Kids will be kids, in that they buy stuff, play with stuff, and then eventually break stuff. My job is to repair the stuff they break. Which brings me to the Ripstik casterboard. There are three variations: Classic, Ripster, Ripstik G, and the DLX. My local group, which includes my Little Weed, rides on Classic, G, and DLX models. Two of their G models broke in the same manner, with two different boys, of different weights. My advice for Ripstik buyers is to steer clear of the G model. I apologize to all for y 6 month delay in posting this info, but I was distracted by work.
Ripstik rear skidplate in metal, mounted on a DLX. Photo by Don Tai
Little Weed has been Ripstiking on a used Classic for 2 years now. I had just recently found a new Ripstik DLX on Kijiji here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, so I bought it for him. Learning to wheelie, he had been grinding down the tail end of his DLX. I feared, correctly, that the plastic on the ass end of the board was wearing thin and would eventually grind through. We took the rear deck off, designed and fabricated a rear skidplate out of metal. Here is our design.
