Skateboard Deck Width

Skate decks come in a number of widths. Typically, most skate shops will stock decks ranging anywhere from 7.5” (19cm) to 9.5” (24cm) wide. So, what’s the difference in skateboard widths? It’s largely down to what kind of skateboarding you want to do, suggests Dan from Note.

“Having a lighter, narrower board means that it is easier to flip your board and manoeuvre, and easier to learn flip-tricks on. But bigger board give you more stability and more room. Look at Danny Way when he goes off that mega ramp. He’s got a huge board and huge trucks, because he wants more space and more stability, because he’s going bigger and higher.”

“Going up the sizes, you certainly notice the difference. You can catch flips a lot easier on a wider board. They’re harder to flip, but better to catch your flips with, and there’s more room for your feet.”

So, the right skateboard width for you is a bit of a trade off between the style of skateboarding you want to do. More technical street skating with lots of flips, certainly for somebody with a smaller, lighter body mass may want to opt for a narrower board. However, if you’re more into using your board as a means of transport, or have a slightly greater body mass, a wider board would be more suitable.

It’s also worth noting that trends can play some factor in the width of the skateboard you should buy. In the past 20 years, the width of boards have increased, and it’s not uncommon to see experienced skaters doing very technical tricks on wider decks.

Dan backs this up when he adds “Because of the fashion [in board width], if you want to do very technical skating, people are skating big boards, just because that’s where [the fashion has] gone. Your body and style of skating adapts to the size of the board you’re riding”

Skateboard Deck Concave

An important factor to consider when buying your first skateboard deck is the concave, or how much the board dips down in the middle, compared to the sides.

“You get flatter, and steeper boards.” Says Dan. “Certain companies, like Girl and Chocolate tend to have very flat boards. Some people really like that. Other brands have deeper boards. If you have a steeper concave, the middle of your foot might be slightly raised up from the middle of the board, but if you’ve got a flat board your whole feel sit on the deck.” But what’s the difference?

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Like with deck width, the concave can be determined by how you want to ride your board. A deeper concave will help flip the board, as it created greater leverage. However, a flatter board will be easier to catch a flip and land on when in the air.

Should you buy a skateboard with a deep concave, or a flatter deck?

“Again, the rider will work out themselves what their preference is.” Dan tells us. “Here at Note, we tell people to stand on boards on the carpet to see what feels better to them”

Of course, all of this technical information is very important when choosing your first skateboard. However, there is another factor in buying your first deck that’s every bit as important: how it looks. Skateboarding can beat you up when you first learn, so it’s genuinely important to have a deck that you love, and feel proud to be on. Dan agrees.

“Just look at the boards available in the shop, and see if any of them are shouting out to you. Normally people are drawn to one graphic or or another.”

Skateboard Wheel Hardness

The second, but no less important option in wheel is hardness. All wheels are on a scale, with 101 being the hardest widely available, so anything around 78 being the softest. The lower the number, the softer the wheels. Easy. But how hard should you get?

The most popular skateboard wheels are hard ones – and they’re the kind you’ll see most skateboarders riding, whether that’s in your local town and skateparks, or on videos on the internet.

“On the whole, 80% of the wheels we sell at Note are very hard and quite small.” agrees Dan. “The reason people like harder wheels is that you want a certain amount of slide. When you’re doing tricks, you’ll want your board to be able to slide around a bit.”

So, if harder wheels are better for flips and tricks, if you’ve been following so far, you’ll see the pattern that’s emerging when it comes to larger things.

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The softer, bigger wheels,” confirms Dan, “are more for cruising about on. They’re really  good over rough surfaces, so you don’t feel any gravel or bumps. However, bigger, softer wheels probably would hold you back from learning some tricks because you don’t get any slide with the take off and when you land.”.

“With a hard wheel you can start your board doing a turn before you take off or before you land, where as a big soft wheel would just grip, and if you tried to throw it around, you’d lose the spin.”.

To make things easier, generally speaking, smaller wheels tend to be harder, and larger ones softer. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but as a rule-of-thumb, it’s a good one to follow when buying your first skateboard.  Think about the kind of riding you’ll be doing, and what you see yourself doing when you improve, and go for the size and hardness that suite that style.

How To Choose Your First Skateboard: Trucks

Trucks are like the axles of your skateboard. They’re the things that connect the wheels to the deck. Although a search through history will throw up some very peculiar truck designs, generally speaking most modern models you’ll see in skate shops will have the same inverted T design. But with so many skateboard trucks on the market, how do you know which are right for you?

Skateboard Truck Width

The width of the trucks you’ll need is directly decided by the width of your board. “The rule of thumb,” Dan tells us, “is that, when it’s got the wheels on, your truck should be pretty much  level with the end of our board.”.

Somewhat confusingly, different brands and models of truck can have numbers in their name. However, a good skate shop (and, importantly their website) will always tell you what width board the particular trucks you’re looking at will work with. If you’re shopping in-store and you’re not sure, ask the person serving you. We guarantee they’ll be impressed with your knowledge.

How To Choose Your First Skateboard: Grip Tape

The final element of getting all the bits of your board separately is grip tape. It’s the abrasive top sheet – a bit like sand paper, that lines the top of your deck. It’s there to help you both stop from slipping off, and to help you do flip tricks when the time comes to mastering them.

Aside from extra wide grip tape for people with extra wide boards, there isn’t much difference between brands other than colour. The traditional, and still most popular colour is black.

However, there are an increasing amount of colours and designs cropping up on the market, and really what you go for is down to nothing more than personal preference and/or fashion.

How To Choose Your First Skateboard: Complete

The final option when buying your first skateboard is to go for what’s called a Complete. As the name suggests, it’s a complete set up, with everything you need includes, and already assembled for you.

As such, it can be a really good option for somebody buying their first ever board. Dan agrees. “For somebody that’s first getting in to skating, I’d advise getting a complete.”. A lot of the hard work is already done for you, and a complete almost always works out cheaper than buying all of the component parts yourself.

However, seemingly with all things in skateboarding, there’s a balance to be struck. “The reason they’re cheaper is because they have unbranded trucks on them” Dan tells us. “And if you get into skating more, you realise ‘This isn’t a brand that I’ve heard of’ and you might end up buying a branded set anyway.” Then you’ll almost certainly have spent more than you would buying individually.”.