How to Choose the Right Skateboard for Your Riding Style
Plenty of people buy their first skateboard for the graphic. You’re scrolling a shop page, some weird cartoon or a loud colour jumps out, you click buy, and a week later you’re pushing it down your street feeling every crack in the footpath come up through your shoes. Bit of a letdown.
Thing is, “skateboard” covers a few pretty different setups. There are boards for flicking around a skatepark and boards for getting to the shops, and from a product photo a beginner can’t really tell which is which. The listings don’t help much either, half of them just say “great for all riders”.
So I reckon you park the question of which board is “best” for now. Work out where you’ll ride it first. Once you know that, a lot of the choices sort of fall away on their own.
Skatepark, footpath or somewhere in between?
Got a skatepark down the road? If you’ve been watching kids drop in and you want a go at ollies, get a regular popsicle-shaped board, the classic one with both ends kicked up. Those raised ends (nose and tail) are what let you pop it off the ground, and the shorter length makes it easier to spin around once you get that far.
If the closest park is half an hour’s drive away though, and you mainly want to roll down to the beach or across the uni campus or over to a mate’s place, I’d be looking at a cruiser instead. Usually compact, with softer wheels, they’re way kinder on rough bitumen, and you can carry one onto a train without too much trouble.
Longboards are the other option. Long, stable, a bit like surfing on concrete. Heaps of longboarders have zero interest in tricks, which is totally fine. Plenty of people skate for years without landing a kickflip and couldn’t care less.
Still can’t decide? Go for a standard board and chuck slightly softer wheels on it. It won’t be perfect for every situation but it’ll get by in both, and that’s plenty while you work out what you’re into.
Deck width: honestly, don’t stress
Skaters will argue about deck width for hours. One person tells you 8.0″ is perfect, the next says anything under 8.25″ is a toothpick. They’re both just talking about what works for them.
Wider decks feel more planted underfoot, handy early on when just standing on the thing is a balance test. Narrower ones can be a little easier to flip. Comes down to the person though. Shoe size plays a part, sure, but loads of smaller riders end up on wide boards and swear they’d never go back.
If there’s a skate shop nearby, pop in and stand on a few. You don’t even need to roll anywhere, you’ll often just feel it. And if two sizes a quarter of an inch apart both seem okay? Flip a coin. Seriously, it’s not going to wreck your first few months.
Buzzy feet? Blame the wheels
This one comes up all the time. Someone buys a good-looking street deck, takes it out on the road, comes home with tingling feet and decides skating isn’t for them. Often it’s the wheels.
Most trick boards come on hard wheels, commonly around 99a or so (that number’s the hardness, higher generally means harder). Lovely on a smooth concrete park. On a coarse footpath they buzz like an electric toothbrush and every little pebble feels like a rock. Cruiser wheels are softer, they just sort of roll over the rubbish and tend to grip better on ordinary pavement too.
Then there’s how big they are. Bigger ones hold their speed and get over small bumps easier, the smaller ones are lighter and street skaters tend to like them. If you’re mostly skating around your neighbourhood I’d look at how bad your local roads are before worrying about what any pro rides.
You can replace wheels later anyway, once you’ve got a better idea of what you like. Just make sure larger wheels have enough clearance so they don’t catch against the deck when turning.
Should you build your own?
You can, and once you know what you like it’s half the fun. Deck, trucks, wheels, bearings, bolts, all picked by you. As a first board though? It’s a lot. You’d be choosing truck widths for a deck you’ve never stood on and wheels for a style you haven’t found yet.
A complete comes already assembled, with the main parts matched. Shops like Skate Warehouse Australia have completes as well as individual parts, so you can have a look at both before you commit.
Quick warning: steer clear of those really cheap, poorly made boards from toy shops. Stiff bearings, trucks that barely turn. Learning is hard enough already.
Give it a few months and you’ll start having opinions (looser trucks, softer wheels, whatever). That’s when it’s worth messing around with parts.
It’s going to feel weird for a bit
Nobody really warns you how unnatural it feels at first. You’re side-on, shoving off with one foot, on a plank that moves every time your weight does.
Find somewhere quiet and smooth. An empty basketball court works, so does a quiet paved area, as long as you’re allowed to skate there and you’re away from traffic. Helmet on, pads on. Push, turn and stop until it’s boring, then move on. Practise stepping off safely when you lose balance too, because you’ll probably be doing a fair bit of that.
Some days you’ll struggle and wonder why you bothered. Keep at it. The wobbles settle down with practice, and twenty minutes a few evenings a week beats one massive session on a Saturday that leaves you wrecked.
You’ll figure out your thing
Loads of people start out desperate to learn tricks and end up mostly cruising. Others buy a basic complete and six months later every part on it has been swapped. Your first board won’t be your last, so it doesn’t have to cover everything.
Also read: Designing a Custom Tote Bag People Actually Keep and Use
Check the roads near home, think about where your mates ride, and grab something you’ll actually want to take out after work or school. Change your mind in six months? That’s fine. Next board will be an easier pick.
