I used to own a pair of grind King trucks exactly like the first pair of you showed the silver with the red and black base plate or whatever color it is I'm color blind
Grindkings were definitely my favorite trucks. Extremely light and durable. I was so upset when they stopped making them. Glad to see that they're coming back!
I still have a set of OG grind kings on one of my boards. I skated Ventures, Grind Kings and Independents all through the 90s 💕 And I owned 1 Von Dutch tee shirt my aunt bought me for birthday 😆 Cool story thanks for sharing 👍
In the 90's I had those flame GK's on my Foolio World Industries board and always have and always will only ride Spit Fires. I actually still have the matching flame painted Grind King tool
@@ShredzShop i really enjoyed the video.. but i wanted to comment on, or actually ask you a question about something i noticed.. the von dutch wikipedia doesnt say anything about donald casell5j being involved in the company, not initially, or at all. i dont know how accurate it all is and i was hoping you might comment on the overall accuracy of the wikipedia article, because i simply love giving wikipedia an earful whenever i find out they were wrong about something.. heres what it says: _Beginning of the company In the 1990s, art collector Ed Boswell began selling Von Dutch patches at Los Angeles art shows, having procured the rights to the Von Dutch name from Howard's daughters. He met former drug dealer Michael Cassel and competitive surfer Bobby Vaughn at a trade show, and they decided to go into business together, initially deciding to create an apparel line of garage-themed jeans and workwear. Cassel and Vaughn eventually bought Boswell out of the company, and brought in entrepreneur Tonny Sørensen as CEO and investor. Sørensen hired Christian Audigier in 2002 to design for the brand. Audigier came up with the trucker hat, inspired by classic Americana such as Marlon Brando's motorcycle cap in The Wild One._ looking forward to hearing from you.. thanks either way!
@@snarevox Yea I think it might just be cause the Wiki kinda skips over the start in 2 sentences. It says Mike bought out the name, but in reality it was Mike buying the name with Donald's GK money. Its weird Donald isn't listed because he is one of the main characters in "the curse of Von Dutch" documentary, which is the most comprehensive look at the brand (goes much deeper than Wiki). If you watch it he's in a headlamp sitting at a desk with Grind Kings on it (he's also in the trailer).
@@ShredzShop i might hafta get in there and get the brother his wikipedia props.. id hafta figure out how to word it and if its a big addition, point to a reliable second hand source.. ill meditate on it.
Fuck yeah! Thank you so much for this one. I've been rocking Grind King king pins since the early 90's because they were the only king pin that could handle the bullshit abuse I was doing back then. That was a pretty wild ride of a story you just laid out. Also, big ups for all those Pitbull's in the background. Nice to see one of my locals out in the wild.
That Kingpin was epic, I remember when those came out and we all went down and saw them at the skate shop in Portland. They were desirable but a little expensive. We got some and they were great
When I lived in cali, don owned a couple warehouse’s near Venice beach. They used to throw massive houseware parties that would go until 8 in the morning. I’ve personally met Don on multiple occasions
GK were apart of my 1st "real" setup! world industries deck, GK trucks, lucky bearings, spitfire wheels, shortys hardware... I was PISSED that u needed a allen key to tighten or loosen the trucks while all my homies only needed a T tool.
Bennett trucks had reverse king pins in the 70s. some were just a king pin pushed in the other way and some of the vectors had a flat head and phillips head bolt.
You guys put together the best shows with so much info!! I appreciate it. Cause I've skated since 84 and never payed attention. And I skate thunders!! Nothing is better!! 😤
I skate thunder now too but I remember early 90s my friend had a pair and they were super top heavy like made you pop extra high like a heavy feeling when popping but light in the air hard to explain always remembered my first time skating them
I loved me some GKs and was thoroughly bummed when they disappeared. I'm in my 40's and have some ventures on a factory blank. Time to go buy a new setup and hookup the old GKs.
I just want to thank you all at Shredz for doing what you do. I can't skate anymore due to health problems, but the skater inside has never left me - where - your great quality content not only helps me re-live nostalgia of what I once knew, but also provides so much more in information that it's constantly an edifying experience! Keep doing what you do - you magnificent bastards! Cariad fawr o Gymru - Much love from Wales #SkateOrDie
In the early 2000s i was riding the grind king AXL version with the cut outs near the kingpin and the axle that couldn't be slipped, with my black spitfires worn only a few mm from the bearings my full setup felt like you wher holding only just the deck with nothing on it😎
Kid you not. I met Donald once while skating a local spot in Monterey Park. He told me and a friend that the kingpins were coming out. Few weeks later they hit the shops.
Too soon perhaps, but I'm already looking forward to the Shredz Shop video on Dwindle. Said it before, but these are some of the best-researched, edited and presented videos about skateboarding out there, much love and keep up the great work!
I remember mail ordering a set of the kingpin after seeing an ad in Thrasher. The kingpins were great, but their truck had a hanger cracking problem. The cut me off the lifetime warranty on the trucks after I sent a bunch of sets back. I did the like the Bridgebolts those were great, my set lasted years.
I remember GrindKing bolts when they came out. We took one look and swapped the bolts on our Independents round. At least you get to use the same wrench. I ride a Bennet now, with a precision bearing.
@Shredz Shop That’s so crazy I’ve always wondered if Grind King or Bronze Age were still running, I’m from the U.K. and I’m a Snowboarder, I use to skate a little, back in the 80’s when I visited the U.S.A. a Pro Skater called Bert LaMar took me to the Grind King warehouse. They gave me some merchandise, it was great stuff and both companies also had great names and graphics….. Both would definitely still be relevant today……!!!
I loved grind King back in the day.. still have a brand new king pin from 15 yrs ago... I didn't know von Dutch was a clothing brand. I thought they were just an energy drink co.. but that's probably because I live in a small town in Wisconsin lol.
I always rode Indy's and hated on Grind King for no real reason, then I decided to give them a try and loved them. They went out of business shortly after and I went back to riding Indy.
I remember the flame grind kings on my board as a kid. Ground those suckers down over the years skating to school, and hitting the skate park after with friends. Memories I'll never forget.
Haha haha them gon Dutch hats!!! I saw the doc but seen it on Hulu but regardless I remember lookin at a stupid price tag of like 50-80$ n was like….mmm…nahhh. Ima stick w my (at the time) local shop skate lair (enfield, CT) n do what I felt. Big up y’all at shredz lov the content homie
Had no idea and absolutely loved the content. My first pair of trucks were GK in the 90’s. Gold base, so light. Ground down to the axle. Loved listening. Thank you!
Bro I remember for X-mas one year my mom got me a Grind King backpack w lil speakers on the side! Didn't know so much behind the scenes fuckery was going on!
Had five friends sponsored by GK in the 90s. I had been long-time gullwing army rider since I left Tracker for them. Used the GK bolts though but wouldn't trade my Phoenix mags forl nothing.
I loved Grind King kingpins. I used to beat the king pin out of my Trackers and replace it. When they came out with trucks I bought them. They weren’t the best but I like the kingpin. Today I still ride Grind King bases with Venture hangers.
7:43. The employee was the head of security for transferring the actual winning tickets from the company tht made all the mcdonald's monopoly ( and their other prizes for tht matter) to distributing them around the country
Man its so cool to hear about radrat getting his props he does so much for skateboarding for so long has a small audience but delivers quality as if he had millions of subscribers and the only other time i heard him being mentioned was when jamie thomas was pissy about something dude is a big part of skateboarding history
WTF!? Von Dutch?! I rode for GK for years during that time and I had no idea. So random. Donald himself put me on the team and he seemed like a really cool guy. I loved the trucks. First ones to have non slip axels and that kingpin was great. Rode for them until I had a career ending injury. Edit: You guys are from Cochrane? Cool. After my run ended I moved to Edmonton for a few years and would go through Cochrane to bypass Calgary when driving from Vancouver. I thought about you guys more recently when I saw RAD in a special theatre showing in Vancouver. Greatest 80's movie. Cheers fellas. Great content.
Glad you enjoy the vids! Dude that’s crazy! We had a 30 year anniversary of rad event here a while back put on by Vans and they flew out a bunch of the old actors! Swing by for a visit if you ever make it back through town!
yea the non slip axle was a huge plus next to the king pin. i had a few slip outs with independet back in early 2000s along with a bunch of broken king pins...
Hell yeah Levi roasting the groms. I don’t even know why they try to step to my boy. Hey this gk story was nuts. I had no idea his bro was on a sick one. I never rode grind king but I may have bought a king pin once. The new one ones look sick. Today everyone else trying to copy his design.
Control and grind-wise i was in love with grind king trucks as a kid. Problem was that i was 6'4 and liked to go big. As great as they were they were the weakest of the big 3. I broke about 3 pairs of them before i switched back to venture which i didn't care for that much. Broke a pair of those and went over to independent. They were always too heavy for my tastes but they were tanks. Unbreakable.
grind king was the top truck to me and my friends, i never even knew they were clowned on til later. i still have a cracked pair on a old setup i saved.
I've been a fan for years. I had the same pair on my cruiser since 2002 (which I think I got them from my friend who got them from his older brother back in 1998). They finally broke around 2018. Just in time to pick up a new pair from the newly reformed company. It was a crazy trip when RR dropped that video to when he announced they were making a comeback
Damn dude. I had no idea GK was that old - I always thought they were the kinda gimmicky brand with the name back when I skated in the early 2000s. And then out of nowhere somehow it’s related to the McDonalds Monopoly fiasco - I actually watched that whole documentary about it here on UA-cam like a month ago?! What a small world!
I rode a lot of the truck brands in the early to mid 80’s. Bennett, Gullwing, Tracker - all skinny board trucks. When I went to wider boards, I loved my Thunder’s and the logo of the screaming skull! However, once I rode Indy’s I NEVER turned back (other than industry testing I performed in the early 90’s working at High Speed Productions with Venture and Thunder) - I still have my Indy 215’s from that era with the OG Grindking pins in ‘em!
holy shit dude u had Indy after the stage 4 advances with GK kingpins?!?!? That's so dope no smith grand hang ups due to kingpin height😅 u had to do a shitload of 50 50s before Indy don't hang up on smiths lol it was a small price to pay
I certainly do have stories!! Interesting fact; Jake Phelps was the shipping and receiving guy when I started working there!! He went from the bottom ALLLL the way to the top in one gigantic leap!! Fausto was a rad bo$$ as was Ed Riggins!! They were low key and allowed us to pretty much do whatever we wanted to do with the mag…I worked at SLAP Mag…just b4 Big Brother was 1st published so it was an “anything goes” mentality/vibe!! Great memories!!
I got on the ground floor when Grind King introduced the hex kingpin; they were awesome! corresponded with them in the early days, lost track of how many early new products/stickers I got from them... so much swag... Never knew about his other exploits, but at the time, they were cool in my eyes, and their products were awesome!
Going back through your older videos to see if I missed any. Giving all of them a thumbs up and a comment. I never owned or wore a von duch hat or any von Duch anything.
Grind king was my favorite truck as a kid and I still have a few sets though they are beat up but know I'm using the Thunder ultra light pro models but usually I skate Royal's because I like the smooth grinds they deliver
My first trucks on first “pro” deck (it was a green blank deck and can’t remember the wheels) but the trucks had flames so I was psyched and as an 11-12 year old in a bad part of Toronto where nobody skated lol . I’ll always have a place for GK in my heart. Then and Zoo York decks …. And secretly Hookups lmao.
I actually rode GK's back in the day. They did grind good but wore down quickly. I switched to Ventures and stuck with them. Never had a bad pair. Independent it my next pick.
Wow, Thank you for the epic video Shredz and Levi!!! The wait was well worth it!! I wish I could give it a hundred likes 😁 It seems like a follow the money story, booms and busts.
Had two pairs growing up both axels slipped within a few boards. Good truck while they lasted but after that I went Indy and never looked back. Indy pretty much has this design now anyway.
I remember GrindKing very well from late 80's into early 90's when I first started skating as a kid. Their trucks were revolutionary and innovative at the time as nobody else made anything even remotely similar in design. I'm glad still have my originals from my childhood on a old Powell deck. Gaurantee these made in Chinaland GK aren't same quality as the originals made in the USA
What's kind of trucks are you currently riding? AND What brand should we do an episode on next?!
Tensor all day.
Im On Tensor Maglights ATG 5.5s ❤️🤘🏻and maybe do a episode on Dwindle ? Worried about the availability of all the brands
i ride thunder
I used to own a pair of grind King trucks exactly like the first pair of you showed the silver with the red and black base plate or whatever color it is I'm color blind
Silver trucks
Grindkings were definitely my favorite trucks.
Extremely light and durable. I was so upset when they stopped making them. Glad to see that they're coming back!
🙏 🙏 🙏
I was partial to G&S trucks.
This dude obviously knows how to market and all that good shit everything he touches he knows ...man..im glad grind king is BACK AND STILL AROUND
I remember seeing my first grind king ad with Jay Adams. Had a pair too they were great
I still have a set of OG grind kings on one of my boards. I skated Ventures, Grind Kings and Independents all through the 90s 💕 And I owned 1 Von Dutch tee shirt my aunt bought me for birthday 😆
Cool story thanks for sharing 👍
In the 90's I had those flame GK's on my Foolio World Industries board and always have and always will only ride Spit Fires. I actually still have the matching flame painted Grind King tool
I bought a pair from the dump shop for $1 today, didn't know what I had till I got home!
Donald is a good friend of mine. He just sent me a few new pairs of his new designs. They are my fav trucks for sure. He’s doing great by the way
Got to chat with him a bunch making this clip! Great dude and amazing inventor! Excited Grind King is back, stoked to see what's to come!
@@ShredzShop oh nice. Ya. Great guy. For sure.
Oh my god, the entire Von Dutch phase lmao... I can honestly and proudly say that no, I've never worn anything from Von Dutch.
Seems like the young kids are bringing it back these days lol
This was probably the best video editing I've seen so far from you guys as well as the great storytelling as always.
Thank you! Shout out to our editor Joel for really stepping up the editing on this one! 🙏 🙏
@@ShredzShop i really enjoyed the video.. but i wanted to comment on, or actually ask you a question about something i noticed.. the von dutch wikipedia doesnt say anything about donald casell5j being involved in the company, not initially, or at all. i dont know how accurate it all is and i was hoping you might comment on the overall accuracy of the wikipedia article, because i simply love giving wikipedia an earful whenever i find out they were wrong about something.. heres what it says:
_Beginning of the company
In the 1990s, art collector Ed Boswell began selling Von Dutch patches at Los Angeles art shows, having procured the rights to the Von Dutch name from Howard's daughters. He met former drug dealer Michael Cassel and competitive surfer Bobby Vaughn at a trade show, and they decided to go into business together, initially deciding to create an apparel line of garage-themed jeans and workwear. Cassel and Vaughn eventually bought Boswell out of the company, and brought in entrepreneur Tonny Sørensen as CEO and investor. Sørensen hired Christian Audigier in 2002 to design for the brand. Audigier came up with the trucker hat, inspired by classic Americana such as Marlon Brando's motorcycle cap in The Wild One._
looking forward to hearing from you.. thanks either way!
@@snarevox Yea I think it might just be cause the Wiki kinda skips over the start in 2 sentences.
It says Mike bought out the name, but in reality it was Mike buying the name with Donald's GK money. Its weird Donald isn't listed because he is one of the main characters in "the curse of Von Dutch" documentary, which is the most comprehensive look at the brand (goes much deeper than Wiki). If you watch it he's in a headlamp sitting at a desk with Grind Kings on it (he's also in the trailer).
@@ShredzShop i might hafta get in there and get the brother his wikipedia props.. id hafta figure out how to word it and if its a big addition, point to a reliable second hand source.. ill meditate on it.
Fuck yeah! Thank you so much for this one. I've been rocking Grind King king pins since the early 90's because they were the only king pin that could handle the bullshit abuse I was doing back then. That was a pretty wild ride of a story you just laid out. Also, big ups for all those Pitbull's in the background. Nice to see one of my locals out in the wild.
Stoked you enjoyed!! 🙏
Just rewatched this video, because his new kingpin is now ready to be released. Can't wait.
That Kingpin was epic, I remember when those came out and we all went down and saw them at the skate shop in Portland. They were desirable but a little expensive. We got some and they were great
That's epic! What shop was around in Portland back then?
When I lived in cali, don owned a couple warehouse’s near Venice beach. They used to throw massive houseware parties that would go until 8 in the morning. I’ve personally met Don on multiple occasions
GK were apart of my 1st "real" setup! world industries deck, GK trucks, lucky bearings, spitfire wheels, shortys hardware... I was PISSED that u needed a allen key to tighten or loosen the trucks while all my homies only needed a T tool.
Grind king and a mini termite deck was the ultimate set up back in the day. Good old days
i had absolutely no idea about any of this. thank you for the history lesson. happy new year shredz
Thanks for watching!! We appreciate it!! 🙏 🙌
Bennett trucks had reverse king pins in the 70s. some were just a king pin pushed in the other way and some of the vectors had a flat head and phillips head bolt.
Jud Heald! Yo! Didn’t know he was still skating, remember him from “livin’ it” and “Word”
he's an OG! Posted a Grind King video last week too!
You guys put together the best shows with so much info!! I appreciate it. Cause I've skated since 84 and never payed attention. And I skate thunders!! Nothing is better!! 😤
Glad you enjoyed the vid!! They're lots of work but we love making em! 🙏
I skate thunder now too but I remember early 90s my friend had a pair and they were super top heavy like made you pop extra high like a heavy feeling when popping but light in the air hard to explain always remembered my first time skating them
Very nice recap. Love to see how the quality and channel evolves;
Best wishes from Germany.
Thank you!! Glad you enjoy the vids!! 🙏🙌
Grind Kings were the best! Super light and crazy durable. Never rode anything else.
The first brand I ever skated.. I loved these. Paired with my alien workshop deck, I thought it was the absolute coolest setup possible
I still got my OG GK pins and a couple sets of the new trucks. Score one for skateboarding never being kept down!
Local shop back in the day had hella grind king and krepar trucks, safe to say I still have like 4 sets of OG GrindKings, best things ever.
I loved me some GKs and was thoroughly bummed when they disappeared. I'm in my 40's and have some ventures on a factory blank. Time to go buy a new setup and hookup the old GKs.
I ride a set of disruptors right now. I rode Krux, Silver, Indy, Tracker and G&S Gullwings and a few other cheaper brands. I always went back to GK's.
I just want to thank you all at Shredz for doing what you do. I can't skate anymore due to health problems, but the skater inside has never left me - where - your great quality content not only helps me re-live nostalgia of what I once knew, but also provides so much more in information that it's constantly an edifying experience! Keep doing what you do - you magnificent bastards! Cariad fawr o Gymru - Much love from Wales #SkateOrDie
🙏🙏 hyped you enjoy the vids!! Thanks for the kind words! 🙌
@@ShredzShop Love everything about them! Keep kicking flips and popping tales ;)
I saw the documentary on Von Dutch and was amazed how connected things can be in the skateboard community. Love it.
Don has a crazy story! Excited to see what’s to come!!
In the early 2000s i was riding the grind king AXL version with the cut outs near the kingpin and the axle that couldn't be slipped, with my black spitfires worn only a few mm from the bearings my full setup felt like you wher holding only just the deck with nothing on it😎
When I skated I only rode Grind King...I loved the light weight truck...
🦅🦅
Man, I remember getting my first real custom setup board and choosing GK. I loved them so much. Lol
Ooooo, I saw my flame ones! 😂
🔥🔥🔥
Kid you not. I met Donald once while skating a local spot in Monterey Park. He told me and a friend that the kingpins were coming out. Few weeks later they hit the shops.
Before getting our hands on GK kingpins, we used to flip the original kingpin, and grind down the head.
Why?
Grind kings were my first pair of trucks. I remember they were Rasta themed 😅
Great video,. Y'all should make this story into a movie.
Guys! Excellent video. I’ve been waiting for this. One of your best yet. Consider making a 14 things you didn’t know about Gonz video!
That'd be dope!!
@Tele-gram-me-at-ShredzShop FAKE account pleas do not message
My friend had the flame Grind Kings in the early 2000s on a crazy Zero Jamie Thomas Statue Of Liberty board.
Too soon perhaps, but I'm already looking forward to the Shredz Shop video on Dwindle. Said it before, but these are some of the best-researched, edited and presented videos about skateboarding out there, much love and keep up the great work!
I remember mail ordering a set of the kingpin after seeing an ad in Thrasher. The kingpins were great, but their truck had a hanger cracking problem. The cut me off the lifetime warranty on the trucks after I sent a bunch of sets back. I did the like the Bridgebolts those were great, my set lasted years.
I remember GrindKing bolts when they came out. We took one look and swapped the bolts on our Independents round. At least you get to use the same wrench. I ride a Bennet now, with a precision bearing.
@Shredz Shop That’s so crazy I’ve always wondered if Grind King or Bronze Age were still running, I’m from the U.K. and I’m a Snowboarder, I use to skate a little, back in the 80’s when I visited the U.S.A. a Pro Skater called Bert LaMar took me to the Grind King warehouse.
They gave me some merchandise, it was great stuff and both companies also had great names and graphics….. Both would definitely still be relevant today……!!!
Very cool!!! I ran grind kings on my boards back when I was skating!!
Great video man thank you for shedding more light on the origin and history or grind king 👏😤
Glad you enjoyed! 👑
Mike later restarted stronghold jeans based of original denims and cuts that were made in LA it's a gorgeous line
I loved grind King back in the day.. still have a brand new king pin from 15 yrs ago... I didn't know von Dutch was a clothing brand. I thought they were just an energy drink co.. but that's probably because I live in a small town in Wisconsin lol.
I always rode Indy's and hated on Grind King for no real reason, then I decided to give them a try and loved them. They went out of business shortly after and I went back to riding Indy.
That was a gnarly one....so many twists and turns in that story
A wild ride!!
I remember the flame grind kings on my board as a kid. Ground those suckers down over the years skating to school, and hitting the skate park after with friends. Memories I'll never forget.
Haha haha them gon Dutch hats!!! I saw the doc but seen it on Hulu but regardless I remember lookin at a stupid price tag of like 50-80$ n was like….mmm…nahhh. Ima stick w my (at the time) local shop skate lair (enfield, CT) n do what I felt. Big up y’all at shredz lov the content homie
Had no idea and absolutely loved the content. My first pair of trucks were GK in the 90’s. Gold base, so light. Ground down to the axle. Loved listening. Thank you!
Right on! Stoked you enjoyed the vid, Thanks for the comment!
I already knew this was a great one before I start watching
Hope you enjoyed!
Bro I remember for X-mas one year my mom got me a Grind King backpack w lil speakers on the side! Didn't know so much behind the scenes fuckery was going on!
haha that's dope, those bags were the coolest!
Great edit guys! keep it up
🙌🙏
I rode on grind kings. Good price, they held up well and didn't wear out super fast like cough cough some other brands did.
Great vid. You guys putting Alberta on the map! I might actually consider riding some new Grind Kings for shits and giggles.
Hyped you enjoy the vids!! 🙏 🙌
As a finnish man, i can say he is a legend
Someone needs to make a TV series about this guy! WOW
First video of yours I've seen, you sir have a subscriber.
briliant job on this video!
Thank you!! Glad you enjoyed!
Still have an old set of G6s that I still use on my thrash board. Almost 20 years old
I still have a nice set of those flame Grind King trucks on my old Rodney Mullen board with Element wheels.
Thats dope! Those are retro now!
@@ShredzShop lol yeah I'm getting old.
Had five friends sponsored by GK in the 90s. I had been long-time gullwing army rider since I left Tracker for them. Used the GK bolts though but wouldn't trade my Phoenix mags forl nothing.
My first pair of trucks were grind kinds.
The color was actually sick. The base was green and the hangar was black
🔥 🔥 🔥
One of my all time Favorite setups was a element feather light deck, grind king trux, speed demon bearings and world industry wheels...
I loved Grind King kingpins. I used to beat the king pin out of my Trackers and replace it. When they came out with trucks I bought them. They weren’t the best but I like the kingpin. Today I still ride Grind King bases with Venture hangers.
7:43. The employee was the head of security for transferring the actual winning tickets from the company tht made all the mcdonald's monopoly ( and their other prizes for tht matter) to distributing them around the country
Great video! Best one yet
Man its so cool to hear about radrat getting his props
he does so much for skateboarding for so long has a small audience but delivers quality as if he had millions of subscribers
and the only other time i heard him being mentioned was when jamie thomas was pissy about something dude is a big part of skateboarding history
Grind king just dropped their new prototype on their channel. might be worth a look.
WTF!? Von Dutch?! I rode for GK for years during that time and I had no idea. So random. Donald himself put me on the team and he seemed like a really cool guy. I loved the trucks. First ones to have non slip axels and that kingpin was great. Rode for them until I had a career ending injury.
Edit: You guys are from Cochrane? Cool. After my run ended I moved to Edmonton for a few years and would go through Cochrane to bypass Calgary when driving from Vancouver. I thought about you guys more recently when I saw RAD in a special theatre showing in Vancouver. Greatest 80's movie. Cheers fellas. Great content.
Glad you enjoy the vids! Dude that’s crazy! We had a 30 year anniversary of rad event here a while back put on by Vans and they flew out a bunch of the old actors! Swing by for a visit if you ever make it back through town!
yea the non slip axle was a huge plus next to the king pin. i had a few slip outs with independet back in early 2000s along with a bunch of broken king pins...
Hell yeah Levi roasting the groms. I don’t even know why they try to step to my boy. Hey this gk story was nuts. I had no idea his bro was on a sick one. I never rode grind king but I may have bought a king pin once. The new one ones look sick. Today everyone else trying to copy his design.
A wild ride indeed. This story has a little bit of everything. I'll have to watch the Von Dutch documentary. A pleasure as always 🍻
Its long but its entertaining!
Control and grind-wise i was in love with grind king trucks as a kid. Problem was that i was 6'4 and liked to go big. As great as they were they were the weakest of the big 3. I broke about 3 pairs of them before i switched back to venture which i didn't care for that much. Broke a pair of those and went over to independent. They were always too heavy for my tastes but they were tanks. Unbreakable.
grind king was the top truck to me and my friends, i never even knew they were clowned on til later. i still have a cracked pair on a old setup i saved.
Amazing! I wish I still had my Grind kings
I've been a fan for years. I had the same pair on my cruiser since 2002 (which I think I got them from my friend who got them from his older brother back in 1998). They finally broke around 2018. Just in time to pick up a new pair from the newly reformed company.
It was a crazy trip when RR dropped that video to when he announced they were making a comeback
Damn dude. I had no idea GK was that old - I always thought they were the kinda gimmicky brand with the name back when I skated in the early 2000s. And then out of nowhere somehow it’s related to the McDonalds Monopoly fiasco - I actually watched that whole documentary about it here on UA-cam like a month ago?! What a small world!
Could you do a video about thrashers king of the road I watched episodes of it but haven’t heard anything about it for a couple years now
Still have some rims on my 2 boards, by far a great invention
I remember skating some grind kings back in the day haha some of my favorite trucks other than the kingpin stripping
I rode a lot of the truck brands in the early to mid 80’s. Bennett, Gullwing, Tracker - all skinny board trucks. When I went to wider boards, I loved my Thunder’s and the logo of the screaming skull! However, once I rode Indy’s I NEVER turned back (other than industry testing I performed in the early 90’s working at High Speed Productions with Venture and Thunder) - I still have my Indy 215’s from that era with the OG Grindking pins in ‘em!
That's so sick! Got any interesting stories from the High Speed Prod days? Any interesting Fausto stories?!
holy shit dude u had Indy after the stage 4 advances with GK kingpins?!?!?
That's so dope no smith grand hang ups due to kingpin height😅 u had to do a shitload of 50 50s before Indy don't hang up on smiths lol it was a small price to pay
I certainly do have stories!! Interesting fact; Jake Phelps was the shipping and receiving guy when I started working there!! He went from the bottom ALLLL the way to the top in one gigantic leap!! Fausto was a rad bo$$ as was Ed Riggins!! They were low key and allowed us to pretty much do whatever we wanted to do with the mag…I worked at SLAP Mag…just b4 Big Brother was 1st published so it was an “anything goes” mentality/vibe!! Great memories!!
I love UA-camrs that put so much work and research behind videos like this keep it up ❤
🙏🙏thanks! Glad you enjoyed!
This was actually really really good
I love that Gene Simmons was trying to make a kids show 🤣 This whole story is super interesting!
🔥 🔥 🔥
F Gene Simmons
He did eventually.
I remember seeing "my dad the rockstar" on tv when I was younger 😅
Gene Simmons is the worst member of KISS but it would be weird and probably not quite kid safe entertainment
I got on the ground floor when Grind King introduced the hex kingpin; they were awesome! corresponded with them in the early days, lost track of how many early new products/stickers I got from them... so much swag... Never knew about his other exploits, but at the time, they were cool in my eyes, and their products were awesome!
It's nice to see companies take chances and try new things! Always respected Gk for trying to do things differently.
Of course! Had a red zipper jacket with the von dutch on the back and the eye on the left side pocket
Going back through your older videos to see if I missed any. Giving all of them a thumbs up and a comment. I never owned or wore a von duch hat or any von Duch anything.
I sold Grind King at my shop in the 90s and there was a lot you mentioned that I didn't know. You guys went deep for this one!
Thanks Nat! Glad you enjoyed! Yea, we sold GK back in the day and I learnt a lot talking to Donald on this vid!
I was a flow rider for Grind King it was fun while it lasted and I was stoked to be on the same team as Jeron Wilson
Dude! Totally missed Jeron in this vid! So many big names on the team over the years...
@@ShredzShop I know man, I believe Daniel Castillo was also a part of it
Yes I can confirm that they were both on
I had some trucks with a big groove out of them, they was a top brand , my deck was a Santa Cruz I could not even skate
Excellent work as ever!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!
Grind king was my go to brand trucks when I pretended to skate in highschool.
😆 😆
Yes, I got the full Termite kit for my now 16yr old. Still have it today
Grind king was my favorite truck as a kid and I still have a few sets though they are beat up but know I'm using the Thunder ultra light pro models but usually I skate Royal's because I like the smooth grinds they deliver
hell yeah, love the Shredz Shop videos. Somehow I got unsubscribed to this UA-cam channel, not sure what's going on. I'm back though.
Glad you enjoy the vids! Thanks for the sub! 🙏 It helps us get views and make more vids!
My first trucks on first “pro” deck (it was a green blank deck and can’t remember the wheels) but the trucks had flames so I was psyched and as an 11-12 year old in a bad part of Toronto where nobody skated lol . I’ll always have a place for GK in my heart. Then and Zoo York decks …. And secretly Hookups lmao.
I actually rode GK's back in the day. They did grind good but wore down quickly. I switched to Ventures and stuck with them. Never had a bad pair. Independent it my next pick.
Wow, Thank you for the epic video Shredz and Levi!!! The wait was well worth it!! I wish I could give it a hundred likes 😁 It seems like a follow the money story, booms and busts.
Glad you enjoyed!! 🙏
Had two pairs growing up both axels slipped within a few boards. Good truck while they lasted but after that I went Indy and never looked back. Indy pretty much has this design now anyway.
I remember GrindKing very well from late 80's into early 90's when I first started skating as a kid. Their trucks were revolutionary and innovative at the time as nobody else made anything even remotely similar in design. I'm glad still have my originals from my childhood on a old Powell deck. Gaurantee these made in Chinaland GK aren't same quality as the originals made in the USA