longboards (skate not surf)

[morningdew]

I've been thinking about picking up a longboard for cruising around town, commuting, and trucking down the occassional hill. Been checking out Tahoe, Landyachtz, and Insect boards, but I don't really know what I should be looking for. Any suggestions?

[easy]

Get a Fibreflex, they rule! Funnest board Ive ridden, and get Randall trucks, they're the only way to fly

[gravitylover]

Arbor has some sweet decks too. Totally affordable and they use that Koa wood topsheet like on their snowboards and a clear stubbly surface instead of grip tape so you can really get the visuals of the wood. There are a few in the website I think.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Snorkeldeep has one, maybe he can tell you something. From what I've seen, they seem like a pretty good way to get hurt and miss skiing.

[Duker]

Get a Fibreflex, they rule! Funnest board Ive ridden, and get Randall trucks, they're the only way to fly

I concur the randall r-2 cant be beat. As for boards we always make our own, Nine ply wood is good stuff cover in in some paint on fiberglass and it makes mighty fine board.

[CaddyDaddy77]

Sector Nine, Luke Nosewalker. Good fun, as Dex mentioned can hamper the ski season pretty quickly.

Repeat after me "I will NOT skate will wearing Tevas and after drinking, I will NOT skate will wearing Tevas and after drinking, I will NOT skate will wearing Tevas and after drinking"

I wish I would have known that earlier.

[cj001f]

I've been thinking about picking up a longboard for cruising around town, commuting, and trucking down the occassional hill.

I've used mine for all 3. I reccomend you don't. the first 2, commuting and cruising interfere with the 3rd, trucking. A shorterboard is way better for commuting - 48" doesn't fit well most places, easier to carry into shops, and you won't screw up your bearings so you'll truck better. You won't look so cool though :

If your looking for a cheaper longboard, Sierratradingpost often has them in the sub $100 range.

[cj001f]

Repeat after me "I will NOT skate will wearing Tevas and after drinking, I will NOT skate will wearing Tevas and after drinking, I will NOT skate will wearing Tevas and after drinking

Only a problem when it involves motor vehicles and a tow rope.

[CaddyDaddy77]

True but you forgot steep hills, and newly chip and sealed streets. Freshley tarred gravel is hard to get out of the first few layers of skin.

Definately agree with what you said, mines too long for carrying around, freaking heavy and big.

[snorkeldeep]

dex is right, its an excellent way to miss skiing. or im just injury prone. 1 broken wrist, 1 broken foot, 1 broken ankle, 1 ruptured artery in my hip.. all in 6 months.

i have a funny bourbon, flip-flops, and cobble stone streets story as well

seriously.. i ride a sector9 46" w/ randal 180s, 85mm krypto classics, and really fast bearings. good for commuting, scary fast on hills, and i can slide it pretty well also. cj - i disagree on the commute issue - while shorter boards may be easier for getting around tight stuff- big wheels are consistently saving my nuts on cracks and potholes in nyc. this particular sector9 has a slight kick tail on it, works fine in traffic. if you really need maneuverability, put some angled shims under the randals and loosen them up a ton.. you wont have any problem snaking through traffic.

i also ride a 36" bulldog but rarely take it out except to skate vert.

decision as far as your deck goes w/ a longboard is pretty simple- get something that pleases you aesthetically - after all, you're doing this to look cool right?

check out loaded completes - they come with randals and are a neat concept for more downhill.. not so good for pushing, but you can pump the crap out of em if you're good. fibreflex decks are beautiful and fun as well. my latest kick is wanting to make a 70" or 80" longboard and cruise around on that.

[cj001f]

cj - i disagree on the commute issue - while shorter boards may be easier for getting around tight stuff- big wheels are consistently saving my nuts on cracks and potholes in nyc. this particular sector9 has a slight kick tail on it, works fine in traffic. if you really need maneuverability, put some angled shims under the randals and loosen them up a ton.. you wont have any problem snaking through traffic.

I agree on the Big Wheels. It's not a problem with maneuverability, at 44" it's just too f'ing long for carrying around. I'm also tired of replacing the bearing every couple of months. I used to get at least 2x the bearing/wheel life when it was only used for hill bombing.

caddy-yeah, tarred streets and gravel suck; my bad experience was rain seep a couple days after the rain. fishtailing on a skateboard because of wet pavement

[snorkeldeep]

heres some longboarding stoke as well:

[snorkeldeep]

ive had really good luck w/ ceramics - theyre expensive but theyre fast as all hell and they last forever. plus, if you break them in properly and keep them really clean they just seem to get quicker!

[snow_slider]

Lush Spooky:


With Seismic trucks:


Let it be known, however, that I'm partial to carving boards.

[morningdew]

this is great- thanks for all the input and stoke!

[easy]

Those seismics are fun trucks! I have a pair on my Fibreflex slalom deck, its the funnest little board i've ever ridden!

[milkman]

Skull Skates has some nice longboards as well. www.skullskates.com

[easy]

Check out www.solidskate.com and www.longskate.com they both have good selections

[freeskisquaw]

I've got myself 2 custom made Chris Rempel Longboards. They are by far the best boards around in terms of cosmetics and feel. Try the Rhino Chaser for huge hills and the Sunday II for around town.

[SLCMunchie]

like everybody has said, it all depends on what you are looking to ride like.

if you are looking for a commuter in a tight city type situation, i would get an insect with some hefty risers and soem randal 150's. i;ve been riding a slalom type setup around town and it is way fun. you can point it and get up around 35-40 with little wobble, but you can still put some good energy into the board and make some great carves. as you get better, you can "pump" the board which will keep your speed up on the flats without putting your foot down to push.

if you are talking about commuting long distances on relatively flat terrain, i would consider getting a landyactz droped deck. the decreaced deck hight makes pushing a lot easier. i know a guy that skateboarded across america a summer or two ago that used a similar dropped deck.

welcome to the world of longboarding. if you get into slalom, it can really help your skiing. i love longboading almost as much as i love skiing.

here is me at the super-G race of longboarding in alburqurky at a ditch called the bear.