A product being tagged as the Post Modern Skateboard has popped up in the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog, and the item certainly does live up to its name.
Officially named the Sidewinding Circular Skates, the product consists of a pair of 10-inch wheels that have platforms where the user's feet go in. The product also features, well, nothing else.
The Sidewinding Circular Skates certainly do not look like a skateboard with the "board" entirely missing. However, in terms of moving with them, the product functions similarly to longboard skateboarding, as the wearer would be leaning side-to-side to make the wheels rotate. The user's motions move the skates forward in a serpentine path without the need to push off the ground, as is being done to propel the normal skateboards and its riders forward.
A video posted on the product page in the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog shows riders using the skates to move across sidewalks and grassy areas, with the ability to make tight spins and turns.
Because the wheels of the skates are not connected to one another, the rider can easily pull off 720-degree spins and tight turns. Users can then stop the motion of the wheels by placing their toes on the ground.
Moving with the skates seems to be something that requires practice though, which may take some time before the rider can comfortably do so outside the garage.
To help with the adjustment to the skates, purchasing the product will include an extendable rod that can connect the two wheels together, which would make it look a bit more like a skateboard. However, with the rod, the skates will more closely resemble a casterboard, which is a skateboard that has a metal spine underneath the narrow but flexible board and two wheels that can travel in any direction.
According to the product page, the Sidewinding Circular Skates can support riders that weigh up to 200 pounds, while the wheels themselves weigh 5 pounds each. The page also states that the product is designed to be used by skaters 8 years old and up.
The Sidewinding Circular Skates, which are expected to be shipped by the end of the month, have a price tag of $99.95.
While the product has earned the title of the Post Modern Skateboard, as picked up by several tech news websites, the title of next-gen skateboards is surely still held by the Hendo hoverboard that emulates that which was used by Marty McFly in the Back to the Future movies.
