board strength and width

[sammyz]

ok...this is probably a really stupid question...but i'm hoping there are some wood experts that can help.

I got back into skating last year...the first deck i skated was an old Prime 9.25 deck i bought just before I stopped skating about 12 years ago...it broke after 2 sessions. I put that down to old wood.

Next i got a Real 8.25 Kyle Walker...was really nice and skated it for about 3 months - didn't break it.

Then i got the urge to skate wide decks, so
 - I got a Winkowski and broke it
 - I got a Remillard 8.8 and broke it
 - I got a VX 8.8 and didnt break, but after a few months i had razor tail
 - I got a powerply Bakkel 8.6 and broke it
 - I got another VX 8.8

Last night, I set up my Real 8.25 again (remembering its been skated for 3 months, and been sitting in the wardrobe for about 9 months). It felt really good skating a narrower board and it still had a lot of pop, and not once last night did it feel like it was going to crack or snap, even with some bad landings.

So...question is, are narrower boards stronger than wider boards? or is this just good construction on Real R1 decks?

(apologies or long winded post)

[munchbox]

ok...this is probably a really stupid question...but i'm hoping there are some wood experts that can help.

I got back into skating last year...the first deck i skated was an old Prime 9.25 deck i bought just before I stopped skating about 12 years ago...it broke after 2 sessions. I put that down to old wood.

Next i got a Real 8.25 Kyle Walker...was really nice and skated it for about 3 months - didn't break it.

Then i got the urge to skate wide decks, so
 - I got a Winkowski and broke it
 - I got a Remillard 8.8 and broke it
 - I got a VX 8.8 and didnt break, but after a few months i had razor tail
 - I got a powerply Bakkel 8.6 and broke it
 - I got another VX 8.8

Last night, I set up my Real 8.25 again (remembering its been skated for 3 months, and been sitting in the wardrobe for about 9 months). It felt really good skating a narrower board and it still had a lot of pop, and not once last night did it feel like it was going to crack or snap, even with some bad landings.

So...question is, are narrower boards stronger than wider boards? or is this just good construction on Real R1 decks?

(apologies or long winded post)

the common denominator of the decks you broke is that they are all dwindle wood. people complain about their wood all the time. the real is on bbs wood which is often considered the best woodshop, either them or ps stix. i ride strictly bbs because its reliable and can take an extended beating.

i have an antihero (9.18) that was run over by a benz and there was no visible damage to the board afterwards. i still have the deck to this day, its almost a whole year old and the tail only died about two months ago. the only time i broke a bbs board is when i stomped a trick out on the tail. im heavy and it was my poor technique, but dlx sent me a replacement anyways since it was fairly new. im not sure who does and doesnt send replacements, but dlx has always been great with this shit so i stick with them when i can. if not, i just ride another brand on the bbs woodshop list. they dont die unless i really, really, botch a trick and thats regardless of the width.

[Brguy]

There's not enough info there to have a good conclusion, as off said, wood factory might be a factor, but there's also your weight, how much time you skated, how the board fits you, how lightly you're able to land things wrong. I'm pretty tall so smaller boards have a big chance of breaking at the edges because of the extra pressure, for example. And I can step pretty lightly if I want to, so more often than not I've landed FS 180s on gaps and the nose just bent down and came back.

[sammyz]

Ok...so further info im 6’3” and about 200lbs...i dont tend to stomp down and because of the long hiatus my technique isn't great and i dont land bolts all the time. Although im getting better, i cant afford to work on technique whilst breaking boards every couple of weeks.

Also with the BBS thing, thats why i got the anti hero, but is Real construction better than other BBS decks or are they all on par?

[munchbox]

Ok...so further info im 6’3” and about 200lbs...i dont tend to stomp down and because of the long hiatus my technique isn't great and i dont land bolts all the time. Although im getting better, i cant afford to work on technique whilst breaking boards every couple of weeks.

Also with the BBS thing, thats why i got the anti hero, but is Real construction better than other BBS decks or are they all on par?

im around the same height and weight so im gonna take a wild guess and say dwindle wood.

ive owned a real and a few antiheros and i cant say i saw a noticeable difference, they were all built like tanks. the heavyweights decks are probably your best bet if you really fear snapping another one. dlx has replaced gear for me with any sign of design flaw so as long as the item is relatively new, i dont even fear it breaking let alone expect it to.

[sammyz]

Expand Quote

Ok...so further info im 6’3” and about 200lbs...i dont tend to stomp down and because of the long hiatus my technique isn't great and i dont land bolts all the time. Although im getting better, i cant afford to work on technique whilst breaking boards every couple of weeks.

Also with the BBS thing, thats why i got the anti hero, but is Real construction better than other BBS decks or are they all on par?

[close]

im around the same height and weight so im gonna take a wild guess and say dwindle wood.

ive owned a real and a few antiheros and i cant say i saw a noticeable difference, they were all built like tanks. the heavyweights decks are probably your best bet if you really fear snapping another one. dlx has replaced gear for me with any sign of design flaw so as long as the item is relatively new, i dont even fear it breaking let alone expect it to.

Unfortunately living in Australia, ain’t much chance of dlx replacing anything for me. I was looking at those heavyweight decks too. I’ll probably try a regular R1 deck again, as its proved pretty strong before jumping to heavyweight.

[Jollyoli]

I've had the same thing with Dwindle, really like the crisp pop out the box but tended to snap/crack them. Maybe too stiff and don't flex. I fully back bbs and mostly skate DLX brands. Don't think board width as important to integral strength than wood used and construction technique.

Coloration does not imply causality.

[tom]

Sometimes skateboards just break. You can be skating the board a lot harder than you realize. A board will flex, bend, and twist out of shape then snap back into place when you don’t land on the bolts every time. Eventually the board will break from the stress. It happens to me a lot because I’m playing catch-up for the time I was off my board due to injury. Maybe try out some of your locals shop boards so you’re not taking as big of a hit in the wallet while you work through re-learning stuff

[satan]

Sammyz. Did you notice what construction the regular NHS boards were? Cold pressed would be regular glue instead of epoxy, those could be weaker.
I'm thinking woodshop though. Maybe BBS is that much stouter?
I doubt DLX boards are any better quality but they do use numbers for steepness, and they had a construction no other company used (Low-Pro).
Heavyweights would be a good option if you're concerned about getting razor tail too quickly. Maybe even a slick?

https://www.realskateboards.com/contstruction/


Width seems like it'd help more in the middle of the board where the concave adds a vertical component that increases stiffness.
Width should be proportional to strength at the nose/tail right by the bolts.
9"/8" = 1.125 -> 12.5% stronger
But..
9"/8.75" = 1.029 -> so only 3% stronger, that's next to nothing..