Mini Logo

Mini Logo is the budget line of Skate One, George Powell’s California company — the same house as Powell-Peralta and Bones. It launched in 1996 and the idea hasn’t changed since: the same gear, without the signature graphic, without a team and without a campaign, for a fraction of the price. Decks, trucks, wheels, bearings, griptape, hardware and completes.

History

Skate One goes back a long way: George Powell set up Powell Corp in 1976 and Stacy Peralta joined in 1978. Mini Logo arrived in 1996 as the line that lets you skate without paying the share of the price that goes to art, advertising and rider royalties. The company is run out of the Santa Barbara area and, since 2020, the deck factory sits in Ventura, California.

Decks, trucks, wheels and bearings

The decks use, in the brand’s own words, “proven Powell Peralta deck construction and concaves”: pressed in Skate One’s AirLam presses with high-strength waterproof glue and a lacquer finish. Two concaves — K20 (mellow double kick, most sizes) and K16 (same idea with a shorter wheelbase for smaller skaters) — in widths from 7.5” to 8.5”.

Wheels come in two cuts: A-cut, wider and more stable, and C-cut, slim and light for technical skating. There’s 101a for street, 90a and 95a hybrids for rough ground, and the 80a AWOL in 55, 59 and 63 mm for cruising. The trucks, which Skate One says took five years to develop, run a Grind Lock hanger, a straight precision 8 mm axle and a hollow baseplate; in November 2021 the brand pointed out that Powell-Peralta am Zach Doelling rides them. Bearings are 608s with removable rubber shields and Speed Cream lube. Decks, wheels and trucks all carry a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects.

There’s no team, and that’s the point

Mini Logo has no riders. They say so themselves: there’s no team, there are “MILITANTs” — people who skate the product and push their own local scene. It’s consistent with the business model, because pro salaries and video budgets are precisely the part you’re not paying for.

Who it’s for

This is what I’d recommend to anyone on a tight budget, and to anyone snapping a deck a month who doesn’t want to pay pro prices every time. The wood comes out of the same factory as Powell-Peralta’s, and the trucks and wheels hold up against brands that cost twice as much.

What you give up is the graphic. There’s no art, no model from the rider you like, and you’re not supporting anybody by buying it. If a deck is half tool and half poster to you, that matters. If it’s a part that breaks and gets replaced, it doesn’t matter at all.

See what a full setup actually costs in the price guide and compare it with the rest in the deck catalog.