How long has longboarding been around

On the other hand, a longboard will find it hard to keep up with a bike when going uphill because it requires more work. A bike is better for going up a steep hill because it is significantly easier and faster as you can just switch to low gear and work your way up with less difficulty. While this may be the case, you can still longboard when going up on hills but most of the time, walking will be much faster and less tiring. Some countries do not consider longboards a vehicle which is the reason why they do not allow people to ride their longboards on the road.

If your country does not consider longboards as vehicles, you will not be subject to the same legal rules cars, motorcycles, and bikes are subject to. It is also important to note that some countries prohibit riding a longboard on the sidewalk while some do not.

It is completely fine to longboard on wet roads. However, you must be aware that riding your longboard on wet surfaces is a little different from riding your longboard on dry surfaces. There is less traction when you longboard on wet surfaces given that the road is slippery which means that you need to be extra careful. Do not go too fast when longboarding in the rain and learn how to slow down to prevent yourself from falling or any other kind of accident.

Apart from seriously damaging your longboard, you might also cost yourself an injury. Have lots of fun but always remember to put your safety first among all other things. You can ride your longboard in the rain. Riding your longboard under light rain will not damage your board greatly. However, you must be aware that riding your longboard under heavy rain comes with several pros and cons.

Getting your longboard wet can do some serious damage most especially if it is not a waterproof one so you must do everything you can to avoid this from happening. As mentioned above, a longboard that has been wet will never be the same again and its performance will decrease significantly. If your nonwaterproof longboard gets slightly wet from light rain, then you have nothing to worry about.

If you left your nonwaterproof longboard outside in heavy rain for a long time then it will almost definitely be waterlogged and you should consider getting a new one. If ever your longboard does get wet, there are several things that you can do to lessen the resulting damages.

The first and most important thing you need to do is take it away from the water source and let it dry under the sun if possible. Water can do your longboard some harm but there are some simple things you can do to prevent damaging your longboard. The most basic thing you can do is to prevent water from penetrating the inside of your board when riding your longboard in the rain. This can result in your longboard being waterlogged and it can also begin to delaminate.

Particular boards are more likely to be vulnerable to water damage than others. If your board is not painted or coated, it can let water in easier compared to other boards because the sides and the bottom are not well-protected. You must also keep in mind that longboard bearings can be easily ruined by water so it is very important to protect them when you are longboarding in the rain. Longboards have no problem going over curbs as long as your longboard has a tail. You need to manual off the curb and land with all four wheels on the ground.

Manual is a very popular longboard trick that can be performed by shifting your body weight on one side to lift one set of wheels off the ground while maintaining your balance.

You will need speed to perform this trick or else you will get stuck halfway down the curb. Experiment and practice by trying to do it multiple times and you will know what works best for you over time.

To a certain extent, there is no problem at all if you want to ride your longboard on gravel as long as your wheels can still roll freely but there are of course some consequences. You are at risk of getting into an accident and longboarding on gravel will surely do severe damage to your board. Dirt will get into your bearing and this will greatly slow down your longboard even though they can be cleaned afterward.

Longboarding on rough surfaces will slow you down significantly compared to riding your longboard on smooth surfaces. Even as surfing declined when the Polynesian Islands were colonized, the idea of connectedness with the ocean that these people found has lived on. Imagine a Waikiki beach packed full of women in high-leg bikinis and men in aloha shirts, playing ukulele, observing a few surfers in matching board-shorts.

Although, the first days at many famous Hawaiian spots were also ridden by giant, leashless boards. Hawaiian watermen displayed their superior understanding of the ocean by longboarding some of the heaviest, deadliest waves on Earth. These surfers were humbled by the oceans power, and they respected the wisdom of the more experienced - lessons that are imperative to surf culture.

When the surf craze took flight in the United States, many of the lessons passed down through Polynesian cultures were lost. Aside from the inevitable mass production of boards, Miki Dora himself may be the best symbol for the American influence on Polynesian surfing culture. Mostly they were surfboarders either teens. So to reminding about the idea behind this then the goal was to create something in order to be able to surf on the sidewalks.

Skateboarding became quickly popular in California as well as in Hawaii among the teens and surfboarders. During the further development of skateboards, they became shorter and wider for tricks. In when Richard Stevenson invented the kick tail which revolutionized the whole skateboarding as such because the ability to control the boards got much higher and also there were the first ones who figured out how to airborne.

This was a short story behind the longboarding culture and where do even they came from. Personally, for me it was very interesting to dig in the history of longboards and at first, I would have never imagined that surfing is the real reason why in nowadays we what actually is skateboard and longboard.

So all riders out there should thank to those surfers back in the days. Of course, it is very rare that the trucks will fit exactly to the board. In that case, we would recommend wider trucks than ones that are too narrow.

In the product description of our decks, you can see which truck widths fit best with the longboard decks in our shop. While wheel size and the type of mounting affect the height of your longboard, the truck height can directly influence the riding properties of your setup. It requires that the hanger of the truck has rake.

Trucks with positive rake are more manoeuvrable what makes them quite popular in carving and cruising. Sounds super complicated? Agreed, but this graphic should help you understand what trucks with rake look like. Another important property of RKP trucks is the baseplate-pivot-angle. Due to the low angle, those trucks are more sluggish but also more stable and easier to control at high velocity.

The angle of the truck has an influence on the lean and turn. Learn more about these two in paragraph 2. Nevertheless, there are some terms you will definitely encounter in the world of longboarding: Turn and Lean. What is turn? A general rule of thumb would be that trucks with a high baseplate-pivot angle can do sharp turns, which results in a small radius. When it comes to strong turns, one would say their turn is high.

Consequently, trucks with a high angle are maneuverable. Conversely, trucks with a low angle have a small turn, making the radius of the turn bigger and the truck less responsive.

What is lean? Lean describes the angle your board leans when you apply pressure to the edges of your deck. If the board leans a lot, the lean is obviously high; if it barely leans, the lean is low. To put it in a nutshell, trucks with a low baseplate pivot-angle have more lean.

These boards have a lower centre of gravity which makes them more stable at high speeds. As mentioned before, the bushings sit in the bushing seats of the hanger.

In stepped bushing seats, the bushings sit really tightly, which results in stable steering Round bushing seats give the bushings a little bit more room and provide you with agile steering. Ideal for carving and turns Flat bushing seats are the most simple but also the most versatile seats. With these, you can experiment a lot with different bushing types. However, they also are less stable at high speeds. See all longboard trucks. Bushings Bushings are the round rubbers inside the trucks.

Normally, one top and one bottom bushing are required for each truck, though this is not always obligatory.