Official Longboarding Thread

[TGIMUNDAY]

Talk about your set up, ask for help choosing a set up, and talk about everything to do with longboarding, here!

I'm going to try periodically updating this threads original post with more info, in case there are any start ups coming in this thread looking for general info.

1st Update:For newbies to longboarding, it's more than just cruising around or going down some hills carving slowly, there is:

Freeriding:



Downhill:



Sliding:


Freestyle:



Dancing:



Long Distance:



Whatever this would be:


2nd Update:

Want some slide gloves? I'm not going to post up the links for the ones on the market, you can search those yourself, but I can tell you how to make some cheapo ones, that work just as well!

All you need is some work gloves, some hot glue, industrial velcro and some Corian.

Now, work gloves, hot glue, and velcro are easy to find, corian, however, might be a little more difficult if you don't know where to look.

http://www2.dupont.com/Surfaces_Comm...an_colors.html

This site lets you get up to 6 free pieces at a time, that's enough for 3 pairs of gloves, compare that to spending around 15 dollars for two slide pucks for one pair of gloves.

Constructing your gloves from there is fairly simple, glue one part of the velcro to the glove, the other to the corian, then stick it on.

Mine look like this:


Not pretty, but they get the job done. Some people like having pucks on their fingers, I just tape up the middle and index fingers with electrical tape when they start to tear.

3rd Update: Xgecko on boards, trucks and wheels

longboardsk8r has a lot of completes in the $200 range, not all are set up the way I would want but tastes vary......my choice for an all in wonder would be something like this and a set of freeride wheels (like Zombies, Sidewinders or Slide B's) to switch to when you want to get your slide on.


I wrote this a while back and it's still quite relavant

truck width is board dependent not skill level dependent....9" or less 150's otherwise 180's. For reverse kingpin trucks there are really only two types of trucks Randals and everything else...though technically Gullwing came first everything out there is a copy of Randals, they are good trucks especially now that Gravity owns them. your other choice for trucks would be Indy 215's (which are actually 183mm wide) however, as much as I like Indy's on a longboard they are an acquired taste (not everyone likes the way they turn). 180's are a pretty stock size for longboards....as guys go faster many claim that 190mm-205mm is more stable (I never found this to be so but I've only been to the mid 50mph range so what do I know?). The biggest issue for me has always been footbite. wheels protruding more than 1/2" past the board edge is asking for trouble in my book. For the Record though still a diehard Indy fan my two of my three DH boards a on Caliber trucks and the last is on Randals......

Good online stores include Mile High skates, East Coast Core Skates, and Longboard Skater, Something to think about, Longboards are built in batches and designs are constantly evolving.

What ever you do invest in or build a pair of gloves they are as important as your board and shoes. Also you will find that a large percentage of longboarders wear a helmet. Helmets don't have the stigma in longboarding that they do for streetskating not to mention many of us know someone who has been hurt or died because they weren't wearing one.

something else to think about....Concave. There are two very different types in the longboard world. Radial and the so-called lunchtray. Most of the boards pressed in Socal (Watson for instance) use a some variation on a Radial concave. Gravity, Earthwing, Sector9 and TuTone (there are numerous others) all have similar concaves (not that that is a bad thing). Then there is the Lunch Tray concave, relatively flat in the middle and scooping up on the edges, these are usually produced by small to midsized companies that do their own fabrication. Rayne, Landyatchz, Kebbek, Comet, Madrid, SodaFactory and there are others, all use some variation of the lunchtray, it takes more time to perfect and usually requires a mold for each type of board instead of a common mold that can be used for many types of board. The difference is that while radial concave hold you on the board Lunchtray hold you in. Of course lunch tray boards tend to cost more to make.

Wheels are a whole nuther can of worms....there are two basic shapes, round lip and hard lip and two basic urethanes, slidy and sticky. Race wheels have hard lips and sticky thane (Retro Zigs, Venom Canibals, Otang Inheats, Earthwing Smokers are examples). these tend to be more expensive and made from higher quality thane. Then there are the Freeride wheels which have slippery thane and rounded lips (Gravity Drifters, Hesher Snowballs, Landyatchtz Zombies, Venom Sidewinders, Abec11 freerides are examples) they are primarily designed for slide life, and tend to be less expensive (though not always) because you are going to destroy them pretty quickly. Next there are wheels that use a grippy shape but a slippery thane, Sometimes used for racing though more commonly used for highspeed freecarving/freeriding (Divine Touch, Abec11 Classic Zigs & Flashbacks, Phat Deans are good examples) they hold well in turns but are easier to slide than race wheels, basically go fast wheels for people who lack the Skills of a Kevin Reimer. Lastly there are the other side of freeride wheels sticky thane and rounded lips (Retro Freerides Metro Motion, Otang Stimulus are good examples) they tend to wear better than regular freeride wheels are usually more expensive. I'm not a fan of the slide as I consider it choppy though I have a set of Retro freerides for slippery garages....One could quite easily have a single board and a couple sets of wheels and get by in a variety of disciplines......I however don't....my three speed related boards

the blue one is my freeride board and in honesty the board I ride the most
the one with the ? marks is the board I grab when a hill scares me. it's stable at speed, comfortable, easy to slide without being overly drifty, and very confidence in spiring. The board with the green wheels is a Short wheelbase topmount. designed for technical DH, garage racing and the like. its the board I spend most of my Sundays on, packriding and railing corners

4th Update: Going to list some board companies, followed by truck companies, then wheel companies. I'll list their websites and youtube accounts underneath, this is a big update, and I know since I'm going by an online stores list of companies I'll miss a few companies and will need to add to this list. Enjoy! And feel free to tell me to add anything I've missed.

Board Companies:

Airflow Skateboards
http://www.airflow-skateboards.com/a...index.php?ln=2

Arbor Longboard Decks
http://www.arborcollective.com/

Bustin Boards
http://www.bustinboards.com/

Carver Skateboards
http://www.carverskateboards.com/v2/

Comet Skateboards
http://www.cometskateboards.com/home/

Dregs Skateboards
http://dregsskateboards.com/

Earthwing Skateboards
http://www.earthwingskates.com/

Fibreflex Skateboards
http://www.gandsskateshop.com/fisk.html

Fibretec Longboards
http://www.fibretec.ch/

Flexdex Skateboards
http://www.flexdex.com/

Fullbag Skateboards
http://www.fullbag.com/

Gravity Skateboards
http://www.gravityboard.com/

Honey Longboards
http://www.honeyskateboards.com/

Jet Longboards
http://www.jetskateboards.com/

Kebbek Longboards
http://www.kebbek.com/

Ladera Longboards
http://www.laderaskateboards.com/

Landyachtz
http://www.landyachtz.com/

Loaded Skateboards
http://www.loadedboards.com/newsite_v1/

Madrid Skateboards
http://madridskateboards.com/

Never Summer Industries
http://neversummer.com/

Original Skateboards
http://www.originalskateboards.com/

Rayne Longboards
http://www.raynelongboards.com/

Restless Skateboards
http://www.restlessboards.com/

Rhinoceros Longboards
http://www.rhinoceroslongboards.com/

Sayshun Longboards
http://www.sayshun.com/

Sector 9 Longboards
https://www.sector9.com/

Tunnel Skateboards
http://www.tunnelskateboards.com/products_wheels.html

Truck Companies:

Aera Trucks
http://www.aeratrucks.com/

Bear Trucks
http://www.beartrucks.com/

Bennett Trucks
http://www.bennetttruks.com/

Carver Skateboards
http://www.carverskateboards.com/v2/

Gullwing Trucks
http://www.gullwingtruckco.com/home.html

Holey Trucks
http://www.holeytruck.com/

Independent
http://www.independenttrucks.com/

Munkae Trucks
http://downhilldragonclan.com/

Original Skateboards
http://www.originalskateboards.com/

Paris Trucks
http://www.paristruckco.com/

Randal Trucks
http://www.randal.com/

Revenge Trucks
http://www.revengetrucks.com/

Sabre Trucks
http://www.sabretrucks.com/

SeismicTrucks
http://www.seismicskate.com/

Surf Rodz
http://www.surf-rodz.com/

Tracker Trucks
http://trackertrucks.com/

Wheel Companies:

3DM & Seismic Longboard Wheels
http://www.seismicskate.com/wheels/

Abec11 Wheels
http://www.abec11.com/

Atobe LDP Wheels
http://www.atobelongboards.com/blog/

Bennett Wheels
http://www.bennetttruks.com/products.html

Bustin Longboards
https://www.bustinboards.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=22

Cult Wheels
http://www.skatecultwheels.com/

Dregs Wheels
http://dregsskateboards.com/c-89129-wheels.html

Earthwing Longboard Wheels
http://www.earthwingskates.com/products/superballs.html

Eastside Longboard Wheels
http://eastsidelongboards.com/RainWheels.html

Fireball Wheels
http://www.fireballwheels.com/

Gravity Wheels
http://www.gravityboard.com/pages/gs...ls/wheels.html

Landyachtz Wheels
http://www.landyachtz.com/D26.cfm?place=1

Never Summer Wheels
http://neversummer.com/ns/skate/wheels.html

OJ Wheels
http://www.nhsfunfactory.com/brands/oj/

Orangatang Longboard Wheels
http://www.orangatangwheels.com/

Sayshun Longboard Wheels
http://www.sayshun.com/?page_id=8

Sector 9 Wheels
http://store.sector9.com/Default.aspx?cat1=WHEELS

Tunnel Wheels
http://www.tunnelskateboards.com/products_wheels.html

5th Update: Bushing selection help from http://motionboardshop.com/

http://motionboardshop.com/bushinghelp

6th Update: Cheap boards for you budget skaters...

http://www.churchillmfg.com/shop/

http://stores.ebay.com/SPINLITE/LONG...=p4634.c0.m322

I know you "get what you pay for", but my experience with the Spinlite drop down I have is that it's a solid board. No flex, ten ply, and just solidly constructed. Warning on the blank trucks from the Spinlite store, the bushing seats are weird, the kingpins are incredibly short and the stock bushings are just strange. Longboarding is very expensive, so I'm not going to lie, I advise getting a cheap set up and slowly buying better stuff and upgrading your setup, if you don't have the money to spare right away for an amazing board. Churchillmfg seems to have a decent reputation on Silverfish, and as they're a community that won't hold back from shunning a company, I'd say that's a good sign. That's about it, enjoy!

[TGIMUNDAY]

Found the freeride video I was looking for, thanks to one of the guys on Silverfish. If you guys have any suggestions, or want to post up some more stuff, feel free! I'm still a bit of a noob, so any help is appreciated.

[Andrew Jay]

I use to skate my friends but he finally came and got It back. :\

[Dylan]

i've always wanted a longboard. probably will buy one when i'm older. Ridden one once, and it was the awesomest thing ever.

[TGIMUNDAY]

All I can say, is get one. Check out the first video posted up there. So sick.

[Andrew Jay]

I need to figure out which Is best for me. Shape, etc.

[TGIMUNDAY]

I need to figure out which Is best for me. Shape, etc.

Well, I'm assuming you're a regular shortboarder first, like me. I have a thing where I want a symmetrical board, so you should maybe look at some freeride boards since they're generally shaped like that. If you're just looking to cruise that wouldn't be as big a deal.

[Andrew Jay]

I'm looking for both.

[TGIMUNDAY]

I'm looking for both.

Haha, well, I'm riding a Comet FSM right now and I love it and would recommend it. Some people have had problems with it delamming and coming apart though. Solution, only ride it when it's really dry out. Why would they use water soluble glue?

Edit: This problem was fixed a while back. Thanks to BigTreeFallHard on Silverfish for clearing that up for me.

[Andrew Jay]

How much would a complete go for? Plus I gotta find somewhere selling a variety. Not something I just want to look at on a site and be like I guess that'll do ze trick.

[Stu]

People somewhat near CT, come to this

[TGIMUNDAY]

People somewhat near CT, come to this

I wouldn't be surprised for Original Skateboards to be there. They're located in my town and travel to a lot of the comps on the East coast.

Edit: Didn't see how small it was, haha, maybe they won't be there. They can make it bigger, year by year though!

[Stu]

The kids emailed them. I dont really longboard I just mess around, but I may just go to film it or some ****

[TGIMUNDAY]

How much would a complete go for? Plus I gotta find somewhere selling a variety. Not something I just want to look at on a site and be like I guess that'll do ze trick.

Honestly, longboarding is extremely expensive, decks can be up to and past 120 bucks.
Earthwing makes really quality stuff from what I've heard, for a good price.

http://www.earthwingskates.com/produ...completes.html

I was considering the Supermodel based on recommendations, but ended up with the FSM.
If you want to try a blank though, I found an ebay seller that sells blank EVERYTHING

http://stores.ebay.com/SPINLITE

I got a blank board from them and some 150mm trucks as a second set up for friends to skate with me.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Drop-Down-LO...item2c5ebb2856

Got that one, looks very similar in shape to the Landyachtz Switch, at a huge price difference.

You're looking at spending anywhere between 75 to 300 dollars for a complete, it's all in the quality of the products you pick. You can upgrade as you go along though, like with a regular skateboard.

And if none of those tickle your fancy, here's a great site for longboard shopping.

http://www.daddiesboardshop.com/longboardcompletes.aspx

[Tristan]

Oh, TGI made the thread. Hell yeah buddy.

[Stu]

Today I was in Home Depot buying tile, and when the guy helping me measure square footage left, he said yeah buddy and I thought of you TGI hahah

[TGIMUNDAY]

Oh, TGI made the thread. Hell yeah buddy.

Today I was in Home Depot buying tile, and when the guy helping me measure square footage left, he said yeah buddy and I thought of you TGI hahah

What can I say, I'm the man. Haha. Updated the first post again, I'll probably do more tomorrow after skating.

[Andrew Jay]

Honestly, longboarding is extremely expensive, decks can be up to and past 120 bucks.
Earthwing makes really quality stuff from what I've heard, for a good price.

http://www.earthwingskates.com/produ...completes.html

I was considering the Supermodel based on recommendations, but ended up with the FSM.
If you want to try a blank though, I found an ebay seller that sells blank EVERYTHING

http://stores.ebay.com/SPINLITE

I got a blank board from them and some 150mm trucks as a second set up for friends to skate with me.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Drop-Down-LO...item2c5ebb2856

Got that one, looks very similar in shape to the Landyachtz Switch, at a huge price difference.

You're looking at spending anywhere between 75 to 300 dollars for a complete, it's all in the quality of the products you pick. You can upgrade as you go along though, like with a regular skateboard.

And if none of those tickle your fancy, here's a great site for longboard shopping.

http://www.daddiesboardshop.com/longboardcompletes.aspx

Thanks bro I'll check Into It more when I'm focused. ha
I appreciate your post.

[Reo]

I'm thinking of getting a long board soon, a sector 9 or whatever. I seriously need something good to cruise on, and long boards seem pretty fast/fun with the sliding as well.

[skatez]

my set up:
Thunder trucks
Spitfire wheels
Nike SB's
And a baker deck.
Thoughts?

this is a longboard thread.