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 How to Buy a Skateboard
Skateboard Buying 101
Warehouse Skateboards offers a massive selection. That’s all well and good if you know what you’re looking for, but what if you’re a brand-newbie or a traditionalist who’s been riding the same rig forever… then you might need a bit of help! Never fear, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to make the right decisions, whether you’re buying a complete board or just picking up some pieces to improve your current ride.
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Choosing a Pre-Assembled Complete Skateboard:
Warehouse Skateboards offers complete boards that are built from the same quality parts offered separately on our site. It’s a good deal… we do the brainwork of deciding what works well with what and you get a skate-ready board and a nice little discount for buying all the parts at one time! This is great for a novice skater who doesn’t feel like reading this whole doctrine on “how to buy,” but is worried about choosing all the right parts. It’s also great for the skate-masters who know precisely what they want, since many of our completes are built from our top selling components.
So Warehouse sells some great complete outfits, but there are different types of skateboards for different types of riding, so here’s a rundown on the different types and what they’re for:
- Short, narrow boards with small wheels and trucks = technical, trick skating (Boards are light, low and easy to flip around under your feet.)
- Short, but wider with mid-size wheels and trucks = the standard board, for everything from tricks to ramps to street. (More stable, but still light and agile.)
- Longer, wider boards with wide trucks and big wheels = better carving and street riding on rougher surfaces; for some ramp and park skating, but mostly for carving or downhill skating.
Check out the available Complete Skateboards currently On Sale 20% OFF!
Note: Most boards these days are symmetrical so they can be flipped around and ridden the same way. Longboards and retro-boards (“old-school” classics) tend to have a definite, more pointed nose and a squarish tail. This is because they weren’t intended to be ridden backwards much of the time. When you’re carving or downhill skating on a longer board, you just don’t do a lot of reversing, and the old-school asymmetrical boards are just classics that are revered from the early days of park and ramp skating. If you’re just getting started and want the universal board, go with a symmetrical (both ends look the same) board as described in the middle bullet above.
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Building a Custom Complete Skateboard:
If you’re a novice skater and you want to build a custom complete board, it might be a good idea to look over our selection of pre-assembled completes to get a sense of what size deck goes with what size trucks, wheels, etc. If you’re a seasoned skater, you probably know exactly what you want and all you need is a list to help you remember to get all the pieces, so here goes…
Start building your complete skateboard at Warehouse Skateboard!
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Skateboard Decks
Things to consider when buying a skatebaord deck: length, width, shape, concave or flat. We’ve already covered the basics of different board types above (see the bullets under Choosing a Pre-Assembled Complete Skateboard above), So the main things left are shape and concave. If you’re going to want to kick-flip the board around under your feet and ride it in reverse half the time, definitely get a symmetrical board (both ends are the same shape). If you’re going to be riding forward 95% of the time while carving, ramp riding or downhilling, feel free to go asymmetrical. If you’re looking at a shortboard/standard skateboard, you’re probably also going to want to go with good concave. Concave strengthens the deck and kills flex, making it more responsive. Carvers and downhillers tend to like a little flex – or even a lot of flex – so if that’s what you plan to do, it’s up to you to decide how much flex floats your boat. Many carvers and downhillers have a stiff board and a really flexy downhill board to get the best of both worlds.
What size Skateboard Deck is right for me?
Mini 6.5" - For the little guy, up to 6 years old and under 80lbs
Mid 7.0" to 7.5" - Great board for 7 to 10 year olds
7.5" to 7.87" - Skating streets or doing more technical tricks
7.87" to 8.25" - Skating pools, rampls and parks with heavy transitions
8.25" and above - Going old school or just cruising
Check out the available skateboard decks at Warehouse Skateboard!
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Skateboard Wheels
Durometer (Hardness and Durability… hard equals speed and durability with less grip, soft equals best grip with less speed and durability.)
87A – For rough surfaces, longboards or street boards needing lots of grip.
95A – Similar to above, but slightly harder and faster, sacrificing a bit of grip, but the grip's still good.
97A – Good speed and good grip. Good all-around street, ramp, park wheels.
100A – Hardest and fastest, but poor grip. Not good on very rough surfaces (no shock absorption) or on very slick surfaces (no grip).
Sizes (Smaller equals slower, larger equals faster.)
52-55 MM – Slower, but stable and good for trick riding and smaller riders. Not good for longboards.
56-60 MM – Good all-around. Good for big and small riders on ramp, park and street.
60+MM – Good for big riders, longboards, old-school boards, speed, rougher surfaces.
Check out the available skateboard wheels at Warehouse Skateboard!
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Skateboard Trucks
The truth is, even though skateboard trucks vary quite a bit in width, a good general rule is to approximately match the width of the truck to the width of the board. Turning radius will increase with wider trucks and more distance between the front and rear trucks. As a result, longer, wider decks will use wider trucks and shorter, narrower trick-oriented decks will require narrower trucks. Compare the range of deck lengths and widths to the range of truck widths and you can get a feeling for what your chosen deck will require.
What size Skateboard Trucks do I need?
Skateboard deck sizes vary from 7.45 to 8.5 inches in street skating - if you measure the body of the truck that will give you the info you need to determine if that will fit your deck best.
• 5” truck body will fit decks from 7.5” to 8 inches
• 5.25” truck body will fit decks from 8” to 8.5 inches
• 9” and above skateboard decks for street cruising, ramp and pool skating we recommend Independent trucks.
Decks 8.5” to 9” use an Independent 149 truck
Decks 9” to 10” use a Independent 169 truck
Decks 10” and above use a Independent 215 truck
Check out the available skateboard trucks at Warehouse Skateboard!
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Skateboard Bearings
Bearings vary quite a bit in quality, but not in size. Basically, the more expensive ones are actually made better - they're sealed better, have more inner ball-bearings and higher quality metals are used. The good news is that warehouse only sells high-quality bearings, so feel safe to grab what's in stock!
Check out the available skateboard bearings at Warehouse Skateboard!
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Skateboard Riser Pads
Most smaller boards with wheels smaller than 55mm don't require risers. As the wheels get larger, there's some chance they'll rub the underside of the deck on a hard turn. In general, the longer the board and the larger the wheels, the more height is needed in a riser pad. The other thing to consider is shock absorption. Softer and thicker riser pads absorb more shock and vibration. Downhillers, cruisers and street carvers often opt for thick risers to ensure that their wheels don't rub the deck when leaning into carves and to absorb street vibrations. Trick, ramp and park skaters often opt for thin, soft risers to absorb some shock during landings from aerials, kick flips and ollies. The shock absorption also helps keep hardware from vibrating loose on rougher surfaces.
Check out the available riser pads at Warehouse Skateboard!
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Skateboard Hardware
Simple. If your getting riser pads, it's probably safe to go longer on the bolts. If you're not, go with the shorter ones. Even if you end up getting them too long, it's just a few strokes with the hacksaw to trim them down, so play it safe.
What size hardware do I need? |
Bolt Size |
Riser Size |
7/8" to 1" |
No Riser |
1" to 1 1/8" |
1/8" Riser |
1 1/4" |
1/4" Riser |
1 1/2" |
1/2" Riser |
Check out the available skateboard hardware at Warehouseskateboards.Com!
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