How to assemble a skateboard for parts and how much it costs

Rollerblading is considered an extreme activity, and you should choose your skateboard wisely. We reveal the main points of choosing a board, so that skating from the very beginning was a joy, not a punishment for “twos” at school and shits at work.

Certified skateboarding coach, founder of Freestyle Times skate school.

To begin with, a skateboard consists of a deck (board), sandpaper (sandpaper or abrasive tape), suspensions, wheels with bearings, mounting screws and spacers under the suspension base, which get rid of fork bite while skating.

Wheel bite is the “bite” of the wheel. This is when the wheel makes contact with the inside edge of the board, causing the skateboard to brake abruptly and come to a stop. Most often this happens because the wheels are incorrectly sized in relation to the size of the suspension. In 99% of cases, the fall will not be avoided, and the flight vector will be directed forward.

Sisukord

Where to start

Before you go to the skate shop and choose a set or individual parts, you need to decide on your direction of skating. It is important to understand what you want more: to skate in the street (on street spots), in the skate park, in the ramp or to cruise around the city (to move from point “A” to point “B”). This is what will determine the choice of board size and parameters of the components.

Let’s start assembling

Board

Boards are different.

By style: .freestyle, for classic skateboarding, for riding in the ramp.

By shape and size: hybrid, old-school, fish-shaped, with a large width of up to 10 inches (25.6 cm), as an example of non-standard decks brands Madness, Enjoy, Footwork. The latter are much larger than the classic ones, with sizes ranging from 6.5 inches (16.51 cm) to 10 inches (25.6 cm). The standard size for all is 8 inches (20.32 cm), but it can also be customized depending on shoe size and weight. In reality, though, everyone tailors the board to fit themselves so that they can stand comfortably on it.

In addition to size, differentiate and the very shape of the skateboard, the so-called shape (from English “form”). There are three types:

low – a low, flatter board;
high – embossed board with large boards;
middle – something in between.

The deck consists of seven layers of Canadian maple, which are glued together using epoxy resin or water-based PVA glue.

There are two gluing options. Cold – veneer layers are tightened with clamps or a special press and kept in this state for about a day. Hot – in a special mold and under a certain temperature the workpiece is placed under a pressure of 40 tons.

Layers of skateboard can have different colors: the more such “colorful” layers, the more interesting the board looks. Sometimes carbon and plastic are added to maple to improve durability. But don’t forget that no matter how strong the board is, sooner or later it will start to dry out. Then it will need to be replaced. This can be detected in a simple way: the classic ringing click during jumps is lost.

The “nazhdak” or skin

The main parameter of the skin, which is glued to the upper surface of the deck, is the grain size. From this will directly depend on its price. Also, the cost will be influenced by the promotion of the manufacturer’s brand. As practice shows, mostly take Jessup emery boards. Of the Russian ones, you can note the skins of “Union”, for example.

Suspensions, bearings and wheels

Suspensions, or, as they are called, “tracks”, also differ in size and can be:

low – small, which are used with wheels 48-50 mm, such suspensions are more “sharpened” for street riding;
high and middle – in this case wheels 52-54 mm are used, high and middle types of suspensions are more suitable for ramp riding.

Among other things, suspensions can be lightweight or non-lightweight. This is done to reduce the overall weight of the skateboard.

Bearings are an important part of every roller skateboard. It is worth saying right away that they can be metal (subject to corrosion) and ceramic (not subject to corrosion). An important characteristic of all bearings is the ABEC number, which has a gradation from 1 to 9.

ABEC is the Bearing Engineering Committee, part of the American Bearing Manufacturers Association. The abbreviation ABEC (Annular Bearing Engineering Committee) stands for accuracy of bearing manufacturing, and this classification is mainly used in roller and skateboard bearings.

In classic skating style athletes use ABEC 5 or ABEC 7 – they hold speed and have good durability. At the same time, the first one is more resistant than the second one (it is more often used in speed skating).

The main material from which the wheels are made is polyurethane. In this case, the style can be different:

with a large contact area (for ramps and park skating);
with a smaller contact area (for street skating).

Mostly everyone uses the “large contact area” – 52 mm.

Another characteristic of the wheels is their stiffness, which also varies from 75A to 104A. For skateboarding in the skate park it is better to use 99A or 100A – this is the optimal indicator.

Screws

This is the easiest one here. Screws can be made “under the hex” or under the “cross”. They also come in different lengths from 7/8 to 1 (1/2) inches. We can only add that in my experience of assembling various boards, the hex screws are easier to screw in.

Skateboard in parts versus a pre-made kit

Cheaper doesn’t mean better. But you should always start with the simple and only then move on to the complex, if you don’t want to become a world champion. Nowadays a serious kit costs around 17 thousand rubles, but you can build it for 11 thousand. Sometimes even for 5.5 thousand in skate shops. I advise you to buy skate kits in the off-season, as there are discounts on them.

Oluline: often when people buy a set, they forget to loosen the nut on the king pin (a large screw on the suspension), so that the board turns. It’s also worth loosening the wheels a bit, as they are screwed in very tight at the factory. This is all necessary for comfortable skating.

Searching for your skateboard is better to start with domestic brands, such as Union, Footwork, Absurd, OG, for example. Beginners are better to choose among already assembled sets – a little later and at will you can improve your skateboard.

And if you’re not ready to buy a full-size board, try fingerboards. Read more about them in the article at the link.