Longboarding
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What is Longboarding?
Longboarding is a sport that originated, like skateboarding, from surfing. People wanted to be able to perform the fluid "carves" that you could achieve on a surfboard. With regular skate boards, or "shortboards" this movement can be limited, so the longboard was created. With sizes ranging from 12" to 80" in length longboards have become very custom and unique. They are longer and wider then conventional skateboards allowing for a smoother more comfortable ride. Because of their heavier weight longboards are becoming more popular in transportation use as they require less energy to push off and will cruise for longer periods of time. They are also very popular in downhill and slalom racing events.
Longboard Trends
== Downhill ==
Downhill boards are becoming the most popular boards because of there overall performance in all fields of longboarding. They are typically 46" in length and 10" in diameter. They are also commonly found to be concave with molded :"fenders" allowing for the trucks to flex more allowing bigger and more fluid turns. I personally enjoy downhill longboarding over everything else as it presents a much greater challenge and more of a "rush".
== Slalom ==
Slalom boards are typically smaller in nature. The average length of one of these boards is around 12". The slalom board, also known as a banana board, is used in slalom competitions where courses are set up using cones. Competitors ride boards through the slalom course utilizing there body weights to shift the boards back and forth through the cones. As far as competitions go this is the most popular form, the competitors also tend to be older from the original skateboard generation.
== Every Day Use ==
Longboards are extremely popular in getting around on college campuses as well as inner city streets. The ease and speed of these boards allows the rider to get where they need to go with relative ease and speed. The short compact design also allows for riders to take tight turns for easy "sidewalk surfing".
Longboard Components
Decks
The deck or the wooden part of the board as i said earlier can vary greatly in size. On all boards there is grip tape on the top and a decal or design on the bottom. Some boards are completely flat while others are concave or convex. Even more some boards have bent tips while others have sharp, pr rounded noses. Some boards have different levels of flex while others are very stiff. Each of these makes little differences in what you intend to do with the board. The point is that there is a very large variety of longboards that are available, and you need to look at a board practically and figure out what will be best for what you want. If your looking for a board where you will be doing a lot of downhill riding then your going to want one that is concave or bends in in the middle. This will allow you to dig your feet deeper into the board while making high speed turns. If your looking for a board for just cruising around campus generally a board with a little more flex will be more enjoyable because it will turn and hop easy while taking slower turns. One thing you have to remember is that there are a lot of different kinds of boards and you typically just need to think about the physics of the board and what you want to do with it.
== Trucks ==
The trucks on a longboard are the middle "axels" on the bottom of the longboard. The trucks attach directly to the longboard, and in some cases there are risers that are placed between the trucks and the deck for a more comfortable ride. By adding risers, though, it will raise the boards center of gravity making it harder to take sharp turns at high speeds. Typically riders prefer wider trucks. The wider the trucks, again, the easier it will be to take turns at higher speeds. wider trucks will also make the board more stable and easier to ride. One thing a rider must be aware of is a incident called wheel bite. If a truck is to large or to small for the board and a sharp turn is made the boar d may rub against the wheel effectively stopping the board and throwing off the rider.
Bearings
The bearings on a longboard are another aspect of the board that are important. Bearings are the oiled pieces of metal that allow the wheels to spin. So by having well maintained and oiled bearings you can acheive higher speeds with greater ease.
== Wheels ==
Urethane wheels are available for longboards ranging from 60mm to around 100mm. Shorter wheels will accelerate quicker but are harder on rough surfaces and have a slower top speed. Most stock longboards come with a 72mm wheel. As previously stated make sure the wheels and trucks will fit your board to prevent wheel bite.
