mostly stuck with it. Had some fun lines with the curb cuts doing kickflips and 180s to the parking lot. I finally got some slappies up on the curb. They were nothing like Saul’s though. Ed had some good 180s off the curb cuts. This spot has so much line potential. I was so tired, but it was a really fun session. It rules having such a good spot across the street.

(setup 8.5″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 379 brown/gum size 12, thin adidas insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Man I’m a glutton for punishment. On a nice night I went to Douglass with some new shoes (NB 379s). As soon as I set my board down I knew my body was not working well. My legs felt numb and lethargic. I had no spring whatsoever. Great place to be for no pop. I started on the side with the curb high ledge. Even that felt hard to 50 initially. Ugh. I think I’ll just say the whole session sucked. I moved over to the taller bench area. I didn’t get any front 50s, although I do think I learned a little about what is wrong with my technique. The positives from the session were a few ollies onto the bench, one with a 180 off, one of the best fakie flips I’ve ever done on flat, one crooks that felt better than most, kickflip up the weird curb. It was very tough session, but considering how terrible my body felt I think I should be happy that I was able to skate at all.

(setup 8.5″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 379 brown/gum size 12, thin adidas insoles)
(pain level 5/10 mostly just numb/exhausted legs)

After a run to 303 I went skating on a really nice night. I felt like skating some random spots since I never seem to do that anymore. So I parked near Hazel and walked/pushed around for awhile. Had a fun little hill bomb into a garage. Checked out a couple things and ended up at this bench I’ve skated a couple times before. It was taller than I remembered and the cracks were infinitely worse than I remember. It took me awhile to work up the courage to boardslide it. Noseslides didn’t go as well as I had hoped. Crooks happened quick, but I couldn’t get a good one up on top. I didn’t skate it frontside because there was people working in the window where you would start. I cruised/walked around some more and hit a little gap Jason and I probably skated 20 years ago. It was over a curb and down about a 3 stair height drop. It took me a couple more tries than I wanted it to, but it was still fun. That was it for me. No flatground which is kinda weak, but whatever I had fun skating some random.

(setup 8.5″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 11.5 with rubbery sti insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

On a nice morning I went over to the school with Ollie. We started on the curb. I had a few fun 50s and a great feeling front 5-0. Ollie followed me and did a nollie front tail. That was cool. I was sore and not wanting to do a whole lot so we started dorking around at this sign. We ended up being there for quite some time and it was so much fun. I don’t know how to document the tricks because they were so silly. Manuals while holding on to the poll were fun. Ollie was the first to get his board to the fence and back. Then he added the 360. So awesome. I had a no comply to tail, hold onto the poll shove back to tail. We were laughing. Sean showed up. Ollie took off and Sean and I played a game of curb SKATE. It was also fun. Lots of different axle stalls. Sean had the fakie and nollie ones to get me. I was happy to get a kicfklip axle stall to not get a letter. Also front nosepick to disaster to smith. We did backside nosepick to disaster to sugarcane too. Then it was off to Wilville. Ollie and Gabe joined us. Gabe can kickflip up curbs now. I did a couple manuals/nose manuals in before filming for awhile. Sean had a nice kickflip nose manual. Then I filmed Sean for a bit before an intense wind came in and ruined everything. We dorked around for awhile. Basically I just felt old and fell doing dumb stuff. Ollie, Gabe and Sean had fun doing some dorking.

(setup 8.5″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 11.5 with rubbery sti insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

On a snowy morning Kevin and I went to 303 and then the sun came out and we went to Douglass. Some great people would join. Rob was there before us. Jack, Carleigh, Sean shortly after. Matt & Ed much later. I don’t really know where to begin on this one as so much was happening. Kevin, Rob and I were doing the line thing starting in the parking lot. Kevin front 50d the ledge first try. Rob got me hyped to do a no comply up the curb which felt extra rewarding. I went and messed around on the side for awhile. Almost got killed by a pit bull, but the owner saved me and left. I had fun run of kickflip the micro hip, 50 the micro ledge, 50 the somewhat taller ledge that Sean gapped out of. I thought I was ready for the big ledges and went and joined everyone. Jack was killing the ledge. I unknowingly joined a requirement to do noseslide to fakie. Rob was doing them in lines with fakie bigspins. Carleigh was getting them on the bench and doing kickflips. Kevin was doing tricks like front nosegrind, front tail, super good crooks, heelflips, nollie flips, ripping. Sean was chilling for awhile initially, but still able to do 50 then manual then nosebonk like it was nothing. Oh yeah, Kevin did a bunch of wallies in a row. I was struggling with halfcab flips and I blame the Adidas 3sts I was skating. Then I settled in on trying to 50 a bench. As Jack was doing 8 foot long back tails, crooks, bluntslides, nosegrinds, etc etc I just kept trying 50s. I almost got it second try, but then it was another hour or so before I would get it. It was such a struggle mentally. I was very close to focusing my board at times. But I knew that I would feel terrible all night if I didn’t go until I got it. When I landed the 50 it did feel great. I got it a few tries after just ollieing onto the ledge for some confidence. Note to self, ollie onto the ledge first! Anyway, I don’t remember much from myself after that. Kevin was still going strong as was Jack. Bluntslide to manual kickflip out, nose manual to nose manual to shove out. Sean had awoke and did the line above in like two tries. Matt 50’d the ledges first try both ways. His back 50s look so good. He took a bit to get back tail. At least he agreed the ledges are tall there. I didn’t see Ed skate much. Him, Carleigh and Rob were on the lower side ledge while I was battling the 50. I was still stoked to see him. Fun day even if the 50 was a struggle. That night at Holidaily was fun too. I am so fortunate to have such great friends.

(setup 8.5″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, adidas 3st 003 for awhile then NB# 212)
(pain level 4/10)

On a cold and dreary day Dave picked me up and we left for Broomfield. When we got there the sun was out and the temp was warm. Nice! Jack and Simon were there already. It was mellow for awhile. Jack had a nice no comply to tail on the brick qp. It was good seeing Simon rip again. He’s so good. He had fakie ollies on the steep bank, impossible out of the mellow bank. I had a fun line of boardslide the black ledge, rock fakie the brick qp, switch noseslide black ledge, kickflip out of the bank. It just felt good. Dave had boardslide to fakie, halfcab noseslide, nollie into the bank. Simon started going off. High speed back 50 up the blue bank to quick front nosegrind the black ledge. I got a 360 flip out of the bank. Simon wanted in. He took awhile, relearned them on flat then got one out of the bank. Dave was trying them too and they looked close. Jack was casually killing as he always does. Nosegrind the rail, back 180 fakie manual halfcab out, nosepick the brick qp, cab nosegrind, halfcab nosegrind shove out!!! I hit the six stair with Jack for a bit. It’s been a long time since I’ve tried to ollie it. I bailed a few then realized I needed to line it out for motivation. I got front 50, tre bomb out of the bank, then ollied the six. It was the worst ollie ever. Like I totally intended to bail, but at the last moment just kept it. I don’t even know if I ollied actually, I may have just rode off it. Oh well. I feel like my style is getting way worse these days. Dave was doing some long lines. Back tail to fakie on the quartapotty, switch back 180, kickflip, nose manual the black box, board stall transfer the little rail. He also had some sick fakie shove taiils on the hump and bluntslides. Simon relearned back nosegrinds then did nosegrind back 180. Whoa. Jack had some noce back nosegrind pop outs, crooks transfer the brown ledge, nollie one foot back smith by request. I couldn’t do a front nosegrind. I started messing around with sweepers which I’ve never done on transition before. As you can see I kind of got it. I did a few like that, but Dave needed to go so maybe next time I’ll get a clean one. Fun session.

(setup 8.5″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 379 all black size 12, super thin adidas insoles)
(pain level 2/10 before the bonk)