How does a skateboard work?
The biggest barrier to learning to skateboard, is getting a fit for purpose skateboard.
Knowing the components of your skateboard, and how these work together, will help you work out if the problems you are having are due to your natural ability, or the ‘skateboard’.
The trucks (pictured) are the turning system of the skateboard, and are probably the most important component. We’re going to highlight some quality issues that you might have with the parts of your skateboard that might affect your ability to learn to ride it.
Identifying your skateboard
Do you have a popsicle, a cruiser, a longboard or surf-skate? Today we are going to look at a popsicle, which is probably the most common type of skateboard.
It is the most common because it is the most versatile, with a kick-tail on each end. Whilst we talk about the popsicle here, much of what we discuss about components applies to other types of boards. Read more about different skateboard types.
The trucks
The trucks (pictured) are what connects your skateboard deck with the wheels, and the bushings (rubbers) permit the board to turn. You have:
- the baseplate
- The hangar & axle
- The kingpin
- The bushings
The quick skateboard test
The trucks are the turning system of the skateboard, and the bushings in the trucks are a key component in it working correctly.
Let’s use the push bike as analogy. If you were learning to ride a bike and the handlebars didn’t turn, you’d fall off. This is because, before steering, handlebars are first used to correct your centre of gravity to keep you from falling over. The trucks on a skateboard are like the handlebars on a bike.
We can quickly test the trucks in your skateboard by:
- Holding your board with the trucks facing you
- Taking a wheel in the palm of each hand, and place the fingers on the grip of the skateboard
- Squeezing one hand, and,
- then the other
to alternate the flexing of the trucks
The hangar should flex smoothly in the truck. If it is flexing is smoothly, then the board will turn smoothly.
If the truck isn’t flexing, you can tighten or loosen the nut on the kingpin to make the truck flex more easily. Learn more about adjusting your trucks.
If you loosen your trucks, but the hangar still isn’t flexing, or isn’t flexing smoothly, it’s likely the bushings are faulty.
The bushings are often an afterthought in cheap skateboards. Cheap bushings are the reason many people have failed to learn to skateboard, because it is far harder to correct your balance with cheap bushings.
Mounting the trucks
The trucks are attached to the deck via the baseplate with bolts. The deck is drilled with 8 holes which the bolts go through. The bolts are usually allen key bolts. Ensure all 8 bolts are done up tight. Note that the kingpins are facing inwards, not outwards. The surfskate is the exception to this rule. You can get a skate tool which is a special tool to make it easy to do up/undo your trucks.
The size of the trucks in relation to the skateboard deck
Different truck manufacturers have different sizings for trucks, which makes it a bit complicated. We’re not going to go into that. All that you need to know now is the the length of the axles should broadly correspond to the width of the board. Usually the board is slightly wider than the trucks by a few mm on each side.
The bushings & kingpin
The bushings are probably the most important component in the skateboard. The bushings are a pair of rubbers that go on each kingpin. These are what permits the hangar to flex and for the skateboard to turn smoothly. Steering is vital, as this is what helps you correct your balance, staying upright, and to avoid danger.
If you do not get the desired flex when you loosen or tighten your trucks you can change the bushings. Bushing are rated in hardness. Usually:
- Super-soft
- Soft
- Medium
- Hard
You can change your bushings if you have cheap bushings, but there may be deeper problems with your trucks, and this is not a fix-all.
If you’ve bought a cheaper skateboard for a small child, you might do well to swap to super-soft bushings at the outset.
The axles
The axles run through the truck hangar and the wheels are mounted on the ends of the axles.
The skateboard deck
Does a skateboard have a front and a back? We often get asked this question so we wrote a post about it.
The concave of the skateboard deck
Firstly, the skateboard should have a concave. The centre of the board is lower and there is a camber, or curve up to the edges. Cheap boards may not have a concave (i.e. they are flat) and may be an indication that the equipment you have lacks quality and may make it difficult to learn on. Check out our beginner skateboard buying guide.
What is the purpose of the concave?
The design of the skateboard has changed over the years to make it perform better. The design of the skateboard has changed to make it better at staying under your feet. I’ve been asked a few times but people, ‘how do you make the skateboard stick to your feet. Well, it’s a combination of the grip tape, kicktails, and the concave that achieve this.
The fact the skateboard is designed to stay under your feet can lead to accidents if you don’t know how to use it. We encourage students not to jump off their boards for this reason.
The kicktail
Most skateboards have a kicktail on the tail. The popsicle has a kicktail on the nose and tail for versatility. Kicktails are what revolutionised skateboarding, as it permitted a whole new gamut of tricks, including the kickturn and the ollie. The kicktail is also a key factor in keeping that board under your feet.
Key dimensions of the deck
You should have the right size skateboard for you. For your:
- body size/shape
- style of skateboarding
Please check out our board sizing tool.
The wheelbase
The wheelbase is arguably the most important dimension. The wheelbase is the distance between the trucks.
The wider the wheelbase, the more stable you will be. There is a trade off here though. The longer the wheelbase, the less manouverable the board is. At skate school we want to learn some basic tricks, so we want versatility. When you are skateboarding you want your feet to be shoulder width apart, so as a general rule, the wheelbase should be a similar width.
Top tip here is avoid Penny boards. The wheelbases are far too small, and you will struggle to learn to push. Penny boards are super portable, and good for people who can already ride.
Take away here is, if you want to prioritise stability, get a longer wheelbase. If you want tricky, get a shorter wheelbase.
See our board sizing tool which is broadly based on finding the right wheelbase.
The width of the skateboard
The width of the board isn’t the most important factor in turning, or carving the board – bushings and the wheelbase are more important. We’ll come to that later. As a general rule however, you toes and heels should hang off the edge of the board by a centremetre or two. This usually isn’t the case with small children. Unfortunately there isn’t many off the shelf options for kids of around 5 and under.
The grip tape
The grip tape is essentially sandpaper. The grip tape helps keep the skateboard under your feet. You can customise your grip tape, cutting shapes out of it, or get coloured or see through grip, if you want your board to be more individual like you.
You can change grip, by peeling it off using a hairdryer, but this is a pain. Usually put new grip on when you change your deck.
If your skateboard doesn’t have grip-tape, this could be indicative that it’s cheap, and not fit for purpose.
Changing your skateboard deck
The deck wears out much faster than the trucks & wheels. When you first buy a skateboard you probably bought a complete skateboard. You don’t need to buy another complete, just change the deck.
The wheels & bearings
Your skateboard has four wheels, and 8 bearings. Two in each wheel. The bearings are what allow the wheels to turn smoothly. Make sure the bearings are seated securely inside the wheel.
Skateboard wheels
A correctly mounted wheel shouldn’t have any play. i.e. it shouldn’t move up and down the axle.
Do not over-tighten the wheel. Tighten the axle nut until it touches the bearing in the wheel, then unscrew it by a quarter turn.
Skateboard wheel softness
Skateboard wheels come with different softness ratings. Softer wheels are faster and stickier, and are better for commuting. Harder wheels are slower in comparison. A typical rating for a street or skatepark wheel is 99.
Some completes come with slower, softer wheels for safety purposes. You may wish to upgrade these after learning the basics so you can work on tricks in our progressing class that involve the wheel sliding, like powerslides.
Skateboard wheel size
Bigger wheels = going faster. Smaller wheels = slower/tricks.
Around 52mm is an average street-type setup, going up to 56mm/58mm for cruising, and vert and bowl riding.
Skateboard bearings
You can remove your bearings by placing the bearing over the very end of the axle, and twisting the wheel. This take a lot of strength in the hand.
Complete skateboards often come with slower bearings for safety purposes, and you may wish to upgrade when you’ve learned the basics.
What next?
We have complete skateboards at Copeland Park which come with a free skateboard lesson. Collect your skateboard at the lesson.
See our practical guide to starting skateboarding.
Read about getting ready to skateboard.
