What's on your board? Skateboard Anatomy Explained

Skateboard anatomy is simple, but fully understanding your setup and all your Skateboard parts is key to board upkeep and performance. The six key components of your complete Skateboard are the deck, trucks, wheels, bolts, griptape and bearings. SkateHut and Enuff Acadamy have teamed up to take you through the anatomy of your skateboard. Skateboards Sizes vary but the most popular sizes are 8.25 skateboards and 8.5 skateboards.

Deck

The Skateboard Deck itself can vary in size depending on your age and skill level. The needs of your board can mean you may prefer a wider deck for stability and balance, or a slimmer board for more efficient tricking. The ends of your board are called the nose and tail for the front and back respectively. The nose of the board will be slightly bigger and the tail slightly smaller. Every board features 4 bolt holes, or mounting holes, where the bolts feed through and attach to the trucks. When gripping the board it’s important to make sure the bolt holes are pushed through and the edge of the grip is sorn clean.

Trucks

Trucks are made up of a baseplate, a kingpin, bushings, and hangers. The truck is used to turn and grind the board. Depending on how loose your setup is, it will allow you to turn more or less. The size of your deck will directly affect what size trucks you need for your board. If your trucks are too narrow for your board you’ll find it difficult to balance and function the board, and equally if the trucks are too wide this could cause issues when navigating the board. Adjusting your setup and trucks is super important to the use and upkeep of your Skateboard. Your bushings (also known as cushions) can also have an effect on the turn of your board. A softer bushing can allow for lighter users to be able to turn with ease, whereas it may not be able to cater to a heavier adult and this would be where a harder bushing may be needed. If the bearings are too hard for the user, it may be difficult to turn the board. If no amount of board adjustments rectify the problem, it’s likely that a softer cushion is needed.

Wheels

When talking about Skateboard Wheels, it’s best to start with explaining the wheel durometer. The Durometer refers to wheel hardness. The higher the durometer, the harder the wheel. Most standard Skateboard Wheels are around 95a and under 55mm. These are small hard wheels that have become the park setup default over the years, but some do prefer harder and softer wheels for different purposes. The benefit of a super hard wheel is that you’ll gain more speed as well as less chance of flat spotting. Softer wheels are generally easier to control the speed of with being slower generally, but the real advantage of a larger, softer wheel is that they’re better for more uneven terrain and surfaces. If you’re using your board on the streets it could be a better idea to go for the 85a Enuff Softies or alternatively add a riser and branch more into larger, softer longboard and cruiser wheels.

Bolts

Skateboard truck bolts are pretty straight forward. For standard setups it’s just gonna be a 1” bolt. If you have especially large trucks on your board like longboard trucks you may need larger bolts. In cases like these, or when you add a riser or shock pad to your build it can be more beneficial to use a 1 ¼ “ or 1 ½ “ bolt. If your bolts are too long this could cause issues when building and if your bolt is too short you won’t be able to securely fix the nut and the truck will not be safely attached to the deck. To attach the bolts all you have to do is poke holes in the grip tape and slot the bolts in the correct positions. When building, if you have two silver or alternative coloured bolts, these are to indicate the nose at the top of the board, and the all black/regular colour bolts can be used on the tail. Bolts will either have a phillips head or allen key top so ensure you have the right Skate tool to cater to your board.  

Grip Tape

Griptape is also relatively self explanatory. The grip on the board is a sticky sheet of sandpaper you attach to your board and it will help you to jump in the air and do tricks. This is helpful when flipping the board as there's some resistance on it making it easier to trick with. Sometimes when your board arrives or when you’ve freshly applied your griptape this can have bubbles in - this is perfectly normal and will often come out with use.

Bearings

As far as bearings go, the main thing to make a note of is the ABEC rating. The higher the abec rating, the stronger the bearing is. If you’re a beginner, it’s unlikely you’ll need anything crazy in terms of bearings but the best quality bearings will always start you off on the right foot. An Abec 5 bearing will run smoothly and get you from A to B but an Abec 9 bearing would be able to cope with more intensive use, for example being able to cope with landing tricks or skating ramps. Keeping your bearings clean and away from water is paramount for the longevity of your bearings. Bearing cleaners can be purchased but not necessary, and we always recommend keeping some speed cream handy if you are looking to take to the slopes. One anomaly to be aware of is that Bones Reds are industry standard and known as the most reliable in the game. These don’t actually have an abec rating purely because under every test they proved to be superior to any alternative on the market to this day.

Extras

So we’ve already mentioned shock pads and risers but in case you’re not familiar with them, they’re a small rectangular pad that fits between your deck and your truck's baseplate. This will add distance between where your wheels and deck sit. This allows you to swap your wheels for larger longboard style wheels and utilise your deck similar to a cruiser hybrid set up. This can be great for commuting or cruising, turning any trick board into a cruiser with just a riser and a wheel swap. Another necessary and helpful extra to always have on hand is a trusty Skate Tool. The Skate Tool is pretty standard issue so it doesn’t matter which one you have or who it’s made by. Every classic Skate tool includes 3 different sockets - 9/16" for your trucks, 1/2" for wheels, and 3/8" for nuts. They can also include a concealed slide out allen key/driver for bolt tightening. A Skate Tool is essential to any Skater's kit. 

Conclusion

So, now that you know the breakdown of a Skateboard and what a complete Skateboard consists of, you are a little more clued up with regards to what to look out for when you are shopping around for a Skateboard, or if you are looking to build your very own skateboard yourself. Check out our Complete Skateboards or shop Skateboard Parts & Accessories on our website today. You can even use our Custom Skateboard Builder to design your very own dream Skateboard! We stock the best brands on the market, such as Rampage, RIPNDIP, Plan B Skateboards, Nitro Circus, Zero Skateboards and much more. Available in all sizes from 7 linch to 8.5 Skateboards.

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