Street Swell

Custom Boards

2011-11-08T19:46:00.001-08:00

The process of making a custom board has a lot of different elements. We do not want to simply be.. “Sign Makers”.. although we have fallen victim to that in the past. We want to create something that first and foremost represents our clients but secondly shows a bit of our souls……and we have many. Joel puts my crazy thoughts into a format that is much improved and can be produced, while mixing a lot of his own crazy thoughts in the process. Alex takes that information and makes it three dimensional and real. Fernando brings it all to life through the mastery of his finishing talents and John, my dad, delivers it…..every time!

When the BoardLife mentioned “The Gov” project, I was both terrified and excited at the prospect and the challenge. Man I wanted to do this project…..but how to make a longboard worthy of the office of Governor was intimidating to say the least. So I came up with the state seal concept…..much to Joel’s dismay. We had incorporated inlaying in our new line of decks for several months but inlaying the Colorado state seal was enough to drive everyone to drink. This was to be a surprise so calling the capital and asking for an esp. file of the seal was not an option. Joel had to recreate it from scratch. I think it was worth the effort.

4 router bits ……..and some blood sweat and tears later we came up with what I think is a pretty cool inlay and board design. The woods incorporated in the board where all hand picked at our hard wood supplier in San Diego. Walnut, Lace Wood, and Curly Maple coming to life in something that gives pleasure not only visually but also physically. This board is totally rip-able. It was an honor and a privilege to create something commissioned by a great client for an honorable office. We look forward to the next great challenge…….and building another great longboard.

We like Wood!!

2011-10-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

So last November a dear friend of mine said I should check out this company that makes wood bikes..........I always do what my friend says. Renovo Bikes is what I found. I gave Ken a call and said i want something kind of one-off for Street Swell. He was more than willing to accommodate. What I now have is the first bike I've ever had that will never be for sale...take a look and tell me what you think.

When building the bike up I enlisted my long time friend and bike shop owner Frank Mitchell of Moontime Cycles in Edwards Coloarado I told Frank I wanted to make this thing the coolest bike around and I had to have gold parts. Together we came up with parts from Chris King, Formula, Exotic, Phil Wood and Ergon to name a few.

What I ended up with is one of the sweetest looking 21lbs Single speeds around......and it rides like a dream. I am blown away at how responsive and comfortable it is.

Now we have a bike to take to shows that totally compliments our longboards and again proves its hard to improve on nature.

Well done Renovo....well done!

All Photos shot by my bro Joel, check him out at Joel Cummins Photography

2012 Street Swell Rocket Marathon

2011-10-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

You want a board that you can kick to work........go rip a hill and then compete in a 26 mile push race..........you got it!!

Breast Cancer Awareness

2011-10-07T17:11:00.000-07:00

Once in a while you get to do something that is about others and not yourself. We spend a majority of our time trying to create boards that do one of two things….give us esthetic pleasure or create revenue . This board is beyond those things…..it was just the right thing to do. In 2010 breast cancer was diagnosed in over 200,000 Americans with a portion of those being men. Our little longboard will not change that….but if we all give a little maybe someday we will find a cure. Building this board was an honor and a privilege.

To bid on this board come to the Breast Cancer Awareness event at the Gore Range Brewery on Monday October 10th, 2011 at the Gore Range Brewery from 6 to 9. Together in small efforts we can make a difference.

2012 Street Swell Cruise Zulu

2011-10-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick little video highlighting some of the features on the 2012 Cruise Zulu

Rock'n at Teva Mountain Games

2010-06-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

Street Swell riders rip at Teva. Courtney Gregory takes first in men’s single speed, Lisa Poole and Sarah Baskins take 2nd and 3rd in women’s single speed. Great showings by Alex Colman 4th single speed and Paul Gorbold 4th men’s expert…….I’m so dammed proud. Both Ryan Cantrell and Jason Platt did the 4 event mountai...n challenge with great results. The Irishmen Ronan Murray had a strong showing in mens masters. Well done!!

The Rocket

2010-05-19T10:50:00.001-07:00

For years we have wanted to offer a board that would fit a more moderate budget but still have that Street Swell feel. It’s finally here. Introducing The Rocket, a 44” pintail that fits the bill. We use an 8 ply maple core and send it to our finishers where they work their magic. We have chosen the cherry sunburst finish for this board as on the Daisy Cutter. An integrated grip top and the Street Swell mark carved into the bottom insure there is no mistaking this for just another plywood deck. We finished the Rocket with Paris 180 trucks, Seismic Avalon 68mm/80a wheels and abec 7 bearings. Scheduled to be priced complete at well under 200 bucks, the Rocket is sure to be a hit. The Rocket will be on hand at the Teva Mountain Games so make sure to stop by the booth and check them out.

2010-04-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

Its official, Street Swell will again have a tent at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail Colorado June 3rd thru the 6th. Take the monstrous Daisy Cutter for a paddle as well as ride some of our sweet boards like the new Cruise Zulu.. We will have discounted pricing on all of our boards and other Street Swell products. Come... and check out all of yummy goodness the Teva Mountain Games have to offer.

New T's

2010-02-22T09:08:00.001-08:00

On the heels of fashion week we are releasing 3 new t-shirts designs to keep you all from running around half naked. The Louis, The Bruce and The Clyde will be available on line in the upcoming weeks. These T’s are made with a soft 100% 5oz preshrunk cotton. They have a slightly tailored fit compared to our standard Beefy T. You are going to love these, I won’t take mine off! By the way, we did not really go to fashion week.

Daisy Cutter

2010-02-15T13:39:00.000-08:00

A new finish for the monstrous Daisy Cutter. Can you say Cherry Sunburst? When Les Paul died I told our finishers I thought it would be fun do something reminiscent of a classic Gibson Les Paul guitar. This is what they came up with and I think it is way cool. The top and bottom have the classic cherry sunburst finish with the bottom engraving done in gold. In addition we have added gold risers for just the right amount of bling. Take one of these babies out and you may get more attention than Jimmy Page.

Cruise Zulu

2010-02-10T08:00:00.001-08:00

Just spent a great week in California visiting the ASR show, photographing new products and picking up the new 2010 Cruise Zulu boards. The boards are Beautiful and a blast to ride. The Zulu comes set up with Landyachtz Bear Grizzly 852 trucks and Seismic Speed Vent wheels for sticky hard carving ride.

Factory rider Diego H.

2009-11-10T13:43:00.001-08:00

Nigeria is full of kids that are not as fortunate as Diego who has loving parents and a great home. Please join us at the Art for Orphans show at our headquarters to support orphans and widows in West Africa. This Saturday 4-7pm Street Swell will be giving away a 2010 Cruise Zulu Longboard as well as tshirts hats and yes socks. Contact info@streetswell.com for more information and directions

Can't argue with God

2009-10-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Art for Orphans

2009-10-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

Street Swell is proud to sponsor an art show at our offices that benefits Go Nigeria a organization the helps widows and orphans help them selves. I think we all have a little to give especially in light of what we have been given. Please check out the artists site Rick Whittlesey as well as Go Nigeria's

My hands are cold

2009-10-07T09:43:00.001-07:00

The summer has come and gone and fall brings beautiful skies and crisp mornings. In Colorado, October marks the beginning of ski season as resorts aggressively race for “first to open” bragging rights and we all await the first huge dump. It’s a bitter sweet time for me as thoughts of snowboarding start interrupting my thoughts of skateboarding. I am trying to take advantage of every opportunity to skate because I know the end is near. This morning was one such opportunity. The temp was all of 32 degrees as I kicked through the empty streets of Vail, switching my coffee cup from hand to hand to help de-thaw my fingers. What a great way to start the day. Hope you all are taking advantage as well, spring is miles away.

Never to young

2009-10-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

This is Mia. Sponsors take note? Thanks for sharing. See longboarding is for everyone.

I love my job, but he loves his more.

2009-07-31T12:15:00.000-07:00

I have a freind that works for a company that gives out free kegs of beer...........and I thought I had a great job.

I'm Back

2009-07-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since I have posted but with good reason, the weather has been fantastic and I would rather be out skating the posting. I just returned from a trip to Portland Oregon to see my daughter. We started the weekend with a great BBQ and an evening of family style longboarding. I had the chance to send some boards out ahead of time so we had plenty to go around. Our host had a freshly paved road in front of his house with little to no traffic. It was a great chance for kids and adults that have never had the opportunity to longboard to give it a go. I think we made believers out of them. Next I was off to Sisters Oregon. We stayed in a gated resort called Black Butte. Although Black Butte rules made it clear they do not want skate boarders or skate boarding anywhere on the property we managed to sneak in several dusk runs without offending anyone. The trip ended with my daughter and me skating around the beautiful city of Portland a very skate friendly place. All in all a rock’n good time. Its always nice to be back in the Rockies though. Thanks for the Pics P-dog.

The selection

Butt Board King

NO, its my turn

P-dog ripp'n

A Clean Street is a Happy Street

Teva Games

2009-06-08T06:35:00.001-07:00

We just finished a great weekend at the Teva Games in Vail, Colorado. We had hundreds of people stop by to check out the boards and talk about longboarding. The highlight of the event was watching three New Zealanders’ paddling along on one of our Daisy Cutters and a Kahuna Big Stick. It was fun to expose people to the sport of Longboarding. If I had a nickel for every one that said “I used to skateboard when I was a kid” I would have a bunch of nickels. One of our goals is to get people back into a sport they all loved as a kid as well attracting new people to the sport. Sure selling some Street Swell boards would be nice too, but it doesn’t really matter what you are riding, as long as you are riding.

I'm so Loaded

2009-05-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

So today I heard that old familiar sound of the “what can brown do for you” diesel and like Pavlov’s dog…. or my dog for that matter my saliva glands kicked in. Could it be a new longboard deck? Much to my delight it was. A Loaded Dervish in a plain brown box was handed to me. It took all of 2 seconds to start the build, as it does with any new ride I get my hands on. I love our boards and nine times out of ten I will be riding a Street Swell but that doesn’t mean I can enjoy another companies vision. I set the dervish up with Paris 180 trucks, Abec 11 Gumballs and Panther abec 7 bearings. The Loaded is a flex machine, much different than what I am used to, but the thing was killer. In combination with the gumballs this was also a flip flop machine, not that I encourage that kind of blatant disregard for safety. It took little to no effort to crank turns even at the slowest of speeds, great when you are in traffic or on the “bike” path……..yeah right. The drop through truck mounting made kicking in flops a breeze because of the lowered deck height. AGAIN, not that I encourage that kind of blatant disregard for safety. This is a really fun board that I think it is a must for anyone’s collection. I hope you all know by now, you can’t have just one longboard. Well as always safety first and go for a ride, I am.

Rock on Les

2009-05-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

OK I am not from Vancouver so when it gets pissy out its time to go inside and fire up the creative juices, blog a bit and crack open a stout. We are going to release a new version of the Daisy Cutter in the next month or so. I don’t want to say too much but here is a hint.

I think it is going to be one of the coolest things we have done…………but I have had a few stouts. My brother Joel is the brain child of this beauty and if nothing else it will be a really fun project. It’s raining cats and dogs in Colorado but I don’t think it will stop me from taking a lead from my friends up north an go out for a cruise……….or slide, there may be no tomorrow.

News from the Buffalo Bill Downhill

2009-05-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

A very cool event, Justin did a fantastic job putting this together. Saturday was picture perfect with very little wind and a lot of sun. Skaters had most of the day to dial in this challenging course which consisted of 5 corners the last 4 coming back to back in hair pin fashion. Corner 2 saw riders enter at speeds in the 40mph+ range.

All of the practice came in handy for Sundays final which was hampered by rain and fog making for a slick and dangerous descent. The heats are groups of four with the top 2 finishers advancing to the next heat. At the end of the day Zack Maytum of boulder proved to be the fastest of them all. Must be those Venom bushings.
1st Place- Zak Maytum, Colorado
2nd Place- Louis Pilloni, California
3rd Place- Will Brunson, New Mexico
4th Place- Brian Elderkin, Canada
5th Place- Calvin Staub, Colorado
6th Place- Brian Holden, Colorado

Can't We All Just Get a Longboard?

2009-05-08T16:59:00.000-07:00

The Partial Quiver

So I am packing for the Buffalo Bill Downhill and it occurred to me I need to take boards. Well being a longboard company the first thought is how many Street Swell Boards can I cram into the Jeep. But then I start thinking “man the Landyachtz board would be fun on that hill” not that I ride like these guys. Then in a moment of St. Pauli Girl induced sentimentalism I realized how many cool board manufactures there are. I can’t think of any I am willing to give up. Hamboard, Landyachtz, Arbor and the board that started it for me, Sector Nine. And then there are the boards that I will buy in the future. Boards from Miramar, Honey , Never Summer and a lot of others. I guess the point to this rambling is longboarding is so cool and is here to stay. There are an endless list of great people in this sport, Ryan from Landyachtz, Rob from Skunktech crazy Bobby from Concrete wave, nick from Miramar,Kia from Silvervish the list goes on. The act of riding itself is very freeing and in a since cleansing. I look forward to a continued love affair with longboarding and building friendships with the characters it brings into my life.

Battle of the Zulu

2009-05-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the process of shaping a board can be……..well violent. My bro Joel did a nice job capturing part of that process. This board will soon be a Cruise Zulu, if it survives. This is one of the things that gets me really psyched about making boards , seeing all the raw elements turn into something spectacular.

The Cruise Zulu

Buffalo Bill Downhill

2009-05-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

Street Swell longboards is a proud sponsor of the Buffalo Bill Downhill held on Lookout Mountain in Golden Colorado this weekend May 9th and 10th. If you have never seen downhill skateboarding you need to check this out. These guys and gals are wacky!!

Converse CTS

2009-04-25T18:41:00.001-07:00

Anyone that knows me will tell you I am a Chuck Taylor guy. I have been since I can recall. I am still amused by the memory of my first pair. It was the eve of the opening day in first grade. My mother had taken me to the mall to get some last moment items; cigar box, #2 pencil and tennis shoes. I remember the look on the salesman’s face when I marched up to him and asked if they carried those “high heeled” sneakers. After several minutes of laughter sharing the moment with his sans-a-belt slacked sales cronies, one posed the question that brought of rush of blood to my face, “you mean high topped sneakers?” I hated those men. They were black, the shoes that is. I believe your only other choice at the time was white. I remember being so excited that night that I wore the new Chucks to bed. After a night of tossing and turning, I awakened wrapped tighter than King Tut. I digress; the point is Chucks have been my longboarding shoe of choice for years. I tried regular skate shoes but found them to bulky for extended push sessions. The down side to the original All Star is twofold. The first issue is the lack of support in the insole. After a 5 mile descent on Colorado chip seal I could not get to my flip flops fast enough. The second issue is the lack of padding in the tongue. Longboarding consists of kicking, breaking and carving. What can I say….pressure points happen? And then there is the thing the tongue does when it slides off the top of your foot and settles on the side of your foot………….enter Converse CTS.

When Nike purchased Converse I was one of the harshest critics. But then it occurred to me,……….I had friends at Nike. Moments after I saw the CTS “Chuck Taylor Skate” I was on line shopping. www.tactics.com is my online retailer of choice for skate and snowboard fair. But to my dismay they only had black and white………I bought them. Next I placed a call to my buddy at Nike. After a day of searching and some calls to his buddies at Converse he informed me that the black with the yellow runners where in the way. I love that man. When I received my much awaited package it contained an extra leather pair of the CTS’s. Oh happy day. I have been wearing the shoes for the better part of two weeks and absolutely love them. The support is fantastic. They are some of the most comfortable shoes I own. They have a narrower profile than most skate shoes but are not as narrow as the vintage Chucks. The tongue has the perfect amount of padding unlike most skate shoes that look like they have had an allergic reaction and it stays in place. But the best part is they look like the Chuck Taylors I have loved the majority of my life. Well done Nike/Converse I look forward to my next pair, the flame orange……yeah baby.

New hats are in!

2009-04-23T13:00:00.001-07:00

Now available at www.streetswell.com