Background: We embarked on this project over two years ago after reading "Cradle To Cradle" By William McDonough & Michael Braungart which goes far beyond sustainable manufacturing. The challenge is to take existing systems which are bad for the environment and redesign them for greater good. When we looked at skateboard wheels, we found urethane coupled with insert molded hubs made of aluminum, and various plastic materials some of which are recyclable. In virtually every case we studied and every wheel we had in our quiver, when the wheel was worn out, the hub was still good - but there was no simple way to separate the hub from the tire to keep what was still useful and discard or recycle what was not. This led us to the two part hub which we have made out of both engineering plastics and metals. We settled on aluminum for many reasons which include stiffness, thermodynamics and heat flow, dimensional stability, durability, precision and 100% recyclability. If proper care is taken, the hubs will last through many sets of wheels. In over a year of continuous testing, we have had zero failures and none of the hubs have required replacement.

Coupled to the Precision Hubs is a Precision Urethane Tire. Once the Urethane is cured, the tire is taken out of the mold, mounted to a mandrel and placed in a lathe where the rolling surface of the tire is either cut or ground depending on the compounds' characteristics and the desired profile. The tire is now perfectly concentric with the hub - giving the assembly its "Sweet Roll".

Riptide Sweet Roll Precision Wheels are available now for pre-sale at riptidesports.com. We expect our first production run will be available for shipment mid to late August 2010.

Graphics: We have not decided on graphics for our wheels yet and are open to submissions from the longboarding community. We will start a contest thread where the winner will receive a set of Sweet Roll hubs and the tires of your choice if we decide on your graphics. This is open to all ages and disciplines. Let's see your ideas!

Best regards, Brad T. Miller President RipTide Sports, Inc.



www.riptidesports.com