As I mentioned in the introduction, 1975 was a pivotal year for me regarding skateboarding. But the truth is that in 1974 I first witnessed a skateboarder skateboarding. I was visiting family in Brighton, a seaside town on the English coast. It’s extraordinary that 50 years later, the image of a skater riding on the pier is firmly etched in my brain. Witnessing this skater ride so naturally was absolutely captivating.
Another critical memory from 1974 is Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. Like most 10-year-olds, I wasn’t politically aware of this, but I knew it was a big deal. I kept hearing about it on the radio. I recall watching the television, Nixon saying goodbye and then leaving the White House via helicopter. When you look at Nixon’s transgressions, they seem pretty tame compared to what some politicians get away with nowadays. But I’ll save that rant for another chapter!
Skateboarding had experienced its first big boom in the 1960s. When it went bust, it did so because of clay wheels. They were very slippery, bone-jarring and extremely dangerous when they hit even the slightest crack or pebble. How do I know this? The first board I had must have been deadstock from the 1960s. They were selling quite cheaply compared to the boards with urethane wheels. I wound up with clay wheels on my board to save $10 (the equivalent of $58 in 2025). Like most parents, my father was unsure that my newfound passion for skateboarding would stick. Hence, cost played a significant factor in his purchasing decision. As much as I wanted urethane, I wasn’t holding the purse strings - my father was!
If they do some research, most skaters will come across the name Frank Nasworthy. He is credited for creating the skateboard wheel. There is no doubt that skaters everywhere owe Frank a debt of gratitude for his promotion of Cadillac Wheels. Beginning in 1971, it took Frank three years of intense work to get things rolling. He started in his hometown of Leucadia, California and word of mouth soon spread.
But what is less known is Hobie Alter and the history of one of the biggest skate companies in the 1960s - VitaPakt. In 1965, Hobie was approached by a company called American Latex. The son of the company’s president was a surfer and skater. He had cast a set of urethane wheels and machined their surface. Hobie remembers dropping in the bearings and putting them on a board.
“I took them out to let some of our pro riders try them. Their response was immediate — they thought the wheels were fantastic.”
Hobie then went to the executives at Vita-Pakt with the idea for the urethane wheels. However, they were unwilling to market the concept because they felt the skateboard price would be too high. At the time, Hobie Super Surfers retailed for under 20 dollars, and by adding urethane wheels, the price would have more than doubled. This means a skateboard with urethane wheels in 1965 would have retailed for about $230 (in 2025 dollars). This figure correlates with what you can pay for a pretty good complete right now. Skateboards offer excellent value for money when you view them both through the lens of how much joy they bring and that retail pricing has remained relatively static.
Despite the fact I was stuck with crappy clay wheels, I still managed to have fun. But I implore anyone reading this and looking at getting into skateboarding to invest in a set of good-quality wheels. The deck and trucks pale in comparison relative to the importance of how the wheels feel as you glide over asphalt and cement.
Frank Nasworthy didn’t just gain fame as the person to help relaunch skateboarding’s second boom. Thanks to his relentless energy in promoting skateboarding, he was a key player in producing the Bahne-Cadillac contest that featured the infamous Z-Boys skateboard team.
I had an opportunity to interview Frank for my book The Concrete Wave - The History of Skateboarding. What is even more remarkable about his influence on skateboarding is his contribution to the world of office equipment. While working at Hewlett Packard, Frank helped design the first wide-format thermal inkjet printer. He holds several patents in paper handling, too. One of my favourite skate memories is when my magazine (Concrete Wave) hosted an event in Carlsbad, California. The venue was just down the road from where he lived, and I decided to invite him and surprise him with an award. This was before a Skateboarding Hall of Fame, and Frank was quite stunned to be called up to receive his recognition.
There is a saying that geography is destiny, but demography is also destiny. If you were born in the 1950s, there’s a good chance that you had a skateboard. Over 50 million were sold at that time. Unfortunately, they all came with clay wheels. One little tweak - introducing the urethane wheel was all needed to get things rolling again. In hindsight, it seems so simple. But the truth is it took five years before the boom really started to hit.
I have two thoughts about this:
As someone from the Gen X cohort, I will acknowledge the Baby Boomers were definitely riding skateboards before us. However, because they were riding horrendous clay wheels, I am sure many didn’t return to skateboarding a decade or so later. This is a shame because they missed out on an incredible opportunity to experience the joy of grippy urethane. So let this be a lesson for every generation: sometimes, first isn’t always best. Sometimes, it takes time to get the formula right.
The other thing I’d like to point out is never forget the power of an idea whose time has come combined with someone who has unbridled passion. Frank Nasworthy was one person. But the world changed when he combined his technical insights with his skate stoke.
A story from Sports Illustrated -1975 documented the rebirth of skateboarding.
https://vault.si.com/vault/1975/09/01/wheeling-and-dealing
If you’d like to know more about the history of the urethane skateboard wheel, have a peek at the excerpt from my book here:
https://www.surfertoday.com/skateboarding/how-skateboard-wheels-went-from-clay-to-urethane
Fascinating article from The San Diego Reader about Frank and a host of other key people involved with skateboarding. First published in 1984.
https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1984/feb/23/cover-shred-till-youre-dead/
In 2020, Frank got into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.
https://skateboardinghalloffame.org/shof-2012/frank-nasworthy-2012/