Coping Mechanisms

The grind. It is perhaps the gnarliest thing you can do on a skateboard. Metal versus concrete, the force of inertia. But what about pvc? Is the grind any less of a grind when good old polyvinyl chloride is introduced to the eqation? Personally, I have always liked the slippery slide and grind of pvc coping, but others may disagree. Adding pvc to your trucks is a novel idea and is nothing new. GSD and others were making homemade copers out of shopping cart handles in the early 1980s. And we've seen trucks that will grind anything, and we've seen these. Either way, copers, feelers, grinders, whatever you want to call them, have been on my mind lately.

A photo of a well worn Independent coper that I found on the internet. Photo credit unavailable, I'm lame.

Darren Navarrette's Skeleton Key Mfg. produced these gems. They are now sold out. Apparently I am not alone in my love of the slip grind. Or The Turf has been unearthed and reopened.

Universal copers, cut out to fit around the kingpin and snap on over the hanger. Sometimes they snap off of the hanger too, typically mid-grind (see also: The Downside of Copers).

Another view of the Grinders.

Vintage Santa Cruz copers found on eBay. If I remember correctly, these were universal fit, like others on the market today.