Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Insider Tips for Buying Your Longboard Bearings


Longboard skateboards are unique and require their own set of accessories than your standard skateboard does. It is important to distinguish the difference between the various trucks, decks and wheels required for these kind of boards before buying one. If you aren't familiar with the parts and accessories you need, you could end up wasting a lot of money.
One of the most important parts of any longboard is the bearings. These parts go inside the actual wheels and help control the speed at which the wheels turn. A good set of bearings can be the difference between a fast, smooth board, and a clunky, slow board.
This is why it is important to educate yourself about the various types of bearings available for your longboard and the types you should be using for maximum performance.
Most longboard bearings come in either ceramic or steel. A ceramic bearing will have a set of ceramic balls encased inside the bearing. They are almost always used by all pro skateboarders due to their reliable performance standards. The ceramic bearings are rust resistant and more resistant to friction, which basically means they can take more of a beating than steel bearings. They are also lighter than the steel bearings.
The steel bearings are of course made out of steel and are generally cheaper than ceramic bearings. Steel
bearings are susceptible to rust and in many cases the rust will prevent them from spinning at all, which will then make them completely worthless.
When you visit your local skateboard shop, don't be afraid to ask the employees for their recommendations. Keep in mind that the better the bearing quality, the higher the price. The final decision will come down to how much you skate and how aggressively. If you just do a lot of cruising, then paying top dollar for the bearings probably isn't a good idea. However, if you do a lot of trick skating, then it is probably worth investing in a high quality bearing.
As a final thought I can't recommend ceramic bearings highly enough. Many consider the extra cost a small amount to pay for their remarkable performance and durability. In the end, you will probably go through lower quality bearing much faster than the ceramic ones, and spend just as much as you would have on one set of ceramic bearings.

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Monday, June 28, 2010

Loaded Dervish Trucks


In order to maximize the performance and handling of your loaded dervish, trucks, wheels, bushings and bearings have to be properly set up for the particular longboard activity you want to engage in.
The Loaded dervish deck by itself is a good platform to start from no matter what type of riding you do. Made by Loaded Carving systems of the United States from a tri-axle fiberglass and epoxy sandwich with a fiberglass core, the board offers riders the perfect balance between flexibility and durability. This flexibility is one of the things that contribute to the dervish's renowned stability and smoothness.
Custom Loaded Dervish trucks can make your board a lot cooler. The dervish is designed for use with drop through trucks and has CNC milled cutouts to accommodate them. The dervish can be fitted with Randall R-II, Paris, Bear, Gullwing Charger and Tracker Fastrack trucks. While the board is designed for use with most drop through, reverse kingpin trucks, Loaded recommends the use of trucks that are at least 180mm wide. Drop through trucks make the board sit lower to the ground thus lowering its center of gravity. This results in a board which is not only easier to push but also more stable.
The dervish is also well known for its lively, agile and responsive ride. The deck is shaped in a convex camber which compresses when a rider applies his or her weight on it and returns the energy applied to it when the rider straightens up. This results in little to no loss of forward momentum when going in and out of turns, making pumping easier and carving truly a pleasure. In order to further improve or adjust the responsiveness of your dervish, you can try different types of bushings you use in your trucks. Experiment with harder or softer bushings or those which rebound faster and see which most suits your riding style.
If you like going downhill or sliding, the dervish is a deck which is more than adequate for the task. Although Loaded recommends the use of a stiffer board for higher speeds, the dervish can be used at speeds of up to 30 mph without loss of stability. The wheels and bearings you use on your board can also help improve performance. Strong and durable bearings such as Max Abec 5s or Bones Swiss and Pleasure Tools are great places to start from. For wheels, the rule of the thumb is that harder ones makes sliding easier while softer wheels grip the road surface better. The dervish is designed for use with 70mm+ wheels.
For more information about Loaded Dervish you may visit our website for Loaded Dervish longboards.
We have Loaded Dervish longboards on sale (716) 579-5984.


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A Lot of Practice is Needed For Skateboarding


The origin of skateboarding lies deep past in the history. The use of skateboards started first during the 1940s. But, at that time it was used mainly for fun. It was used mainly for transportation purposes. The kids used to move around on these skateboards. Gradually, skateboarding gained enormous popularity among the people. It became a sport in United States after a long time. Nowadays, skateboarding has become a very sport for the Americans. Thousands of people take part in the skateboarding competitions every year and many of them have gained much popularity among the skateboarders. It has become a very important outdoor game in US, several schools and universities give scholarships for this game. After its success in United States, skateboarding is gradually extending its popularity all over the world. Nowadays, it is not used much for transportation; rather it is used mainly for playing.
Several skateboarding parks have grown up all over United States. Competitions are held in these parks often. Due to these skateboarding competitions many skateboarders have gained enormous popularity. Skateboarding has become many people's passion like other games like baseball or soccer. The skateboard stores are very useful for people who are interested in skateboarding. You can find various types of skateboards for sale in these stores. The longboard skateboards have also gained excessive popularity like the normal skateboards; these boards are a bit larger than the normal skateboards. The longboards are used for different purpose in the games. People have divided the game according to the type of boards.
However, people must gather enough information before getting into skateboarding. For this, they should consult any experienced professional skateboarder who has gained enough fame and popularity. People can get good and effective tips from these experienced skateboarders. However, if you do not know any such person you can surf the internet or consult any book regarding skateboarding. In the internet, you can join game forums provided by certain websites; where you can meet many experienced skateboarders. You can even get the names of good stores from where you can buy your skateboards and its accessories. Skateboard accessories consist of the skateboard deck, skateboard truck, wheels, special clothing, shoes for skateboarding, safety tools like elbow guards, knee caps, helmets etc. Another important thing for skateboarding is the maintenance tool kit.
Proper maintenance of skateboard is very important for getting optimum performance from it. If the skateboard that you are using is not properly maintained, you may not get good speed or comfort while riding it. For the servicing of your skateboard, you can give it in any repair shop or you can do that yourself. For that you have buy full maintenance kit; which consists of skate wax, skateboard rails, skate tools and bearing lube. If you are willing to take part in any skateboarding competition, you must maintain your skateboards properly.
Above all, skateboarding needs lot of practice. You should practice enough to have the proper balance, flexibility, skills etc. For this, you may join the skateboarding institutions.
Woody's halfpipe is a very popular online store of element skateboards, skateboards decks. You can contact them if you want some good quality skateboards.

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The Specialty and the Use of the Longboard Skateboards

Skateboarding, one of the most popular sports these days has derived from the sport of surfboarding. Though this sport is a recent introduction in list of sports but still there is no lack in its popularity. Besides being a sport for recreation and entertainment this sport has become a competitive individual and team sport. The most interesting fact about this sport is that one can do daring stunts and tricks with the help of a skateboard. Thus who wants a good deal of excitement in life for those this is an ideal sport. Moreover, there are different types of skateboards available in the market. These skateboards are specifically meant for doing specific types of stunts. But our point of discussion is the longboard skateboard. The longboard skateboards are inspired by the longboard surfboards. As the main idea of skateboarding derived from the surfboarding therefore it is obvious that most of the other ideas of skateboarding would derive from the surfboarding.
Though the longboards in many ways are similar to the ordinary skateboards but there are some significant differences between the two. The longboards are not meant much for flips or tricks, rather it is more effective for cruising. The longboards are wider than a typical skateboard and often with a different shape. If you are experienced with a regular skateboard then on your first ride on a longboard you shall be able to notice that the longboards are significantly different from the regular skateboards. Though the longboards are simply skateboards but are a lot longer than the regular size of the standard skateboards. These longboards are used mainly useful for downhill racing, running and errand, travelling around town and other such uses and are not that much useful for doing flips, tricks and stunts. The longboards are a lot heavier than the ordinary skateboards and are therefore are not that much perfect for doing any type of skateboarding tricks. The ride on a longboard is lot similar to surfing on the sea and thus it is like surfing on the roads. The longboards are designed in such a way that they are better for bigger turns and faster carves as is done by the surfers on the surfboards. But the gear design of the longboards is similar to that of the skateboards.
But while riding a skateboard some safety precautions are very much essential. The first of the safety precautions that are essential are to wear gloves and a helmet. In case of downhill racing you may have noticed that the longboarders wear unique gloves to shield their hands. The knee, wrist and elbow padding are all the needful things for the better safety while skateboarding on a longboard. These things are given special focus because of the reason that though the skateboarding may seem to be a very easy task from outside but in reality the fact is that a ride on the skateboard can be as much dangerous as riding any other wheeled vehicle. Therefore, before riding on any skateboard the safety factors should be given proper attention.
Woody's half pipe provides great quality of Skateboards, Longboard Skateboards for the skateboard lovers. The Almost Skateboards provided by them are also very good.


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More About Longboard Skateboards


When skateboarding first came about, most of the boards were fish shaped. They were slender and sleek, and were situated on top of four large, soft wheels. This is why these boards are the predecessor to the longboard skateboards we know and recognize today.
A generic, popsicle-stick shaped skateboard evolved to allow the user to perform tricks more easily. However, tricks aren't for everyone. Longboard skateboards are great for people who want to skate, but either can't or don't want to do tricks. Longboard skateboards are excellent for transportation whereas the popsicle decks really aren't.
Every longboard is different. Different longboarders need different longboard skateboards. It's a matter of preference to the rider. Just like they taught you in school - everyone is different. In turn, each longboarder needs to find the right board for him or herself.
If a longboarder wants to cruise down a hill as fast as possible, they will probably want a deck with bigger wheels and a wider truck base so that they don't lose control at high speeds. If a longboarder wants to get from point a to point b, they will usually invest in something a little shorter than a normal longboard. This helps keep it portable.
If you thought those two types of longboards sounded interesting, then you should keep researching, because there are many, many more types of longboard skateboards. If you want to get into the world of longboarding after reading then go for it! Start at your local skateshop and don't forget to buy some pads and a helmet.
The writer enjoys longboarding and everything about longboards. He's been a hardcore longboard skater for many years now, and likes to think that he is fairly knowledgeable about longboards. If you are looking for a place to purchase longboard skateboards after reading this, feel free to check out http://www.the-skateboard-shop.com/
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Guide to Buying Your Longboard



You will want to think about the type of longboarding you're going to be doing before you just go out and buy a longboard. If you want to go downhill as fast as possible, you'll need a high tech board, like something from sector nine or loaded longboards. If you just want to cruise the streets and do things at low speeds, then most any other board will work just fine.
You may just want to go out and buy a longboard that's already setup for you. This is called a complete longboard. The best advice that this guide can give you if you take the route of buying a complete longboard is this: don't waste your money on a cheap board. Your experience will be infinitely better if you spend a good chunk of money on a good longboard. If you'd rather put a deck together, you will need to buy all the parts. We'll explain wheels first.
Longboard wheels vary in size and hardness. Longboard wheels are typically very soft. Softer wheels grip the road more easily and give the rider a smoother riding experience. Softer wheels also work better when a person slides - they act more like a brake than harder wheels do. This is at the cost of the wheels, though. Softer wheels tend to not last as long as harder ones.
You will also need a longboard deck. The only company that really makes these is loaded longboards. Fortunately, loaded longboards are great decks. You can also buy a loaded complete, but some people like to put their own together. Be sure to read about the different types of flex that loaded longboards offer, as it will affect your riding experience.
The last thing to pick is a good set of trucks. There are different sets of trucks out there and the best way to find out which ones work well for you is to try them. Most stores should have the trucks you're looking at setup on another board and should be happy to let you try them out. If you can't test them, though, just make sure that you buy yourself some wide trucks. They can always be replaced later.
That's about it for putting together a longboard. You'll find as you go through everything that the best way to piece a skateboard together is to go to a shop and look at all the components. Find parts that suit you and your riding style, then put everything together. You shouldn't be too disappointed if you've taken the time to find quality parts.
The author enjoys longboarding and everything about longboards. He's been a passionate longboard skater for many years now, and is quite knowledgeable about longboards. If you're looking for a place to buy loaded longboards after reading this, feel free to check out http://www.the-skateboard-shop.com/