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Longboard Purchasing Guide - Selecting Your Ideal Longboard
Whether you’re in pursuit of a complete longboard for a novice, or you’re a seasoned longboarder seeking the right parts to upgrade and elevate your riding experience, this guide offers all the information you need about longboards!
Reading the guide in its entirety isn’t necessary (you’re probably more captivated by long boards than lengthy reads). We provide extensive information on our product pages to guide you in choosing the right longboard. Feel free to advance to our collection of complete longboards.
If you have specific areas of interest regarding longboarding equipment, you can proceed directly to the section that piques your interest by clicking the content list below:
Overview
Overview
Types of Longboards - Which Longboard Should You Opt For?
The various longboard designs cater to distinct longboarding styles. Particularly when buying a complete longboard, acquiring basic knowledge about types of longboards and longboarding disciplines can prove beneficial.
If you’ve chosen a longboard over a skateboard, it’s likely due to your desire for a smooth cruising experience and/or an interest in one of the more performance-oriented disciplines like longboard dancing or downhill longboarding.
Your choice of longboard should align with your preferred longboarding style. In the following sections, we’ll explore the essential elements of different longboard disciplines and the types of longboards suited to them. Continue reading for further insights into various types of longboards. We’ve sorted them into six different categories to simplify selecting the ideal longboard for you!
Longboard Cruisers & Carving Boards
Cruising and carving longboards often share similar attributes. Cruising is merely about riding your longboard, whereas carving involves shifting side to side to control speed, similar to a snowboarder carving a mountain.
Cruising and carving boards share many features, and if you enjoy cruising, you’ll likely want to carve occasionally. Cruiser decks often exhibit pintail shapes, perfect for commuting or leisurely rides in the neighbourhood. Cruiser boards prioritise stability and a smooth ride over tricks.
Cruiser longboards are an excellent choice for beginners, whereas carving is perhaps a progression from cruising.
Downhill & Freeride Longboards
Downhill longboards necessitate stability to avoid speed wobbles, requiring stiff decks and wide trucks. To achieve high speeds and mitigate accident risks from road imperfections or unintentional slides, the best downhill longboards boast large, broad, and soft wheels.
What is a freeride longboard? Freeride longboards offer greater versatility than downhill boards. While designed for fast downhill runs, they prioritise manoeuvrability for technical slides. Freeride boards share many traits with downhill boards. However, where downhill boards emphasize speed and stability, a quality freeride board introduces more agility into the mix - ideal for sliding and carving.
Protective gear is crucial for both freeriding and downhill longboarding.
Freestyle Longboards
Freestyle boards emphasize technical moves and artistic trick lines over speed. Typically, they have symmetrical shapes with kicks at both ends, permitting tricks and riding in either direction – hence, they are bi-directional. As freestyle isn't speed-oriented, the wheels tend to be harder and smaller than those on other setups.
Freestyle longboarding embraces creativity, pushing the limits of what’s feasible on a longboard. If you’re already drawn to skateboarding, freestyle longboarding may also appeal.
A freestyle longboard is great for those interested in tricks and perhaps some cruising too.
Dancer Longboards
Dancer longboards cater to individuals who enjoy incorporating graceful, rhythmic movements on a longboard. These boards are crafted for the artistry of longboard dancing, combining fluid movements, impressive footwork, and expressive style.
The best dancing decks possess bi-directional, symmetrical shapes and are the longest available, providing ample space for your dynamic moves and featuring kicks at both ends.
Success in longboard dancing requires a versatile setup, ideally with medium flex and responsive trucks, ensuring a balance between stability and agility for executing footwork.
If captivated by the rhythm of dance and the challenge of testing your limits, a dancer longboard is the perfect partner for expressing yourself on the streets and pavements. Embrace the rhythm, unleash creativity, and let your feet move to the pavement’s beat with the ultimate dancer longboard.
Visit our selection of complete longboards - and sort them by riding style.
Which Longboard Size is Right for Me?
The ideal longboard size depends on your riding style. While skateboarders might use shoe size to determine deck width, longboarders focus more on riding style than height or shoe size. For example, downhill decks are usually shorter compared to dancing boards. Thus, consider your riding style rather than physical measurements when deciding on the longboard size you need.
If you’re a shorter rider with smaller feet, you might find a shorter board comfortable; taller individuals with larger feet might prefer a longer board of the same deck type. It's about finding the right balance for your proportions and style.
Wheelbase for Longboards
The wheelbase is the span between the front and back wheels. The deck length gives some insight into the wheelbase, but it isn’t directly proportional due to features like tails that add overall length without affecting the wheelbase length.
A longer wheelbase offers a wider turning radius, while a shorter wheelbase results in a tighter turning circle.
- Longer wheelbase: Provides more stability with slower turns, aiding control and predictability during slides, but at the expense of agility.
- Shorter wheelbase: Offers more agility but less stability due to a tighter turning radius.
Some decks have adjustable wheelbases with multiple holes for mounting trucks, allowing placement closer or further apart.
Diverse Longboard Deck Shapes
Grasping the differences between longboard deck shapes and features is beneficial, as it will affect your deck choice. Knowing how specific shapes and features can help or hinder your style is key for informed decisions.
Pintail Longboards
Pintails are often seen on cruiser boards oriented towards a surf-style ride. Named after the tail of pintail ducks, their popularity is influenced by their resemblance to surfboard shapes. Pintails aren’t ideal for freestyle longboarding but are fun for cruising and carving.
Drop Down Longboards
Drop-down decks have a lowered area between the trucks for a lower centre of gravity. Being closer to the ground benefits beginners as it makes pushing easier and steering less responsive. With drop-down boards, the wheelbase is longer since you can’t stand directly over trucks. Sliding is easier, too.
Beginners and those who enjoy cruising, carving, or freeriding prefer drop-down boards, though speed-oriented downhill riders should opt for a deck without the drop.
Double Drop Longboards
Double drop decks combine a dropped platform with drop-through truck mounting, creating an exceptionally low centre of gravity. This design enhances stability, easing pushing, sliding, and maintaining balance at moderate speeds.
A double drop deck is worth considering if you desire to be as close to the ground as possible. It excels in cruising, freeriding, and sliding. Double drop boards are great for beginners due to their stability and advanced riders seeking sliding capabilities and freeride thrills.
Longboard Wheel Wells
Some decks feature wheel wells – concave indentations cut near wheels to provide clearance during tight turns or deep carves, reducing the risk of wheel bites.
Longboard Cutouts
Cutouts remove sections of the deck over the wheels to accommodate larger wheels and avoid wheel bite, ensuring no wood exists over the wheels.
Kicks & Double Kick Decks
Longboard kicks, the raised deck parts at ends, are commonly found on dancer, freestyle, and trick-oriented boards, facilitating moves like ollies, manuals, and kickturns. Double kick decks are essential for dancers and freestyle setups.
Understanding Drop-Through Longboards
Drop-through boards have trucks mounted through the deck, resulting in lower ride height and a reduced center of gravity, enhancing stability, easing pushing and sliding, and reducing fatigue on longer rides. They're popular for freeriding, cruising, commuting, and carving.
Drop-through decks feature holes letting you ‘drop’ baseplates through the top of the deck. Mounting trucks on drop-through decks involves disassembling the hanger from the baseplate.
Choosing trucks for drop-through setups requires true Reverse Kingpin (RKP) Longboard Trucks instead of conventional street skateboard trucks for optimal performance.
Drop-Through vs. Top Mount Longboards
Understanding the differences between top mount and drop-through setups is vital as it greatly influences your riding experience.
``` ```htmlTop-mounting signifies the method of fastening the trucks directly underneath the deck, positioning the deck above the trucks. This configuration offers superior leverage and responsiveness, making it ideal for carving, freestyle, and optimum manoeuvrability.
In contrast, drop-through mounting involves fitting the trucks through apertures in the deck, allowing them to hang lower than the deck's surface. This lowers the centre of gravity, enhancing stability and making it easier to push, as the pushing foot is nearer the ground. Additionally, it aids in sliding.
Drop-through longboards are designed with cut-outs near the wheels to guarantee wheel clearance, which is crucial given the deck's lower position. These cut-outs on drop-through decks prevent wheel bites and allow for smoother turns and manoeuvres by letting the wheels sit level with the underside of the deck.
Ultimately, the choice between drop-through and top-mount configurations depends on your riding preferences and style. If stability and speed are your main concerns, a drop-through deck might be more appropriate. Conversely, if manoeuvrability and responsiveness are what you value, a top-mount deck could be the better option.
When exploring our range of longboard decks, you can recognise drop-through decks by the large apertures where the trucks are affixed.
Exploring Longboard Trucks
The most suitable longboard trucks for you are those that closely align with your riding style. Various truck features can heavily influence your setup's characteristics. The pivotal specifications to consider in longboard trucks are the kingpin direction, baseplate angle, and hanger width.
Exploring Reverse Kingpin and Traditional Kingpin Trucks
You will often see the abbreviations RKP and TKP, which highlight the two main types of kingpin placements on longboard trucks. Here's what they represent:
- Reverse kingpin trucks (RKP) are sometimes called longboard trucks due to their excellence in various longboarding applications, whereas they are not typically used for skateboards. With RKP trucks, the kingpin points away from the centre of the setup, resulting in a truck offering stability while providing agile and smooth turns. An RKP truck is inherently taller than a TKP truck.
- Traditional kingpin trucks (TKP), also known as classic or vertical kingpin trucks, are predominantly linked with skateboarding and are infrequently used for longboarding. The design of TKP trucks, where the kingpin is positioned lower than the hanger, makes them especially apt for grinding.
Your choice between RKP and TKP trucks primarily depends on the desired turning characteristics. Reverse kingpin trucks are acclaimed for their controllability at greater speeds and are often regarded as more "predictable" when navigating turns at high velocities, compared to traditional kingpin trucks.
Examining Baseplate Angle in Longboard Trucks
The baseplate angle in longboard trucks refers to the angle between a line parallel to the baseplate and a line running from the pivot cup towards the hanger.
This angle significantly affects the overall characteristics of your longboard:
- Smaller baseplate angle: Results in a larger turning radius, causing the trucks to be less sharp in turns, necessitating more deck lean to initiate a turn. This characteristic provides stability and minimises the possibility of wobbling at high speeds. For added stability, selecting a lower baseplate angle is recommended.
- Larger baseplate angle: Offers a more nimble truck with a smaller turning radius, facilitating sharper turns with less effort. Higher baseplate angles enable easier initiation of turns, simplifying steering of the longboard. For novices learning essential longboarding skills like pushing and turning, a larger baseplate angle is generally more appropriate to learn on.
Our range of longboard trucks can be sorted by baseplate angle to simplify finding what you need.
Longboard Bushings Explained
Longboard bushings are small, doughnut-shaped pieces crafted from polyurethane that fit inside the truck's hanger. They play an essential role in dictating the board's responsiveness and stability. Bushings come in different shapes, sizes, and durometers (levels of hardness), allowing riders to customise their board's feel and performance.
Bushing hardness:
- Softer bushings: Enable more turn and carve.
- Harder bushings: Offer greater stability at higher speeds.
Bushing shapes:
- Cone bushings: Conical bushings are available in both short and long versions. They are recognised for their responsiveness and are utilised in setups for cruising and carving.
- Barrel bushings: The shape of barrel bushings makes the trucks more stable and less prone to turning.
- Eliminator bushings: These eliminate any space for unwanted movement of the trucks. Eliminator bushings cater to those seeking stable setups for high-speed riding or those needing extra support from their bushings. Eliminator bushings fill out the complete bushing seat, extending over the top edges. Consequently, you can utilise softer bushings while remaining in control at high speeds.
Altering the bushings can lead to substantial changes, and they should not be disregarded when aiming to fine-tune the characteristics of your setup.
Longboard Truck Dimensions & Width
The width of your trucks should ideally correspond with the width of your deck at its broadest point. If the trucks/wheels project too far, you might face problems such as wheel strike when pushing.
To ascertain a suitable truck width for your longboard deck, we suggest using the axle width instead of the hanger width, as the axle width dictates the trucks' overall width. At SkatePro, we have streamlined this process by providing the axle width among the truck specifications.
- Narrower longboard trucks: Are more quick and responsive.
- Wider longboard trucks: Offer more stability and are simpler to control at speeds.
We provide everything you require for your longboard trucks, from parts and risers to bushings and more:
Longboard Wheels Overview
Securing the optimal longboard wheels is crucial for many longboarding aficionados. Not only do they significantly affect the riding properties of your setup, but they also come in an extensive array of colours and captivating designs, stirring a sense of commodity fetishism among longboarding enthusiasts.
Focusing on what's important, let's discuss how longboard wheel specifications influence your riding experience.
Longboard wheels are generally crafted from polyurethane, a versatile plastic material in various forms. Wheel producers develop unique formulas to manufacture longboard wheels and other skate wheels. These formulas are meticulously refined to provide specific characteristics, enhancing the riding experience.
When purchasing longboard wheels, the critical specifications to bear in mind include wheel size, hardness, and shape.
Understanding Longboard Wheel Size
Selecting the appropriate longboard wheel size requires understanding the implications of size on speed, momentum, smoothness of ride, and manoeuvrability:
Speed and momentum:
- Larger wheels: Offer higher top speeds and better speed retention.
- Smaller wheels: Provide lower top speeds but allow quicker acceleration.
Ride smoothness:
- Larger wheels: Have a gentler curvature and typically a larger surface area to absorb irregularities, leading to a smoother ride.
- Smaller wheels: Encounter ground irregularities at a steeper angle, increasing the likelihood of sudden halts when rolling over cracks or pebbles.
Maneuverability:
- Larger wheels: Are generally less manoeuvrable but offer more stability.
- Smaller wheels: Are more agile and easier to manoeuvre, boosting overall manoeuvrability.
Weight:
- Larger wheels: Weigh more than smaller wheels.
Sliding properties:
- Larger wheels: Are more challenging to slide into, and once in a slide, they are harder to control.
- Smaller wheels: Facilitate easier entry into sliding and are simpler to control during slides.
To select the correct size for your longboard wheels, these are the considerations. Naturally, you must ensure that the rest of your setup complements the chosen wheel size. The primary focus is avoiding wheel bites. If uncertain, consider employing risers:
Longboard Wheel Hardness Explained
Longboard wheels are assessed by their hardness using a measurement termed durometer, applicable across all skate wheels. A higher durometer rating signifies harder wheels. The impact of wheel hardness is considerable, so remember to review the durometer rating when selecting new longboard wheels - or when purchasing a complete longboard with pre-selected wheels.
A brief comparison of hard and soft longboard wheels:
- Harder longboard wheels: Provide less grip, slide more readily, and are less effective at absorbing vibrations.
- Softer longboard wheels: Offer more grip, don't slide as easily, and absorb vibrations more effectively.
Longboard wheels generally range from 78A to 85A, which is relatively soft compared to standard skateboard wheels. This softness is pivotal, as longboarders often ride on rough surfaces at higher speeds.
Width & Shape of Longboard Wheels
The width and form of the wheel determine the contact patch of your longboard wheels, which corresponds to the part of the wheel that contacts the ground during riding.
- Wide contact patch: Offers more grip.
- Narrow contact patch: Provides less grip and easier slides.
The edges, or lips, play a vital role in the performance of longboard wheels, defining the contact patch. Wheels with sharp edges provide wider contact patches compared to those with round or beveled edges.
- Longboard wheels with sharp edges contribute a wider contact patch, delivering more grip and stability for speedy rides.
- Longboard wheels with round or beveled edges have narrower contact patches, facilitating easier slides and offering lighter weight, adding agility and manoeuvrability.
Selecting Superior Longboard Wheels
By evaluating the key elements of size, hardness, and shape, you can pinpoint the appropriate wheels for your setup. But, what might seem suitable theoretically might not always perform as expected, leading to periodic experimentation with new wheels until you reach an endpoint in longboarding.
Below are frequently posed inquiries about specific longboard wheels:
What Defines the Best Wheels for Longboard Sliding?
For proficient longboard sliding wheels, opt for smaller wheels with a hardness near the upper limit of the durometer scale (up to about 85A), ideally featuring a narrow contact patch (beveled or rounded edges).
How to Determine the Ideal Longboard Wheels for Cruising?
```When cruising, place emphasis on wheels that roll smoothly and effectively absorb vibrations from uneven surfaces. Choose softer wheels (74A - 78A) that are moderately large (65 - 70 mm). If you aim for optimal grip, pick wheels with sharp edges; for increased agility and a smoother ride, select models featuring rounded or beveled edges. These choices will provide ideal wheels for cruising or commuting.
Selecting Optimal Longboard Wheels for Dance and Freestyle
For executing dance moves and tricks, focus on wheels that are lightweight and easy to handle. In the realm of longboard dancing and freestyle, agility and manoeuvrability are more vital than speed and stability. Choose wheels with a diameter of about 65 mm, featuring rounded or beveled edges, and a soft durometer rating.
