• Tutorials and Parts •

• Parts •

A skateboard is made up of 5 parts, the deck, the trucks, the wheels, the bearings and the hardware.

The Deck: The deck is the part of the board the a skater stands on. Most boards are made with 7-ply laminated maple. Modern boards usually have a width of 7 inches to 8.5 inches and a length of 28 to 33 inches long. Thinner boards are used for street skating and wider boards are used for vert skating. The top of the board has grip tape to give a skater more grip to the board. The bottom of the board is usually decorated with a manufactures name, or some sort of a design. Some examples of companies that make skateboard decks are:

• Plan B
• Almost
• Enjoi
• Alien Workshop
• Element
• Flip
• Real

The Trucks: Without the trucks turning wouldn't be possible on a skateboard. They are also a way to connect the deck with the wheels. Trucks are made of metal, usually aluminium alloy. In the middle of the trucks are little pieces of rubber, called bushings, that smoothen the ride of the board when turning. Also they allow a skater to adjust how much there board can turn. Loosen the bushings, and it's easier to turn. Tighten the bushings, and its harder to turn. Some examples of companies that make skateboard trucks are:

• Independent
• Royal
• Krux
• Venture
• Grind King
• Destructo
• Tensor

The Wheels: The wheels are the reason a skateboard is able to move. Good quality skateboard wheels are made of polyurethane. Other lower quality wheels are made of rubber or plastic. Wheels are different in two different ways, size and hardness.
- Size: Large wheels (60-90mm) are smoother and spin for longer. They also accelerate slower. Usually larger wheels are used for vert skating. Smaller wheels (45-55mm) are not as smoother but they accelerate much faster and they are much easier to do tricks with which is why street skaters use them.
- Hardness: The hardness of skateboard wheels are measured on something called a durometer A scale. The softest wheels will be around 75a on the scale while the hardest wheels will be about 100a. The harder the wheel the easier to do tricks, but the softer the wheels the smoother the ride.
Some examples of companies that make skateboard wheels are:

• Autobahn
• Gold
• Ricta
• Powell
• Type-S
• Hubba

The Bearings: The bearings are what make the wheels spin. Skateboard bearings are just the same as the bearings in machinery. Each wheel has two bearings in them. One on each side of the wheel. Skateboard bearings are measured on an ABEC scale. Its starts at ABEC1 being the lowest, then goes on to ABEC3, ABEC5, ABEC7 and ABEC9. Nowadays most companies don't even display the ABEC rating of there bearings because this scale doesn't actually tell a person which bearings are better. They are used to measure the tolerance of the bearing, which has nothing to do with skateboarding. Some examples of companies that make skateboard bearings are:

• Bones
• Pig
• Rockstar
• Darkstar
• FDK
• Ninja

The Hardware: The hardware is basically the glue of the skateboard. It comes with 8 nuts and bolts to attach the board to the trucks, 4 nuts to attach the trucks to the wheels and 2 nuts to keep the bushings to the trucks. Almost all companies make hardware.

• Tutorials •

• Setting Up Your Board •

What you need:

• deck
• trucks
• wheels
• bearings
• hardware
• screwdriver
• wrench

1. Have your deck so that you can see the griptape side.
2. Remove the bolts from the ends of the trucks and put one bearing in place on the axle.
3. Put one wheel on top of the bearing and push down on it until the bearing is as far into the wheel as you can get it (this might take a while).
4. Repeat this process until all the bearings are in the wheels (two bearings per wheel).
5. Slide all the wheels in place on the axles of the trucks.
6. Put the bolts back on the axles and tighten them with your wrench until the wheels are too tight to spin. Then loosen the bolts one full turn (360 degrees) so the wheels will spin.
7. Get the board, the nuts and bolts, the trucks with their wheels, and any other tools you may need to attach the hardware (screwdriver, wrench, ect.) . Push the bolts through the holes on the griptape side of the board, and place the trucks over the risers with the kingpin bolt (the big one in the middle of the board) of the truck facing the inside of the deck. If you get this backward, the skateboard won't turn properly which can be a real pain.
8. Put the nuts on the end of the bolts and tighten them until the top of the bolts are very tight with the top of the deck (if they loosen up, make sure you tighten them right away, because it can be very dangerous if they are loose).

• Tricks •

The Ollie:

1. Place the ball of your back foot on the tail of the board and your front foot just behind the front bolts.
2. Bend down low and push down as hard as you can on the tail with your back foot while dragging your front foot up across the grip tape.
3. This action should made the board pop up into the air.
4. Watch the ground and get ready to land.
5. When you land bend your knees to absorb the impact.

The Kickflip:

1. The foot position is the same for a kickflip as it is for an ollie, except for your front foot should be slightly more angled.
2. Pop an ollie, but instead of having your front foot drag up, flick it to the edge of the board (where the concave ends on the side closest to your heel).
3. Watch the board spin and when you see the grip tape, catch the board with your feet and land.

The Boardslide:

1. Approach the rail at whatever side you feel most comfortable (in front or behind the rail).
2. Do a 90 degree ollie, landing on the rail with the deck of the board.
3. Keep your eyes on the rail, and keeping your balance, slide all the way to the end of the rail.
4. To land, turn your shoulders 90 degrees and your body should follow.