Beginner Skateboarder?

Question

I'm a beginner skateboarder - never been on one yet, but I want to get one ^^ Can someone tell me the various parts of the skateboard, their purpose, how to keep them maintained, the cost, and the good, quality brands? For the most part I'd probably be doing flips, so I think I would need a thinner skateboard. Is that true?

Answer 1

uh first of theres the deck, the trucks, the wheels, and the bearings

the deck is well pretty self explainitory lol

some good brands are almost plan b and girl

the trucks are the things the connect the wheels to the board and make u turn by shifting your weight. some good brands are destructo, and independant

the wheels are also pretty self explainitory lol

some good brands are hubba, element, flip, and girl

and the bearings are the things that make the wheels spin alot faster, a good bearing will spin for 30 seconds if u flick it with your hand. some good brands are reds(which i have and are great), and black panther

lol hope i helped

Answer 2

http://www.skatewarehouse.com/skateology... follow this link and it should tell you all you need to know. otherwise ask people who you know who skateboard what you shoul do or go to a skate shop and ask them.

Oh yeah and this link. http://www.skatewarehouse.com/complete.h...

Answer 3

u ask alot of questions...

every single part u should know

griptape

deck

hardware

trucks

bushings

wheels

bearings

riser pads

bearing spacers

washers

griptape is the black gritty stuff u see on the top of a skateboard. it creates friction when riding and when u ollie it lets you drag the board up with you. its basically tape with a rough side and goes on just by sticking one side to the deck

brands: mob, black magic

cost: 3-6$

maintaince- occational cleaning, toothbrush, hot water, cloth hair dryer. if the griptape gets very dirty it will need to be cleaned but u have to be careful not to get to much water on the board or itll warp. dip the toothbrush in the water and scrub the dirt in one spot, put the cloth on the spot and soak any water, hair dryer to quickly dry up any water left, repeat till its clean.

the deck is pretty important, its the peice of wood u gotta stand on. they are made with canadian hard rock mapple, or at least name brands use it. differant companys have differant concaves. the concave is where the edges of the skateboard come up to allow you to flip it a medium or deep concave is the best. almost impact support decks are the best so get it

brands: almost, zero, mystery, baker

cost: 40-55$

maintance- none

hardware is the name of the screws conecting the deck to the rest of the skateboard.

brands: shorty's (brands really dont make any differance at all this time)

cost: 5$

maintance- none

the trucks are basically the axles. there are a few parts the hanger, the thicker peice in the middle, the axle, which is the smaller thing the goes through the hanger and ur wheels will be on. then theres the bushings they allow turns. theres the kingpin which is the large bolts in the middle of the truck keeping the bushings connected, and the pivot cup, it helps with turning but also keeps the board from turning on its own, its the back rubber thing the the side of the truck opposite to the kingpin

brands: tensor, krux, destructo

cost: 40$

maintance- none

inside each truck there are 2 round donut shaped things useally black, they are responsible for turning. when u lean one way the bushings will contract on that side and the axles then move so that the skateboard turns. yes the trucks will already have these but some people buy other brands and u should still no what it does. they come in soft medium and hard, the softer they are the easier they turn but less stable most street skaters use hard bushings

brands: doh-doh, bones

cost: 2$

maintance- none but they will have to be broken in before the turn much, simply using and turning the skateboard will eventually break them in but it does take a long time.

wheels, i really shouldnt have to explain this to much. the wheels are made of utherane or something and range in sizes of 48-70 and hardness of 70a-105a. street skaters use no larger than 56mm wheels and no softer than 95a. larger wheels will roll longer and harder wheels will roll faster, but smaller wheels allow the board to flip easier and softer wheels provide a smoother ride with more traction on slippery surfaces. an ideal will be 48 or 50mm and 98a or 99a durometer (hardness). the durometer always has an A after it but idk why, unless u get bones stf they dont use the durometer scale

brands: bones (stf), spitfire, rictas

cost: 20-30$

maintance- wash with warm water every now and again

bearings, the go inside of the wheel, 2 in each, and accutly look kinda like a small metal wheel.bearrings have the following parts in them; shield, ball container, 7 steel balls. the shield keeps dirt from getting inside of the bearing the ball container keeps the balls evenly distanced from one another and the balls are what make it spin. without bearings the wheels wont spin at all.

brands: bones(anything by bones, ceramics, labryinth, swiss super 6, swiss, reds)

cost: 10-100$

maintanince: the bearings must be removed from the wheel (this is gonna be to long anyway so u can look up how to do that urself)  remove the shields with a pin by prying the sides, the shields soak in warm soapy water for 30mins+. soak the bearings in a citric based cleaner or paint thinner such as acetone or mineral spirits for 5 hours, stirring the stuff every 30 mins. after the 5 hours take them out and gently scrub them with a clean cloth. dry them with a can of compressed air or hair dryer. spin the bearings by hand for 2mins place 2 or 3 drops of lube in each. put the shields back on, if the bearing has only 1 shield on each then the shield goes on the side opposite to the ball cage inside the bearing. now spin it again by hand for 30secs or so. put the bearrings back into the wheel and skate for 1hr straight.

other parts no one cares about

risers are used for people who buy huge wheels and keep getting wheel bite (wheels dig into the deck) the risers are put inbetween the trucks and the deck to allow more space for the wheels, they  are optional and as long as u get 48-55mm u wont need, they come in 1/8 1/4 and 1/2in sizes. softer ones are called shock pads.

brands: who cares

cost: idk

maintance- trash can

bearing spacers. just wat they sound like they go between every 2 bearrings in each wheel, not really a point just adds extra friction, dont bother really

brand/cost: come with bearings

maintance- none

u will also notice in the trucks there are 2 washers per side of each axle, they give the wheel room so the truck and axle nut never touch the bearings greatly reducing friction

brands/cost: comes with trucks

maintance- rub with some steel wool to clean off and rust or dirt.

wider decks provide more control and balance but are harder to flip, most people use 7.6-7.75 begginners normally go with wider ones like a 7.8 as u get better u can go with a smaller width. the main thing is get what is comfortable

if theres anything i didnt answer (i doubt after all this) u can email me just make sure its a shorter question. also when i gave u brand names i went best to worst for the most part