Should I Get a Complete Longboard or Put Together My Own Longboard?
Posted: Friday, November 13, 2009
by Ragan Lybbert
http://www.ridingcloud9.com
To decide whether or not a complete longboard or putting together your own is best for you, you need to decide a couple of things. First things first, where are you at in your longboarding experience level? If you are just getting started or are fairly new to the sport, a complete longboard is probably the best option for you. A complete comes with everything you need to get started and 99% of the time the board comes all put together and is ready to ride from the moment you open it up. Thus, getting a complete longboard will ensure that you have everything you need to get a board that is ready to ride, and if you are just getting started you probably haven’t developed any real strong preferences yet. The second thing you need to decide is whether you are getting the board to get a quick start to longboarding or if you are looking to upgrade or change something up from the old board that you’ve been riding. If you are looking for a quick, simple start to longboarding, almost any complete would be a great solution for you. You can even upgrade or make a change by purchasing a complete, but your options will be limited. If you are looking for something more customizable, putting together your own complete longboard would be the option for you. When you are looking to really customize your longboard and individualize your ride, it’s time to start putting together your own complete longboard. There are 5 components that you will need to take into consideration when putting together your own complete longboard. The first and foremost is going to be your deck, when considering what deck you’ll get, consider whether or not you would like a deck that is stiff or if you like some flex to your deck. Also give some thought to whether you like a wide deck or a narrow one and finally, don’t forget to give some thought to the length of your deck. All of those different areas will affect the feel of your board. Once you have that down the next thing on the list is deciding on trucks, make sure to get trucks that will be wide enough to get out from under your deck if you don’t want to get big tall risers to help prevent wheel bite (when your wheels come into contact with your deck during a turn). However, keep in mind that wider trucks will have a little bit wider turn radius. Once you have your trucks picked out you need to get yourself a set of wheels. Again, take into consideration your riding style and preference, hard wheels are less grippy which makes them great for powerslides, softer wheels are much more grippy and will be better for carving. Also, larger wheels are quicker but are not as good as little wheels for doing tricks. Once you have those 3 big things out of the way, you need to decide what kind of bearings you want, the higher the quality of the bearing the less work you’ll have to do to keep your board moving. Once there simply make sure you have a set of risers and the nuts and bolts you will need to put the complete longboard together and you are ready to ride! raglyb
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