Best Longboard For Carving

Carving is probably the top skill a longboarder should learn after foot pushing to really feel the rush of longboard riding! While carving as a technique is used in various longboard riding styles, it is also a riding style of its own that’s inspired by other board sports like surfing and snowboarding.

So what makes a good longboard for serious, soulful carving? You can certainly carve of many different kinds of longboards, however, the best carving boards are those that are able to make quick tight turns and maintain speed through pumping, i.e. rail-to-rail transitions. To achieve these qualities, the best carving boards typically will have the following features:

• A mid-sized deck with lots of leverage over the trucks
• Some amount of flex for optimal response and energy in turns
• Mild concave for foot comfort and lock-in in tight turns
• Lots of wheel space through large cutouts or wheel flares
• Turny, flowy, responsive trucks that are easy to pump.
• Bigger wheels with a good balance of grip and roll speed

There are lots of great carving boards out there, but to me Loaded really makes the best ones out there (I may be a bit biased as I’m a big Loaded fan):

• Loaded Icarus 38.4″: see my full review here
• Loaded Vanguard 38″/42″: full review
• Loaded Chinchiller 34″ (2023)

Read on to find out why I think these are the best longboards for carving.

See also: world’s best longboards by riding style

Why carve on a longboard?

If you’re new to longboarding or just to carving, you may be a bit confused about this whole carving thing. Carving originally comes from snowboarding and refers to riding by making successive turns, transitioning from edge to edge on your board.

So you make a hard toeside turn by stacking most of your weight onto your toes and your front rail, then as you exit the turn, you shift your weight back into your heels and back rail to initiate a heelside turn. Repeat again and again.

There are different purposes to carving such as:

• Controlling your speed when going downhill – the successive tight turns help slow you down
• Enjoying the flowy feel of making turns while cruising at low speed
• Traveling distances without pushing by creating energy through pumps and carves

The technique of carving involves the right weight shifting and body rotations at the right time. It’s one of the most enjoyable, “non-extreme” forms of longboard riding, and has become a style of its own. Carving is closely related to pumping, a discipline some riders take to an art form.

When carving, you need to have your knees and ankles flexed, and get into a low surf-style posture – you shouldn’t be standing tall on your longboard.

You use your front foot to initiate the turn, then inside the turn you shift your weight equally on both feet. As you exit the turn, most of your weight goes to your rear foot.

When carving, you need to use your feet independently and successively for putting foot pressure on your turning rail. If you put pressure with both feet you’re likely to go into a slide which is not your goal. You want to pick up speed while maintaining solid grip for your wheels.

Another key ingredient to carving is your shoulders. Your lead shoulder should point in the target direction of your turn, and your shoulder should always be ahead of your hips in the rotation.

While many longboarders primarily use their longboard for pushing and cruising along, others like to focus on carving and choose their board accordingly. Let’s look at the specific features that make a good carving board.

Carving deck features

What should you look for in a good carving deck? In short, you need good response from your moves in turns and decent energy return from the deck. That is, as you anchor your body weight into a rail and get low to initiate that tight turn, you want the deck to amplify the impulse from your motion.

Let’s dig deeper.

Size and mount style

A mid-sized deck, in the 32-42″ range, typically works best for effective carving. Too small a deck and wheelbase may not provide enough momentum from your impulses. Too large may be slower and “draggier” to push into turns.

With regards to deck style, there are a few things to consider. Topmount decks offer the most leverage over the trucks, making the board more responsive in turns. Some of the best carving longboards are commuter-style topmount boards, such as the Loaded Vanguard which offer lots of leverage over the wheels due to the trucks being mounted at the very ends of the deck, offering optimal carving performance. Learn more about the Vanguard.

Drop-through boards, on the other hand, tend to be more stable at speed but not as fast-turning as topmounts. However, some flexy drop-throughs like the Loaded Icarus (full review) are specially designed for carving and can handle faster carving better than a topmount. Thus, some drop-throughs can be a good option if you plan to do some fast carving.

Deck flex and camber

The best carving decks typically will have some flex to provide a lively and energetic response to your carving impulses and weight shifts. The amount of flex you want depends on how fast you want to go. Higher speed requires more stability and thus less flex. Some riders also prefer less flex for a more direct response when leaning and shifting.

On the other hand, some amount of flex is typically great for low-speed carving as it helps you really drive carves and generate speed through pumping.

The ideal amount of flex also depends on your weight – a lighter rider will feel the flex and hence responsiveness less than a heavier rider on the same board. For this reason, top longboard manufacturers propose several flex options – e.g. the Loaded Vanguard comes in 5 different flex options.

Since flex is important for driving deep carves, the best carving longboards are often built using hybrid material such as a mix of bamboo, which offers superior flex characteristics, and composite material such as fiberglass for resistance and stiffness.

Another feature that greatly influences a board’s responsiveness for carving is a cambered platform. Camber means the deck is slightly raised in the middle vs the mount points. As a result, the deck gives you a springy feel that adds to the flex for more rebound on your impulses in turns, resulting in more acceleration when carving.

Both the Loaded Vanguard and the Icarus have cambered profiles which contribute to making them excellent carving boards, each in their own style: high-flex, topmount style for the Vanguard, vs balanced flex, drop-through mount for the Icarus.

Wheel clearance for tight turns

The best carving longboards also boast specific shape features that add to the board’s maneuverability and carving ability.

An important such feature is wheel cutouts and wheel wells. Cutout shapes give the wheels a lot of space for tight turning since the deck does not cover the wheels. This is particularly important in carving because it involves hard turns which can easily cause wheelbite problems (wheels touching the board) on decks not designed for it.

Carving longboards such as the Vanguard and the Icarus are specifically built for deep carves with their large wheel cutouts. The Vanguard has a significantly tapered shape at the edges to maximize wheel clearance. The Icarus also has sophisticated wheel wells and uplifted wheel flares which not only provide clearance but also participate in the deck’s concave pattern. See my post on the Icarus for more details.

Foot lock-in and sidecuts

Some high-end carving boards such as Loaded longboards also feature a narrowed down shape in the middle, aka sidecuts, to help minimize torsional stiffness between the rider’s feet, allowing more control over the board’s turning radius. Boards with a wide center section are often harder to control precisely when tight turning.

Another desirable feature of a good carving longboard is a slight amount of concave for foot lock-in when performing those continuous fast edge-to-edge transitions and tight turns. A bit of concave gives your feet something to push on while keeping them in place. If you’ve tried carving on a flat deck, you know it’s much less effective due to your feet moving around in every deep turn.

Kick tails

Kick tails are typically not so important for carving unless you plan to do tricks or city slashing as well. Kicks allow for quick turns and small jumps but they typically result in a shorter wheelbase which can reduce a board’s carving ability and stability. Some riders, however, like to leverage the kicks when carving, so it ultimately comes down to personal preference.

Best carving longboard trucks

Most carving longboards come with reverse kingpin (RKP) trucks as these are designed for carving flow and responsiveness in deep turns.

A 50º baseplate angle is the most common type, typically giving you a good balance of lean vs turn, which translates into turning ability vs stability.

Though there are dozens of RKP trucks out there, some trucks offer a noticeably different feel for carving than others, and the choice of trucks can have a huge impact on carving performance.

Carving with surfskate trucks

For me, the most effective trucks for performing the tight and deep turns carving involves are surfskate trucks such as Carver or Slide. I have an incredible time surfing the streets on my 34″ Loaded Poke with Carver CX trucks. That setup really excels for a more surfy style like mine. The Poke is also capable of much more including street tricks, park & pool, some freeride etc – see my full review.

If you go the surfkate truck route though, be sure to pick the right surf truck as some like the Swelltech, Yow, Smoothstar etc, are primarily designed for hardcore surf training and so they’re just too loose for comfortable longboard carving. See this post for an in-depth look at surf trucks.

Regular RKP trucks great for carving

The Bear Grizzly trucks from Landyachtz (Amazon) offer some really good carving performance. They are very tight turning and easy to pump, especially when set looser. I have been using them for a few months on a 36″ flexy Landyachtz pintail deck and I’m always impressed by the carving performance I get – the turning on those trucks is not that far from my Carver CX.

Many top carving longboard setups, including the Loaded Vanguard and the Icarus, come with Paris V2 50º trucks. These are quality, highly versatile trucks that can certainly provide a nice carving experience if used on a deck with the right shape, flex, and concave and the right wheels (see next section).

Personally, though I consider the Paris as a great all-around truck including for commuting and freeriding (which both involve some carving), when it comes to intense carving I prefer trucks that give me even more aggressive turning.

Gullwing Sidewinder: born to carve

Sector 9’s Gullwing Sidewinder II (Amazon) is a special and very popular carving truck with 2 separate kingpins, resulting in 2 different pivot points when riding. As a result, these trucks excel for carving since they let you drive deeper and tighter turns than with regular RKP trucks, providing a smoother and more flowy surfing feel.

The Sidewinders are taller than regular RKP trucks and so using them results in a higher ride height for your longboard. This can be good for carving as it gives you more leverage and responsiveness. On the flip side, riding further to the ground reduces stability, particularly when going fast. They also require more effort to push on.

So while the Sidewinders can bring outstanding carving performance, they can be harder to control for newer riders. Note that you can convert these trucks into a regular TKP by removing one of the kingpins.

Carving trucks vs carving deck

When choosing the right trucks for your carving longboard, you need to take into account the characteristics of your deck, or vice-versa.

If you settle for a loose, deep carving truck such as a surfskate truck (Carver, Slide etc) or some Gullwing Sidewinders, then you may want to opt for a slightly stiffer deck such as the Loaded Icarus or Poke to make up for the looseness.

On the other hand, if you choose a regular RKP truck such as the Bear Grizzly, a deck with more flex such as the Loaded Vanguard or the Landyachtz Dropcarve may provide the added response and energy you need for effective deep carves.

Best longboard wheels for carving

Probably the most important characteristic of a good carving longboard wheel is stability. In general, larger (65mm+) and softer (80A duro or less) wheels give you the most grip when performing deep and tight turns.

Softer wheels also roll over cracks and bumps much better as they deform more, absorbing vibrations and shocks and making your carves more comfortable and effective. On the flip side, softer wheels don’t roll as fast as harder ones – fast rolling is another important aspect of carving on a longboard.

So when choosing the hardness of your carving wheels, you’re facing a tradeoff between speed and grip: softer wheels have better traction for deep carves while harder wheels roll faster and longer but tend to skid and slide more in tight turns.

Another aspect to consider is core placement on the wheel – where the hard core is positioned inside the urethane. Centerset wheels tend to have less grip in tight carves compared to sideset wheels, which have more traction as they deform a bit more.

Your weight is another factor to consider when choosing the wheels for your carving longboard. The heavier you are, the harder your wheels should be (e.g. 83A instead of 79A) since a given wheel will feel softer to a heavier rider.

Some very popular wheels for longboard carving are the Orangatang 4President (Amazon). These are the ones I use for intense carving on my Loaded Poke and Carver surf trucks. With a 70mm diameter and 80A duro, they give me a perfect mix of speed and grip for my efficient, surf-style carves.

If you ride a smaller deck, e.g. smaller than 34″, you may need to choose smaller wheels to avoid wheelbite, such as the excellent 65mm Orangatang Fat Free (80A duro).

Final words

Carving will always be a core part of the longboard experience, whether you like to cruise, pump, or freeride. More than a technique, however, carving can be a soulful riding style of its own. Some riders see choosing or building the right board for carving close almost as an art form.

The best carving longboards can help you make those deep tight turns but giving you the right amount of energy response and riding comfort. This is typically the result of the right amount of deck flex, ample space for big wheels, carefully crafted concave, turny and responsive trucks, and fast and grippy wheels that offer traction, suspension, and rebound.

If in doubt, for carving you can’t go wrong with the Loaded Vanguard or the Icarus, or Landyachtz’s Dropcarve for a cheaper option. If you’d like to take your carving to the next level and actually surf the pavement, try a surfskate or a regular deck with surf trucks.