How To Find the Right Skateboarding Equipment

Although a good article, there’s no way (or is it safe) to take a travel cup holder and attach the drink holder to a skateboard:

There are a lot of things to do when you’re just getting into skateboarding. And there’s a lot more that goes into choosing a board than you might think. The good news is that as long as you know the right things to look for, its easy to find good, safe skateboarding equipment. These tips will help get you out of the store and onto the street with your new board.

Deck

The Deck of the board is simply the wood board, minus everything else. There are a variety of lengths and widths that they come in. For those of average tallness, a board with a 31.5 to 32.5 inch length will work. The width usually stays around 7.5, but sometimes goes past 8 inches. 8 inches is good if you’re going to do a lot of park skating. If you like street skating and flip-tricks better, choose a deck that is thinner than 8 inches wide.

Wheels

There are two important factors for choosing wheels: Diameter and durometer. The wheel’s hardness is measured by durometer. If you like doing ramps a lot, you should chose wheels that are 55-60 inches in diameter. 95-100a is the level of hardness you’ll want. Smaller, lighter wheels are better for flip-trick aficionados. Those in favor of this functionality should chose 97-101a hardness as well as 50-500 diameter.

Bearings

These are the small, unseen rings of metal that fit inside the wheels and connect them to the trucks. Bearings are measured by precision using the ABEC rating system. 3-5 is a good ABEC range for skateboard bearings. Thankfully, most skate shops sell skateboard-specific bearings, so you shouldn’t need to know the ABEC score.

Trucks

These are the metal axles that transfer energy between the deck and the wheels. With trucks you need to know the width, the hardness of the bushings, and the height. For width, you want it to match the width of your deck by the following standard:

1. 7.5 inch boards should go with 4.75 inch trucks

2. 7.75 decks will use 5 inch trucks

3. And 8.125 inch decks will use 5.25 inch trucks.

Bushings are the pieces of rubber inside the truck that cushion it on turns. More stiffness in the bushings equals more stability, while a higher softness makes the truck easier to turn. The height of trucks mainly affects the size of wheels you can use.

Skateboarding is great in that you only really need one complete piece of equipment to participate. Accessories, like skate shoes may be helpful, but the only essential thing is a board. Follow this guide, and it will be no problem for you to select the best skateboarding equipment.

For more great tips and guides for choosing fitness equipment and improving your fitness, check out Ellipticals and Exercise.