Longboarding

miroz

miroz

Active member
Alright here's the deal. My little brother is buying a longboard. I know relatively little on the subject, and the rest of our family knows nothing. So, I come to NSG with questions:

-What makes a good longboard? Trucks? Wheels?

-He's about 5'1 and 90 lbs, 13 years old, 14 in December. ..Are there different sizes of longboards? What size would be good for him? He can ride a normal skateboard well and do basic tricks, if that makes a difference.

-What effect does board flex have on the ride?

-What are some good brands he should look into?

-Do boards with wheel cutouts make a difference (meaning there's no board over the wheels for deeper turning, I guess)?

-What is a reasonable price for a longboard?

-What other things do you need, like accessories? Don't say helmet, we have those...

A thank you and +k goes out to anyone who helps out.

Thanks guys!

:)
 
get him a 38" or 40" kracked skulls scimitar with randall II 180 trucks and 76mm gumballs.

www.krackedskulls.com

-cheap, drop through (which is a way of mounting the trucks, makes it easier to push) board, that rides like a dream
 
Longboards come in a lot of different lengths and flexs and like skiing, its a personal preference as to what you like to ride. Do you have any shops near you that sell boards so your bro can find out if he wants a stiff one or a softer one?

A drop through board would be a nice starter board for him though because the deck is lower to the ground so its easier to pump (waaaay less tiring over the course of a long cruise). I'm going to assume he wont be doing any sliding yet so i'd suggest you get wheels with a duro (density rating) of 70a-75a as this range seems to be great for carving/cruising (they grab the road really well).

I dont normally wear a helmet unless i have my slide gloves on and im bombing hills but since he is young, its a good idea to get one to protect his head incase he falls.
 


Alright... A good longboard can be defined by many different things depending on what your doing, a downhill longboard is a stif dropthrough, carving board is soft and taller, sliding board is smaller with super hard wheels etc... I'm assuming hes just going for an all around cruising board. Chances are your going to buy complete for his first board, so dont worry a ton about trucks and wheels yet, unless your buying custom for him in which case go with some cheaper randal 120's and abec 11 grippings / gumballs / zig zags

Size is more impacted than what your doing with the board vs. how tall you are, but because hes specifically really short compared to the average longboarder hes going to want to look on the smaller side of everything were talking about. I would keep it around 36".

Board flex is based on what you want out of the board, an all around board is a cross between a super flexy carving board and a super stifff DH board. Usually an all around board is also a pintail board. Some company's (such as loaded) sell boards with different flex's based on riders weight (IE - Loaded deverish in a felx 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5)

For his first board, look into sector 9 pintail / kicktail completes. Bamboo series is a decent set of boards for a begginer / intermediate. If you want to spend more go loaded / cracked skulls deck with earlier specified hardware / rayne.

Wheel cutouts shouldnt make or break your decission of his first board, and are usually found on more specialized carving boards. But they can be nice in wheel bite prone (heavy carving + big wheels) situations.

Reasonable for your first board is around 150$ complete - you can go cheaper custom though if you want to do the work, companies just overcharge for completes.

And accesory wise you really dont need much, maybe a pair of kicks your willing to beat the shit out of if hes skating alot. But since he already skates I assume he's already got a pair.

PM me for anymore questions... Fuck i just wrote alot.

 


i worked at a ski/skate shop in high school. I own a few boards, and so do all my friends.

-What makes a good longboard? Trucks? Wheels?

both. for carving, a big wide soft wheel will add tons of stability. nicer trucks are also way more stable. there are some trucks that are good for low speeds, and some for high. I'd just slap some randall r-IIs on there and loosen em up a lot, although I haven't bought a board in 3 years.

-He's about 5'1 and 90 lbs, 13 years old, 14 in December. ..Are there

different sizes of longboards? What size would be good for him? He

can ride a normal skateboard well and do basic tricks, if that makes a

difference.

the bigger the board, the larger the turning radius, and also the more stability. big boards 48+ inches tend to feel more like a surfboard. smaller boards 38 inches and under turn way quicker but are less stable. the common longboard is a 40-45 inch pintail, a good all-around board that can carve well. if he skates, you may want to look into getting him a board with a kicktail, pintails dont have that. sometimes its hard to tell whether a board has a kicktail from pics

-What effect does board flex have on the ride?

the more flexible, the more it will flex at low speeds when carving. stiffer boards will only flex at high speed, but throw back a lot of power. kinda like skis. its all personal preference. loaded style boards are super flexible, good for cross stepping and pumping. my board is rock hard

-What are some good brands he should look into?

loaded, rayne (best boards I've ridden), kracked skull, landyachtz, dregz, arbor

-Do boards with wheel cutouts make a difference (meaning there's no board over the wheels for deeper turning, I guess)?

I've never gotten wheelbite, but it would suck if it did happen. risers usually solve that problem well enough.

-What is a reasonable price for a longboard?

around 200 bucks for everything. you get what you pay for. my friend bought a complete sector 9 with shit hardware and ate it REALLY bad.

-What other things do you need, like accessories? Don't say helmet, we have those...

different wheels. harder wheels for sliding, softer for carving. don't invest in good bearings because most of the time you're going fast enough anyways, just get reds or something. if he's sliding, some gloves. oh and a fat sack of weed.

it's all preference, but the best boards in my opinion are the landyachtz evo, loaded vanguard, dregz supertanker, arbor pintail. oh and rayne makes the best carving board ever, I forget what its called but it blows EVERYTHING else away. all very different boards but there's no way you won't like any of those, with the exception of the loaded cause some people just dont like a lot of flex, and the rayne cause its unlike any board out there.
 
Unless he was bombing a hill he should have been riding a drop through on, chances are the board didn't cause the problem and it could have been avoided. I have seen plenty of good sized hills bombed on "shitty" sector 9 pintails by kids who don't really know shit about longboarding. It's not like riding a sector nine is guaranteeing death. What happened in this crash that makes you think it was because of the board?
 
I have a sector nine complete and even though its not a top-of-the-line board it rides fine and Ive had no trouble with it
 
get leathers. otherwise you may be looking at the bone of your shoulder for a few days(5 and counting). and gloves.
 
ya they come in sizes, he should probably get a smaller one with more flex just because he's lighter. i have an arbor pin and i love it but that'd be too big for him. maybe look at a loaded board cause they're fun
 
Same. I recently loosened the trucks up a ton and wow...what an amazing ride.

What i really like about the KS boards though is the ammount of deck space you can put your feet (10" wide deck for ~30 inches). Soooo stable.
 
Hey guys, thanks so much. You've all been karmafied. Special props to those who took time to address every question - you guys make me love NS!

:)
 
get a campus cruiser they are tight as hell!

http://www.longboardlarry.com/images/boards/4%20humus.jpg{/IMG]

[url=http://Longboardlarry.net]http://Longboardlarry.net[/url]
 
^whoops

12220229134_humus.jpg


get the 22" one its tight as hell
 
some boards are just really unstable. and when matched with cheap shitty trucks, problems arise. im not saying it was the baords fault but some boards are just super unstable in the way there designed and their shape.

to everyone here reccomending a drop through to this kid im not sure its such a good idea. yes there slightly lower and more stable but there also alot more fragile than a traditional board. if the nose or tail hits something hard, the mounting spot tends to crack and break fairly easy. i'd be looking a drop deck if you want something more stable and easier to push first. or just stick with a traditional board setup. check out landyachtz boards and bear trucks. i try and stay away from randall trucks because they just dont match up compared to bears for the same price. gumballs are a good choice but also check out retro big zig's for wheels. my setup cost me about 270$ but you can probly find a lesser setup for around 200$.
 
oh and deffinatly either buy or make a pair of sliding gloves. probly the most important protection besides a helmet. will save him lost skin and possibly a broken wrist.
 
just go get a sector 9 that you like

chances are that you arent going pro or anything so just get a stock sector 9

youll be fine
 
Hey thanks again guys!

And...whats a drop through? And a drop deck? I'm sorry, I know absolutely positively nothing about this...
 
ummm loaded decks are real nice, but for less scrilla id get a kracked skullz, id get the m1 myself.

randall or paris trucks would be good

maybe some abec 11 flashback wheels, theyre a good all around wheel.
 
pretty much anyone who knows nothing about longboarding and see's the loaded video's automatically wants to get the loaded boards even though there not suited to their riding sytle at all. not hating on loaded but so many people have there decks when they really don't need them. loaded boards arent really begginer boards.
 
its the hardware man, obviously not the piece of wood unless that breaks. I said a complete, hence shitty trucks and wheels.

I rode his board and hated it. it sucked. my board is a sector 9 bomb hills (hate on sector 9 I dont care, this board shreds) with gumballs and his tiny little hard wheels suck in comparison.

if I had to buy one all over again it would probably be a rayne, can't stress it enough. people love to hype kracked skulls but no one has a clue about rayne and how crazy their boards are, ferrarris in a world of civics.
 
Thanks for the retorical comparision. Maybe if you wanted to compare Rayne and loaded it might have worked but KS boards are great starter boards for a super reasonable price, something rayne can't claim. Rayne boards are $250 minimum after taxes...thats not as reasonable as a $140 KS board, more in line with Loaded prices.
 
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