The Four Main Parts of a Skateboard: Trucks, Wheels, Deck, Bearings

Skateboarding is a popular sport, which has a historical switch from a not widely known leisure activity to a mainstream sport, that necessitates the ability to hold balance, controlling body moves, and a high-quality skateboard.

Skaters have several choices when it comes to the types of skateboards they ride, and each component of the skateboard has a special function. Let’s explore these parts as well as take a look at some top-rated items.

Get to know skateboard trucks, wheels, bearings, and decks

A standard design of a skateboard always consists of these fundamental components: skateboard trucks, skateboard wheels, skateboard bearings, skateboard decks, along with hardware, grip tape, riser pads. 

Skateboard trucks

In simpler terms, a skateboard truck is a component that links the skateboard deck and skateboard wheels by the front and rear axle assemblies on this component. Commonly, a skateboard truck owns nine components which are: base plate, kingpin, bottom bushing, axle, speed rings, axle nuts, top bushing, top washer, and kingpin nut. 

Best skateboard trucks need to have the same width as the skateboard. Skateboarders should make sure that skateboard trucks are smaller than the deck. If not, the center of gravity will move to the edge of your skateboard deck. 

There are some tips to have skateboard trucks that are appropriate for your skateboard the most. Firstly, trucks with an axle diameter of 7.875 inches to 8.125 inches are suitable for an 8-inch-skateboard deck. A truck with a +/- 0.25’’ axle width margin might also fit, but we wouldn’t suggest this type of setup.

In terms of the height of skateboard trucks, it is also categorized into three types which are high trucks, standard trucks, and low trucks. With regard to the main problems of this part, skateboarders have a tendency of facing up with squeaky trucks and crooked trucks. 

Skateboard wheels

Skateboard wheels are the components that make the skateboard spin. The major material to make skateboard wheels is polyurethane and are graded on size and hardness. Your board’s acceleration, turning, and riding characteristics would be influenced by the wheels you choose.

The best skateboard wheels for you will differ depending on the kind of skating you choose to do. For example, small wheels are great for street skating, whereas bigger wheels are better for vert skating. The Durometer A Scale is used to measure the hardness of this part on a scale of 1 to 100. If you plan to follow the style of street skating, go with a wheel that is tougher and quicker but still has grip from 88A to 95A. Try to choose a wheel that is well-balanced between speed and grip for skating on the highway, in parks, on stairs, and in pools.

Skateboard bearings

Bearings for skateboards are circular metal disks that sit between the wheels and work as a part connecting them to the axle. The discs’ inner and outer places inside balls, which allows the wheels to spin.

Two bearings are used in a skateboard wheel. Skateboarders can use a spacer to fill the gap between them if they have a demand. When the axle nut is tightened, this small metal cylinder stops the bearings from being pulled into the center of the wheels and being destroyed. Additionally, when you use spacers, the bearings are parallel to one another. In addition, spacers are of great importance when your skateboard wheels are soft. 

A standard skateboard bearings include balls, ball cage, inner ring, and outer ring. When talking about the best skateboard bearings, skateboarders will mention the ABEC rating. This rating can be regarded as an indicator of this part. However, the common fallacy of people is that the higher ABEC rating, the higher the quality of the bearings.

Skateboard decks

In a simple way, a skateboard deck is a flat board that skaters will put their legs on to slide. Best skate decks are usually constructed of seven to nine layers of laminated, molded birch, or maple wood. Longboards, cruisers, shortboards, and old school boards are the most popular board shapes, and each one is used for a particular form of skating.

When talking about skateboard decks, skateboarders will consider the concave. Concave is defined as a curvature of a skateboard deck with three types which are high concave, low concave, and mid concave. 

Outstanding skateboard items

This part will introduce to you some top-rated skateboard components. Take a look with us.

For the best skateboard trucks, you need to check ACE 44 Skateboard Truck. This skateboard truck size is the most common, measuring 8.38 inches wide and fitting almost every board between 8.18 and 8.5 inches wide. The 44 features Ace’s signature turn radius and stripped-down composition, as well as the same expansive area of use.

For the best skateboard wheels, you might not want to miss Mini Logo A-Cut 101A Skateboard Wheels. Minilogo is a subsidiary of Skate One, a massive Powell corporation. Mini Logo products are similar to professional-grade products, but the product appearance, as well as its price, is not luxurious. This is the unique idea of this brand which is to make their skateboards just as good as anything Powell has to sell, but without having a pro’s name on it or hiring a designer to make it look cool.

For the best skateboard bearings, we suggest you to try Bronson Speed Co Next Generation Skateboard Bearings. These bearings may suit your taste if you’re fed up with bearings that accumulate dust which makes it difficult to clean.

The frictionless shields with a straight edge are easy to remove dirt and moisture. The modern technology applied on this bearing keeps the balls from colliding with the shield. This enables skateboarders to control their pace even when encountering small obstacles.

For the best top skateboard decks, we recommend you Bamboo Skateboard Graphic Deck. The board is constructed of four layers of Canadian maple and two layers of bamboo, making it thinner. However, it can take some time to get used to the deck’s form. Bamboo Skateboard Decks tend to be rather longer than standard decks.

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