Making Your Skateboarding Experience Better For You

By Ferry Suwantoro

Once you are good at skateboarding, you will definitely dream to have a pro grade skateboard. Basically, there are two ways you can get a pro grade skateboard. The first is to buy one that is completely assembled with all high quality materials installed, and the other is by assembling it piece by piece with different brands of wheels, decks, and trucks and bearings to accurately suit your riding needs.

You can always buy a complete pro grade skateboard. But, if you want a skateboard that fits your preferences, you should try building your own custom deck.

The length and the thickness depend on the tricks that you plan on performing and the width will depend on your feet size.

Skateboard wheels are also an important factor that you should know. Different skateboard wheels come in different colors as well as sizes and degrees of hardness.

For vert and transition, you will need larger skateboard wheels in order to get a faster roll. If you do verts or transitions try 55 to 65mm wheels. For street or technical, get smaller wheels with a hardness of 97 to 101. The skateboard will be a lot slower in rolling, allowing you to do technical tricks easily as well as have wheels that can withstand a lot of pressure.

The bearings are also important. These are metal rings that fit inside the skateboard wheels. The trucks are another important part that you should carefully choose. These are axles that connect the board to your wheels. To choose the truck that you need, you will need to match the truck side to the deck or your board. For vert, you will need stiffer bushings and for street, you will need softer bushings to allow you to turn easily.

The truck height will also vary. Lower trucks will make it easier for you to flip the board and are very stable. However, lower trucks will mean smaller wheels. If you do verts, which will require speed, you will need larger trucks to accommodate larger wheels.

These are the things that you need to remember when building a custom pro grade skateboard.

The Great Fun Involved with Skateboard Ramps

By Ferry Suwantoro

Using skateboard ramps is highly dangerous and the event of an injury is easy. However, skateboard ramps are essential in any skateboard park because most skateboarders live for the thrill of doing tricks and catching big air. Also there have also been many skateboard ramps that have been homemaded and used on their own property.

Ramps for those that are newbies to skateboarding, although it is unlikely that a person who wants to go skateboarding hasn’t seen or heard about one, are sloping, usually wooden, objects that allow a person to ride a bike, skateboard or such to give them leverage when they do leaps. As mentioned, ramps are great obstacles in a skateboard course which can allow a person to do jumps and to perform tricks after taking off. Some ramps are also used for taking off to allow a skateboarder to gather momentum easily. Skateboard ramps that don’t have a sloping or curving surface are called wedge ramps. Many websites offer large and small ramps and some of them even offer free shipping and delivery. Factors that determine which type of ramp you will need will include the space you have where you will place the ramp. If you are a new to using ramps, then you may want to stick with the smaller ramps first. Practice with the small ramp then as you get used to doing jumps and other tricks, you may move on to larger ramps.

For the do it yourself kind of guy, there are skateboard ramp plans available for download on the internet. Some plans can be downloaded for free, but for the more comprehensive plans, you may purchase them for a low fee.