The Durometer of Longboard Wheels

Introduction – Explaining the term

The durometer of longboard wheels measures their durability and resistances. There are a lot of factors that determine the durometer, but the overall resistances and performance of your wheels will also be determined by the type of surface you are riding on.

Simply speaking, the durometer of longboard wheels is the scale used to determine their hardiness and rate it accordingly. Depending on that rating, the wheels can be Hard (90-101a) or Soft (78-88a).

The riding surface – one of the key factors that determine the resistance and performance of longboard wheels

Depending on the type of surface, you will go faster or slower, you will feel bumps a lot or not at all. Various things are affected by whether the surface you are riding on is smooth or rough, so we’ve provided a list of surfaces and how wheels react to each one:

Smooth asphalt – One of the best surfaces for riding, so the wheels grip on easily. Every type of wheels can be used on this kind of surface;
Rough asphalt – While not being an ideal surface, it’s a bit harder for the wheels to take a grip, but it’s better than any kind of cement surface. Both soft and hard wheels can do the job;
Smooth cement – Best surface for freeride and freestyle riding, it’s quite smooth so slides are done easier;
Rough Cement – The last type of surface that is ideal for longboard riding, rough cement is not too favorable. Hard wheels should be used if you plan on riding rough cement;
Brick or Stone – Technically speaking, you could ride over these surfaces, but the grooves might cause friction that makes the riding experience a bit dull and bothersome. Avoid it if you can;
Wood – Specialized wooden ramps found in skate parks are the exception, but you won’t find much pleasure in riding over wooden surfaces;
Sand, dirt, and grass – Longboards aren’t designed for these types of surfaces, so you should avoid them altogether.

Diameter of longboard wheels

This is just one of the many factors that determine the durometer of longboard wheels. Depending on the diameter, your performance will change – Wheels that are smaller (in diameter) have a good acceleration rate, but they have inferior top-speed. However, larger wheels accelerate slower but are faster.

How does the size affect the durometer rating?

It’s quite simple, but still not a rule – most smaller wheels are less durable. Smaller surface means that they will roll more times (to travel the same distance) when compared to their bigger counterparts, which further means that they will lick out faster.

There are exceptions, but if we take physics into account, the smaller wheels usually have a lower durometer rating. When it comes to big wheels, it’s not such a simple thing to determine their durability without mentioning a greater issue.

Some longboards can’t accept larger wheels without biting the tail (used for stopping and braking). This is a serious issue when it comes to size, as having a larger durometer rating does not necessarily mean that those wheels are better.

Hardness – the key factor of durometer of longboard wheels

All longboard wheels are built of polyurethane while the composition and quality of it determine the wheel’s hardness – the durometer rating is used to determine the hardness of polyurethane found in them.

The longboard durometer measure

General durometer measures have ratings of A, B, C, D, DO, E, M, O, OO, OOO, OOO-S, and R. These determine the hardness of different rubbers or plastics, but longboard durometer ratings are always rated with A (the category with least polyurethane hardness).

As mentioned before, wheels that grip easily has the rating of 75-78a, the wheels ideal for freeride and downhill racing are usually 75a-90a, while wheels that slide the best are always beyond 80a.

Core material of longboard wheels – the last factor which affects the wheel’s durometer

The core material is not to be mixed with the outer material (which is almost the same with every model). This material determines the longevity and the overall feeling you will get when you ride your longboard, and you should know what each type of material can offer you:

Aluminum Wheel cores

They’re quite fast because they have more mass that increase the inertia of each rotation;
Excellent traction and wear because of the stiff composition;
They’re quite expensive;

Plastic Wheel cores

Less mass when compared to aluminum, but they also weigh less;
The most common category of wheel cores;
Decently affordable;

Urethane wheel cores

Really low mass levels. Heavier than plastic;
Smooth to ride – great dampening capabilities;

The Width of your longboard wheels (lip profile)

The width of your wheels determines the amount of surface that grazes the ground floor when you are riding. There are two main categories of the width of longboard wheels which provide different advantages.

Square Lip

The square lip provides you with more control when you are driving fast. They aren’t too good at slides, but they’re ideal for downhill racers, and commuting longboard riders. They have a greater surface which touches the ground.

Round Lip

The round lip provides less grip which makes it ideal for slides. However, they have a smaller surface, so they are not capable of reaching the same speed levels when compared to the square lip models, but they’re perfect for freestyle and freeride styles of riding.

Texture – the wear of your wheels

The texture of longboard wheels affects how quickly they will wear – durable wheels will wear at a slower pace which will mean that those wheels have a higher durometer rating and vice versa. The wheels are defined by texture as smooth or rough (when purchased).

Every set of wheels need some time to break in – after a couple of rides your wheels will feel different but will remain that way until they wear out.

Conclusion

The durometer of your wheels is something you want to know about. Before you decide on purchasing your longboard take into consideration the hardness, the material (both outer and core), the width, and the texture.

By Longboarding

Longboard Designs: How to Choose

Longboarding is one of the most fun things you can do standing up. There’s no better way to get around than by longboard. For many, it’s an alternative way of getting around short distances with less expense and impact on their local environment. Just like cycling, longboarding can also be rightly used as personal transportation, for regularly short commutes between home and work and other points in between. But the activity is also part of the culture of skateboarding from which it derives many of its basic designs and skillsets.

Longboarding and skateboarding emerged in the mid-1950s, around the same time the surfing scene exploded in Southern California. When the waves weren’t breaking, the surfers took to the streets on their homemade boards, carving up the pavement in a way that mimicked the turns of surfing. Pretty soon, “sidewalk surfing” became a sport in its own right, which ultimately led to the emergence of skateboarding in the 60s and 70s. Longboarding is a constantly evolving sport today which blends many styles and disciplines. In the recent years, sport good manufacturers have become increasingly more devoted to developing well-designed, high-performance boards for every type of rider.

How to Choose

However, there’s a lot more to longboards than meets the eye. Longboards come in different shapes, construction, and features, and they are designed for various riding styles and abilities. When selecting your longboard, keep in mind that there is a ton of crossover between each riding style and many decks are great options for multiple styles of riding. Remember, a complete longboard is assembled from all the same types of components that make up a typical skateboard. However, certain features are often modified or enlarged to reflect a longboarder’s need for stability, carvability, and vibration dampening.

Boards come in different shapes and designs for every style. Personal choice is a large factor in this as many shapes are right. So we’ve created this small guide to take the guesswork out of longboard selection and get you on the streets as fast as possible.

Cruising/Carving Boards

Cruising and carving are all about carving down gradually sloped streets, ripping through the quad on your way to class, and long distance pushes on flat or slightly sloped ground. When most people think of longboards, these are usually the first that come to mind. The classic pintail shape made its appearance in the early 90’s and is still one of the most common shapes seen on the streets, sidewalks, and boardwalks today. Longboard cruising and carving are a great alternative to jogging or biking for exercise. The spectrum of cruiser boards is about as vague as longboard styles get and you can find all the different types of super long cruisers, mini cruisers, old-school cruisers and everything in between.

Downhill Boards

The most extreme and exhilarating discipline of longboarding is referred to simply as downhill. This type of longboarding is all about bombing hills as fast as you can while maintaining control. Riders use protective slide gloves with plastic pucks so they can slide their hands across the surface of the road while performing technical drifts and tight cornering. Just like in freeriding, it’s not uncommon t break those wheels out in a slide to control your speed, so true downhill isn’t the best style of riding for brand new riders. Downhill boards are usually 35-45″ long, plus they are stiffer than a board used for casual riding because the rigidity enhances stability and lends more control to the rider at high speeds. In general, a longer wheelbase (25-32″) is used for faster riding.

Freeriding Boards

Freeride is a far more accessible form of downhill longboarding or skateboarding. Freeriding means that you are riding hills with a fair amount of speed while styling it up with slides and curb hops, as well as sliding to control your speed on bigger descents. This is a fun riding style that is a great way for beginners to get comfortable on their boards and learn how to control without using their hands. Stability and turnability is the key when freeriding. A 38-42″ length and 8.5-11″ width, stiffer deck works well to keep stable when going fast while keeping within a good wheelbase for turnability. A cut-out shape with deep wheel wells is most common to prevent wheel bite at high speeds and deep carves.

Freestyle Boards

Freestyle boarding is all about being creative, so you can pretty much ride whatever you want. It involves many technical skills such as sliding, board tricks, goofy riding, and dancing, just to name a few. This type of riding is ideal for beginners who wish to learn board control skills, but can also be enjoyed by expert riders alike. It incorporates dancing maneuvers with technical flat ground tricks and any other stylish elements that the rider wishes to mix in. Freestyle has many different varieties that fall under its general definition. Freestyle decks usually have medium length wheelbase options (20-28″) and a moderately flexible construction for more stability on technical trick riding. If you’d like to focus on your dancing moves, you might want to buy a board with a longer wheelbase (28-35″) and effective standing platform.

Slalom Boards

Slaloming is similar to the slalom associated to snow/water skiing. It is when you weave in and out of obstacles down a course or around whatever is facing you. Riders use a technique called ‘pumping’ to maintain the speed that is gyrating the body and maintaining continuous carve to propel themselves. A slalom board can come in many styles, the length generally sitting around 36-40″ keeping the wheelbase short enough to provide good turn radius and carving ability. A top-mount board will give you more leverage and carve for your lean. The decks or boards for slalom are generally longer than typical longboards and include materials such as carbon fiber and foam cores, to increase board responsiveness and strength.

Twin (Symmetrical) Boards

Twin kicktails and a symmetrical shape are best preferred for freestyle because you often find yourself riding the board both ways. Drop through mounting and micro-drops are often incorporated into these types of decks as well. A symmetrical board looks and feels the same regardless of which way it is facing. If you plan on doing any 180-degree slides – which is quite common in freeriding and freestyle – a symmetrical board is a way to go.

Unlike its counterpart, the skateboard, a longboard varies in shape and size and has more stability, traction, and durability due to larger wheel size and lower wheel durometers. Many longboards use trucks that contain different geometric parameters than a skateboard as well. These factors and their variation have given way to a variety of disciplines, functions, and purposes for a longboard. There’s actually a lot for you to take into consideration when selecting the right longboard design. The most important thing, however, is to have FUN!

By Longboarding

Longboarding sliding tips for beginners

Unlike bikes, snowboards, skateboards, and longboards have no brakes, and boardriders have to be creative when it comes to stopping and/or slowing down. If you’ve ever gone snowboarding, then you’re familiar with “carving” and “sliding”, and doing these on your longboard would serve the same purpose, with one major difference. Sliding with a longboard takes a bit more finesse and guts than sliding with a snowboard simply due to the, let’s say, less than forgiving nature of the surface.

To cut long story short – slides in longboarding are used to check your speed. Once you slow down, you can either come to a full stop or keep on boarding at lesser speeds, having more control over the board. There are a few longboard sliding tips you need to follow, especially if you’ve only recently taken up longboarding, the first and most important being – play it safe. Longboarding is an extreme sport, and can be very unforgiving to those who take it lightly. So, first thing’s first – get your safety gear the minute you get your first board. A helmet is a must, as well as knee pads, elbow pads, gloves and slide pucks.

Another important safety tip, especially if you’re a newbie and still practicing the slides, is to do it on a stretch of road that you know well. Let’s face it; where else are you going to practice longboarding, a skate-park? Always make sure you have a good view on the road ahead, so that you avoid getting hit by a car or caught in its wheels. It’s not called extreme sport for no reason. It would be a good idea to always have someone with you, whether it’s a fellow longboard enthusiast, or just a dude with a camera, to scout the road ahead and keep an eye on you while you perform your slides.

Now, on to the technicalities – before you learn to walk the walk, you need to talk the talk. There are two basic slides you will need to know, and you can build upon these – the stand-up slide check and the Coleman slide. All of the sliding tips in this article will relate to either or both of these, and you’ll find them applicable to most other longboard tricks. Both are good for slowing down and coming to a full stop, if necessary.

The stand-up slide is pretty much what it says on the tin, and doesn’t require any fancy motions. This is a great start, and a good way to build up your confidence before you move to the more difficult stuff and trickier slides. On the other hand, the Coleman requires you to drop a knee, place your downhill hand on the surface, and grab the rail with your other hand. This may sound intimidating to the uninitiated, but it’s a move that you’ll learn pretty fast, with the right teacher. Reading this article is a good way to start, also. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

What many people get wrong about doing slides is that they forget about their shoulders. In longboarding, as well as any sport of this type, it’s the shoulders that dictate the way you’re travelling. So, before actually setting off downhill, take some time to practice the key shoulder motions for your slide by the side of the road, or you can do this in the comfort of your room, even, in front of a mirror, to get the feel of it.

Also, it’s the rule of thumb among longboarders to always have a visual on where you mean to go. In other words, always have your head turned to the direction you intend to go when you come out of a slide, and your body will automatically follow.

Another important thing for executing the perfect slide is the foot placement. Whether you do a Coleman slide or a stand-up check, you need to position your feet right. Your front foot (for the right-handed, that’ll be your left foot, ideally) will not move in any of these, and it will also bear the bigger part of the weight. This is just like driving a car – you steer from the front. For a stand-up slide, some boardriders let the front foot lie perpendicular to the deck, but if you want to maximize the control over your board, cock it sideways, having the toes point to the front. In a Coleman, have your front foot at an almost 45-degree angle, so that you can put your other foot down and bring the knee almost to the board.

The back foot does the majority of work, so it has to bear less weight. The weight distribution ratio may vary depending on the slide, but it should be no more than 40 per cent on the back foot. You’ll always want to put more weight on your front foot, which, automatically, means you’ll have less weight on your back foot.

This is important because the more weight you have on your back foot, the more traction you get, and you won’t be able to execute the slide. With even weight distribution mid-slide, all you will get is a wobble, but if you distribute more weight to the front, you’ll free up the back side so it can actually slide.

In a Coleman, you want to have the front foot pretty close to your tuck position, slightly pulled back over the rail. What this does is give you better grip on the deck and prevent the board from getting away from underneath you. Conversely, your back foot should be pulled back to the “meaty” part of the sole, with the heal, or a little bit more than your heel hanging over the back. Some riders like to have their back foot pulled back as far as the sole and leaning against the rail. What this does is allow you to have the ideal ratio of weight distribution placed both on top of the board and to the side of it from the rail, so that you have easier time kicking it out.

For a Coleman slide, it’s imperative that you practice the knee-bending motion until your muscles remember it, so that you can do with your eyes closed (don’t actually do this). What you want to do is drop your knee to your front foot. Also, drop your back foot on its side, so that your body is directly over the board and exerts its weight over it.

The key is to have most of your weight on your front foot, which will prevent you from wobbling, and facilitate steering (remember, longboarding is in a way like driving a car, because you steer from the front). Moreover, this will allow you to moderate the amount of weight that you place on your back foot and move it in or out, keeping your options open. Once you’ve got this move in the bag, you’re ready to go down the hill.

The correct placement of the knees is just as important as that of your feet, and you also have to develop the feel of how much bending is enough. This will come with experience, but here’s a pointer that you can benefit from even before you buy a longboard – for a stand-up slide, have your knees as wide apart as your shoulders. This will enhance your balance, which is key to executing a proper stand-up, and shaving off excess speed.

One last word of advice – never have the board perpendicular to the direction you’re travelling, because that will flat-spot your wheels (stop them dead in the tracks), and you’ll fall on your face. Have it a little under or a little over 90 degrees, but not perpendicular.