Top 5 Skaters With Glasses

In honour of the third anniversary of Jake Phelps' death, we thought it's only right to go through some of our favourite bespectacled skaters.

From nerdy, big-brain tech skaters to knuckle-dragging, stairset-hucking cavemen. Just because you can't see doesn't mean you can't get buck.

 

Steve Olson

No, not Alex Olson’s Dad. We’re talking about the OG rail-chomping, glasses-sporting, Shorty’s alumni, Steve Olson. He’s got crazy style, an insane bag of tricks, and he’s easily one of the most iconic bespectacled skaters ever. Plus, he was chowing down on hectic handrails way back before skating rails was the meta. Respect.

Tyler Bledsoe

This part is the absolute pinnacle of glasses skating. Nerdy tricks, nerdy song, and nerdy glasses. Bledsoe definitely has an extremely wrinkly brain. It always blows me away how ahead of its time this part is. With all the trendy pop-out tricks and the eerie electronic soundtrack, it wouldn't look out of place in an Atlantic Drift video. 

Dom Henry

It would be pretty easy to draw parallels between Bledsoe and Dom Henry. With their unrivalled mastery of all things tech, they're definitely from the same school of thought. As his unique trick selection would suggest, Dom's clearly a big-brain skater who puts a lot of thought into what he does. He even had a Skate Cafe pro model called the 'Overthinker' which says it all really. He's without a doubt one of the UK's finest, with or without the specs.

Lindsey Robertson

Unlike some of the other names on this list, Lindsey eschews the intellectual expectations of his limited eyesight and instead tosses his carcass down ludicrous gaps and rails like a true smooth-brained, chest-thumping neanderthal. There's just something intensely enjoyable about watching someone who looks like McLovin' stomp colossal heelflip variations down obscenely large stairsets. Any part that starts with a minute-long rage montage is a strong yes from me. BRB, gonna go watch AVE's DC part.

Frog Skateboards

I couldn't choose between Pat G and Chris Milic, so let's just go for the whole Frog team on this one. Given their general geeky vibe, it's easy to imagine the whole team wearing glasses. Realistically, they probably have got the highest proportion of glasses-wearers out of any brand in history. Mango, Pat G, Evan Wasser, and even the good homie Billy Trick have all been known to rock a pair of goggles; the only notable exceptions are Krazy Frankie and Nick Michel. Glasses are basically part of the team uniform and it definitely plays a crucial part in their whole nerdcore aesthetic. Le geek c'est chic.

Honourable Mentions

Diego Todd

Carrying on the legacy of Lindsey Robertson, Diego's another one who doesn't let the fear of breaking his glasses get in the way of him getting buck. The clip at 4:02 with the mid-line glasses adjustment is some seriously legendary shit, and the rest of the part is straight hammers. Plus, when he's got a beanie on he's the spitting image of Sid from Skins, except with less bean juice on his face.

Matt Gottwig

Gottwig is definitely a personal favourite when it comes to skaters with glasses. He's got sick trick selection, buttery style, and massive pop. Despite this, he looks more like an unsuspecting IT technician than a pro skater, which just makes his skating that much better.

Genesis Evans

Shouts to Hemmy for informing me I forgot about Genny. My bad.

That's enough chit-chat though. Head to the shop to browse the latest skateboard products and buy now from CSC. Or, check out more Top 5's on the CSC Blog. Safe.