Opportunity Knox _ NB Numeric Tom Knox’s signature model’s launch in London.

Tom Knox is in my personal top three favorite skateboarders list. Let say top two! I watched his “Eleventh Hour” & Isle’s “Vase” parts (and any other he puts out) dozen of times before go out skateboarding; the way he skates the most unskateable and unusual rough spots, the endless lines, his “quick feet” style… has always inspired me. Having had the chance to tour with him and get to know him better, I discovered what a great person he is. He had his first daughter at 23 and now at 32 he has four children, a new board sponsor (Krooked), a prolific skateboard career and a smile always on his face. So when New Balance Numeric invited us to London for the launch of Tom’s first signature model the #NB600 we were absolutely down to go and very very very happy for Tom! Nothing more deserved.

Three days full of skateboarding, skate sessions, demos, photo shootings and good times with new and old friends. New Balance Numeric’s staff is made of a few people and all of them are skateboarders, most of them are former pro skaters, and you see it in the way they do things. Thanks for having us. Enjoy the photo recap below.

Photography & words: Davide Biondani.

Tom, 360 flip.

The breathtaking line-up of NB Numeric riders for the event included: Tom Knox, Andrew Reynolds, Tyler Surrey, Tom Karangelov, Justin Henry, Charlie Birch, Massimo Cristofoletti, Nisse Ingemarsson, Martin Sandberg, Charles Munro, Dale Starkie, Matlok Bennet-Jones, Dee Collins, Victor Campillo, Flo Mirtain, Dom Henry, and Davide Holzknecht.

Day 1: Skate Session at The Pitt Street Skatepark in Portsmouth.

The first day was reserved for the media and the team for a “wear test”, the only recommendation Dave Mackey & Mark Baines gave us was: “We’ll go to a cool park, absolutely bring your skateboard!!!”. We travelled for two hours by bus to reach the beautiful city of Portsmouth, on the southern coast of England, where we spent the day at The Pitt St. Skatepark skating all together, shooting photos, filming clips, eating food and testing the shoe while having a good time as you would have done with your friends at the spot.

Andrew Reynolds, backside kickflip.

Tom Karangelov, nose blunt slide.

Tyler Surrey, switch frontside kickflip.

Davide Holzknecht, hard flip.

Massimo Cristofoletti, backside 360.

Andrew Reynolds, kickflip.

Reynolds signed my copy of TWS Dec 1998’s issue with him on the cover. His first cover, I think.

Justin Henry, heelflip.

Dom Henry, switch kickflip.

Tom Knox, kickflip up – ollie off.

Dee Collins, backside heelflip.

Levi Brown, kickflip.

Jake, Jordan, Levi.

Mark Baines, nollie frontside to switch crooks.

Legendary Dan Magee preparing for action.

NB Numeric’s photographer Jake Darwen, heel flip 5-0.

Martin Sandberg, backside nose blunt slide.

Day 2: “Opportunity Knox” event at Slam City Skates London.

Day two was focused on the official launch of Tom’s shoe with a photo exhibition, book’s launch, retailers’ meeting, video première and a fun party that took place at Slam City Skates and at a nearby place. A lot of people came to celebrate Tom and enjoy the “Opportunity Knox” event. One of night’s peak was the 15+ minutes première of a video retrospective about Tom’s skateboarding.

Cover boys Jake Darwen & Tom.

Tom, Jacob Harris & friend.

Tom Karangelov & Andrew Reynolds.

Day 3: Demo at Bay66 Skatepark.

On day three we crossed the city on board of two beautiful old school red double decker busses to reach Bay66 Skatepark for a skate session and a demo with the team. People greeted us while running along London’s busy streets, because of the busses, of course. A lot of people came to watch and the skatepark was packed; the demo was great: quality skateboarding, amazing tricks on every obstacle especially on the pyramid, the hubbas and down the stairs. Reynolds made the crowd scream with his frontside kickflip over the pyramid, where Massimo Cristofoletti did a perfect backside bigsping. Charles Munro and Dale Starkie skated the hubbas, Dee Collins destroyed the stairs with many tricks, Tom Karangelov and Tyler Surrey skated the whole park. Ben Powell killed it on the mic and Dave Mackey, as well as organizing the entire event, hyped everyone with a full speed nose slide on the hubba. Yes Dave. After the demo there was a signing that lasted more then one hour with a long queue… this says something about how important skate demos still are even in the social media era.

Dave Mackey, full speed nose slide.

Tom K, Dale Starkie, Davide Holz.

Mark Baines while managing business.

Andrew Reynolds, kickflip.

Massimo Cristofoletti, backside bigspin.

Charlie Birch, backside 360.

Charles Munro, frontside noseslide.

Dee Collins, switch heel flip.

Dale Starkie, backside tail slide.

Tom Karangelov, nosegrind.

Andrew Reynolds, frontside ollie.

Tyler Surrey, backside crail.

 

Andrew Reynolds, fakie frontside kickflip transfer.

Andrew Reynolds, frontside kickflip up.

Photos Davide Biondani.

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