Why did wide decks become so popular?

[matix218]

Hey guys, I am just coming back to skating after around a 3 year hiatus (got married, had a kid, moved to new house/state, etc).  Prior to that I had been skating consistently for around 17 years (I am 33 now).

I have noticed in my browsing of online skateshops, watching newer video parts, reading forums and whatnot that people are riding way wider boards now.  Even guys that do extremely technical stuff seem to be riding 8-8.5 decks.

I was always a fliptrick heavy skater moreso then big gaps or stairs and I always rode a 7.5-7.56 deck which was very common to see at the time.  I noticed now that basically 7.75 is considered the skinniest board that people would consider using.  Some places even list 7.5 decks as "minis" now.

I am wondering if any of you guys who have been skating for a long time on skinnier boards have  made the transition to the newer trend of wider boards and how that transition went?

I just bought my first new deck in several years and it is a 7.75 so essentially only .25" wider than what I am used to so I cant imagine that the transition will be too hard.

Also have you guys found significant advantages or even noticed that your flip tricks improved by going to a wider board?

[busted-knee]

Fashions. Just like stupidly small wheels in the early 90s, board sizes change with fashions. I've always liked a board between 8.25 and 8.5, so it's much easier now for me - these weren't always that common. I can remember riding and 8.5 on a trip to Sweden years ago and hearing some kid telling his little buddies that I was riding a 'vert board'.

I sometimes like to change it up, but I've more or less ridden the same shape from Deluxe for a decade or more. When ir ain't broke...

[Sleazy]

That switch happened a long time back, mid 2000s around when tony t blew up

It's like loose trucks, more fun to ride a wider board if you are skating with some speed and jumping over/off stuff. More stable. Definitely enjoy someone like dolin with a quick flip but really like seeing guys graceful flip a wide board that flips slower and I'd imagine that's part of it.

[Level 60 Dwarf Paladin]

I didn't size up until I got on Slap like 5 years ago. The widest I would go was 7.75. Now I'm on a 8.75 and it's comfortable.

[Abyss1]

i also came from the mouse era with skinny decks and small wheels, as I got older and started skating more transitions my board, trucks, and wheels slowly got bigger.   

[botefdunn]

hey OP, if you wear a size 10 or over, try riding 8.25- 8.5, trends aside, it feels alotmorebetter not to have your feet hanging over the sides quite so much. i went through this transition awhile back, and my flat/tech game is as good/shitty as ever, but everything feels more comfortable and (I imagine) looks better too.

[The Lap Dancer]

It happened with the pussification of skateboarding (stay tuned, I plan to make a topic about it). It happened with the new less effort and commitment generation that we nowadays see - skateparks full of scooter kids is the finest example. Kids became uncoordinated, "skinnier" boards became "too hard, too small". Everyone wants everything "the easiest way". Shoe industry sold "board feel" as a marketing trick to sell less expense, cheaper materials and easier/faster to produce plain shoes for the same price and fucking trends made the legitimacy to all of this without questioning it.

I could care less about wide boards if market offered me selection of the shapes and sizes from most of the companies I've been riding for years, but fuck no. I'm not gonna switch my board size because everyone's nowadays riding a griddle or someone said so. Why should I? I've been riding them for years, I know better what I like and prefer. I've stayed true all these years and I will stay strong. I freaking hate when someone says that "skinnier" boards are for small feet. 7.6 was my favorite size which has become almost extinct nowadays. But because of this I've also become not picky about my setup anymore, I skate whatever "narrow" size I can get. Downside is that I can forget about supporting or buying a brand I like or want because most of them don't produce anything below 8. I switched to 7.5's because I was able to get them and been riding them for past years, I really like the feeling. Last board I got was 7.75. Not as fulfilling, but I guess I will get use to it. I've even got 7.8 at one point, but you need wider trucks for that size. Basically I'm fine with anything from 7.5 to 7.75. It sucks that some shops don't carry anything below 7.75 and even for this size they have a deck or two. Though sometimes you can get a good deal because most of the people don't skate those sizes.

I have a normal size foot, I still ride small wheels and I love to skate fast. Foremost, "skinny" boards are aesthetics and look the best.

[coneklr]

I didn't go as wide as most ( got to 8.25 ) but I also have a small foot ( size 8-8.5 ) but have recently come back down to 8 which I feel like is the perfect width for me.  As said before though, the reason it became the norm is it was what has been in style

[doomstation55]

I call BS that you only took a 3 year hiatus and didn't notice that board sizes were getting bigger before coming back.

I've been riding wider boards since my feet have grown. It's practically impossible not to toe drag every trick if I'm riding anything under 8. I try to ride a 8.38 for the most part. I'm also a size 12 shoe (sometimes 13 depending on the brand) so that makes a difference imo.

[Level 60 Dwarf Paladin]

It happened with the pussification of skateboarding (stay tuned, I plan to make a topic about it). It happened with the new less effort and commitment generation that we nowadays see - skateparks full of scooter kids is the finest example. Kids became uncoordinated, "skinnier" boards became "too hard, too small". Everyone wants everything "the easiest way". Shoe industry sold "board feel" as a marketing trick to sell less expense, cheaper materials and easier/faster to produce plain shoes for the same price and fucking trends made the legitimacy to all of this without questioning it.

I could care less about wide boards if market offered me selection of the shapes and sizes from most of the companies I've been riding for years, but fuck no. I'm not gonna switch my board size because everyone's nowadays riding a griddle or someone said so. Why should I? I've been riding them for years, I know better what I like and prefer. I've stayed true all these years and I will stay strong. I freaking hate when someone says that "skinnier" boards are for small feet. 7.6 was my favorite size which has become almost extinct nowadays. But because of this I've also become not picky about my setup anymore, I skate whatever "narrow" size I can get. Downside is that I can forget about supporting or buying a brand I like or want because most of them don't produce anything below 8. I switched to 7.5's because I was able to get them and been riding them for past years, I really like the feeling. Last board I got was 7.75. Not as fulfilling, but I guess I will get use to it. I've even got 7.8 at one point, but you need wider trucks for that size. Basically I'm fine with anything from 7.5 to 7.75. It sucks that some shops don't carry anything below 7.75 and even for this size they have a deck or two. Though sometimes you can get a good deal because most of the people don't skate those sizes.

I have a normal size foot, I still ride small wheels and I love to skate fast. Foremost, "skinny" boards are aesthetics and look the best.

This fool's just mad he can't flip an 8.

[ChuckRamone]

Skateboarding gear is becoming standardized. Sort of like sports equipment. It went through an evolution but has stabilized. There were really big, heavy boards in the 80s to early 90s. Then came double kick, smaller, skinnier boards. At this point, it seems boards, trucks and wheels have reached a general average that's somewhere between the extremes. Currently I'm on an 8.25" with 139s but I'm thinking of trying 149s. Pretty sure I won't deviate much from this anytime soon. I have size 9-9.5 feet.

That's my take on it. I could be totally wrong and boards will change radically again.

[Main]

7.5"-7.75" decks are for children. 8"-8.6" is normal. 8.75"-10" is wide.

[shit_for_brains]

I've been skating 8.25 ever since Maple stopped making that Thom Hornung 7.25 with the banana on it. So I think that's like 75 years.

[svilleantigo]

It happened with the pussification of skateboarding

you're not wrong. i think we all noticed the whole polar/magenta/east coast revivalist/welcome-ish shit caught on awfully quick with folks who can't do many flip tricks while also happening to lack the style/talent pontus alv/ricky oyola and company need to make that style of skating watchable. i'll be the first to admit i was guilty of it, same way i'm sure some folks on here probably feel like tools for 39mm/size 44 jeans or heartagram tattoos and kreper trucks or grizzly grip and taildevils or whatever other cringey shit we've cooked up in the past half century.

anything under 7.75" still doesn't work for me though, despite my dainty size 8.5 feet. just doesn't look as good, just doesn't feel as good. 8-8.25 is a nice sweet spot, especially with 139s to give it that slightly slop/loose feel.

[ZEBRA]

My guess is there's pros riding wider boards. You have all these set-up videos coming out with pros setting up their boards and saying how they skate a 8.5. Kids at the shops start asking for them based on this and companies start introducing wider boards. That's just a theory though...

Me and my friends were skating 8.0's back in like 2008. Not sure how it started, but honestly we all started riding wider boards because you have more control and it's just more comfortable. More area for your feet to land on. It sucks to have to figure out certain flip tricks again cause your board is harder to flip, but it doesn't take long if you gradually move up in size.

Wider boards usually means longer boards. Longer wheelbases. I made the jump from an 8 to a 8.25 and noticed a huge difference. Loved it because the board and wheelbase was just a little bit longer. I've found that personally, wheelbase and length is everything. But that's just me...

[DCLOVE]

hey OP, if you wear a size 10 or over, try riding 8.25- 8.5, trends aside, it feels alotmorebetter not to have your feet hanging over the sides quite so much. i went through this transition awhile back, and my flat/tech game is as good/shitty as ever, but everything feels more comfortable and (I imagine) looks better too.

My feet growing is exactly why I switched from 7.75 to 8.25. Feels so much more stable cruising around.

[The Lap Dancer]

7.5"-7.75" decks are for children. 8"-8.6" is normal. 8.75"-10" is wide.

You haven't been skating longer than 5 years. Anything under 7.3' - for children. 7.5-8' is normal. 8.25-8.5' is wide. Anything above 8.5' - you must be a longboarder.

you're not wrong. i think we all noticed the whole polar/magenta/east coast revivalist/welcome-ish shit caught on awfully quick with folks who can't do many flip tricks while also happening to lack the style/talent pontus alv/ricky oyola and company need to make that style of skating watchable. i'll be the first to admit i was guilty of it, same way i'm sure some folks on here probably feel like tools for 39mm/size 44 jeans or heartagram tattoos and kreper trucks or grizzly grip and taildevils or whatever other cringey shit we've cooked up in the past half century.

anything under 7.75" still doesn't work for me though, despite my dainty size 8.5 feet. just doesn't look as good, just doesn't feel as good. 8-8.25 is a nice sweet spot, especially with 139s to give it that slightly slop/loose feel.

Why do people think that smaller boards are for a guy that does excessive flip tricks or that only tech guys would have smaller boards? Sure, it's easier to flip the board, but it has nothing to do with that or so that it suits only that kind of skating. It's the feeling, the quickness of a board and how fast it can maneuver and most importantly it's the aesthetics. Both Ricky and Pontus didn't skate wide boards most of the time back in the day. I'm not necessarily saying all people should be skating 7.5's, but as I've stated in the past, if you're a street skater, your board size should be a bit wider than half of your foot in ollie position. All of my favorite video parts or the parts that are the most enjoyable, whether it be fast east coast street skating, whether it be ledge stuff without flip in-flip outs, whether it be aesthetically clean skating or whether it be big drops and rails, all of the guys are skating "narrower" boards.

If I get it right, you're saying Ricky Oyola and Pontus Alv lack the style and talent to make their skating watchable or you're saying all the phony who jumped on the trend the past year/-s lack it to make their skating watchable? I wouldn't throw Welcome in the same bag with the companies that were doing "east coast revival" at the time when just a little amount of people were appreciating and supporting it.

[lk130]

When emerica and baker got popular around tis (early 2000s) tony t also, wider boards started to come in. .the difference in a few mm is considerable when your putting alot of calculations on. I like 7.875 boards now but depending on the brand and shape I can move them up or down

[svilleantigo]

Why do people think that smaller boards are for a guy that does excessive flip tricks....

snip

....I wouldn't throw Welcome in the same bag with the companies that were doing "east coast revival" at the time when just a little amount of people were appreciating and supporting it.

yeah, i guess i should've explained myself a little better on both accounts. it's possible to be tech on wider boards, no doubt (and simple/clean/powerful on <7.75"s, for that matter), but anything flippy has always felt easier on a narrower setup, given my level of talent, even if i don't really enjoy that whole style so much.

re: second point, ricky/pontus/(infinite other examples) have it, phonies lack it. i think folks saw a whole lot of ollies, wallrides and no complies and saw it as an easier "in" toward being regarded as half-decent on a skateboard, without having the talent to take those tricks and make them look as good as whoever they were trying to emulate, end result being a ton of badly done circus tricks. tech is great, but tech is also very inaccessible, and i'd wager more than a few late-2000s skatepark kids got bummed when all they could do was mob kickflips while a bunch of 25 year olds ledge danced/laser flipped a shitstorm around them.

oooooorr maybe everything's just a product of the times and human beings are impressionable and copy whatever's trendy/popular at any given moment. that could explain the number of rail-flipping juggalos i've seen in my day

[sharkin]

I'm skating an 8.625" now and while I suck at flip tricks on any sized board, my kickflips are floaty as shit and have never looked better

[swag nollies]

I always skated a 8 - 8.25, anything over a 8.5 and your getting into no-comly guy territory. That shit feels akward with a big ass board, I like to be light on my feet, I dont like feeling like Im strapped to a cadillac. Zip-zinger was probably my favorite board I skated, quick and nimble.

And fuck tall trucks, wide ass deck with tall trucks and big wheels is fucking horrible.

[johnes]

My guess is there's pros riding wider boards. You have all these set-up videos coming out with pros setting up their boards and saying how they skate a 8.5. Kids at the shops start asking for them based on this and companies start introducing wider boards. That's just a theory though...

Pros always used to talk about how they rode boards bigger than the ones they actually sold, sounds like the reason to me too.

[somethingmustbreaknow]

my two cents:
more stability, more control, more comfort, more precise flip, easier to catch, better/easier to land clean

[Deucifer]

Anything above 8.5' - you must be a longboarder.

I skate 8.6". fuck.

[christ0v]

I have this friend who's like 35 now and i'm 23. When I was 15-16 i watcher him skate this huge board - 8.5ish decks, big wheels and wide indys. I was skating 7,5-7.75 at the time and thought why would he ride something like that. He skated a lot of old school shapes and so. Now i skate a bigger board than he was skating the last time i saw him. I guess people and preference just change with time.

[El Chupacabra]

I like wide trucks. I feel it gives a more Cadillac ride. So, big boards.

[Main]

You haven't been skating longer than 5 years. Anything under 7.3' - for children. 7.5-8' is normal. 8.25-8.5' is wide. Anything above 8.5' - you must be a longboarder.

Your avatar is fitting, because your intelligence is that of a baboon's ass callus. 8.25"-8.5" too wide? Where are your fucking balls? Name any vert 'n tranny veteran still skating and most of them skate big boards just like the old days...and they sure as fuck aren't longboards.

[Monkey_Mcpott]

Its all in the wheelbase. I skate that Baker 8.4 x 31.8 the wheel base i believe is 14-14.25. So its slightly shorter than the usual big board which tends to be by 32 long or larger with a larger wheelbase. I can still do all my flip tricks that I've always been able to do no problem. The only difference is that i feel my foot is more relaxed instead of feeling like I'm on my tippy toes like i am on a smaller board. Im a size 10 shoe.

[Silky Johnson]

I think it was foggy who said "its like landing in your living room"

[matix218]

I call BS that you only took a 3 year hiatus and didn't notice that board sizes were getting bigger before coming back.

I've been riding wider boards since my feet have grown. It's practically impossible not to toe drag every trick if I'm riding anything under 8. I try to ride a 8.38 for the most part. I'm also a size 12 shoe (sometimes 13 depending on the brand) so that makes a difference imo.

No BS, I had a back log of about five 7.5 & 7.56 decks that I was setting up as I would wear out my previous deck and they lasted about 2-3 years so realistically I have not shopped for new decks for around 6 years.  The last time I was shopping for new decks 7.5 and 7.6 decks were very common from most companies, now obviously things have changed.  I am not complaining, I am looking forward to setting up my new 7.75 and I am sure that it will not be that big of a deal and since I am rusty anyway I will have more issues scraping off my body rust then I will getting used to a quarter inch wider deck.

I was just posting this thread to see what some other guys who have been skating a while had to say about the change to wider boards becoming kind of the standard (obviously they had 8 and 8.25, etc the whole time I was growing up skating but board sizes between 7.5-7.63 were MUCH more common at least among me and my friends.  Now keep in mind I grew up skating street (banks, manual pads,  ledges, medium sized gaps and small to medium sized stairs) and not skating much tranny or park or massive handrails and drops and my friends were skating the same type of stuff so maybe that is part of the reason it was rare to see any of us on size 8 or larger boards.

Maybe I really would like an 8 board and I should give it a try.  I would consider moving up to an 8 for my next setup just to try something new.