How to choose your first skateboard: A Baddest Guide
Congratulations! Skateboarding is the best choice you can make for yourself or a loved one!
There is probably some bias in my opinion as I personally love LOVE skateboarding and for me was the best choice I could make in my early 20’s. Skateboarding teaches you how to enjoy and fully live in the moment, and how to fail and keep failing endlessly whilst having the most fun, both great qualities in life.
Looking at all the parts, trucks, wheels, decks, bearings, it can get a bit overwhelming and hard to understand so here we have put together some advice to best guide your decision.
So the first question is should you buy a pre-made complete or build a custom skateboard?
Budget wise you can buy a pre-made complete skateboard for approximately £70 to £100, whereas building a custom skateboard will cost anything between £130 to £250. The average skateboard you see your local shredder riding usually costs £150 to £190.
We strongly recommend pre built completes for kids up to the age of 13-14.
We also recommend pre-made complete skateboards if you want to spend up to £100 or less. Pre-made complete skateboards are the best value for money. They are great to get you started. Pre-assembled complete skateboards are composed from decent but basic components.
As you progress with skateboarding you can start updating your setup and replacing the parts with better quality ones. Eventually you will replace all the components according to your preference and needs.
Do not buy the cheapest skateboard you will find online as they are toys that look like skateboards and are a complete waste of money.
The Gist:
-buy a pre-made complete if it is for a kid
-buy a pre-made complete if you are beginner and you have a budget of around £100
How to pick parts for your skateboard
If you have the budget and you are over 14 we 100% recommend assembling your skateboard by choosing all the individual parts. A high quality skateboard will cost you more but will also last much longer. You can of course choose the parts and let us assemble it for you. Here is our guide on how to choose the parts:
A skateboard deck is the most fun part of your skateboard. If you are a beginner we recommend getting anything between 8” to 8.5”. After all, you will get used to whatever you start skating. Rule of thumb is that the wider the deck the more stable it is the more easy to cruise, the narrower the deck the more maneuverable it is the easier to do tricks with and lighter to lift. So choose any deck you like the look of! If you want to keep your budget low, decks are a great place to save money as a Palace deck that is £54 is as good as an Anti Hero deck that is £65. Factors like country of origin and branding are detrimental for the price of skateboard decks whereas quality is more relevant to price when it comes to the rest of the parts.
How to pick the right size of skateboard deck:
Rule of thumb is that the wider the deck the more stable, whilst the narrower the deck the more manoeuvrable.
If you are in your late teens or early adulthood we recommend an 8” or bigger (according to how big you are).
For ages up to 4 years old we recommend 7”
From 4 years old to 6 years old we recommend 7.25” to 7.38”
From 6 years old to 9 years old we recommend 7.5” to 7.75”
For 10 years old to 14 years old we recommend 7.75” to 8”
For anyone older we recommend and 8” or bigger.
You can choose the size of the board on the left hand side of our website collection pages!
Trucks are the element you will keep the longest. You can choose your trucks according to your budget. Independent skateboard trucks for £64 are the most popular ones but we recommend Krux trucks for £50 if you want to keep your budget low. Venture trucks and thunder are also great options. The truck size should match your skateboard deck size. You can choose your skateboard size by the menu on the left hand side and the right truck sizes will come up. Do not worry too much as we will notify you in case you chose the wrong truck size for the deck you bought.
Bearing prices range from £5 to £150 making it very hard to know which ones to choose. Bones red bearings are by far the most popular bearings at £20. If you are looking for something faster we recommend Bronson G3 bearings for £30. If you want to keep your budget low we recommend spitfire bearings for £10.
Wheels are a very important element of your skateboard. Skateboard wheels have two main factors: size and hardness. Bigger wheels make your skateboard faster and easier to cruise. Smaller wheels are lighter and make tricks easier but are slower. Softer wheels offer a smoother riding and are very grippy whilst hard wheels allow you to slide. Overall if you are just looking for cruising we recommend either OJ wheels or Ricta clouds 78a. If you want to learn how to do tricks we recommend either bones or spitfire wheels between 52mm to 54mm.
Bolts do absolutely nothing else than hold your skateboard together. You can get black bolts that are hardly visible against black griptape or colourful bolts that will make your skateboard stand out and will help you differentiate the nose from the tail of your skateboard when you ride.
We offer black grip tape for free with every skateboard deck. Alternatively you can select a colorful grip tape or one with the pattern if you want to switch things up.
The Gist:
-Follow our guide and do not worry too much about anything, just stat skating
-Do not buy the cheapest skateboard you see online because you will regret it
Skateboard Setups for beginners
We have put together a example skateboards set ups that would be great for begginers.
A great street skateboard is this ones for £184
Deck: Palace deck 8.25"
Trucks: Independent Standard 144
Bearings: Bones Reds
Bolts: Black bolts
Wheels: Bones Wheels
A budget but still super decent setup could be this one for £145
Deck: Palace deck 8.25"
Trucks: Krux Trucks 8.25
Bearings: Spitfire Bearings
Bolts: Black bolts
Wheels: Bones 100's Skateboard Wheels
A luxe skateboard of the absolute best of everything for £357
Deck: Palace deck 8.25"
Trucks: Independent Trucks
Bearings: Bones Swiss Ceramics
Bolts: Black bolts
Wheels: Spitfire Formula Four Wheels
A very fun cruiser for £202
Deck: Polar shaped skateboard
Trucks: Independent Trucks 149
Bearings: Bronson G3 Bearings
Bolts: Black bolts
Wheels: Oj pink wheels
If you still have questions and would like more information on how to choose your very first skateboard, give one of our team a call and walk you though the process.
