For quite some time I wanted to start building a quickcrete-type ghetto spot somewhere. After two unsuccessful attempts, a couple years had passed by when one day I noticed a photo from a local skater’s Facebook, I realized I knew where that spot was so I decided to go check it out. The abandoned location was only 10 minutes from my house and had been right under my nose all along. When I got the location I saw right off the bat that it would be ideal to start building. It was an abandoned site on property owned by the local steel mill. The remains of old buildings laid in piles, several consisting of perfectly good cinder blocks. To my surprise, there were already several ride-able obstacles left over from the mill buildings. I knew right away I wanted to build a quarter because there was a perfect spot to have a quarter with a subbox. During our first visit to “The Spot” there was already snow on the ground and I knew it would be difficult to work with the quickcrete so we waited a few months to get started.
Once we started having some 35+ degree days we began to build. We went to a nearby skatepark and traced the tranny of one of the quarters onto a sheet of composite plywood that I had. I took this home and cut out the 2 transitions that would become the sides of the quarter. The next step were to buy quickcrete and take everything to the spot. At the time I had a rental van so I didn’t give a fuck what I put inside it. We also stole a shopping cart to push materials around in, mostly moving cinder blocks. We set up the two wooden transitions in place and began to lay the cinder blocks. We filled the cinder blocks with stones and gravel and every couple of layers we’d put down some quickcrete to hold everything together. Once we had all the cinder blocks laid we went back and put down red bricks to dial in the tranny. After that we put dirt on top of everything to get an even smoother transition. The next step was to lay down some chainlink fence that would later hold the top layer of cement in place. Luckily we found all the cinder blocks, red bricks, fencing, and dirt all at The Spot. Finally our last step was to put down the layer of quickcrete that we would ride on. All of this was trial-and-error for us because we had never built a quarter before and had little experience with quickcrete. During this process we were also battling rain and cold conditions that were holding up building.
When the quarter was finally ride-able we were psyched! It wasn’t the smoothest quarter in the world but it was fun and worked perfectly with the subbox behind. It’s awesome to have a local DIY spot that everyone can go and hang out at and not worry about having to get busted. I’d like to say thanks to Slade and Shilo Staniech, Mike Cesario, Miles Houser, and anyone else that helped make this possible!
Product Review // Etnies Number Mid.
The Aaron Ross Signature Etnies Number Mid in Black/Yellow. Size 10.
The Good:
I’ve been wearing the Etnies Number Mids for the past couple months and they’ve held up great. I had no idea what to expect when purchasing them, these have been my first Etnies ever. I chose them because I wanted a mid-top preferably with an ankle strap when riding for extra support and protection. From the very first time I put the shoes on they felt great, they hugged my feet in all the right places and practically already felt broken in. The only modification I did was cut excess off the ankle strap so it didn’t stick out so far. I’ve done a good amount of riding as well as commuting around campus daily and there’s little wear on the exterior of the shoes.
The Bad:
After several months any shoe is going to begin to show signs of wear and tear but I’m particularly pleased with how well these have held up. There are several things I’ve had wear out with my pair of shoes. Where the outsole of the shoe meets the toe began to tear away on both shoes but I fixed this by super-gluing them back together which held up well. The most noticeable area of wear has been the middle of the outsole right under the arch of my foot. However this is almost exclusively on my right foot so I’m inclined to conclude that this is due to my riding style and not the design of the shoe itself.
Conlusion:
I have almost no complaints about the Etnies Number Mids, my experience with this shoe has been so positive that I’ve purchased a second pair for when my current pair is done. It’s a well rounded shoe that offers support and comfort. They’ve been great to ride in as well as simply walking around.
Highlights:
Durability: 8/10
Design: 9/10
Price: $69.99 (the price can change depending on where you look and what colorway)