Few people outside of the skateboarding world have probably heard of Z-Flex Skateboards. Those in the know, however, are well aware of the influence and impact that the brand has had on the skateboarding since the early days of the sport. In 1975, the popularity of skateboarding was at its peak, propelled by the Zephyr skate team of Santa Monica, California. The ‘Z-Boys,’ as the team was called, consisted of some of skateboarding’s greatest legends, including Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, and Jay Adams. With their aggressive sliding and aerial maneuvers both in and out of empty pools, the Z-Boys helped to establish skateboard as a sport completely unique from its predecessor – surfing.
In 1976, Jay Adams’ stepfather, Kent Sherwood, starting a new skateboarding company called EZ-RYDER, taking several members of the original Zephyr team with him. Six months later, EZ-RYDER became Z-Flex, and the brand has been going strong ever since. A major component of Z-Flex’s stability in an otherwise flippant industry is the brand’s dedication to innovation. Starting with their early work in urethane skateboard wheel designs, Z-Flex was the first skateboard brand to experiment with and develop a concave deck. This concave on a skateboard’s topside gave the rider a new level of grip and control, which is a prime reason why this design feature is now utilized by most skateboard manufacturers today.
Now run by Jay Adams, Z-Flex continues its tradition as one of the longest-running skateboard brands in the industry. In 2001, Adams and other influential skateboarders from the ‘Z-Boys’ days were profiled in the documentary, Dogtown and Z-Boys. The story of the Z-Boys was further popularized in the 2005 feature film, Lords of Dogtown. Each of these films has helped to keep Jay Adams, and thus Z-Flex Skateboards, firmly entrenched in the history and culture of skateboarding.