Longboards

Longboarding originates way back to the start of skateboarding when surfers were looking for a way to cruise the streets when the water was bad. While the roots are all the same and they both started as one together, longboarding and skateboarding developed along different paths. In recent years, longboarding has really seen a boom in not only participation but also development of products and events as well. The longboard community is unlike any other: it is a community full of people that want to be active together, want to have fun together, want to go places a little faster together and want to connect with each other in any way that they can. People that longboard are any age, any size, and have numerous levels of education. They can be 4 years old and still in pre-school, they can be flipping burgers at the local fast food spot, extracting teeth as a dentist or your mini van driving soccer mom. Doesn’t matter.

If getting you’re kicks out of going sideways in excess of 35 MPH or travelling to screaming hills to top out past 60 is your thing, than you can go right ahead and call yourself a freerider or a downhiller. Freeride and downhill skateboarders ride longboards that range from rigid but flexible to incredibly stiff and have mid-sized wheel bases handling both technical and speedy situations. More and more common these days is the incorporation of high end precision longboard trucks, a CNC manufactured version of the turning apparatus that works hand in hand with a set of spacers and washers to ensure a smooth slide while drifting or permitting an effortless rail to the inside line of an incredibly fast sweeper. The need for consistency and performance is what drives these riders to upgrade to these products just like car enthusiasts would add aftermarket parts to their cars. The growth and progression of longboarding as a whole has surfaced so many different manufacturing companies putting a lot of effort into the research and development of products like wheels and bearings to keep up with the demands of their constantly progressing customers. The result is an array of products for today’s longboarder to choose from that compliments just about any situation.

Now, we don’t expect everyone to be these crazy daredevils bombing big hills on a longboard. In fact, we quite like the world of cruising and carving that you see on beautiful back mountain roads, city streets, college and university campus’s and just about anywhere else that there is some concrete and a need to get somewhere. The cruising and carving longboards of today are manufactured of high quality materials, most the time incorporating materials like bamboo to give the boards a nice bouncy and comfortable feeling while rolling around the streets. There are not many things more therupedic than grabbing your board and heading out the door in the middle of the night to just go on a soul cruise around the quiet streets of your neighbourhood. We are happy to be carrying so many products designed specifically to put a smile on someone’s face while they are cruising.

There are many different brands out there to explore and get to know. Each one features a different flavor and it is okay if you find that you identify with one more than the other. Companies like Loaded, Sector 9 and Landyachtz manufacture everything from head to toe and are great places to start because they feature boards for every type of rider from the most experienced to the beginners that are just looking to have a little fun or do something new with their kid.

Which kind of longboard should I buy?

Choosing the type of longboard to buy depends on a few things: your skill level, your size, and what you want to accomplish with your longboard. If you are very new to skateboarding and want to learn how to longboard, we would suggest a cruiser type of longboard. Sector 9 Skateboards offers a good variety of cruiser longboard models. If you are a smaller to mid size rider, then something 32-36” length is easy and manageable. For those who are bigger and heavier, a longer board is recommended, something in the 36-42” range. If you have some experience with skateboarding tricks and want your first longboard to commute on, then you may want to look into longboards with kick-tails. You can use the kick-tail in a functional way to lift up your front wheels over cracks and drop off curbs when getting around town. If you want to try longboard dancing, which is done on flat ground, we recommend you look into Dancing and Freestyle longboards made for that style. If you have experience surfing or snowboarding and want a carving board to surf the streets on, then we suggest a board with spring and flex like many Loaded Boards offer. If you want to learn how to slide a longboard and experience more speed, we encourage you to look into Downhill and Freeride Longboards.

Enjoy your ride!

Regardless of your experience and style of riding, we have one of the largest selections of longboard gear to choose from. We are proud to carry top longboard deck brands such as Sector 9 Skateboards, Landyachtz, Rayne Longboards, Loaded Boards, DB Longboards, Madrid, Moonshine, Prism, and more. We also offer the best brands who make the highest quality trucks and wheels to go with our longboards such as Gullwing Trucks, Caliber Trucks, Paris Trucks, Bear Trucks, Orangatang Wheels, Hawgs Wheels, Sector 9 Wheels, Blood Orange Wheels, Venom Wheels, Seismic Wheels, and more! Don't forget about safety gear - it’s key equipment for keeping you protected and feeling confident on your longboard! We have a wide selection of helmets, pads, and slide gloves from various brands like ProTec, Triple Eight, Destroyer, Sector 9, Landyachtz, and Loaded.

Your first longboard.

Complete Longboards on our website come ready to ride with quality parts at an affordable price. When picking out your first longboard, there are some things to consider. If you are new to the sport and want to learn how to longboard, Cruiser and Drop-through longboards are the way to go. They are designed to cruise around town. When learning to longboard you will want to stay on mostly flat ground and mild hills before adding downhill speed. If you live in a flat area, you may want to try longboard dancing. If that’s the case, we recommend getting a Dancing and Freestyle type of longboard that is long and flexy with double kick tails. If you have access to some nice smooth downhill runs that you've seen others ride down, we recommend learning to longboard on flat ground before you add speed on inclines. When you do want to try going faster downhill, you may want to look at some Downhill or Freeride longboards. They are higher performing with more concave and other stabilizing features to accomplish a more extreme style of riding. Once you choose your longboard deck, then you can start to think about choosing the right longboard trucks and wheels to go with it.

Picking your Parts.

You pick it, we build it, you ride it! Once you have chosen a longboard deck, you’ll want to choose the right style of longboard trucks. The most popular trucks for longboards are 180mm/50-degree RKP (reverse kingpin) trucks. They really define the ride of a true longboard by being able to turn at slow speeds but also keep you more stable when going faster. The following brands (and more!) make a solid longboarding truck in this size around $50-60 a set: Gullwing Trucks, Caliber Trucks, Paris Trucks, and Bear Trucks. If you want even more stability for downhill riding, some of them offer lower angle versions between 40-44 degrees. The stock bushings in most longboard trucks are meant for riders around 160 lbs and below. They are suitable for when you are just learning and riding at a slow speed. Once you have some experience and have learned the basics of riding on flat ground, then you may want to upgrade to some harder or bigger shaped longboard bushings. We carry the top two longboard truck bushing brands, Venom Skate and RipTide Bushings. Both have a huge selection that are labeled for which type or brand of trucks they fit. They range in hardness from 78a-97a durometer. There are two bushings in each truck, four bushings total for one longboard. Stock bushings are usually 83-85a with a cone bushing on top and a barrel bushing on bottom. Cone-shaped truck bushings and softer bushings allow your trucks to make sharp turns for carving down mild hills and riding around on flat ground, but they won't be as stable at high speeds or for heavier riders. Barrel-shaped truck bushings and harder bushings lessen the turn of your trucks and help keep you from getting the wobbles, thus better for downhill and will be more stable at higher speeds and heavier riders. If you weigh over 180 lbs we suggest getting a 1 pack (2 bushings) of 83a-90a barrel bushings and replacing the stock cone bushings in your longboard trucks. Once you have a longboard deck and trucks picked, then the final component is your longboard wheels and bearings. You really can't go wrong with bearings as they all fit all the trucks and wheels made for all longboards including all skateboards. We carry many long-lasting and durable skate bearings such as Bones, Oust, Zealous, and Seismic Skate. Longboard wheels are the item most longboarders use up and switch out before getting a new board and trucks. They are also rated by durometer for hardness by being in the 74a-86a range for longboards. Regular skateboard wheels are much harder at 95-101a for much smoother surfaces like skateparks and ramps. Longboard wheels are also bigger than skateboard wheels and range between 60-90mm. The most common diameter and hardness for longboard wheels are 70mm/78a. Longboard wheels also come in two main shapes, round edge and square edge. Round edge wheels won't grip as much as square edge wheels and are easier to slide, so they’re great for beginners and on cruiser, dancer, and freeride longboards. Square edge wheels have sharp edges that grip more when you need it at speed and have a wider contact patch that's better for downhill giving you more stability and traction. We carry some of the best quality and high-performance longboarding wheel brands such as Orangatang, Sector 9, Blood Orange, Hawgs, Venom, Seismic, and more!

We know that was a lot of info, but you can always come back here to refer to this when picking out a longboard or parts. Hit us up on our social media platforms and we’ll be happy to help!