BUYER'S GUIDE

Carving Longboards: Used for skating in a way that heavily mimics the large or tight turns done on a surfboard.

Cruising Longboards: Used for general all-purpose skating as a form of transportation and fun.

Downhill Longbards: Used for high-speed and very advanced longboarding generally performed on designed racetracks, areas, or hills.

Drifting: Sliding in a controlled manner in order to scrub off speed in order to safely hold a line around a corner.

Freeride Longboards: Used for technical tricks that are performed in quick succession with one another. Tricks often consist of a series of slides at various speeds.

Freestyle Longboards: Used for technical tricks that are based off traditional skateboarding tricks. These tricks commonly consist of popping the board off the ground and making the board do a series of flips and spins.

Goofy Footed: Skating with your right foot forward as your dominant stance.

Long Distance Push: A style of riding where board setups are finely tuned for maximum comfort and performance when pushing very long distances. Ideally, LDP boards will sit very low to the ground to decrease the amount of height a rider needs to dip down in order to kick or push off the ground.

Manual: Using a kicktail on a board to gain leverage over your front or back wheels to perform a "wheelie." In the world of skateboarding a wheelie is called a "manual." When performing the trick on the front your board it is referred to as a "nose-manual."

Pack-skating: Skating in a tight group of riders, generally at high speeds. Having trust in the skaters around you is a key-factor in pack-skating.

Pumping: Gyrating your board by a series of controlled turns in order to generate speed without pushing.

Pushing: Kicking along the ground as a form of self-propulsion.

Regular Footed: Skating with your left foot forward as your dominant stance.

Slalom: A style of racing on shorter board setups where the rider weaves in and out of multiple cones at relatively high speeds.

Sliding: Turning you and your board sideways while skating at a high enough speed to make your wheels lose traction and break into a slide. This is the basis of freeriding.

Switch: Skating opposite of your dominant stance.

Foot-stops: A piece that can be attached on the top of your deck to keep your front or back foot in place. High speed riders often use these.

Griptape: The sandpaper like material that is applied to the top of your deck in order to keep you from sliding around when riding.

Hardware: The bolts and nuts that fasten your trucks to your deck.

Nose/Tail Guards: A protective bumper that can be attached to the nose or tail of your board that will protect it from smashing up against hard objects.

Risers: These pieces of hard plastic can be used in between your trucks and your deck in order to increase a board's ride height. They are designed to help avoid wheel-bite when riding larger wheels or looser trucks.

Shock Pads: Basically the soft version of a riser that helps raise your board up while reducing shock and vibration from the street at the same time.

Abec Rating: Abec stands for Annular Bearing Engineering Committee. This group of engineers developed a rating system for a bearing's precision that is accepted worldwide. However, not all bearing companies choose to have their products rated by ABEC. A primary example is the company Bones who makes some of the best competition bearings in the world.

Balls: Bearings actually have a series of balls inside of them that sit securely inside of a casing unit. They make the wheel go around!

Built-In: Built-in bearings are bearings with spacers and speed rings built into their design.

Casing: The casing holds the ball bearings in place.

Ceramics: Ceramic is easier to form than steel and therefore much more precise. Ceramic bearings do not heat up like steel bearings do and are ideal for high speed, long distance, downhill riding.

Inner Race: This is the small ring on the inside of the bearing that goes directly around the axle of your truck.

Outer Race: This is the outermost ring of your bearing that helps keep everything in place.

Shield: Shields are the colored round protectors on the outside of the bearing that usually has something written on it. They aren't just for decoration though! They keep the insides of the bearing protected from gunk and grime that somehow always finds its way into bearings. Shields are key to having your bearings last a long time. Some bearings will have a shield on both sides of bearing. The term for these bearings is "double shielded."

Spacers: Spacers were originally designed to keep wheels from wobbling on axles in the original days of skateboarding. They fit inside of the wheel's core between your bearings and allow you to tighten your axle nuts down further for a smoother ride, smoother slide, and more security over all.

Steel: Most bearings will be made of steel. They roll great, are relatively inexpensive, and are very durable.

Swiss: Swiss-made bearings are known for their incredible precision. More precision means fewer flaws in construction and less chance for unnecessary friction!

Barrels: Barrel shaped bushings are great for downhill and high speed riding because their shape creates more material in a truck's bushing seat slightly restricting the maneuverability.

Cones: Cone shaped bushings that do not restrict the maneuverability of your trucks. They are great for carving and cruising setups.

Conventional: This setup is used in street style trucks. It consists of a short cone bushing that sits on the topside of a truck's hanger and a tall cone bushing that sits on the bottom side of a truck's hanger.

Cupped Washers: Washers that turn on the sides in order to slightly restrict how much a bushing can warp and shift. They will help in reducing your turning radius adding to overall stability.

Durometer: This is the unit of measurement for the hardness of a bushing.

Flat-Washers: Washers that will not restrict the movement of a bushing.

Rebound: This is the term used to describe a bushing's return to center; the center point being the truck's original positioning.

Stepped-Barrel: These are great for downhill and high speed riding. They are very stable and eliminate a large amount of slop. Their appearance is very distinct. They notch out and upwards into a thicker area and sometimes back into a smaller area again.

Stepped-Cone: A stepped cone sinks into a truck's bushing seat reducing slop while providing plenty of lean at the same time. These are great for high-speed freeriding.

Urethane: The chemical substance that 99% of bushings are made out of today.

3D Concave: A form of concave that is generally found above a board's wheel-wells. It creates bubble-like formations that you can push your feet up against for more leverage when freeriding or downhilling.

Asymmetrical: A board with a directional shape that is not intended to be ridden backwards. These are often used for high speed riding and racing.

Camber: This is usually only found in longboards with a good amount of flex. It is a slight bow that bends upwards from nose to tail and it counteracts a board's flex in order to prevent flexible boards from bottoming out.

Concave: A cup-like formation that almost every deck's standing platform will have. It spans from side to side rather than from nose to tail. Concave helps keep your board under your feet and creates a feeling of being "locked in" without actually locking you in!

Cutouts: An area of the deck where materials have been cut out to provide the wheels more clearance when turning. Cutouts help avoid "wheel-bite," where the wheels hit the bottom of your deck causing you to stop abruptly and send you flying forward.

Double-Drop Longboards: A board that combines both the drop platform with the drop-thru truck mounting system. Double-Drop boards sit very low to the ground and are often used in Long Distance Push or very technical downhill riding.

Drop Down Platform Longboards: A topmount board where the standing platform sits lower than where the trucks are mounted. This lowers your center of gravity and provides for more stability and easier sliding.

Drop-Thru Longboards: A type of deck where a cutout is made where the trucks mount. Trucks have to be pulled apart and mounted together after the baseplate has been attached on the topside of the deck: This lowers your center of gravity and provides for more stability and easier sliding.

Flex: Flex can be your friend or your foe! It is great for carving and initiating slides at lower speeds. It also helps dampen your ride so that you feel less of the terrain beneath you. However, flex reduces rigidity and stability and is not recommended for high speed riding.

Gas-Pedals: Areas cut out of the side of your deck at an angle where your toes and feet will generally be positioned. They help you gain leverage on the sides of your longboard when pushing it out to initiate a slide or drift.

Kicktail: An upturned nose or tail on a board that allows a rider to pop the board off the ground to perform aerial maneuvers. They are also used to perform manuals and a series of freestyle tricks.

Lamination: This is the glue that holds the board's veneers together.

Ply/Plies: The amount of wood, bamboo, or fiberglass veneers (sheets) that are put into a board's construction.

Rocker: A feature in a board that creates a very subtle U-shape from nose to tail. It provides for a more ergonomically correct ride because it is easier on your knees. It also gives you a sense of direction regardless of which way you are riding your board. Great for freeriding!

Standing Platform: The effective area of a deck where your feet can be placed when riding.

Symmetrical: A board that is shaped exactly the same on either side that allows you to ride it either direction without altering the way it feels. Great for riding switch!

Topmount Longboards: Like a traditional skateboard, this is a type of deck where the hardware drops in from the top of the board, mounting the trucks on the bottom side of the board. Topmount longboards offer the most amount of traction and are commonly used in downhill riding.

W-Concave: This is a secondary ridge that forms in the middle of your board and runs nose to tail. It creates a pocket for your feet and/or toes that can be used in downhill or freeriding to help you gain leverage over your board, lock you in, and give you a sense of where your feet are without looking down at them.

Wheel-wells: Shaved or grooved out areas of a deck above the wheels that will provide for more clearance when turning. Wheel-wells help avoid "wheel-bite," where the wheels hit the bottom of your deck causing you to stop abruptly and send you flying forward.

Full-Face Helmet: A style of helmet that is built for higher impacts and protects your entire head. Used primarily in downhill racing.

Helmet: The most important thing you can get when purchasing a longboard! Protect that noggin!

Leathers: Leather suits that are designed for serious downhill racers. Most sanctioned races require riders to use protective racing leathers.

Pads: There is a type of protective padding for pretty much anything out there and they are all good ideas! Some of the more common ones are for your knees, elbows, and wrists.

Pucks: Hard pieces of plastic that are attached to slide gloves.

Slide Gloves: Protective gloves that allow you to place your hands on the ground when riding at high speeds. They let you perform a series of tricks and maneuvers more safely.

Axle: The axle runs through the truck's hanger and is what the wheels are mounted on.

Baseplate: The part of the truck with the holes in it for your mounting hardware. It is the piece that comes in direct contact with your deck.

Bushing Seat: This is the area in the truck's hanger where the bushings will sit in place. Each truck company has its own unique bushing seat design.

Cast: The majority of trucks on the market are "cast." Cast trucks are made by pouring a hot, liquefied metal composite into a truck-shaped cast. They are great all-around trucks for cruising, carving, freeriding, and downhill longboarding.

Conventional: Standard street and pool style skateboard trucks. Lately people have been using larger conventional trucks for freeriding and downhill setups.

Degrees: The degree of your truck's kingpin can make a huge difference. The higher the degree, the greater the truck's turning radius. The lower the degree, the more ideal the truck is for higher speed riding.

Hanger: The hanger houses the truck's axle and mounts into the truck's baseplate.

Kingpin: This protrudes from the baseplate and goes through the hanger. It gives your trucks a central point on which their turning is based.

Loose Trucks: "Loose" is the term used to describe trucks that are set up to have maximum turning.

Pivot Cup: This small cup fits into your truck's baseplate and allows the hanger to turn smoothly but remain stable and snug.

Precision: CNC cut trucks from aluminum that are so precise that absolutely NO SLOP or flaws are left in the truck's construction. Serious downhill riders frequently use these modern marvels!

Pushing: Kicking along the ground as a form of self-propulsion.

Rake: This is used to describe how much the feel of a truck will change if you flip your truck's hanger over.

Reverse Kingpin: This type of truck is the standard in longboarding trucks. The kingpin nut sits on the outside of the hanger and is more stable but still offers a larger turning radius.

Speed Rings: These small washers are placed on both sides of your wheel when they are attached to your trucks. They allow you to tighten your axle nuts down further without damaging your bearings.

Spring: Spring trucks do not use a traditional bushing combination as their form of tension. They use springs and are considered to be "self-centering." They are great for slalom riding but are not as stable at high speeds.

Tight Trucks: "Tight" is the term used to describe trucks that are set up to have limited turning.

Bevel: A large majority of wheels will have a small bevel on their inside lip. If you aren't familiar with the word "bevel," it is a shaven down or angular notch on the lip of an object, in this case a wheel. It allows a brand new wheel to retain its original amount of grip while still being able to transition into slides or drifts with ease.

Center-Set: A center-set core is placed directly in the center of a wheel leaving an equal amount of urethane on both sides. It offers the most amount of grip because it maximizes the amount of urethane being used on either side of the core.

Coning: This can occur to wheels that are constantly being slid upon. If your wheels aren't rotated from time to time, coning is more prone to occur. Your wheels will wear away at an angle which will heavily reduce their grip and predictability.

Contact Patch: This is the area that runs the width of the wheel and is the portion that is constantly in contact with the asphalt.

Core/Hub: This is the area of the wheel that houses the bearings.

Durometer: This is the unit of measurement for the hardness of a wheel. There are three scales that are primarily used; A, B, and D. The B and D scales are generally used in very hard skateboarding wheels. Almost every longboard wheel will be rated in the A scale and the most common durometers range from 78a to 84a. For more information on durometer, visit our "Geek Out" section.

Flat-spot: Flat-spots occur on your wheels when you slide at a 90 degree angle or higher. When you pass 90 degrees your wheel actually stops spinning and will only wear down in one spot which creates a flattened area. No one likes flat-spots!

Hard Lip: This is when the "lip" or edge of a wheel comes to a sharp point which will maximize grip. A hard lip is ideal for downhill or high speed riding.

Off-Set: An off-set core sits slightly off-center in a wheel and has the perfect amount of grip and slip. It has more grip than a fully side-set wheel because it utilizes more urethane (urethane in contact with the ground when turning, cornering, or sliding) but it doesn't utilize as much urethane as a center-set wheel, which provide the maximum amount of grip. Off-set wheels can be used for almost anything.

Predictability: This is a term used to describe how easy it is to control a wheel in regards to sliding and drifting.

Round-Lip: This is when the "lip" or edge of a wheel is rounded up in order to provide an easier transition into a slide. These are ideal for freeriding and sliding.

Side-Set: The core of a side-set wheel will be set completely to the side of a wheel making it very easy to kick out into a slide. With these wheels not much urethane is actively touching the ground during slides and cornering.

Stone-Ground: Wheels that have had their contact patch stone ground and basically pre-worn-in. They are great for sliding and freeriding.

Urethane: The chemical substance that 99% of wheels are made out of today.

Burning Thane: Sliding in such a gnarly manner that urethane literally melts off your wheels.

Buttery: A term used for wheels that slide so smooth you feel like you are spreading butter!

Getting Pitted: A term taken from surfing and is sometimes also referred to as "getting barreled." It is used when surfers are deep in the barrel of the wave, in a pit, and doesn't exactly apply to longboarding but people use it anyways. Just use it and if you don't think about it...it makes sense!

Icy: Wheels that shoot out from under you like ice when you are sliding. No one likes an icy wheel!

Mongo: Pretty much the biggest "no-no" in skateboarding history. It is pushing with your front foot as opposed to your back foot. It is a very unstable form of pushing and should be corrected or avoided at all cost.

Shredding the Gnar: Locating some gnar and skating on it in a very intense and aggressive manner.

Sketchy: Something that just doesn't look good. It can be a spot, a hill, a corner, a skating style, a trick... it is a pretty versatile term!

Steez: Style with ease! If you can ride with steez then you can go far!

Thane Lines: Streaks left behind on the asphalt from your wheel's urethane that A.) look cool and B.) can be used as bragging rights for longest slide at a session!

Touchin' Puck: Getting steezy and throwing down a hand in order to catch your balance or to perform a hands down slide.