Professor Hayman
Composition 1
12 Dec. 2015 How often do you see someone attempting a “kick flip,” a “pop-shuvit” or “grinding a longboard”? People often ask what the difference is between skateboarding and longboarding. Aren’t they the same? Isn’t one just a longer board that can’t do tricks? Skate- and longboards serve different purposes and those purposes affect the differences in designs.
Skateboarding was very big in California and in Hawaii and started in the 1940s. At first skateboarding was most common among surfers when they didn’t have any waves to ride. They would skate around, doing tricks, because it gave them a similar thrill (rideasf.com, Tadlock).
Longboards appeared later on when people wanted a smoother ride. …show more content…
Cruising is exactly what it sounds like and you use your longboard as a means of transportation. People who use longboards for slolam use them to go in and out of obstacles and don’t really focus on tricks. Freeride is the most similar to skateboarding because this type focuses on doing tricks that skateboards can do as well as slide and grab tricks. Finally downhill is when someone rides down a large and long hill at very high speeds.
I myself have been using a Sector 9 board since I got it 3 years ago. My board is like a Spartan from Athens with all its battle scars having a story behind it. It is a one of their Mini Sharka boards and it is made out of 8ply maple. It is 40 inches long and the width is 9 inches. The design is a skull with a 9 ball from billiards on the top of its head. The board with all its hardware weighs 8 and half pounds.
The wheels I use are different from the original wheel the board came with. The wheels that came with the board are called Butterballs and were 70mm and had a Durometer of 80. Durometer is how Skate- and longboard wheels hardness is measured. The wheels my board came with it were meant to be used more for doing tricks like sliding so I had to replace them so I could get a better