Picking a Downhill Longboard

So my friends recently discovered the joys of longboarding and they all want one now. So how do they decide which one to get?

First off, remember that longboards can get quite expensive. However, you don’t need the top end right away. Sure you could pick up a carbon evo and then some maguns for like 800 bucks, but if you’re a beginner, there’s no need to get such a good board. The first thing to do is to come out with a ballpark estimate on how much you want to spend. There are a lot of good boards under 200, and if you’re willing to buy used, there’s a lot more options.

Then determine what kind of riding you want to do. Carving, slaloming, down hilling, dancing, or just chillin and cruising around to get to places. Since I only do carving and downhilling and a bit of cruising, I will focus more on those.

Downhilling will usually be the most expensive, because the trucks and decks are highly specialized for extreme speeds and you don’t want them to break while you’re in the middle of a run. However, if you are buying your first speedboard, consider boards like the Evo, Hellcat, or Scorpion, but you can probably get away with boards like the Loaded Vanguard or the Loaded Dervish. These boards can easily handle speeds of 30 mph and are fun to cruise around and especially to carve. The three boards I mentioned above are probably more useful for mainly downhilling and some carving, where as the two Loaded’s are more for carving and cruising.

What you should generally look for in a speedboard is the stiffness and the concave. Downhill boards are generally stiff because flexy boards are unstable at higher speeds. However, a little flex is ok to absorb the impact of the ground. Concave is the way the side of a board curves up. It keeps the feet locked in which is important when you’re going 50 miles an hour.

Next are the trucks. Trucks play a huge part in how stable and turny the ride is. Some precision trucks can cost over 350 dollars, but no need to get them yet. Some good downhill trucks are Crails, Grizzlies, Randall Dh, and Randall RII 180’s. All of them are good and well keep you stable. My choice is the crail trucks, which I run on my Rayne Hellcat. I’ve seen people take it up to the 60 mph range, so that’s plenty for me. http://www.milehighskates.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1147

Finally there are the wheels. The wheels control how much you drift around corners and how grippy they are. A popular choice is the retro zigs. http://www.milehighskates.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1652 The limes are probably the perfect choice as they are soft enough to grip and hard enough for a smooth ride. Flywheels are also a popular choice, but a bit pricey. Currently I am running Seismic Blast Waves, which hold speed very well and can be drifted when needed. http://www.milehighskates.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=44&products_id=1503

One alternative would be a krackedskull. http://www.krackedskulls.com/

The boards are really cheap, and the components are surprisingly good. The good part of buying this board is if you ever want to ride something else, you can just swap the decks, as the parts are good enough for most boards. At 105 bucks, this is a highly recommended board.

A good place to start searching is on silverfishlongboarding.com/forum

Just sign up for free and search for a wealth of information.

Then, check out milehighskates.com

Everything on mile high is good, including the Sector 9’s. The owner swaps out all the shitty components and puts in the good stuff on every board, so anything on the site is good.

You can also email mark at info@milehigh.com, and he’ll literally respond within minutes.

If you guys have any questions hit me up and I’ll help you find a board.

Skate safe, wear a helmet, and have fun.

Damn Youtube kills the quality.