Skateboarding Shoes
Passionate lovers of the sport of skateboarding know how important it is to have a good pair of skateboarding shoes before making those Ollies into the air.
The difference between regular and skateboarding shoes
Ordinary sneakers are often manufactured to provide grip and protection to the feet for a variety of situations. This is why regular rubber shoes or sports shoes are heavier and less flexible. Skateboarding requires both flexibility and durability- it’s difficult to control a gliding skateboard with heavy, non-flexible shoes.
Skateboarding shoes are streamlined in design- take for example the Adidas Campus Vulc shoes and the Adidas Ciero Mid shoes. They’re lightweight and yet they are big enough to protect the feet and the ankles of the skateboarder.
The basic design of a skateboarding shoe is “low cut”, meaning the shoe should not interfere with the basic movement of the feet as it flexes while skating. Most skaters that use heavier rubber shoes find it hard to compensate for the extra weight during difficult tricks.
Also, heavier shoes do not allow a person to flip boards quickly- a necessary skill in basic skateboarding.
Popular brands
There are around 25 popular brands of skateboarding shoes in the market today. On the Internet, skateboarding shoes are available through online retailers, from the manufacturers themselves and through other smaller resellers.
Adidas skateboarding shoes are one of the most popular, given that the brand name is already well established. The most recent additions to their skateboarding shoe line up include the following:
- Adidas Superstar- retailed for about $50
- Adidas Roster Mid Shoes- the most expensive, retailed for about $60
Adio shoes on the other hand, are heavier and bigger variants of the skateboarding shoe. Recent models, which include the Adio Rukus and the Adio Hamilton V2 are larger than Adidas shoes. Adio shoes are also less streamlined, but emphasize comfort, as the lining of the shoes is denser giving more cushioning during impact.
DC Shoes on the other hand is another big contender in the skateboarding shoe industry. The designs are similar to Adio shoes, and yet, anecdotal reports state that DC shoes last longer than regular skateboarding shoes. This might be true, as different manufacturers use different materials during the creation of these shoes. DC Shoes retail from about $35 to $65.
The most popular models in the DC Shoe lineup include the DC Chase Shoes (black), the DC Command Shoes (white) and the white variant of the DC Command Shoes. Less expensive shoes like the DC Smith 2.0 ($40) are on sale in most online retailers.