How to Put Together a Longboard

If you have the parts you've chosen from the previous blog post, you may be wondering, how do I put it together? 

In order to set up your brand new longboard, you will need:

Photo Credit: beartrucks.com

1. Your longboard parts: 

-Deck

-Trucks

-Wheels

-Bearings

-Hardware

-Grip Tape

2. A skate tool: 

-You can find these at a local skate shop or online, and most skate tools have all the parts you need to put your longboard together. It's like a 3-in-1 wrench for your wheels, trucks, and hardware.

Photo Credit: rawk.com

3. A razor blade

4. A screwdriver

5. A flat surface to work on

First of all, if your deck didn't come pre-gripped with grip tape already on it, this is how to put it on:

1.Lay the longboard on a flat surface.

2. Peel off the back of the grip tape, and place the grip tape on one edge of the board, (on its tail or nose, not its side.)

3. Slowly place the sticky side of the grip tape onto the board while pushing on top of the grip tape to remove air bubbles. 

4. Use your skate tool or a screwdriver to scrape the top edge of the longboard, as if you were outlining it. There should be a white outline of the board. This helps with cutting the grip tape.

5. To cut the grip tape, place the razor blade onto the edge of the board, and angle the blade at a low angle, and have it parallel to the board. Cut towards you, and keep the blade flat to the board. Go all the way around.

6. Poke through the holes of the longboard for the hardware.

If you need help, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjmLDFizLos

Next, you will notice that there are holes that go through your deck and your trucks. You want to take the hardware, and place the screws through the top of the deck, and place the trucks under the board and through the screws. Place the nuts on the screws and tighten them down with the skate tool until they cannot be tightened anymore. This is to ensure the trucks do not come off. Do the same with the second truck on the other side of the board. 

Photo Credit: Ebay.com

Next, you want to place the bearings onto the wheels, and put it onto the board. To make it easier, take the nuts off the longboard trucks, and place two bearings onto the rod of the truck. Then, take one wheel, facing the front of the wheel towards the middle of the truck, put it on the axle, and hit it on top so that the bearing goes into the front of the wheel. Flip the wheel over, and hit it on the top so that the bearing goes into the bottom of the wheel. Then, place the nut back onto the truck and tighten it all the way. Do this for all four wheels.

Photo Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGXI1P3n8Hc

Watch the video above if you need help.

If you are stuck on everything, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sB8zbV0abg

At this point, your longboard is complete. Have fun!

The Parts of a Longboard

For those who are looking into longboarding, and want to buy their first longboard, there are many parts that you must know on a longboard that are very important.

1. The Deck

2. The Wheels

3. The Bearings

4. The Trucks

5. Hardware and Grip Tape

1. The Deck:

This is the actual "board" of the longboard, and where you stand on. There are MANY different types of decks, and there are a lot to chose from.

Photo Credit: theboardguide.com

2. The Wheels:

There are many different shapes and sizes for wheels, as well as the hardness of the material that makes up the wheel. All these factors affect the way you ride, and it all depends on personal preference.

Photo Credit: theeasyrider.com

3.The Bearings:

Bearings go in the center of wheels to allow them to spin. Without bearings, it would be very difficult to keep going on a longboard or skateboard, because the wheels wouldn't roll. There are also many different types of bearings. Some have metal ball bearings, and some have ceramic ball bearings, which don't rust.

Photo Credit: Bustin Longboards

4. The Trucks: 

Trucks are what allows the longboard to turn, and they differ in the amount of turn and lean they have on your longboard. No two sets of trucks are the same, and they all have a different feel when riding them. There are two on each longboard, one in the front, and one on the back, and the wheels go on each side of a truck.

Photo Credit: Tactics.com

5. Grip Tape and Hardware

Grip Tape is a sheet of gritty sandpaper-like material that goes on top of your longboard that keeps you from slipping off. Many different companies use different materials for their grip tape, and there are different amounts of "grit" on grip tape, which means some have more grip than others. You can also cut grip tape into different designs and stick them on your board, for looks.

Photo Credit: longboardlife.com

Photo Credit: hello-berlin.net

Hardware is the nuts and bolts that hold all of your longboard parts together. The screws that secure your longboard to your trucks can come in different lengths, so that you can put blocks of plastic, called risers or shock pads, in between your board and trucks, to make the board higher, or to make the ride softer.

Photo Credit: Khiroskateboardproducts.com

Now that you know all the parts of the longboard, you can do some research on the different parts you like, and put one together!

The Diversity of Longboarding

In the sport of longboarding, there are many things that are different, which includes, what kind of longboard you have, how you ride it, why you ride it, what parts you have on your longboard, and much more. The way I see it, longboarding can be an extension of your personality. Due to the diversity of the sport, the views on longboarding can be very different from person to person.

There are thousands of different longboards, and thousands of different parts, and all can be put together however you like it. What I like about longboarding is that you don't have to be the same as anyone else, and you can have your own personal style or preference. 

Photo Credit: DaddiesBoardShop.com

Photo Credit: axsgear.com

Another part about the sport of longboarding is that your riding style is all personal preference, and it pertains to you, and to you only. I enjoy the sense of individuality. Although there are categories for the way you ride, you aren't limited to anything when longboarding. 

Different categories of riding include cruising, which is just simply getting from point A to B, downhill, where you ride down hills at speeds over 20-40 miles per hour, and enjoy the speed and thrill, or freeride, which can be seen as a mix of the two, which is my preference because you can do anything you want, hence the name "free"ride. 

Gif Credit: tumblr.com (personal)

Gif Credit: Louis Pilloni

People Against Longboarding

Although there is a large amount of people that are fine with/support longboarding or have no trouble with it, there are many that are against it. People that may be against longboarding may see it as a very dangerous and reckless sport, and that it is a danger to the environment and the people around them. However, the way I see it is that it depends on what you are doing in the sport, and those who commit the crime should be the ones disliked, not the sport itself.

A common idea of someone who might not like longboarding, and even someone who does may argue that it is like skateboarding, where skates ride and do tricks on public or private property, in crowded places, opposed to at a skate park, and most of the time, cause damage to property by doing tricks and other things. 

Photo Credit: landscapeonline.com

However, the majority of longboarders don't cause damage to property. Instead of grinding off of structures and doing tricks off of them, most longboarders stick to hills where there are no people, cars, or buildings that they may hit, and they can't really damage any property, unless of course, they were to crash into something. Yet, it is true that some longboarders and styles of longboarding make include doing tricks on property. 

Longboarding, however, DOES leave behind something, which are the lines of urethane left after sliding. However, these are not permanent, and can wash off in the rain or wear off very easilly, because it is just dust left from the wheels on the pavement. The damage that skaters may leave behind is permanent if not fixed, and expensive to repair. Not all longboarders do this, but there are some that do, so to those arguing that longboarding can affect the environment, they really don't.

Photo Credit: shredmagic.com

Gif Credit: i.minus.com

Longboarding IS dangerous, but so is any other sport that may inflict harm on a human. Most longboarders take safety precautions, such as wearing protective gear, or avoiding places where they may bother other people. The number of people that don't take precautions also can relate to anything else that may be dangerous, so you can argue that the reason why people can be against a sport is related to carelessness, and not to the sport itself. If someone is deliberately affecting others in a dangerous way, it is the fault of the rider, and not the sport.