Hey all,
I have a family member who is a small 5 year old and I was hoping to get her first complete as a Xmas gift. However, I know absolutely nothing about the market for boards for children.
I dont want to end up buying a junky Walmart type board that doesn't roll properly or anything, but I also don't want to buy anything overly large and heavy she won't be able to use.
Just looking for general advice or any brands to avoid really.
Cheers.
From a shop perspective, the two main things are budget and ability. If it is a first time skater, ability is not an issue and you are looking more at budget than anything else.
The only other thing to note is the look of a product, as a lot of younger kids (both boys and girls) want something that looks good to them, so a board that is often a little more fun could be way more likely to be used more than once or twice, as well as looked after and keeps them interested.
One common thing is repainting any board for them, or at the very least a graphic that is in certain colours or whatever they want, but even doing a grip paint job could liven up their interest as well.
Right now there are a lot, and I mean A LOT of budget completes that are all roughly about the same overall feel, use, softer bushings, softer wheels, similar everything really, but price can vary greatly, as can the graphics.
Element are clearing out a ton of completes that skate well for kids, some female interest graphics and are pretty good. I have a lot of them for kids to use at the indoor park / shop and they hold up well, can be easily upgraded and are great for the price.
Other brands are usually more expensive, but again, that comes down to budget and what you are looking for.
Here in Australia, I can get completes very cheaply from retail shops or pass on links for people, but for USA or elsewhere in the world, it is just down to whatever you can find in any given place.
A couple of other things to note from my own experiences:
You don't need to get the no grip boards unless they are still only crawling, so if they are standing up, a normal grip board is better. If you don't want it quite so grippy, just use a grip offcut and dust the grip back a bit more so they don't get cut up at all.
Getting them a mini board is only good if they are an absolute midget, so for any small bodies that are already standing well enough and have not skated ever before, a normal 7.75 to 8.0 size board will work well enough, over a 7.0 or smaller type of setup, for most cases.
If the board still is not turning enough for the child, take out the bottom washer rather than replace parts on the board - it is easy to put back in and costs nothing, but makes the already soft bushings so much easier to turn on as rolling and just leaning to turn is often easier than lifting to tic tac.
Tightening down the wheel nuts at first will slow the board down a bit and help the beginner stay on the board with less possibility of slipping out. As they start to learn to balance and want to go faster, loosen the nuts off again to normal, just a little play, etc.
Topic: Anyone got any experience buying a setup for a young child (4-5 years) (Read 1338 times)