Longboard (skateboard)
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A longboard is a longer version of the skateboard. Due to its longer and wider base, it is more stable and travels faster than ordinary skateboards. It is not commonly used to perform tricks, but it is rather more of a pure mode of transportation due to its greater stability, speed, and ease of use. Longboarders sometimes compete in downhill races. When it comes to cruising around roads and sidewalks, many people prefer longboards to normal skateboards.
What differentiates longboards from the normal skateboard most is the wide variety of shapes and sizes. There are no official length limits for longboards but boards shorter than 91 cm are seldom labelled as longboards. Boards longer than 150 cm are rare because the longer board requires more room to maneuvre. While the normal skateboards are used almost exclusively to perform tricks longboards are also used for transportation, slalom and downhill skateboarding. The boards used in these disciplines differ from each other greatly.
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Deck types
Transportation
Boards used for transportation (also known as cruising) are the most common types of longboards. The boards are usually 100-130 cm long and usually do not have a long nose. The boards are flexy to provide a more comfortable ride and are often shaped to resemble surfboards. These boards are seldom used in aerial tricks but there are many longboarding tricks that, for example, involve walking around on the board in stylish manner.
Slalom
Slalom skateboards are used for navigating through a track marked with small cones as quickly as possible. The boards are usually 63-89 cm long and are often made of high tech materials like carbon fiber. The shorter boards are used on tighter courses and longer boards are used on fast courses and giant slalom. Many slalom skateboarders have several different boards set up for different kind of courses. The trucks are attached to the very ends of the board and the boards often have narrow ends to allow a tighter turning radius. Slalom skateboards are used almost exclusively for competitive skateboarding. Slalom wheels differ from tratitional longboarding wheels because they often have a much larger contact patch for better traction which is needed in slalom situations. Some of the popular slalom wheels are made by Manx, 3dm and ABEC 11. Slalom trucks are often much more narrow then normal longboard trucks to allow a tighter turning radius and some have a much more complex design like Radikals or PVD.
Downhill
Downhill skateboards are used for riding down hills as fast as possible. The boards are usually 110-130cm long and very stiff. The trucks are attached to the ends of the board to maximize the wheelbase. The baseplates of the trucks are often mounted through the deck to lower the board's center of gravity. Downhill skateboarders sometimes use streamlined helmets to reduce aerodynamic drag. Downhill skateboards are used almost exclusively for competitive skateboarding.
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Trick boards
Trick boards are similar to the short skateboards in shape and construction but are longer and usually wider. The trick boards are seldom longer than 110 cm. Tricks that can be performed on these boards are the same tricks that can be performed on a short skateboard but the heavier weight and larger size of the board require more skill and strength from the skater.
Wheel Types
Longboards are generally fitted with larger wheels, usually 60mm plus, the advantages of the larger wheel is an increased top speed compared to a smaller wheel, however a smaller wheel has less inertia to overcome and so accelerates quicker than a large wheel. The size of the wheel can also affect its ability to perform on different surfaces. A larger wheel will be able to ride better on rougher surfaces. Longboard wheel will have a different durameter (hardness / softness) compared to shortboard wheels. This is typically but not always in the 78a to 90a range. A typical shortboard wheel may be 97a. The durameter scale is a scale of 1 - 100, 100 being the hardest. Longboard wheels are made from urethane. Longboard wheels also come in many different shapes to suit the different disciplines. Wheel size may be a concern due to the type of deck and hardware installed on the longboard. As the longboard is turned, the deck may touch the wheels if the trucks are not far enough from the deck (using risers or another method). This is known as wheelbite and can stop the longboard quickly, causing the rider to be thrown off the board. This problem usually occurs with larger wheels, as they are more likely to hit the deck. There are several ways of solving this problem, wheel cut outs on the deck let the board turn and the cut out sections of the deck are no longer there to hit the wheels. Increasing the distance from the trucks to the deck using riser pads can also stop this problem, as the deck no longer gets low enough to touch the wheels. Some popular longboard wheels include ABEC 11 and Kryptonics.
Bearings
There are many different choices of bearings for a longboard. The bearings sit inside of the wheel, and attach to the ends of the truck hangers. Various types include steel ball bearings, and ceramic bearings. Steel Ball bearings are mainstream bearings that are in widespread use, and readily available in skateshops and online. Steel ball bearings are meant for the average skateboarder. Ceramic bearings are meant for the riders who crave speed. They cost much more then Steel Ball bearings. The advantages for ceramic ball bearings include a smoother roll if you keep them clean. They are also much harder then steel, and are about 40% lighter then steel. They are also thermal resistant, which makes them ideal for high speed downhill runs. Two of the main materials used in manufacturing of the ceramic balls is ceramic Cerbec® silicon nitride, and ceramic Zirconium Oxide.
Truck types
There are several different types of longboard trucks, differing from a shortboard trucks in several ways, the main one being that the hangers are often wider to accommodate the different sized decks. There are different longboard trucks for different disciplines, as well as all purpose trucks, with special features, such as inverted kingpins, spring loaded trucks and variable tilt trucks. Trucks designed for manuverability will have a soft urethane bushing or soft spring, to allow the truck to turn with ease, where a downhill or hill bombing truck may have a harder bushing or spring to try and eliminate speed wobble. Urethane bushings are also rated on the durameter scale, the harder the bushing the harder it is to turn the truck.
Most trucks have an angle to the hanger, which can be adjusted by adding larger or smaller size bushings on the base side of the trucks. For example, if you have smaller bushings, on the base side of the truck, the angle of the hanger will decrease, thus making the board turn less, and more stable at speed. On the other hand, if you have a much larger bushing base side, and maybe extra bushing cups, the angle of the hanger will be much increased. In that case, the skateboard would be much more "turny" as compared to having small bushings base side. Randal R-II trucks come stock at 50 degrees on the hangers. This is an optimal angle for carving set-ups, while Randal Downhill style trucks come stock at 35 degrees. The angle of the hangers applies to almost all skateboard trucks.
Drifting
A drift is when the board loses traction around the turn, it is a controlled movement used to lose speed, or to impress the ladies. The same equipment is used as for slides. There is little variation, only hand positions. Drifting is most common in downhill racing to negotiate turns that are entered at high speed or are too tight to make. Controlled sliding(drifting) is also common in slalom competition and is used for similar reasons.
Braking / Sliding
See Skateboarding Tricks -> Slides for slide brakes.
External links
- Northern California Downhill Skateboarding Association (http://www.ncdsa.com/)
- Yahoo! Longboarding directory (http://dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/Sports/Skateboarding/Longboarding/)
- Longboard Directory (http://www.longboarddirectory.com) Online database of Longboarding companies and websites
- Unlimited Fix Longboards and Skateboarding Company (http://www.unlimitedfix.com/)