My gear recommendations

Though I’ve been a surfer for many years, it hasn’t been that long since I took on longboarding.  Before I started riding, I spent countless hours and days researching (and for some, testing) the best longboards and longboarding equipment for a new rider like me.

In this section, I share everything I’ve learned about longboarding gear – hopefully this will save you some time and mistakes.

With respect to the longboard itself, you could pretty much pick any decent quality board for any kind of use, given a bit of practice.  However, especially if you’re a beginner, choosing the most adequate longboard for, say, cruising and commuting, can make your experience so much better, it can make a huge difference in terms of motivation.

If, on the other hand, you pick a longboard that’s not as good a fit, e.g. you buy a longboard designed for downhill when all you want to do is ride to work across town every day, you may get frustrated from your board being too high off the ground for easily pushing, or the wheels being so hard and small that you feel every tiny crack in the road !

Parts :  when you buy a complete longboard, especially an inexpensive one, you can generally improve your out-of-the-box experience by immediately replacing certain things, such as stock bearings.

Also, as you get better, you’ll start to know exactly what you want from your board for your personal riding style.  You’ll start testing with different wheel sizes and trucks, better grip tape etc.  Not all wheels and trucks are equal for any given type of riding.  So make sure to check out my tips below before you get new stuff.

Protections : if you plan to get serious about longboarding, do equip yourself with quality protection gear.  As far as I’m concerned, being in my forties I not mess around and cut corners with these things – and I would have probably done the same 10 or 15 years ago.

As a beginner, you’ll likely fall on your hands and knees.  As a regular cruiser or commuter, you’ll find yourself riding in traffic at times.  As you improve and start riding faster and pulling slides, you’ll need the right gloves, pads, and helmet.  Whatever your age and level, gear up ! That will help you take your riding further, as it’s done for me.

I’ve found the best products are not always the most expensive ones, as you’ll see in my recommended gear pages listed below.  I will continue to update the list as I learn new stuff and test more products.

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