Skateboarding is a fairly popular sport/activity here in the United States and while all forms of skateboarding are continually increasing in popularity, longboarding is the fastest growing in the discipline. According to Industry Growth Insights, longboarding has had a predicted compound annual growth rate of 5.5% from 2018 to 2030. Though there are many longboarders and many longboards sold on the market each year, there isn’t anything on the market that the riders can use to protect them from weather on the road and keep them dry.
Riley and Brett Farrell, AKA, The Stormriders, from the University of Oregon discovered this large issue and addressed this problem through their invention and participated in Invent Oregon 2022
The Stormriders are a passionate team of twin brothers and they are developing the world’s only longboard fender designed to protect riders from elements such as rain or mud. This idea was inspired by an event that occurred during their freshman year at UO. “...my brother and I walked into class muddy, wet and humiliated. We longboarded to class when the roads were wet and there was nothing preventing water and mud from splashing up and hitting our pants…” says Brett.
After some research, they discovered they weren’t the only longboarders experiencing this problem. There were millions of people who rode longboards to campuses, workplaces, and all around town who also needed this product. This propelled the brothers to get to work.
The prototype was designed to make the lives of longboarders just a bit easier.
The product offered multiple models that are capable of being integrated into any longboard on the market — both electric and non-electric longboards. It is made out of a nylon, carbon fiber material, and comes in a variety of fun colors.
The Stormrider’s slogan is shred through the elements and their hope is for their product to make an impact beyond just the longboarding community. Their plan is to eventually shrink the product’s size to accommodate skateboards as well and to be used almost like a training wheel that allows newer skateboarders to gain more control.
“And after we kind of just realized there’s this unmet opportunity, this huge problem that people who ride longboards have, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of and really start something cool…But we’re sort of thinking of cool ideas that we can sort of expand upon our original idea and even offer it to a larger community.” says the Stormriders.
The team has major goals of developing the product further with manufacturers and eventually sell wholesale to online retailers who are currently selling longboards and longboarding accessories. The plan is to make Stormriders available to all.
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