Skateboard Deck Buying Guide

We created this basic guide to help you choose the right skateboard. It’s our simple ( we tried ) Skateboard Deck Buying Guide for beginners or if you just wanna refresh your memory ;) 

 

This is the first part of making you setup and probably the most important and the most fun one to do! Choosing your skateboard deck! We refer to the “deck” or “board” as the wooden part in the middle! 

But how do you correctly choose your first skateboard?


What size of board do I need? What about the Shape? Deck construction? Concave? Wheelbase? With some many options available it can get a little bit confusing!


We cannot count how much we get these questions at the shop on a daily basis. If you are here and read up to this point it’s probably because you are also looking for this information. Obviously skateboarding is all about personal taste and style, meaning each setup is unique to each rider. Hope this can help make your choice.

 

If you have more questions feel and would like more personal advice. Just simply message us and I'll make the arrangement to guide you with your buying.




We will cover theses following deck specifications


  • Deck Size ( a.k.a Width )
  • Deck Length & Wheelbase
  • Deck concave 
  • Deck construction & materials


To help you determine what is the right size for you first answer these following questions :

 

  1. What type of skating you want to do: This will help you choose your Deck Length & Wheelbase and choose your Deck Concave
  2. What ype of shape do you wanna ride? Know the difference between a popsicle shape, shaped board, and a cruiser: This will help you choose your deck shape.
  3. Any brand, rider or graphic preference? 
  4. What is your shoe size: This will help you choose the deck width you want to skate

If after answering these questions you already know what you need, then check out all the available deck we have right here! 

To get more information about Skateboard Decks, check out the following sections 

 

Deck Width 


When looking for a board, the first thing you want to look out for is the board size aka the Width. The Width is normally measured in inches as it is the

North American metric system and the vast majority of brands are from there.

As your deck makes direct contact with your feet. You have to look for a size that you will be stable and comfortable!

Our range of Skateboards goes from 7.5” to 10”, so it can be a little bit confusing to choose the right one to start with! 


Style of riding? Shoe size? Brand? Rider? Personal preference? Where to start??


First thing to ask yourself is which type of skating do you want to practice? The two main styles are “Street” & “Transition”. 


Street skating or “Street” consists of a combination of technical tricks, gaps, manuals and grinds that can be done within the city architecture, spaces or skatepark.


 “Transition or Vert ” is anything that is a vertical obstacle such as riding in a vertical ramps, mini,swimming pools, bowls, pools, half pipe and more…All curves!


As a general rule of thumb, street skaters tend to opt for smaller boards because the table rotates or will rotate more easily and reacts faster. 


Transition or ramp skaters will generally opt for a wider setting than it will give them more stability since the tricks are usually always glued to the table, without much turns.



Then we have a type of skate that is more all-terrain, which is the one that likes to do everything, ramps and street. This usually in most cases carry an intermediate table. Neither wide nor too narrow.



Board size recommendation for each type of riding :


  • Street skating : 7.5” / 8.5”
  • Vert & Transition skating : 8,38” / 9,0” +
  • All terrain : 8.25” / 8.75”


If you are completely new to the world of skateboarding and not sure which style of riding you will do or the type of board fell you wish to have. We recommend getting a deck between 7.75 and 8.38 which are most of the standard size. If you have smaller foot size , then go for a more narrow board like 7.75/ 8.25 . And if you have a bigger foot , then the opposite, you should look for something around 8.25 / 8.5


Again board size is a personal choice, there is no right or wrong. During the early 90's, boards were more narrow.. People were riding 7.75/8.. Nowadays the trend is for wider setup like 8.0/8.25/8.38


The best is to try and see which one you prefer the most. It’s all about feeling, board feels! 



Length and Wheelbase

These are more technical details and honestly we don’t know a lot of people that actually look for that. But we still want to give you the info


The length is referred to as how long the skate is from the nose to the tail 


Length doesn’t vary that much for decks. Most of the boards go around 31” - 33” long.  Some special shapes can be longer & will usually have a longer wheelbase.


The wheelbase is the distance between the front and back wheels.


A short wheelbase ( 14…. 16 ) will react quicker, turning will be more sharp and the general response will be faster. But on the downside of that quick response it gives less stability.


A longer wheelbase will give you all the opposite , it will increase the stability and you will turn more widely and not as sharp. Which is ideal for riding with speed and transition.



We recommend starting with a standard deck between 8.0 / 8.25 that has a standard length and wheelbase. And don’t bother too much with this , it’s really a detail.





Note :

If  you are absolutely sure that you want a wide board with a long wheelbase,

Start off with a standard board size 8.0 "to 8.25" wide and approximately 32 "long.

This is a standard size and probably a better starting length for you to get going.



Shape 



The most commonly known is the classic “Popsicle'' shape. But of course nowadays, skateboards come in all types of different shapes and forms! From the classic popsicle shape to crazy creative one! There are so many to choose from but the most popular will be the typical symmetrical rounded on both sides, usually with a tapered nose and tail. Others have a more “squared” shape which have been gaining a lot of popularity these last couple of years. Others have fishtail, football , old school, and even some with nuggets of funny special creative design.


The typical “popsicle” shape is the most popular and the one you will find in mostly 90% of the decks. Most of the time special shapes boards are used to build cruisers (Skate only for rolling) that are fun to ride as their shape makes it more difficult to ride street or vert. But of course nothing is impossible ;-) 

 

Concave


Continuing now with the concave. Here again it’s all about personal taste. Some like flat, others medium while some goes for that deep concave! We refer to the concave as the up and down curvature of the edge & surface of the deck. If you take a look at your board from the side, you will directly note that the wood curves where the nose and the tail and also side to side. The concave will directly affect how the board feels under your feet and the responsiveness to your movements.  


A board with a “mellow” concave will feel more “flat” under your feet because it has less curve and a bigger region of level surface to place your feet. 


On the other side the more concave it is, the more you will feel the curve and shape under your feet.


Some prefer it because it gives them a different foot arrangement with a curvier surface that responds more quickly to your kick and shove motions. 


The goal is to find the concave that you will allow you to place your feet comfortably and move around easily.



Now with the lingo , the typical and most concave around is called “ Mellow “ witch is a pretty “flat” concave, brand likePalace, Enjoi, Almost, Girl, Chocolate, Baker, Real, etc ...

compared to other "deep concave or high concave" which is much more curved, of brands like FA, Hockey, Quasi, Creature, DGK, Blind, etc ... Then a "medium concave or Medium concave ”from brands such as Anti Hero, Krooked, Real, Baker, Polar, Deathwish, Madness, etc

 

 

Construction

The way skateboards are made has definitely evolved since the1960s! 


Today there are different ways to make a table.The boards are made by pressing 7 to 9 sheets or "layers" of maple wood. If you take a look at the side board, you can see some natural and coloured layers or sheets and the shape in which they come together.


All the brands we carry only make individual pressed boards! Pressed one in one with EPOXY which is a much stronger and lighter glue. We have no tables where 8 or more boards are pressed at the same time, because this creates many irregular shapes, delaminated and loss of board nerve (POP). We can assure you that all the brands that you will find in our store are from the best that exist in the market! 


Here are different types of board construction that we carry.



Hybrid :


It consists of a classic blend of Hard Rock and Canadian maple that has been bonded with epoxy resin for a strong and durable and economical result with a 7-ply hybrid maple construction


Resin-7 ( R7 ) :  


The method is an upgrade of the classic seven-ply construction. With the Resin-7 Epoxy ( R7 ) are bonded together with epoxy resin instead of a water-based glue. This make the board lighter and more rigid


Impact Light : 


The impact light construction use the classic seven layers and add on to it a die-cut sheet made of carbon fiber that is embedded into the middle of the deck area over the trucks. This make them more resistant to tension with the reinforcement and remain light at the same time


VX by Santa Cruz :

 

The tuff guy out there is called the VX! This technology was designed by the amigos at Santa Cruz to improve durability, while reducing the weight and making the pop last longer. Sounds almost impossible right? They pulled it off by mixing  Five layers of North American Hard Rock Maple to two layers of a special patented technology material that is called Santa Cruz Quad X, which is a special mix of fiberglass and carbon fiber vertically bonded together. Creating a thinner but more resistant than regular wood.



It is important to remember that there are no actual rules and all this is just advice and a start up. We always believe that the best way is to try and see which setup fits you the best! And sometimes it is fun to change to try new things.