Longboard vs Skateboard

Surfers from Hawaii were the first people who started to use Longboards as training tools when the surf was flat. Almost all of them were made of planks of wood, instead of birch laminate as modern boards, with massive metal wheels. After some time, to achieve better traction with a road, manufacturers started to use polyurethane and clay wheels. So let me describe some differences between longboards and regular skateboards.

Besides weight and length, the basic differences between these types are the shapes of the desk and the wheels. Longboards have wider, thicker and softer wheels that allow hold better through turns and absorb vibration.

Nowadays you can see a big variety of different shapes of longboards, depending on the style of riding, whereas there is only one basic shape for a regular skateboard. In addition, longboards usually more stable cause they are much larger in compare with shortboards. In the same time, obviously that you will not able to do tricks, like ollie and spin in the air.

Longboards' specific features:

Decks:  

There are two main shapes of longboards: twin and directional. Directional boards are made to be ridden goofy but not switch. You can use them for long distance and downhill rides. The most popular models of directional longboards are Pintail and Fishtail. These boards are perfect for freestyle, downhill, cruising or freeride.

Trucks:

T-shaped metal devices that connect the wheels to the deck are called Longboard trucks. They consist of an axle, hanger, kingpin, baseplate and bushing.  Longboard trucks were made with one thing in mind: Control. Control over your speed and control over your direction, the control you need for longboarding progression.

Wheels: 

Usually thy are made of  hard plastic inner core and a thick, soft outer shell.  The bearings held by the core in a place, which in turn allows the wheel to spin around the axle. There are many sizes of wheels available on the market from 33 mm to 101 mm.  The most popular sizes from 65mm to 75mm. If you have larger diameter wheels, they can absorb more vibration. Smaller ones absorb less vibration but accelerate faster from a dead stop.

For sure, there are much more things that goes into construction longboarding. But the main parts are mentioned above, I mean deck, trucks, and wheels. Anyway, just do not forget that you always able to change any part of it if you want to improve your skateboarding experience.