Congratulations. You’ve decided to start skateboarding but the question is: What skateboard should I get?

To keep it simple, there are a couple of different types of skateboard. You’ve got the street style skateboard for doing tricks like ollies and kick-flips and you’ve got the cruiser type skateboard for…. you guessed it – cruising. There are subgroups to each but we won’t get into that right now

Street Skateboards and Cruiser skateboards – The Differences

The main difference to the two types of skateboards are the wheels.
Street skateboards have smaller, harder wheels while cruiser skateboards have bigger softer wheels. The bigger softer wheels give you a smoother ride with less effort to push. The harder, smaller wheels are better for controlling the board during tricks and are necessary if you like power sliding. Because the smaller wheels allow you to be closer to the ground when standing on the board you will likely feel more stable when trying to execute a trick.
Another main difference is board shape. Street skateboards are often popsicle shaped with a concave on both the nose and tail. Again, this is essential for tricks  – to pop the board in the air.
Cruisers can be all sorts of shapes and sizes from retro Penny style skateboards all the way up to longboards including boards like surfskates and carvers.

Cruisers are more used for getting about and for bombing downhill on slalom longbards. Both hugely fun and the former easy to enjoy from the get-go.
Street skateboards are more versatile. Used for all sorts of tricks, transition skating in bowls and parks and you can still use them for getting about. It really depends on the surfaces you’re riding on.

So – What Skateboard Should I get?

To answer ‘what is the right skateboard for you’, you have to have an idea what type of skateboarding you’re going to be doing.
Are you eager to do an ollie? To pop-shove-it? To do a kick-flip? Do you like the idea of ‘dropping in’ on a half-pipe? If so it’s street skateboard all the way.
Now there are a few more questions to consider, like; what size board is best, graphics and how much you want to spend. All of these are up to you. Street skateboard sizes are measured by width and generally go from about 7″ to 9″. Anything up to 7.5″ is classed as a mini. 7.5-7.75″ is mid (although personally I would consider up to 8.25″ as mid) and 8″+ is large.

The mini boards are also shorter in length – this helps the very small riders control their boards better. For an average size teenager, about 13 years old, an 8″ wide deck is pretty standard. Older teens and adults now seem to be going for the 8.5″ decks. The wider decks will perform better on transitions like bowls and halfpipes and give you a feeling of stability under foot. However the drawback is the bigger, heavier boards are a bit harder to get off the ground for beginners.
A rule of thumb – you can’t go too far wrong with a 8″ or 8.25″ if you’re an adult sized person. A smaller kid under 12 years old – 7.75″. But it’s your choice. At Sk8 or Die Portishead and Last Resort Clevedon we have skateboards you can try out.

As for graphics – This is entirely your call. Skateboards come with all sorts of Artwork. If you like your skulls and monsters check out Zero and Creature. Brands like Globe offer more contemporary graphics. While Birdhouse and Santa Cruz offer more old school designs.

Your Budget

Providing you’re reasonable you can get an awesome complete skateboard for way under £100. Even though Sk8 or Die offers skateboards for as little as £27.50 our recommendations start at £50. For this price you can get a decent Fracture skateboard, ideal for a beginner on a budget. Birdhouse Stage 1 and Mini Logo / Powell Peralta completes are recommended as best value for money for their good quality and very fair price.

Going back to the choice between cruiser and street – there is a way to make your street skateboard faster and smoother for cruising.
By changing out the standard hard wheels for Ricta Clouds you can turn your street skateboard into a cool hybrid that works at the skatepark and on the streets. Ricta Cloud wheels are described as All Terrain wheels. They come in 78a, 86a and 92a – this is the hardness on the durometer scale. The higher the number the harder the wheel. Most cruisers have 78a soft wheels. Ricta cloud 78a wheels are equally as soft and smooth but come as small as 52mm. Proving you don’t need huge wheels to go fast!

A Sk8 or Die recommendation is to go for a Fracture, Birdhouse, Globe or Mini Logo complete and change over the wheels to Ricta Clouds to get the best of both skateboarding worlds.