Looking for Skateboard and/or Longboard recommendations
June 20, 2022 2:20 PM Subscribe
My kid has graduated from the excellent boards from SkateXS (I recommend them heartedly for 12 and under kids) and is ready for adult sized board (a street board or a longboard) and I'd like to get one for an upcoming birthday. Recommendations please! Caveats inside...
The particulars - The kid is 5' 3" / 160 cm. They are interested in either a standard street board or a longboard. My kid is very aesthetics oriented so nice artwork is a must. I'd love to get a board from a company that is sustainable, progressive business ideally from a BIPOC owned based in North America. I'd prefer to get a board from somewhere online that will send a completed board so I don't have to build the board myself but that isn't a deal breaker. Looking to spend around $200USD / $260CDN before shipping and taxes.
Thanks for your time!
The particulars - The kid is 5' 3" / 160 cm. They are interested in either a standard street board or a longboard. My kid is very aesthetics oriented so nice artwork is a must. I'd love to get a board from a company that is sustainable, progressive business ideally from a BIPOC owned based in North America. I'd prefer to get a board from somewhere online that will send a completed board so I don't have to build the board myself but that isn't a deal breaker. Looking to spend around $200USD / $260CDN before shipping and taxes.
Thanks for your time!
Arbor has a documentary on their site about their commitment to sustainability.
posted by LionIndex at 3:25 PM on June 20, 2022
posted by LionIndex at 3:25 PM on June 20, 2022
A lollipop/popsicle board is a huge difference from a longboard. Do you have any idea of their interest (or your own restrictions re: safety) in street skating and tricks, hanging out at a park with street and ramp sections, aspirations for ramp/vert riding, or just cruising?
[long deleted section]
It seems like a good course of action if visual appeal is key might be finding a store with online retail, giving a little cutout of a board (or a cheap fingerboard) as a token for the present, and going through their shop together and picking it out. It's not exactly common to find complete deck setups with good gear, skaters reuse and break gear, and are picky.
Several sites link to this google doc spreadsheet of black-owned shops.
Your best bet is to see if one if close to you.
If not, go through and find one that has a large selection of decks (some links are only accessories, some only sell a half-dozen decks), check in with them and ask if they'll build for you.
Deck widths range from 7.5-9", 8" is a good middle ground. Maybe measure what you've got and see if they feel like they'd like wider, or feel comfy as-is. I doubt any of these sites offer filtering by width.
Your trucks will be determined to match your deck width. They may offer high or low trucks. I think it's mostly taste and trend. Wheel durometer/hardness is based on terrain. Soft for sidewalks and streets to tolerate cracks, harder for speed on smooth parks and ramps. Wheel diameter is largely personal preference. Big wheels on low trucks may hit the board (wheelbite).
This long answer is kinda why it's more typical to shop in person. But failing that, pick a deck and ask them to help sort out the details and do the build.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 6:09 PM on June 20, 2022
[long deleted section]
It seems like a good course of action if visual appeal is key might be finding a store with online retail, giving a little cutout of a board (or a cheap fingerboard) as a token for the present, and going through their shop together and picking it out. It's not exactly common to find complete deck setups with good gear, skaters reuse and break gear, and are picky.
Several sites link to this google doc spreadsheet of black-owned shops.
Your best bet is to see if one if close to you.
If not, go through and find one that has a large selection of decks (some links are only accessories, some only sell a half-dozen decks), check in with them and ask if they'll build for you.
Deck widths range from 7.5-9", 8" is a good middle ground. Maybe measure what you've got and see if they feel like they'd like wider, or feel comfy as-is. I doubt any of these sites offer filtering by width.
Your trucks will be determined to match your deck width. They may offer high or low trucks. I think it's mostly taste and trend. Wheel durometer/hardness is based on terrain. Soft for sidewalks and streets to tolerate cracks, harder for speed on smooth parks and ramps. Wheel diameter is largely personal preference. Big wheels on low trucks may hit the board (wheelbite).
This long answer is kinda why it's more typical to shop in person. But failing that, pick a deck and ask them to help sort out the details and do the build.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 6:09 PM on June 20, 2022
Response by poster: Just to clarify, we are not in a major centre and are based in Canada. There are some places locally but their selection is underwhelming.
The kid's main interest is cruising at the moment but this can change on a whim and tricks may happen.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:35 AM on June 21, 2022
The kid's main interest is cruising at the moment but this can change on a whim and tricks may happen.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:35 AM on June 21, 2022
I will recommend what I always recommend in these instances: absolutely, 1000% do *NOT* get a longboard. Go to your local skate shop, pick out a street deck with cool art work, and then buy the cheapest trucks and blank wheels and bearings (usually the best value/quality bearings are Bones Reds). Or order one online and pick the rest of the hardware at a skateshop. As for BIPOC owned companies the google sheet shared above is a great definitive list.
Very few people "stick" with long boarding. I've seen this happen more times than I can count: Someone thinks that "all they want to do is cruise around" so they buy a longboard and then in under a year, they are bored with it, and their longboard is now collecting dust in their garage.
They can do the same "cruising around" on a street deck with soft wheels, with the added benefit of learning any tricks if they really want to - even small/easy ones, especially as a kid, start to give a real sense of progression and accomplishment. They can go to the skatepark if they want, learn to drop in if they want, learn how to do little kickturns and generally have more control over the board that would feel like a natural step up from the SkateXS setups. So my only recommendation is to go the street deck over longboard route, always.
posted by windbox at 7:52 AM on June 21, 2022
Very few people "stick" with long boarding. I've seen this happen more times than I can count: Someone thinks that "all they want to do is cruise around" so they buy a longboard and then in under a year, they are bored with it, and their longboard is now collecting dust in their garage.
They can do the same "cruising around" on a street deck with soft wheels, with the added benefit of learning any tricks if they really want to - even small/easy ones, especially as a kid, start to give a real sense of progression and accomplishment. They can go to the skatepark if they want, learn to drop in if they want, learn how to do little kickturns and generally have more control over the board that would feel like a natural step up from the SkateXS setups. So my only recommendation is to go the street deck over longboard route, always.
posted by windbox at 7:52 AM on June 21, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
Arbor promotes themselves as a fairly progressive company, but I wouldn't guess that they'd meet your BIPOC desire.
posted by LionIndex at 3:22 PM on June 20, 2022