Dancing Video Post!

I have a quick post for you today, it’s a video of some great longboard dancing from loaded boards.

Check it out

Longboard Riding Styles

There are many different types of riding styles, some are alike while others are completely different. You might say there is a wide spectrum of longboard riding styles. I will list a few of the most popular and well defined types. I will also provide a simple definition and of explanation of each style.

Freeride: one of the most popular styles right now. There is a lot of speeding down hills, stand up and hands down sliding, carving, and some integration of freestyle tricks.

Freestyle: freestyle is a lot like freeride however there are a lot more tricks and a lot less hands down sliding. There is a lot of stand up sliding, jumping, flip tricks, manuals and anything you can think of at a slower speed and is more related to skateboarding.

Downhill: downhill longboarding is all about speed, hard carving, drifting and sliding hands down.

Slalom: slalom is also all about speed, but its speed is related to how fast you can carve and weave between cones going downhill.

The last three really can be grouped together as one style because if you do one your bound to do all three.

Dancing: is the art of maneuvering your feet and body in creative patterns while riding and staying balanced on top of your board.

Cruising: cruising is just as it sounds. You cruise around, maybe do some carving or dancing but mostly just ride and have fun

Carving: carving can be considered a technique and a style. It is a technique because it is used to as a riding tool to slow down, turn, pump, or just for fun. While carving the goal is to turn from left to right, right to left while moving in a certain direction.

Those are the types of longboarding styles I can remember off of the top of my head, however I know there are more styles mixed in there but these are the easily defined areas.

Anyway it's all relative

Andrew

Longboard Slide Video Post

The next video up features an interesting view of longboard sliding. Most of the slides in the video are high speed slides shown slowed down to give you a better look at the slide. Watching slide videos like this are great for studying form and technique.

Enjoy the video from Beanpole Productions and Loaded longboards

What? A Snowboard Post?

Okay I know this blog isn't about snowboarding but I couldn’t help myself because like many other longboarders, I too am a snowboarder. Its been getting colder and colder up here in my neck of the woods and its been raining so I have tried not to be sad about not longboarding so I've been focusing on my other "long"board, my snowboard.

So here is a cool video from DC and 0-60 Magazine

Ridiculous right, rally cars and snowboards…

Remember, it's all relative

Andrew

Very, Very Fast Video Post

Once again please pardon my bad puns, but when I seen this I had too post it. This video is of Mischo Erban going 130.08 km/h on a downhill board. Anyway check it out and be amazed.

Note: this video seams to be posted by the International Gravity Sports Association.

Loaded Longboard Challenges

Alright so I have decided to do a post for some of the more experienced riders. A lot of you already know about the Loaded challenges, but some still do not. Basically each challenge will test your riding ability and help you learn to become a better rider. It also could be a way to scrape up some huge savings!

To get these savings all you have to do is complete one Loaded challenge series. There are 10 tricks or techniques in each challenge series. If you complete a series on video and send it in to Loaded they will give you $100 off of any Loaded complete or $50 of off and Loaded deck.

Even if you do not want to do it for the money, you should still check the challenges out and challenge yourself to become a better rider.

Here is the link to the Loaded challenge series' and their website

http://loadedboards.com/

http://www.loadedboards.com/newsite_v1/publicMedia/challenges.html

Remember, it's all relative

Andrew

Freestyle Video Post

No this post is not freestyle, the longboarding in the video is. Okay I know, horrible joke. But the truth is freestyle has exploded onto the longboard scene in the past few years. It seems to be the more technical side of longboarding. So I thought I would share a video.

Note: this video was made by Original Skateboards. It is featuring the Apex 37.

Complete Longboard

A complete longboard consists of the deck, grip tape, trucks, risers, wheels, bearings and all the necessary hardware to hold it all together.

Deck

The deck is that piece of wood you stand on while riding a skateboard, or in this case a longboard. It is usually made of laminated maple layered together, is also commonly made of bamboo using a similar technique to maple. There are also decks made of carbon fiber and other composite materials.

• Maple is very sturdy and solid, not very much flex

• Bamboo is strong and very flexy

• Carbon fiber is very strong and can vary in flex although it is usually flexible

Grip Tape

Grip tape's main function is to keep your feet from slipping off your deck, very important! From what I understand there are two kinds of grip tape; the kind that is like sand paper that sticks to your board like tape and the kind that sprays on like paint.

• Stick on is usually black
• Spray on is usually clear

Trucks

There is a lot you can write about trucks, but I am going to try to make it short and sweet. To start a truck is what connects the wheels to the board. There are two on every longboard, or at least there should be.

To make it a little easier here is a diagram of a truck 

 Here is a link to a more in depth look at the truck

http://www.local124.com/portal/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=1

Here are some important points about trucks

• Longboard trucks have the kingpin face outward on the deck

• Wider trucks are more stable
• Skinnier trucks have a smaller turning radius
• The riser sits in between the truck and a deck to prevent wheel bite or straining the deck with the trucks

Truck Mounting

Most trucks are bottom mount, some are drop through and others are flush mount. There are pictures below showing each kind of mount.

Drop through: base plate is seated on top of the deck 

Bottom mount: baseplate is seated under the deck

 Flush mount: there are pockets cut to mount the baseplate flush with the deck 

Bearings

Bearings hold your wheels on your trucks axles and let them spin freely. Not much else to know except you get what you pay for and keep them lubricated and clean.

Here is a link about maintaining bearings properly

http://bonesbearings.com/support/maintenance/

Wheels

There is a lot to know about wheels. But basically they are what you roll on (obviously). Anyway wheels are made of many different compounds of urethane, they come in many shapes and sizes, they come in many durability's and all have different applications in a wide variety. As I write more in the blog later about the different types and styles of riding I will mention what type of wheel and durability goes with it. Hopefully it will make it a little easier on both of us that way.

Anyway that’s it for now, thanks again

Andrew

Time for another video post! - Freeride

Hi everybody,

Here is a video that is basically the definition of freeride when it comes to longboards. Freeride has become a huge part of longboarding and like many others I am really starting to get into it. Anyway here is the video, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Note: this video was also made by Original Skateboards. It featuring there up and coming freeride deck!

Skateboarding - Shortboard vs. Longboard

Hello everybody!

Okay, let's get to right to it. First off there are a couple different types of skateboard, there is the longboard and the shortboard as stated in my title. However there is a bit of a gray area between a shortboard and a longboard.

The Shortboard

When most people think of a skateboard they think of Tony Hawk, Bob Burnquist or some annoying kid (not saying there all bad) from down the street riding a trick orientated board. Yes that type of board is a shotboard, but that’s not were here.

Now I know there a very many types of shortboards introduced over skateboarding history so I am just going to keep it current for the most part. Nowadays the shortboard is more related to the early past before trick boards we know today existed. They commonly have a rectangular shape kicktail at the back and a rounded nose in the front with many different styles and shapes.

Here is a nice example of a shortboard today

 

The Gray Area

There are plenty of boards out there that are not a shortboard but not quite a longboard. As you get into longboarding more you will know exactly what I mean. A longboard is usually over 33 inches long and a shortboard is usually under 34 inches long. As the boards approach the usual limits or break them it can be hard to define what they are exactly. They also have very many different shapes and construction that change how it feels or rides so at this point it's really all subjective.

Here is a board I feel fits into the gray area

 

The Longboard

This is what we are here for. As I said above a longboard is usually over 33 inches long. Longboards do not usually have a kicktail or kicknose, but do they usually have wide trucks and big wheels. The longboard is usually made for going faster than a shortboard as well as carving and a "surfy" feel. There are also very many different types of longboards (which we will get into later) and they all have different purposes. In an upcoming post I will describe the longboard and its components in greater detail as I dissect it to give you a better idea.

Here is an example of a classic pintail shape longboard

 

Thanks again for checking out my blog and remember ride hard, ride on and it's all relative

Andrew

Finally a new post

Hello again everybody, I am finally posting again.

So I have not posted in a while and I know some of you were bugging me. Anyway I have a pretty cool video for you to watch to start getting this blog rolling. The video is a great intro to pintails too by the way.

Anyway here it is and I will have more to come soon, a lot more!

Note: the video is made by Original Skateboards (not me). check em out!