How to Choose a Good Skateboard

If you are a beginner skateboarder chances are you don't know what to buy.

There are many tricky parts while choosing a good skateboard; you may not know what size wheels to get, what type of board, or the hardness of your wheels.

This article well help you with all of the above.

Choosing what to purchase

1. Decide what you're going to purchase. If you want a good board for less money, you're going to want a complete. If you want a much better board for more money, you're going to want to custom make yours.

2. Decide whether you want a longboard, a classic or a street/vert board.

• Longboards can cost from $120-$500
• Classics can cost from $80-$400
• Street/verts can cost from $50-$150

Purchase a Complete Board

1. If you're going to purchase a complete, you're going to want to buy one online. The completes are not as good as custom made, but you can get them for a lot less money.

• A complete can cost anywhere from $50-$200 (USD).
• A custom made can cost anywhere from $90-$500 (USD).

Purchase the deck

1. How much money do you want to spend on a skateboard deck? Blank decks, decks with no graphics on the bottom, usually run a lot cheaper than pro decks and ride just as well. But if you fancy having your favorite pro skateboarder's deck and you have enough money, go right ahead.
2. Buy a quality deck. Do NOT purchase Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Toys'R'Us, Target. skateboards. These are bad quality decks and are the ones that have cartoon characters like Spongebob and Dora the Explorer on the bottom. If you want an entire board, but don't know exactly what you want, buy a complete skateboard from a company or go to a skate shop and ask the employee about the products. If you want to ride on the streets, get a 7.5 to 8.0 deck, if you want to ride vert, 8.0 and up is probably best.

Purchase the trucks

1. The trucks are the second most important part of a skateboard. When purchasing a truck, you want to look for these characteristics.

• A length that is no more 10 inches.
• A width that fits the deck, so 7.5 trucks on a 7.5 deck.
• A design that you like.
• Lightweight.
• Grinds well.

2. Pick out a truck that has no design, if you are on a tight budget.

3. Design isn't everything - it might look cool, but that doesn't mean it's good quality.

Purchase the wheels

1. Pick out wheels that are for the kind of skateboard that you have - you don't want a street deck with long board wheels.
2. Pick out big and soft wheels for a longboard.
3. Pick out small and hard wheels for street.
4. Pick out the same brand of wheel as your deck (e.g. Zero deck and Zero wheels) - people might think you are a "poser" if the brands are different. If you have a deck (such as Almosts, DGKs, etc.) you can pick a wheel from any brand.

Purchase the bearings

1. Make sure the bearings are correct for you. The bearings are rated in ABEC, from 1-9 (1, 3, 5, 7 and 9) with the higher grades being more accurate and precise, meaning they will last longer, spin more accurately and faster, and obviously make you move a lot smoother, quieter, and faster. The best grade for your first board will probably be 5 or 7. If you start with ABEC 1 wheels (which are considerably cheaper) and upgrade them in the future, it will be hard to get used to as you will move a lot faster than before.