A skateboard that is typically longer than a freestyle board. There are 4 main types of longboarding and boards are designed with each type of longboarding in mind:
1. Speedboarding - The goal here is
speed, so boards are designed with stability in mind. They tend to have a rigid
deck which is lowered significantly. They have large wheels and large trucks as well.
2. Cruising - The goal here is a smooth easy
ride. These longboards are designed to be responsive and stable at low speeds. The decks usually have quite a bit of flex in them and are still
long like a speedboard. They tend to have slightly harder wheels than a speedboard but still relatively the same size. They are very smooth and easy to
ride because they bend as you carve, sticking you to your board as you corner quickly.
3. Sliding - These boards are designed for sliding. They are usually fairly
short and have kicktails on the front and the back. They have small hard wheels that
slide very easily.
4. Carving - These boards are designed to carve really
tight and fast. They have a shorter wheelbase than a cruiser and turn a lot faster too. They have wide soft wheels for maximum traction.
People usually use these boards in slalmom races.
Many boards are also designed with 2 or more longboarding styles in mind. It is even becoming quite
popular in many areas as it is a great mode of transportation.
Boarder Dude 1 - Dude! I hit 93km/h on my longboard the other day!
Boarder Dude 2 - Gnarly! I'm not a
speed guy though. I like to just carve it up and ride nice
long smooth hills. I also like to slide.
Boarder Dude 1 - Sweet man! I have a
wicked sliding setup myself. I'm just learning to do 360's.
Boarder Dude 2 - Nice. I've got the 360's down to a science. Let's
go tear up a hill right now.
Boarder Dude 1 - Totally!
Boarder Dude 2 - I love longboarding.
Boarder Dude 1 - I also love longboarding.