Beginner Questions

[HLCruise]

Hey everyone,

I've been longboarding for about 2 months now in my home town of Holland Landing. It's got some decent hills that are good to learn on. My question is I don't really know a whole lot about longboard terminology, and I was wondering if there are resources that anyone would be aware of that could teach me things such as different brands (right now I only know sector 9, btw my current and only board is an OG Cloud with 70MM wheels) different kinds of trucks, what different sized wheels do, etc.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

PS: Sorry of any lack of response for the next 5 hours...I will be at work but will check back when I am home.

[Brain Smoothie]

uhh theres alot to learn about that much stuff, you can send me a private message if you want and ill do my best to answer your stuff there, to post everything here would take forever

[Brute379]

Heres a good read

Randal Skateboard Trucks - General Truck FAQ

[enemy combatant]

That's a good deck you have!

[TwinTown Skater]

Welcome to the fish, and come on in. There is much to learn and many answers for every question. One leads to the next and pretty soon you're giving advice to the next fisher.

Use the search function to avoid getting flamed, but many will provide help just ignore the cranks

[BigTreeFallHard]

cool beans man! honestly, as ur questions arise its very worthwhile to just search through the forms and threads and read what advice was given, u'll pick up on the lingo and gyst of things very quick.

[tarzan]

decent board, um to learn some of the new lingo and jargon read a few threads and ask questions to clarify what you don't understand.

[PhilFTW]

I'll give you some info to get you going.

Board:

Cutouts - No part of the board extends over the wheel, to avoid wheel bite (where the wheel hits the board, causing you to stop suddenly and most likely fall).

Wheel well - Some wood is cut out from the bottom of the board over the wheels to give the wheels more room. Helps to avoid wheel bite.

Flex - refers to how springy the board is. Flex is common on carving boards because it allows the rider to spring in and out of turns.

Stiff - a non-flexy board. Better suited for higher speeds, but many people prefer stiff decks all around.

Drop-deck - When the platform of the board where the rider stands is lowered below where the trucks are mounted to the deck. Provides stability and is common on downhill boards.

Topmount - When the trucks are attached to the bottom of the board; the conventional way to mount trucks. This provides better control over the lean turn of the trucks

Dropthrough (not to be confused with dropdeck) - When the trucks are mounted to the top of the deck via a hole in the deck. Gives the rider a lower center of gravity.

GOOD COMPANIES:
Sector 9 makes a lot of boards, but they lack technical boards. (Quality over quantity) They are great for a first board, but as you get addicted to longboarding, you will soon realize that Sector 9 will most likely not give you what you are looking for.

Rayne. Excellent boards. They make excellent downhill decks/stiff decks. Very good company.

Loaded. Somewhat controversial around the 'fish (silverfish longboarding forum). They make carving boards and specialize in flex. The boards they make are high quality, but unfortunately it has created a bandwagon, so to speak. We suggest you look deeper into other companies before deciding that the dervish is the best.

Earthwing. I really don't know a lot about them. From what I hear, everything is positive.

Original. Great carving boards, however their trucks are quite unconventional (doesn't mean they are bad in the slightest). They use spring trucks, which are super turny. Many people find them hard to ride/get used to.

LongboardLarry. Don't know a lot about them, but everything I have heard is pretty positive

Legendary Longboards. Quite a few people don't know about them. They make custom boards. They are EXCELLENT! They have many different styles of boards, and I have heard only positive things about all of them.

I'm probably forgetting some, but you get the idea.

EDIT: Almost forgot Landyachtz! They make excellent boards all around. Excellent company.

Wheels:

- Bigger wheels are slower, but maintain speed better. Slow wheels have quick acceleration.
- Durometer (commonly referred to as "duro") is the measurement of the hardness of a wheel's urethane (the rubbery material the wheel is made out of, commonly referred to as "thane"). A number that is being described as a durometer is followed by the letter "a". For example, the duro of my wheels are 80a. A low duro (around 75-80a) means the wheel is softer than hard wheels (around 86a+)
- Soft wheels will grip while turning sharply (carving) better than harder wheels, which are better for sliding . Soft wheels also absorb bumps in the road better than hard wheels, but hard wheels are faster (assuming the surface isn't too rough)
- Wheels can have either round or square lips. That is referring to the edge of the wheel. Square lipped wheels are the wider looking wheels that cone in toward the nut holding it on the axle. Round lipped are the same style as conventional looking wheel typically seen on skateboards. Square lipped wheels are better for gripping and round wheels are better for breaking out slides.

- Some common, good quality wheels are Retro Bigzigs/zigags (commonly referred to as bigzigs, zigs), Orangatangs (otangs, purptangs/potangs (referring to the purple wheels they make)), 3dm, Sector 9 Race Formula, Bennet Alligators.

TRUCKS:

Bushings - refers to the rubbery material which puts tension on the truck during a lean turn. Harder bushings make the board more difficult to turn, but are more stable. Soft bushings are easier to turn, but are less stable

The link that was posted earlier provides and EXCELLENT overview of the mechanics of the trucks.

Some good trucks are:

Randal, Paris, Crail, Bear, and I'm definitely forgetting some, but I'm really really tired of typing.

DONE

[tarzan]

quick note bigger wheels have slower acceleration, not that big wheels are slow. All I can say is good out find some people to ride with and you will slowly learn the stuff neccesary. oh and to add to the trucks section: reverse kingpin trucks are randall style trucks

[Jorelle]

We should take Phil's post, expand it and sticky it.

[tarzan]

Originally Posted by Jorelle

We should take Phil's post, expand it and sticky it.

second that motion

[Tboy]

PhilFTW, that list was, pretty FTW. I'd say enough to get stickied as basic information for the new people coming on board the fish (on... board... i crack myself up).

One of the ways that I've learned almost all that I know about boarding would be to use the search function here in the message boards. Right on the Forums tab, it'll drop down and there's a "Search Forum" selection. Hit it!

A useful tip would be to select "search by title" to increase relevance to your query. Another would be to "Show your Results by Post" to save some time.

There are many threads that may already exist pertaining to the questions you have in mind. Search helps you find these threads. This'll avoid clutter on the forums. Let's keep things nice and tidy ayt?

[HLCruise]

Phil that list was...something else! Thanks everyone for the help, I'll make sure to read this and browse the forums and hopefully I can start contributing to the community soon.

Happy cruising!