Buying my first skateboard. Tips?

Hey guys, so recently a friend of mine brought his skateboard to a party in the weekend, and I must say, I've fallen in love with skating :laugh: . I skated for the first time in my life, and I think I've got the basics down. Now I'm looking to buy my own board. What do I need to look for when buying a good skateboard? I'd prefer to buy a complete, but if its cheaper to assemble myself, I'll do that. Also, if anyone is a skater, and lives in the NZ, could you recommend any good places to buy my first board? I'm just looking to buy a cheap, solid one that I can do some basic tricks and don't have to worry about it breaking after failing a kickflip. Once I get more experienced I'll upgrade. Looking to spend under $60 if possible.

Hope someone can help me!

 

Hey Frosty, I'm in NZ too and picked up skating just over a year ago. I got my first deck from CheapSkates, I basically went in and asked for a starter deck and walked out of the stoor with one for $90. I'd recommend going to CheapSkates and asking for help, if you have a shop near you. Where abouts are you bro?

 

Hey John, thanks for the reply. $90 is a bit on the high-side, but the boards on the CheapSkates website look pretty sick. I didn't want to shell out that much on my first board though, any other places I can get a solid one from? I live in Hamilton, so there's a CheapSkates in town ^_^.

 

Have you got MSN? Probably easier to discuss. PM me it

 

Will do ^_^.

 

well this is a good idea buy a cheap board from rebel sports or any palce that sells them really cheaply, get better, love it more, get into more tricks

then buy a board in cheap skates and ripp it up

atm i have this board

http://catalog.elementskateboards.com/mens/view/6483/LiftedTimTim

i bought it online

 

Aite, thanks, will check them out.

 

Don't buy a board you most likely suck and won't ride it. Buy a bike!

 

Took that pretty offensively. I didn't ask for an alternative, I'm looking for tips on buying my first board. If you bothered to read my first post, instead of trying to increase your post count you would've seen me say "I've got the basics down"
I'll speak to you in your offensive tone: "Gtfo of my thread".

 

last day for $20 off orders over $100 here
http://shop.ccs.com/skate/category/?cm=TnSkateCat

A quality complete will run you about $100, minus $20 if you buy today.
and I suggest you let them build it for you as well.

 

CCS is the best way to go... for begginers I say use something like:

A Standard CCS blank deck: 30$
Grip Tape; Shorty's Black Magic: 2$
Trucks; any kind of Krux: 30-45$
Hardware; Shorty's: 5$?
Wheels; Mini-logo: 15$
Bearings; Bones Reds: 16$

 

Sweet, thanks for the info guys. I'll check out css.com, and see if I can get a solid board for cheap. If not, I'll follow Johns advice and pop in to cheapskates.

I've been looking at some tutorial at basic tricks, and in most of them, it requires you to drag your foot across the griptape. I don't want to wreck my Nikes, so what type of shoes do you recommend? The 'Skater shoes' I see in the shops, just look like normal ones, but wider.

 

EDIT: Double post sorry.

 

Get some Fallens, they're comfortable and they're amazing.
Vans wear down too easily so I'd avoid those altogether.

Top shoe picks would be these in no particular order:
Fallen
Nike SB <--- I have these as well and they're amazing for BMXing (I ride brakeless and the grip hasn't worn down in a long time) Amazing for Skating of course
DC
Osiris
Emerica

 

http://ak.buy.com/PI/0/500/208292152.jpg was mine

I put better trucks/bearings/wheels on it hough- the shit it came with was shit

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I think I'll get some Fallen's, or maybe buy a pair of Nike SB's.

And Niini, I lol'ed at your picture XD.

Last question haha,

Skateboard or Longboard? I've heard that the decision is meant to be based on what your going to use it for. Like if you going to just be cruising, or if your going to be attempting tricks etc. I'll probably be somewhere in the middle, so I'm not sure. I'm leaning towards skateboard since I can use it for both, plus it seems more mobile to carry around if I'm not riding.

 

Yeah CSS is a good website/magazine to order from, most of the time you won't find a board for under $80. Probably would be easier for you to buy a complete, they're also cheaper usually. If I were you, I'd probably go with a blank deck and whatever wheels/trucks you think look good, once you skate a few different brands of boards/trucks/wheels you'll find which you like better and which work better for you. So just skate different brands till you find ones you like. I liked Independent, but their trucks were a little on the heavier side. Krux are good. Wheels, I always liked Spitfire's wheels.

Also; shoes are pretty important, I always skate with Fallen's or Emerica's. Plus those brands are the sexiest! ;P

 

I bought mine from Blackholeboards.com.
your lookin at like 90-120 for a decent complete. You can get shitty ones at walmart for like 60.

 

Your best bet, and I know this from experience because I used to be pretty good at skating..


A wide Zero Deck, they seem to last for a while and since its your first your gonna wanna have something you can bang up.

ALWAYS go with destructo trucks, never anything else. Destructos have a life-time warranty and I've had mine for well over 4 years only having to replace the kingpin once.

Wheels are personal preference, I like softer wheels.

Bearings, abec 7+, and keep them out of the grass or dirt

Bushings are usually optional, I just use them when I skate bigger stairs (8+)


A decent complete deck is gonna run you some $, but once you have trucks and everything else, you'll only really need to replace the deck after time.

 

Aite, thanks for the info. Price-wise, I think I'm going to go with a basic cheapskate complete, then move onto a custom when I start getting more into skating.