Today I was reliving the glory days of fingerboarding. Homemade ramps, cabinet handle rail, a bench made from scrap wood, two screws, a nail, and some duct tape. I got to thinking, "hm, I wonder if FlatFace/BRR/etc. has any cheap ramps I could get for when I'm bored".
The answer is no.
Why?
Everyone complains that the "scene" is dying, are you guys really all that surprised? A rail that uses "HIGH QUALITY WELDING TECHNIQUES TO ENSURE YOU, THE CONSUMER, THAT YOUR FINGERBOARD RAIL DOESN'T BREAK FROM THOSE HARD NOSEGRINDS YOU'LL SURELY BE POPPIN' INTO" is 40 dollars with shipping. What? I don't wanna hear the spiel from the people that make rails and how "hard" it is to do such a tedious task when they know damn well that the materials used to make said obstacles cost much less than the finished product.
I understand the motive of wanting to make a profit, it's the "American Dream", but if you're only in fingerboarding to "help out the scene", why charge so much for a bunch of metal put together. If anyone on this website was really devoted to the "scene", they would make no profit off of what they are selling and feel good that some kid got their parent to pay 15 dollars for a rail that cost 15 dollars to manufacture.
"Oh but Holden have you ever paid HIGH QUALITY WELDERS to make rails for you?!?!?! THEN STFU!!!!1!!" No, I haven't. Don't bother asking me or telling me how much you make because there's approximately 90% chance that it is in fact, utter bullshit.
On to ramps!! Why are benches with three slabs of wood mounted on some metal 40 dollars? If "you can make them cheaper at home", why aren't they sold for the same cost, or slightly higher than the cost that you can make them at home? People that mark up a bunch of reused, plagiarized ideas and sell them for an extreme amount of profit but claim to be "doin it 4 da seen" are the reason that "da seen" is no longer active anymore. No one can afford 40 dollars for a single element of a hobby. It's ridiculous, especially considering 93% of the fingerboarding world consists of people under the age of 18.
Sorry to rant, but I just got looking around at what online fingerboard stores have become and the inner 14-year old Kyle got out. Tech Decks.
