Skateboards

Skateboarding is one of those beautifully simple sports. It's just your body and a board. The rest is up to you. Over the several decades since it began, skateboarding has waxed and waned in popularity, but these days it's as big as ever. If you're ready to buy a board, just know a few things before you make your choice. The first thing to know is if you'll be doing street skating or transitional, or tranny, skating. Street skating, as it sounds, takes into account all the natural obstacles or the street, whereas tranny skating happens in man-made skate parks, launch ramps, pools, and the like. Deciding where you'll skate helps you make several other decisions on skate gear. For instance, street skaters will veer toward narrower decks, and trucks with smaller wheel diameters. Tranny skaters, on the other hand, prefer wider decks, and trucks with larger wheel diameters--generally 57 mm and larger. So that's two basic issues out of the way: deck width and wheel size. Next is to figure out how concave you want your deck to be. This is generally a matter of feel and your skating style.Since you know your wheel size, you'll want trucks that are appropriate to hold them. Your trucks are what meet the railing you're sliding down, for instance, so quality trucks that fit your board are crucial. Many skaters will use the king pin on the truck to adjust the tightness of them. You may find yourself changing things up as your skills improve. And with plenty of time on the board, your skating level has nowhere to go but up.