All Hail the Rail!
With the recent rise in popularity of re-issue decks, shaped boards and all things nostalgic for us now-middle-aged and older skaters, has brought back to the fore the rail! In the 80s, your setup wasn’t complete without a set of rails. Rails were how you got longer slides on coping, whether it was pool or vert, or hand rails and parking curbs for those inclined to hit the streets. Wax is what we put in our hair, not on objects we skated!
And then the 90s happened and all of a sudden it was no longer cool to rock the rails. Vert was dead and technical street tricks were in. To skate like Daewon or Rodney, you needed your board to be as light as possible - hence the narrower pops and bearing covers, I mean wheels, becoming the only option in skate shops. From 1992 till ’03, I don’t recall seeing a shape other than popsicle or a wheel size bigger than 54mm. Even vert OGs like Tony Hawk and Mike Crum ditched the rails in favor of lighter set ups.
Besides helping with slides, rails can also come in handy with grabs. Again, with the emergence of all things old-school is the rise in old-school tricks, a number which incorporate some form of board grab. Instead of grabbing at a thin deck, rails provide a “lip” which makes for an easier grip!
So what is the ideal placement of rails on your deck? If you’re on a deck with shallow or no concave (much like a lot of the Powell-Peralta reissues), add the rails to edge on each side. For those boards with a deeper concave, consider placing the rails closer to the middle - this will give greater contact with the rails when you’re sliding. Some people even swear by just using one rail on the side that they typically face when sliding.
There are a number of companies dedicated to the rails and our favorites come from Li’l Jawns. The owner, Corey Littlejohn, was inspired by Paul Schmitt’s Nine Club episode, where he described how he crafted the original Schmitt Stix and realized that he had the same material at his fabrication shop. At first, Corey just made rails for himself and friends, but then got hooked up with Chub Cruisers and from there, his rails are now all over the US, in various skate shops and with riders who appreciate a smooth slide on a curb, coping or hand rail.
So if you’re putting the finishing touches on an old-school setup or just wanting to slide without having to remember skate wax, break out a set of rails and set sliding!
