PARTS

A skateboard consists of 7 parts: Deck, Grip, Trucks, Wheels, Bearings, Risers, and Hardware.

Deck: The wooden part of the board that you stand on. (more info)

Grip Tape: Traction tape that goes on the topside of the deck. (more info)

Trucks: Attaches under deck, has axles for wheels, controls turning. (more info)

Wheels: The “tires” for the board.  (more info)

Bearings: Goes inside of wheels, effects speed. (more info)

Hardware: The nuts and bolts that hold the trucks to the deck. (more info)

Risers: (optional) goes between deck and trucks. Cushions ride, Creates larger gap between wheels and deck.  (more info)

DECKS

The deck is probably the part of the skateboard that receives the most attention, and will be the part of the skateboard being replaced the most.

A Skateboard deck is a combination of thin sheets of wood(plys) pressed together with glue in between the layers to hold it all together. The better decks have all plys being Canadian Maple, usually 7plys.

DECK TYPE:

Skateboarding has changed over time, and decks have changed with it.

OLD SCHOOL: What you would have seen in the 80’s. Square tail, pointed nose, larger width.

LONGBOARD: Usually 40” + in length designed for cruising, and downhill.

NEW SCHOOL: What kids are currently riding. Nose and Tail Kick, and Concave. Designed for tricks.

For the rest of this guide, we will only be referring to new school decks.

BRANDS, BLANKS, PRO DECKS.

I’ve divided the next part of this into two parts: PRO DECKS, and BLANK DECKS.

PRO DECK: A brand name deck, one you would see in a core skate shop. This will have a graphic on the bottom. On the market today there are hundreds of brands of decks. This is can be really confusing; when they all claim they’re better then the brand sitting next to them. Ask 10 kids, they’ll all give you a different opinion about whose is better. THE TRUTH: There are about 6 factories in the world that produce 90% of all the skateboard decks in existence. Most pro decks are equal; the difference is the picture on the bottom. Some expectations apply with different deck constructions like Element’s Fiberlight and Helium series of decks.

BLANK DECK: "Blank Deck" refers to absence of a graphic on the bottom. These can be sometimes just as good as a pro deck, and some cases could be far inferior. Since this is my guide, I will insure you the Blanks that we sell are equal to a pro deck, and are made in the same factory that produces many of the top selling brands.

DECK SIZE

Decks will vary in width from 6 ½” –  8 ½”, and length from 26” – 32”. This is probably the part where a new skateboarder parent has the most confusion. I’m going to divide this in 3 categories: Mini, Normal, and Large.

Mini: Deck Length under 30” and Widths 6 ½” – 7 3/8”. The length is the major indicator to being a mini or not.

Normal: Deck Width 7 3/8” – 8”, and Deck lengths 31” – 31.75”

Large: Deck Widths over 8”, and Lengths longer then 31.75”

What size should I, or my Kid Use?

This is often made a lot more confusing then necessary, and everyone has an opinion.

If the rider is under 8, I would recommend a mini.

Everyone else I would recommend a normal size deck.

Bottom line for parents of a new skater: Buying your kid a normal size deck won’t hurt them; it will make it easier to ride around the neighborhood because of the increased stability from the larger foot room. Where it could become a problem is when they try and do tricks. If you’re really in doubt to what size to buy, go with the normal sized board. I tell most people it doesn’t really matter on their first board; people will decide what size works best for them after riding a few over time. If they already have a board, break out the tape measure, or just ask them. Nothing regarding a rider’s size and board size is set in stone.

Remember decks are made of wood and can and will break. The more advance tricks will lead to more broken decks. Decks could last years; others may snap one in hours.

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GRIP TAPE

Grip tape goes on the top side of the deck and is used for traction. There’s a few brands of grip tape on the market, some vary slightly. We normally use Black Diamond on most of our completes because it’s a great value, and the perfect mix of thickness and grit. Jessup, and Black Magic are other very popular brand names of grip tape. 99% customers choose black, but it’s available in a rainbow colors, and some graphic.

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TRUCKS

Trucks are second most expensive component. Trucks vary in styles, widths, weight, brands, and colors.

Width: This can also be confusing, and for a good reason it’s different per company. The axle width on a standard full size truck is 7 ½” – 7 ¾”. The standard truck size will be referred to by the measurement of the hanger not including the axle.

For Example a 5.0 Truck, is 5” hanger, with a 7 ½ - 7 ¾” axle, this is what is considered the standard. Some companies such as Independent do it in metric, their standard is a 129. Just to be confusing Krux does it 3.5 being their standard.  To summarize: 5.0, 129, 3.5 are all the same size, and that is the current standard.

Smaller sizes, such as minis will be less, such a 4.75, or 3.0. Larger used for longboarding and wider decks sizes will be a 6.0, 149, or 4.5.

Below is a basic chart of the some of the more popular brands and sizes.

Brands: You’ll see many brands of trucks on the market. While most are very similar some vary slightly, I would research them a little bit if your concern.

Bushings: These are the urethane cushions in the truck that control the resistance of turning.  Most stock bushing on trucks is around a medium hardness (95A), which should accommodate most. Bushings are available after market in many different colors and hardness’s. A softer bushing makes it easier to turn leaving very little resistance (aka loose), and a harder bushing makes it to turn (aka tight). The rider’s weight does influence the amount of resistance, smaller kids will have trouble turning on harder bushings, and larger riders will damage soft bushings. The stock bushings on trucks may need to replaced with softer ones for small riders.

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WHEELS

These are the “tires” of the board. Wheels besides varying in cosmetic things such as color, and graphic they vary in size and determine(hardness).

SIZE:

Wheels vary in heigth from 46mm to over 70mm. Size is varys depending on the type of skating your doing. Like most things in skating everyone has an opinon this guide is just a guide to help point you in the right direction.

46 -  50mm – Super small, used in a indoor park setting. Used by more experienced skater.

50 – 54mm – The popular size range today. Park only use 50 – 52mm, outdoor skater use 52 – 54mm because it’ll get caught in less cracks, and imperfections in the concrete.

56 – 60mm – Larger sized wheel, old school, cruising boards, and half pipe riders.

60mm+   - Usually for longboards, should be softer. Designed for cruising not tricks.

DUROMETER:

This is the hardness of the wheel. Lower the number softer the wheel.

Outdoor skating should be around a 97A – 101A

Longboarders/Cruisers  should ride a  78A – 82A wheel.

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BEARINGS

Bearings go inside of the wheel and effects the speed. Bearings vary in cost from $5 a set to over $100 per set. The price has to do with what’s going on in the inside of the bearing. Don’t be fooled by colored shields, and pretty packaging.

While bearing information can get very technical, only some of it actually matters to skateboarding, and even less matters to you as a consumer, since companies don’t put everything on their packaging.

We will now discuss: ABEC Rating, Shields, Balls, Retainers, and Lubrication.

ABEC RATING:

The ABEC scale is a system for rating the manufacturing tolerances of precision bearings. The system was developed by the Annular Bearing Engineering Committee (ABEC). You will see ABEC 3, 5, 7, 9 and some even higher in the market place. Skate companies use ABEC to classify their bearings, but not as the true definition as above. Tolerance isn’t in the equation to making a good bearing for skating. Speed is the number one concern for skaters when buying bearings, companies use ABEC as a grading scale of their product. Un-fortunately one companies ABEC 3, doesn’t mean it’s equal to another’s ABEC 3. The raceways, finish on the balls, ball retainers, and quality/weight of the lubricant matter when it comes to speed.

Some companies such as Bones do not list an ABEC rating on their bearing, and use a different way to list their product levels.

SHIELDS:

Two types of shields are used on bearings: Steel, and Rubber. Steel shields can be either removable (serviceable) or non-removable (staked, non-serviceable). This means if you are able to remove the shields in order to clean the bearings. Better bearings are serviceable. Rubber shields remove easily, and are becoming the most popular amongst skaters.

BALLS:

Balls are normally made of steel, and have hardness’s which is on the Rockwell scale. Since no company lists the exact hardness of their balls, no sense on writing much about it. A cheaper bearing with soft metal used, will flat spot over time with impact and begin wearing away the inside of the bearing causing to be noisy and slow.

Ceramics Balls are on the market, and are harder then steel balls. Plus they don’t rust, but these can be very expensive, and not for average skater.

Most bearings have only 7 Balls, this places all impact and side load on only 1-2balls. Some bearings use 8 Balls to spread out the load, and create a longer lasting and stronger bearing.

RETAINER:

This is the piece inside of the bearing that holds the balls. Better bearings will use a Delrin Crown, or something that self-lubricates the bearing over time. Cheaper bearings use a metal retainer, or nylon which begins wearing the balls over time, and eventually ruining the bearing.

LUBRICATION:

Grease and Oil are types of lubrication used. Most skaters use oil because it allows the bearing  spin good right away. A greased bearing will be slow at first until the grease begins to break down, and “channel” into bearing making it faster and a longer lasting lubricant in the end.  Oiled bearings should be re-oiled after every couple of weeks of use. Make sure you use a light synthetic oil.

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HARDWARE:

These are the nuts and bolts that holds the trucks to the deck.  These are available in a bunch of colors.

SIZE:

7/8” – No Riser Pad

1” –  1/8” Riser. (MOST POPULAR)

Most hardware is available in both Phillips and Allen head, the choice is yours.

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RISERS:

Risers are good for two things: avoiding ‘wheel bite’ and shock absorption.

Wheel bite (burn) is when the wheels rub the bottom of the deck. This happens a lot with hard landings or turns. Risers provide a little more distance between the board and the wheel preventing bite.

Risers come in a variety of thicknesses and hardnesses. Softer and thicker risers absorb more shock than thin, hard risers. Downhillers and cruisers often select thick risers to make sure their larger wheels have adequate distance from the deck. This gives them more freedom for turning and a much smoother ride. Thinner risers are often chosen by those who skate street, ramp, and park. While absorbing shock, risers also help to keep hardware from vibrating loose on rougher surfaces.

Risers aren’t required, but strongly suggested.

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