So, you have finally burnt your scooter, well alright…let it rust to pieces in the garden without giving it the ceremonial burial it didn’t deserve anyway.
So, what are you going to do now? Apart from leave it out for the scrap man!
Buy a Skateboard !
Nice work…good decision… at last.
Disclaimer here we don’t all hate scooter kids with vengeance and wish we could feed them to our blunt nosed pigs. It’s just they don’t understand skate park etiquette and, ahhh lets do a separate post on this another day, it’s a big topic.
Ok seriously, you may or may not have had a scooter or a skateboard before and now you want one, and a decent one at that. So, you find yourself watching the cool cats shredding the park and find yourself waking up in the middle of the night crying out ….
“What skate board should I buy?”
Well, let’s get down to the trucks and bolts of it!
The easiest and simplest way to get yourself started is with what we call a ‘complete’, such as these which you can buy here at June store https://junestore.co.uk/collections/skatestuff
You just walk in ( you can buy online if you know what you want of course) ,choose some pretty graphics you like, get on your board and out you go, kick flipping down the road like Dorothy in a Pagan Wizard of Oz Thrasher feature.
A ‘complete’ is sold pre-assembled, all set up. Boom, it’s that easy! It literally comes ready to skate. All the components are matched together for your ease. The store should ‘grip it’ for you when you buy it. That’s put the black sandpaper type stuff on the top ready for you to scuff up your brand-new Vans your nan bought you for your birthday.
The only functionality consideration when buying a ‘complete’ is the size of the deck.
“the deck?”
The ‘deck’ is the wooden part you stand on, or maybe more accurately to begin with, the part you fall off.
When we describe the size, we are talking about the width. Standard widths are 7.75/8/8.25/8.5/9 inches. You can get variations. I skate an 8.62 but they are the standard.
Historically people seemed to skate skinny boards a lot. There were not as many skateparks about especially here in the UK so people mostly skated what’s known as “Street.” That is skating out and about on whatever you can find like benches and stairs etc. It meant they also did a lot of flat ground tricks that involved flipping the board a lot, like a kickflip. Obviously the skinnier the board the easier to flip. The downside is of course a skinny board is much harder to control and stay on!
I did a poll at my local park and almost everyone was skating an 8.25 or at 8.5 and that was kids from around 11 that were killing the mini ramp, up to full grown adults.
I skate an 8.62 because I have massive feet… alright, alright, it’s because I am rubbish, 42 and losing my sense of balance now. Plus, to be fair I am 6’2 and 14 stone, so not small.
An 8.5 gives you a decent platform to work on and more stability. It was, without a doubt, the most popular size at most parks. If you are buying for a kid of around 10-15 maybe an 8.25 will be best.
Let me be clear on something though. There are no tricks that these skilled young lads can’t do because their deck is 8.5 inches wide. They are banging out every flip trick in the book and some new ones too. So, don’t think that buying a slightly wider board means you won’t be able to knock out casual laser flips down the high street. You won’t be doing those because you just can’t do them …. yet!
I think the era of skinny boards is certainly coming to an end. In fact, I couldn’t find anyone skating anything narrower than an 8.
There are a few different shaped decks but I wouldn’t read too much into that to begin with. Just get the width right first.
That leads us onto trucks. Oh, where to begin? Get me a Yorkie bar, it’s a confusing one.
Hollow ones, low ones, high ones, narrow ones, wide ones argggghhhhh!
Trucks, they give you the stability and the ability to get what is essentially a shrunken down wooden version of an ironing board to do some cool stuff. This is why when you buy a ‘toy shop’ skateboard you can’t skate the bloody thing. The trucks don’t turn, they break.
If you do anything, other than burn your scooter that is, avoid ‘toy shop’ skateboards. They are dangerous, won’t work properly and won’t last. You will end up spending more money replacing it in a short while.
Your trucks’ width should match your board width. The helpful people at Independent, ACE, Thunder etc have made it easy by naming all the models all by their size in inches to match the trucks damn confusing by giving them all cool numerical monikers like 145s and 149s or 33s and 34s.
Here’s a nifty table you can take to your tattooist to get it tattooed on your arms so you can remember them.
Your local skate shop however WILL know which trucks suit your deck best (another reason to avoid the generic toy shop skateboard section). If you insist on buying over the net then use the table above to match the correct size trucks to your board. If you are skating a non-regular size board, an 8.62 like me for example, get as close a match as you can. I skate Indys 159s.
Trucks too skinny for your deck will be unstable and wobbly. Trucks too wide won’t have the necessary control to turn or perform your cool new tricks you learnt from Braille.
But what about wheels dude?
Wheels shmeels, it’s whatever. Okay it’s not, but it’s also not going to make a big difference to begin with. Just get round ones!
Wheels generally come in 51/52/53/54mm right up to 75mm. We are presuming you have bought your spanky new set up to get the chicks though and not to use it to cruise with the longboard crew to your nearest chia seed and spirulina bar.
If you are using your board to “get places” rather than to have fun on then you may want some big, soft, chunky wheels. If that’s the case you may want an entirely different sort of set up and now we are getting off track towards the chia bar again so let’s get back to skating.
Smaller wheels, 50-53mm, are slower and good for tricks, street and the skate park etc.
Large wheels for transportation purposes. Smooth out those pavements.
Now, wheels can be measured in a density as well. It’s called, wait for it, Durometer. 0-100 is the scale, the higher the number the harder the wheel. The harder the wheel the faster they go and vice versa. There is another scale as well but come on, haven’t you had enough yet?
For skating the park and the local street scene if you choose around 52/54mm with a high density around 98/99 you won’t go far wrong.
Again, your local reputable skate shop proprietor will assist you with this conundrum.
Leave me alone!
Right, bearings, the exciting part. What you need to know is …… “YAWN, shut up man I wanna go drop in.”
Yes, yes you are right. Go forth and skate young man.
Buying a skateboard can be a very simple process really. Choose the width most appropriate for your size (read average size for age) lets suggest these;
10 and younger 8-8.25
10-15years 8.25-8.5
15+ again 8.25+ depending on your size and ability and of course your preference.
Here are the bullet points:
- Buy the deck according to the pretty graphics and your size preference/size requirements
- Match some trucks using the table provided to said deck
- Buy some wheels. 98/99A density and 52-54mm will be fine for park and street.
- Buy obligatory beanie and baggy jeans
Failing all of that just get down to your local park and ask skaters down there if you could try their decks. Try different sizes, ask questions. See what feel most comfortable or which you seem to skate the best.
Skaters love talking about skating and we really are a friendly bunch. We will always help someone who is showing an interest.
when you go just don’t turn up on your scooter!