So you’ve stumbled across our Streetboards and thought it looks familiar?
“That’s just a Snakeboard! “.
Well here we are going to break down the exact differences between a Snakeboard and a Streetboard, and the answer might surprise you!
So, the difference between a Snakeboard and a Streetboard is….nothing. Much like many other generic trademarks, Snakeboard was the original brand name that kicked off the sport of Streetboarding.
Much like Rollerblade became the go to name for inline skates, Snakeboard was the name of the original company that was founded by the inventors of the unique board; James Fisher, Simon King and Oliver Macleod Smith in 1989.
Wanting to create a board that would more closely represent the feeling of surfing and snowboarding, they chopped an old roller skate in half and attached it to two wooden footplates with plumbing pipe in the centre.
This crude board would then birth the company Snakeboard, which through various licensing agreements, sold tens of thousands worldwide.
Snakeboarding was what the sport was called during the early nineties, as the company owned a patent on the board design.
As the sport grew, so did the needs of the riders and the interest from outside brands. Anderson USA became one of them, and under license produced their own Streetboards.
One of the first t-shirts to feature the new found name for the sport was the legendary TEAM CHEeSE “Streetboarding Creeps” design created by renowned Streetboard artist Mark Campbell.
Snakeboard was eventually bought by a toy manufacturer, who showed no interest in keeping the sport of streetboarding going.
This left it up to the children of snakeboarding to forge their own path and keep the sport alive through organising contests, running magazines and eventually starting their own board companies. It is from that family of riders that Dragan boards, along with other respected brands, have been born. To carry on riding the boards we love, and helping everyone, whether new or seasoned pro, to ride better.
]]>Here Jay Nowman will take you through the steps it takes to get you hopping up curbs on your Dragan Board.
]]>And that's it, that's how to stop on a streetboard!
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Learning to Streetboard is a brain teaser at first. In this tutorial you will learn the two simple movements that will get you up and riding in no time.
Practice makes perfect and after a short session on the board, you'll have mastered the unique movement and be ready to cruise across town, hopping curbs powering up hills and pulling deep carves on the way back down. All without taking your feet off the board.
That's it, you're Streetboarding. Once you get the flowing motion, you will see why the original brand named it Snakeboarding. We recommend after you have the movements down, spending 15-20 minutes a day, rather than 1 hour a week, over the first couple of weeks. This will help your brain "hardwire" the movements. Once you have learnt how to move a Streetboard, the next skill to learn is how to stop.
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First of all, make sure you are wearing the shoes that you will be wearing when you are going to be riding. Place your Streetboard on the ground and put your foot on in your normal riding position. Then take the Dragan Toe Hook and position it flat to the outside of your shoe. Take note of the closest holes that line up with it.
Once you have this, pop the bolts through from the underside, with the bolts sticking upwards through the toe hooks. Add the washer and nuts, but do not tighten completely.
Finally put your foot back on the Streetboard, and move the Toe Hooks back and forth until you feel comfortable. Then all you have to do is tighten up the bolts, and you're good to go!
]]>When you first open up a set of Neobrains, it can be quite overwhelming of how to attach them to your streetboard. Well fear not, here on the Dragan Streetboard Maintenance blog we are going to take you through all of the steps needed.
If you'd rather, let our resident Streetboard Mechanic Robin take you through the steps on video.
First of all unpack the bindings and separate the two bent brackets from the straight brackets. You should have 8 sets of bolts, washers and nuts, two sets of bindings and two powers straps. You then need to make sure you have a pair of pliers and a screwdriver to hand.
The Neobrain bindings do have a left and right: The velcro fastening should be set up on the outside of your shoes, so ensure you get them set up right. The brackets are also directional, with the bracket with the bend to be set up on the outside of your shoe, with the bend pointing back to the centre of the board.
Next, take your Streetboard and stand on it the way you would feel comfortable riding it. Many streetboarders will ride it slightly duck footed, with your toes pointing to the outside of the board. Have a look down at your feet, and the holes that are the closest to the outside of your shoes will be the ones you want to use for the starting position of setting up your bindings.
You then want to put the bolts through the holes you have identified in the last steps, with the bolts pointing upwards and the head in the underside of the footplate. Lay the bindings flat and if you're unsure which holes to use on the binding, shoot for the central hole. You can always change it later if its too tight on your shoes.
After putting the bolts through the bindings its time to add the metal brackets in the direction described in step 3, with the longer hole back towards the heel.
Once that is in place, fold the binding back on its self and put the bolts through the second hole, so the metal bracket is covered. Put the washers on top of the binding and tighten up the nuts. Leave the rear ones loose, as you still need to add the powerstrap. Now put you feet in and check they feel comfortable.
Now undo the rear nuts and add the power straps with the word Neobrain being able to be read by a person facing you. These go on the rear bolts, add the washers on top of these and then tighten the nuts.
That's it, that's how to set up a set of Neobrain bindings on a streetboard. Now you're set get out there and slay!
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Unlike the old school closed system Snakeboard, a streetboard is a modular affair. The great thing means that you can upgrade parts as they come to market, and also give each part some TLC.