Longboard vs cruiser : what’s the difference ?

So you’re on the market for a longboard.  You’ve already ruled out the street skateboard option because you need something more versatile and comfortable to ride, and you’re not into pure trick skating.

You mostly want something you can cruise and commute on, on a daily basis e.g. to the train station, or just for riding to the store or to the park.  But when scouting the available options online or at skate shops, you’re at a loss on whether to pick up a “longboard” or a “cruiser”.

So what’s the difference between a longboard and a cruiser ?  A cruiser is a shorter and lightweight board responsive and nimble enough for riding in tight inner city areas. A full size longboard turns on a wider radius but is more stable at high speed. Longboards are great for distance travel, open road commutes, and riding down bigger hills.

The above definition alone is not sufficient to help you decide on which of the types of board you need.  We’ll take a closer look at what it means to choose a “cruiser” vs a “longboard”.

Longboard vs cruiser : a confusing terminology?

Let’s clear up something first : the term “longboard” designates any 4-wheel board that’s not specifically a traditional street (aka “trick”) skateboard.  “Skateboard” generally refers to the symmetrical, popsicle-shaped decks with double kicks, set up with traditional kingpin (TKP) trucks and small hard wheels – well-suited for ollies, flips and rail grinds.

Longboards are typically bigger than skateboards – bigger decks, bigger trucks, bigger wheels.  That’s what distinguishes the two.  Being larger, longboards are more comfortable and stable to ride.

Now what about cruisers? A cruiser, aka cruiser longboard, really is any longboard whose configuration is optimized for cruising, i.e. leisurely pushing and going places.  This definition is not very useful, though, because it applies to a very broad range of longboards all sizes and shapes.

By “cruiser” or “cruiser longboard”, what we generally mean is “mini longboard” or “mini cruiser”, referring to a shorter board.  Thus, opposing the term “longboard” to “cruiser” now starts to make sense: in this context “longboard” refers to boards that are longer / bigger than cruisers.

One last thing on this: a cruiser can be similar or even smaller in size than a street skateboard.  Or, the wheels and deck shape may be the only things that distinguish the two types.

See also: 16 Awesome Mini-Cruiser Skateboards (Top Brands Only)

Now, let’s dive deeper and look at how a cruiser and a longboard differ.

Longboard vs cruiser: types of riding

Let’s talk about how longboards and cruisers differ in terms of riding style.

Cruiser riding: between street and longboard

What’s the point in having a cruiser category on the longboarding market in the first place? That’s simply because cruisers fulfill the need for something in between a skateboard and a longboard.

Lots of skaters like to ride a skateboard for daily city commuting or casual city cruising.  For crowded and congested city streets and sidewalks, street skateboards have always been more nimble, less cumbersome and lighter to carry around than those heavy bulky 36″ or larger longboards.

If you’ve ridden a street skateboard before though, you know how uncomfortable and clunky these boards are to cruise on because of the strong vibrations and shocks you get on rough pavement due to the small hard wheels and street trucks.

A cruiser or mini cruiser can fill this void: these boards are agile and portable like a skateboard, but with some of the riding comfort you get on a bigger longboard.  This is mainly due to the wheels that are larger than a skateboard, and to a generally wider deck with a single kick, leading to more foot space.

See also How to choose the best cruiser board

City transport vs distance travel

Cruisers are primary designed for short-to-medium distance transportation.  Moving through the city, navigating around things and people on sidewalks and busy streets. 

Cruisers are small and lightweight and easy to carry around everywhere: into a store, at the office, at a restaurant (under the table), on a bus or train… They fit in the overhead compartment of a plane.

Full-size longboards, on the other hand, are heavier and bulkier.  On the other hand, they are stable and smooth to ride over longer distances as well as at higher speeds. 

Longboards generally allow for more efficient and effortless pushing.  Because of their size and weight, and bigger wheels, they can pick up speed quickly and roll fast.

They also handle higher speeds well which makes them a good choice for riding downhill.  On the flip side, bigger boards have a larger turning radius, and so they’re not as nimble as cruisers in tight urban spaces.

See also What are the best longboards by riding style?

Longboard vs cruiser: deck size

The number 1 differentiating factor between a cruiser and a longboard is deck size.  Cruiser decks are usually no longer than 34″ (most often 28″-32″) and narrower (<= 9″).  The Loaded Ballona is a great example of a popular mini-cruiser, with a deck size of 28″ by 9″.

Longboards, on the other hand, typically have decks 36″ to 42″ long and 8.5″ to 10″ wide.

Why is it important? Deck length and wheelbase (distance between truck mounts) impact the board’s ability to turn.  Shorter cruiser decks allow the board to turn “on a dime” making easier to avoid cracks and obstacles.  Bigger longboards have much wider turning arcs.

On the other hand, a cruiser is often much less stable than a full-sized longboard, particularly at higher speed.  The shorter wheelbase (e.g. 14 – 17″), combined with loose trucks (see below) often results in speed wobbles when going down steep hills. Longboards are much more stable at speed due to their longer wheelbase (20″ – 30″).

Flex is another important aspect of longboards. Some longboards have flex which results in a more comfortable cruising experience on rough terrain (easier on the joins), and helps with carving.  Cruisers tend to have a stiffer deck allowing for more pop when using the kick(s).

Longboard vs cruiser: shape

Many cruisers have a surfboard-like shape, directional / asymmetrical with a squared or rounded square (“squash”) tail in the rear, and a pointy-ish nose in the front.

They often have a kick tail – and sometimes a small nose kick – for doing kick tricks and manuals, popping ollies and hopping over small cracks.

That’s another thing with mini-cruisers : they are so small (close to skateboard size) and lightweight that you can do tricks on them as you cruise around the city, such as kick flips, kick turns, hopping on or off curbs.

However, cruisers are generally heavier than street boards due to their bigger wheels.  So while some riders are able to ollie on them, it takes more effort than on a skateboard. 

Again, the main focus of a cruiser is, well, cruising, so the kick tails are mainly there to help you navigate the urban landscape with ease.

Some cruisers, nevertheless, are designed for freestyling more than others.  A good example is the Loaded Poke, a cruiser with prominent freestyle features like its full-sized double kicks and pronounced concave.  It’s also great for riding bowl.  Go here for my complete review of the Poke.

Meanwhile, full-size longboards come in varied shapes, but many longboards focusing on cruising are either pintail shaped (first image below) or symmetrical cutout shaped (second image).

See this post for more about the different longboard shapes.

A longboard may also have a kicktail to enable some freestyle or dancing tricks.  Generally though, you won’t perform the same kind of tricks on a longboard as on a small cruiser: you’ll focus more on manuals, classic freestyle, stepping and dancing tricks vs radical kickflips and jumps.  Also, few people take a regular sized longboard to the skatepark.

Wheel wells / flares / cutouts

A cruiser typically has a narrower nose and wheel flares to reduce the risk of wheel rub.  Cruiser trucks are generally very loose for fast turning, so having good wheel clearance is essential for tight carving when riding in small spaces.

For regular longboards, both topmount and drop-through, wheel clearance can vary quite a lot. Some longboards like the Loaded Mata Hari are meant primarily for distance pushing, focusing on riding fast and far on straight roads, as opposed to continuously carving and turning, and so they have more limited wheel clearance.

Others, like the Loaded Icarus, are made essentially for carving and pumping and can take very large wheels without suffering wheelbite thanks to their ample wheel cutouts and deep flares.  Check out my full review of the Icarus.

Longboard vs cruiser: truck mount

The way a board’s trucks are mounted on the deck greatly affects how the board rides when cruising.  Most cruiser longboards and mini-cruisers are topmount, meaning the trucks are bolted underneath the deck. 

This means cruisers are relatively high off the ground, making them harder to push on – your kicking foot has to drop further to reach the ground, and your standing knee has to bend more.

Top mount also means less stability at speed because of higher center of gravity.

So you got the idea: cruisers are mainly for riding short-ish distances, they’re not as well-suited for long distance skating because of their topmount design and small wheels.  Cruisers are also generally not the best choice for downhill speed.

A full-size cruising longboard, on the other hand, can be either topmount (like most pintails) or drop-through (where the trucks are mounted through the deck).

A pintail longboard, such as the Sector 9 Lookout, will be tougher to push on for long distance and less stable at speed than a drop-through longboard, but it will be faster-turning.  A drop-through longboard will be more stable at downhill speed.

In general, a longboard will rarely be as nimble as a typical cruiser due to its size.

Longboard vs cruiser: trucks

Mini-cruisers typically run traditional kingpin (TKP) trucks, which are street skateboard type trucks.  Regular longboards, on the other hand, typically use reverse kingpin trucks (RKP).  TKP trucks are designed to respond to very small movements of the feet, making them well suited for boards with kicks riding at lower speeds.

TKP trucks have more “dive” than RKP, meaning as you start leaning into a turn, the board initially starts turning dramatically, then turns more slowly as you go on.

TKP trucks are shorter than RKP, so on a cruiser this partly offsets the ride height caused by the topmount design, making it easier to push than on a longboard.

Besides wheelbase length, RKP trucks (e.g. Paris, Randal, Caliber) are what make longboards more stable at higher speed since they’re designed to respond slower and deeper.  Turning on them requires leaning harder.  TKP are twitchier and more prone to wobbles.

Truck size on a mini-cruiser varies.  By default, the Dinghy runs very narrow 105mm Polar Bear trucks, making the board very reactive and fast turning, but not nearly as stable as one with bigger trucks, e.g. the Loaded Ballona with its 150mm trucks.  The trucks, however, so match the Dinghy’s small deck size.

The Poke, on the other hand, is a bigger cruiser that comes with RKP trucks in either 150mm or 180mm in size,  similar to a regular longboard.  Because of this, the riding feel on the Poke is quite different from the Dinghy, less twitchy but more stable.

Note that the Poke can also be set up with carver trucks, which makes for a totally different experience – see this article about surf skateboards and this one about carving longboards.

Longboard vs cruiser: wheels

Cruisers often have small wheels by longboard standards, typically in the 55-65mm range, matching smaller trucks and a smaller deck – bigger size wheels cause wheelbite.   Smaller wheels also help keep the board’s weight down. Cruiser wheels are generally bigger than on a traditional street skateboard, though, which are typically around 50mm.

Most importantly, wheels on a cruiser are usually on the soft side, with durometers between 78A and 82A.  Soft wheels are better for cruising because they help absorb shocks, particularly on uneven terrains, and offer better traction when carving.

Some riders prefer to use slightly harder wheels which are more slideable and roll faster on smooth surfaces (less friction).  Urethane quality also plays a role.  Wheels such as the Orangatang Fat Free 65mm offer a great mix of smoothness / roll speed and sliding ability for a mini-cruiser.

In comparison, wheels on a full-size longboard used for cruising are typically bigger, starting at 70mm.  Distance pushing longboards can run wheels up to 85mm provided the deck has enough wheel clearance – this is generally the case in boards 40″ or longer, or shorter boards with bracket setups (e.g. Gbomb push/pump setups).

Bigger wheels roll faster, which is part of the reason why longboards can get to higher speeds.  Like mini-cruisers, most longboards fit for cruising run softer wheels for good grip and better cushioning on rough terrain.  Freeriding and freestyling require harder wheels for sliding.

Skateboard vs cruiser

So how do skateboards fit into the equation ? A skateboard deck will generally be 30 – 32″ in length and 7.5 – 8.5″ wide. They are comparable in size to many cruiser boards, although mini-cruisers are often smaller.

However, street decks are generally narrower than cruiser boards, and have a double-kick popsicle shape vs single kick surfboard directional shape for most cruisers.

As I mentioned before, cruisers are designed to run larger and softer wheels than skateboards, making cruising more comfortable but street tricks more challenging.

Cruisers (not mini-cruisers) also tend to have longer wheelbases than skateboards, improving stability and cruising comfort.

See also Skateboard vs Longboard: An Obvious Choice?

Longboard vs cruiser vs skateboard

Longboards, meanwhile, are typically larger than both cruisers and skateboards. They run larger (RKP) trucks and wheels, and have a longer, more stable wheelbase for fast riding and comfy distance commuting.

Reverse kingpin trucks aka longboard trucks are wider and taller than street trucks and offer a more surfy, flowy, nice and responsive riding feel. Traditional kingpin (TKP) trucks found on skateboards on the other hand, are shorter, lighter, snappier, better-suited for street tricks, pops, grinds, ollies, ramps etc.

Roomy longboard decks allow for freestyle and dancing riding styles, while skateboards and cruisers are great for street and park slashing.

Wrapping up

So to recap, what’s the difference between a cruiser and a longboard, and which to choose?  A cruiser is great for riding short distances in crowded or congested areas.  It’s small, lightweight, easy to carry around and take with you everywhere.  A cruiser is not so well-suited for traveling far or for riding very fast.

A longboard is more stable and comfortable for pushing long distances and for riding downhill at higher speeds.  It can have a much wider turning radius than a cruiser though, is generally longer, heavier and more cumbersome to log around and store.

Both cruisers and longboards can be used for freestyle, depending on the type of tricks you do.  Mini cruisers are good for bowl riding, while longer boards with kicks are suited for stepping tricks/dancing.  If you’re into heavier freestyling, however, consider getting a street deck or a “hybrid” longboard.