Traverse City Record-Eagle

Life

Related Photos

  • Record-Eagle/Loraine AndersonScott Diment, left, with sons Dugan and Jensen, with their 3Dee longboards they designed, developed and now are marketing.

    CSS5078.jpg
July 15, 2012

Father-sons team creates longboard hybrid

By LORAINE ANDERSON landerson@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — It's hard to make a longboard do skateboard tricks, but Scott Diment and his teenage sons Dugan and Jensen found a way.

The idea for developing the 3DEE began with Dugan and skateboard buddy Calvin Marois who tried out a couple of longboards and were unhappy with the design.

"There was no kick to it," said Dugan, 17, a Traverse City Central High senior. "You couldn't do other simple stuff that skateboard guys like me could do."

The Diments recently began selling their 3DEE longboard in local shops. Wet Mitten Surf Shop and Brick Wheels in Traverse City, as well as Sleeping Bear Surf and Kayak in Empire, now sell them. M-22 sells the stock boards, also called decks, for customers who want to add their own wheels and hardware.

The complete board, made of 7-ply Canadian maple, retails for $220. The stock board costs $90.

Skateboards are shorter and smaller than longboards. They can do "tricks" — ollies, kick turns, pops, dervishes and manuals (also called wheelies or "riding the tail"). They don't travel well on rough pavement.

The 3DEE is a hybrid between the smaller skateboard and bigger and wider longboard, used for crosstown transportation, downhill, slalom and free ride.

"Our goal was to create a board comparable to an expensive 'loaded' high-end longboard, but cheaper," Dugan said.

Longboards have bigger wheels that give a smoother ride. They can do power slides and are great for "carving," or concrete surfing.

"The longboard has a more stable platform to stand on," said Jensen, 14, a Central freshman.

"Because everything is larger, especially the wheels, you're able to roll over rougher pavement," Scott added, "When you hit a stone, it won't put you on your face."

3DEE stands for three Diments.

The father-and-sons team are not newcomers to the board world. Scott is a math, science and technology teacher at Traverse City East Middle School. He has taught a several-day "Create-A-Skate" unit as a hands-on way to teach math, science and manufacturing economics.

He also wrote a curriculum for Paul Schmitt, a skateboard industry pioneer and major supplier to skateboard brand-name companies who started a nationwide CreateASkate school program.

Scott has skateboarded since he was 12. He began teaching his sons the sport when Dugan was 8 and Jensen 5.

The boys' mother, Amy, has a marketing background and helps with publicity.

The company will soon have its own website and a Facebook page, Scott said.

Text Only