I highly recommend soft risers or shock pads, at least 0.13″, to ensure you don’t vibrate out of your joints while riding. They go between your trucks and the deck. However, in the case of a drop through deck, risers are actually just shock pads, which will soften your ride. That’ll help you figure out where not to put your feet (different from a street deck). I’m going to recommend truss head screws because you’ll be able to feel them with your feet better. Hardware: Risers/pads, truss head screws. They have extended races, so you won’t need spacers between them (there are two bearings per wheel). But a high rating doesn’t necessarily guarantee a fast or smooth ride. ABEC defines tolerances of the balls in the bearing. You’ll want at least ABEC 7 bearings, but, honestly, the best don’t even use the ABEC ratings. Depending on the deck, you could load up with 80mm to 85mm soft wheels for a really smooth ride, like I did for my Pantheon Ember.īearings: Bones, Oust, Zealous, etc. A softer ride means you’ll be bucked off less frequently. Soft wheels will grip more and absorb the shock from cracks in the pavement or rocks better. In that case, thinner, 150mm trucks will work best. Wide trucks are great for stability, but you might kick your wheels until you get used to them. This makes them less “twitchy” and easier for a beginner to learn to balance on. Without explaining the geometry too much, they essentially have less rake, meaning they rotate less for your lean. Reverse kingpin trucks turn less for your lean than traditional kingpin trucks. It’ll make learning to push and stop much easier, and also provide a stable base to learn on. This puts you as low to the ground as you can get.
The Zenit 2.0 Longboard, a good option for a double drop deck.ĭeck: Double Drop: A “double drop” deck drops down from where the trucks are mounted, and also allows the trucks to be mounted through the deck. They’re also going to need good bearings, like those from Bones, Oust, or even Zealous (the cheapest option). You’ll likely want a double drop longboard with reverse kingpin trucks, about 30-40″ in length, with at least 70mm soft wheels. You don’t have to completely match it, but this should be the easiest thing to ride. There’s a decent design for a super stable skateboard. My tips will make learning easier, but you’ll still need some financial motivation. Getting up to speed is going to take perseverance. In the beginning, learning is going to be very tough. You’ll feel an obligation because you spent good money on something. The other reason is that an investment in good equipment will push you to go out and ride. They were cheap, and we got what we paid for. Our boards were Mongoose skateboards from a big box store. That’s because they had terrible bearings, hard, garbage wheels, and you had to push constantly to keep it moving. I couldn’t ollie, I barely learned a pop shuvit, and going anywhere was a hassle. I got my first skateboard with my brother when I was about 11. Not mine, but I believe this was the actual design!Ī little history of Danielle. And, finally, the reason I didn’t get into skating earlier, because the bearings are going to be awful. The wheels are going to be garbage, they’re going to chunk, and you, again could get hurt. They often have cheaply made trucks that could break from riding, won’t give you smooth turns, and will make controlling your board difficult. They’re made with terrible wood that could snap under your feet at speed, causing injury. The reason I’m not recommending these is because they’re typically low quality.
Now, I’m going to make a few assumptions here. Fall and winter are a great times to start, falling hurts less when you’re wearing a jacket or hoodie. I want to convince my friends to start skating with me. I already got pushing and stopping out of the way, so let’s take a look at the right longboard to put beneath your feet.
Mongoose pinner how to#
The other day, I had two friends suggest they might get into longboarding if I wrote an article about good beginner boards and how to ride.