However, in the last month they have noticeably more friction. The feeling of fast new bearings often motivates me to replace them sooner. Imagine if there were a way to keep the tail and bearings from wearing out. The skateboard industry might suffer, but the average skateboarder would have an extra 65-70 bucks per month to spend on snowboarding. To illustrate my point, consider this analogy between a skateboard and a person.
Most people today die of heart disease.
If they don't die from that then they will probably die from cancer. If one could find a way to cure heart disease and cancer, then the average person would last much longer. Wearing out the tail is like skateboard heart disease and wearing out the bearings is like skateboard cancer. Pop, the springy property of a wooden tail that allows one to ollie, is essential for modern skateboarding. This is a piece of plastic that you can screw into your tail and make it last forever.