piusthedrcarve Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 No skating experience at all. What do i need to know to start longboarding? What to buy? What length? Shape? Wheel size? Pretty much flat area where I live. So...pumping favored than downhill. Thanks in advance Sent from mobile device using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I had/have the same constraints. http://loadedboards.com/index.php/vanguard-complete.html works great for me! (there are many similar boards, in a wide variety of prices) This forum is highly tech'ed out for skating. Some people make it sound like you're going to spend the rest of your life thinking about bushings and wedge angles, but you don't have to. I bought the stock board and have done absolutely nothing other than learn to pump and ride around. I think that a flexy board may be a little scary for someone that's never skateboarded before. Hopefully someone can chime in with advice for getting started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.oldsnowboards.com Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Corey after a couple days of practice. <object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/MacmKfwFZJA?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/MacmKfwFZJA?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piusthedrcarve Posted April 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 Thanks Corey, What's the ride difference on the shape like 'Loaded' vs pintail? Sent from mobile device using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 I really don't know, I haven't tried a lot of boards. I like the idea that I have to do something really stupid to get wheelbite on my Vanguard. Wheelbite sucks, and it usually happens when you're really loaded up so the crash is awkward. My point was that many BOL skateboard threads make it sound like you need to spend the rest of your life swapping bushings/wedges and making hybrid trucks to have fun. Pick something, ride it, and try other boards if/when you get the chance. It's just plain fun riding around on sidewalks. Kids look at the old man pumping at a running pace with enough safety gear to be riding an X-games superpipe and smirk. Don't care, it's fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 I really don't know, I haven't tried a lot of boards. I like the idea that I have to do something really stupid to get wheelbite on my Vanguard. Wheelbite sucks, and it usually happens when you're really loaded up so the crash is awkward. My point was that many BOL skateboard threads make it sound like you need to spend the rest of your life swapping bushings/wedges and making hybrid trucks to have fun. Pick something, ride it, and try other boards if/when you get the chance. It's just plain fun riding around on sidewalks. Kids look at the old man pumping at a running pace with enough safety gear to be riding an X-games superpipe and smirk. Don't care, it's fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pokkis Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 I prefer shorter GS or Hybrid slalom type board where you can have fun and practice similar work like in winter without need long tracks. Here me having some funny stuff time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordmetroland Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Longboarding is a lot like snowboarding in that it can take some experimentation to learn what you really like. Oh, and like hardbooting, you can spend as much as you want on a setup; the sky seems to be the limit. I have four setups that get varying amounts of use, none of which are tuned for pumping, slalom or downhill; I'm more of a slow carving, "dancing" guy. The feel of a deep, slow, well-executed cross-step or Peter Pan is pretty close, neurologically, to a deep carve. At least for me. The Loaded Longboards' videos "School's Out," "Propeller," and my favorite, "Wu Wei" are emblematic of the riding I like, though I'm woefully inferior to these guys. As a bonus, Loaded's videography is sublime. Full disclosure, on the snow, I'm a softboot devotee with relaxed angles that prefers long boards, partly because I think it's funny to ride the same terrain on a 200 that guys are riding on 155s. I mostly seek out soft lines and steeps, but try my luck with carving as well. I'm 6'3" and about 195-200. Given that picture of me, here's what I have and my experience of it: Loaded Dancer (discontinued) 55", with Paris trucks and Otang wheels - twin-tip, monster, inch thick bamboo slab with a spongy, damp feel. Perfectly flat - no camber, rocker, concave, nothing. The 1970's Town Car of longboards, good for little else but dancing, but a very plush ride. They should never have discontinued it, but the market went a different direction and the deck alone was like $270! Loaded Bhangra 48", Surf-Rodz RKP trucks with Otang wheels - Dancer put through a shrink ray, but a little rockered with some concave. More versatile, less spongy, a mellow platform. Longboard Larry DK Penguin 45", Devil Rey trucks and Duval Hurrithane wheels - twin tip, unforgiving, rock maple freestyle deck. Big kicktails, concave with pockets for controlled slides. A very responsive and versatile deck. Has enough rebound to pump, but pumping it long distance would be a chore. I love this thing. Bustin Boombox, Surf-Rods Indeesz trucks with Volante wheels - Quite similar to the LBL, but smaller kicktails and more forgiveness. Versatile, but nothing special. Doesn't do anything great. But I can beat the hell out of it without guilt. I've also had - and sold - a Loaded Tan Tien, an Arbor Fleetwood and an Arbor Koa Blunt. The Tan Tien was fun, but too squirrelly and short for my taste. The Fleetwood was a near-pintail. I'd never get another pintail. Great for lazy cruising, but not much else. They don't slide well, you can't do kickflips, they're underengineered for pumping. The Blunt was just a dumb board. Corey's comments are spot on; you could get into interminable debates on wedge angles, bushing durometers and something called "rake." I only know what I like and what feels good. I'm not that interested in dissecting the whys. Here's what I've concluded: I like boards that are generalists, not specialists. Paris trucks give a great turny feel, but I often bend the hangers (lifetime replacement warranty). If I didn't, that would be my only truck. Most precisions trucks are a waste of money, but Reys are comparatively cheap. I've had good luck with the Loaded/Otang family. Bushings do interact with trucks, so a great bushing set up may not be portable. It's a lot more fun to ride than discuss. So go and experiment. For specific information, silverfishlongboarding is a great source. True, there are a ton of teenage wannabes, but there are also gear nerd engineers that would give some of the Bomberonline folks a run for their money. So you may have to plow through a bunch of stupid crap to get to the real gems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piusthedrcarve Posted April 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Thanks all, I will get one to start soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 If you have aspirations to be a mad pumping maniac, then I'd recommend starting with a pumping complete. The only one I know if is the Mermaid/Titan completes from Stoked Skateboards, but there may be others. I have pumped a stock Vanguard with the right flex for me. Many longboards are pumpable, and the Vanguard deck is quite nice. With a full cutout, it won't ever suffer from wheelbite. But the power I can generate from my optimized Mermaid setup is a whole different thing. When I swapped the softer and larger 75mm wheels from my Mermaid onto the Vanguard and also replaced the stock bushings with some simple Khiro orange barrels all around, it improved quite a bit. A Vanguard deck with the commonly used Bennett front and Tracker RT-S rear would up the performance even more. A stock Vanguard complete is a great all-purpose longboard, but the difference in pumping performance between it and an optimized pump longboard is striking. The place for overwhelming confusing information on pumping is the forum on Pavedwave.org. I think there are some FAQs there, and Pavedwave also has a few YouTube videos on setup. When I bought my board a couple of years ago, I hadn't been on a skateboard in over 30 years. I just decided that I wanted to pump and went out and mail-ordered a setup that I hoped was suitable. It was just like when I started out in alpine carving. Since then I have spent maybe $120 on various parts for customization, performance, and experimentation. All of these parts take up less space than half a shoe box, and haven't been nearly as big a hit to the wallet as the money I have blown on snowboarding equipment. Regardless of what kind of longboard riding you decide to do, get all of the safety gear. You will crash at some point. Knee and elbow pads with a helmet and gloves looks geeky compared to the carefree young whippersnappers, but in my experience, pain hurts. If you buy a complete from Stoked, I would delete the Khiro wedge kit that they offer and maybe the bushing kit too. The wedge kit has been of no use to me. The bushing kit was very useful at first for me to experiment with, but in the end I only used the softest ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 The only one I know if is the Mermaid/Titan completes from Stoked Skateboards, but there may be others. Just for those who might be looking, those boards are Mermaid or Triton (not Titan) and the decks are made by Roe Racing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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