Choose the right skateboard
An important element in choosing your skateboard: the size of the board. It varies according to several criteria and models, such as longboards or cruisers.
First of all, if you want to use your skateboard on street furniture to perform your tricks, you must take a board located between 7.25 and 7.625 inches. If on the contrary, you prefer to use your skateboard in skateparks, opt for a board size between 7.625 and 8.25 inches.
The trucks, wheels and bearings of a skateboard
The trucks, skateboard accessories, are the connection area between the wheels and the board. There are different ways to tighten them depending on the use you want to make of your skateboard. The tall trucks are recommended for beginners or intermediate levels. In fact, they adapt very well to different skateboarding practices. The low trucks are rather intended for amateurs who wish to perform more complicated figures on ledges, for example. The bearings stand out thanks to the ABEC standard. The higher the number, the more the bearings accompany high-performance skateboards. They are more suitable for experienced amateurs.
For a child, ABEC 1 or 3 bearings will be preferred.
For adult beginners, the most common ABEC 5 are perfect.
For intermediate levels, ABEC 7 and 9 are recommended to gain speed and flexibility, except for skatepark fans that will suffer more shocks and will then keep ABEC 3 and 5.
Finally, the wheels are chosen according to their size and hardness. The harder the wheel, the faster and more sensitive it is to vibrations. This type of wheel is therefore not recommended for beginners or intermediate levels that will prefer softer wheels with better handling and are more comfortable.
This is wack advice, like seriously wtf
Don't bother going below an 8 unless youre under like 4 feet tall, or you wanna be some kind of freestyle or tech wizard, but starting out you'll appreciate being able to balance on something wider than a thin plank.
And all that shit about abec ratings is full of shit, abec ratings are really only important in engineering where precision is essential to the function of a machine or whatever, a skateboard will never reach speeds that an abec rating would factor into its performance. Bones bearings don't even bother with abec they just call all their bearings skate rated. Interesting to look into if you like filling your mind with random information.
Anyone starting out should just go for an 8.25-5 depending on height, trucks to match, 52-54mm 99a duro wheels, standard bearings, a skate tool and that's it ya done, as long as it's all solid brands then there's not much that goes into it besides what takes your fancy. You develop preferences over time, and if you end up with something you don't like, change it, experiment, that's how it all works
Topic: How did you choose your first board? (Read 2932 times)