SKATEBOARD DECKS
Skateboarding is a game of parts, there is no right or wrong combo and over time, every skater develops personal preferences when it comes to setting up a skateboard. By choosing your own deck and individual parts you can get a unique tailored ride that's truly your own. For a custom build to suit different styles of skating from street, pool, vert, tranny and even cruising, and with over 60 brands to chose from you're going to be spoilt for choice. When you buy a deck from us, Basement Skate provides standard black perforated griptape for free, 10 % off the wheels, bearings and trucks and we assemble it in store for you at no extra charge.
What are the main styles of skateboarding?
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Vert short for vertical skateboarding , this style of skating is all about big air, sick style and high speeds. It involves moving from horizontal to vertical to perform tricks on ramps, in skate parks with vertical features, or empty pools and skate bowls. It is also referred to as transition or tranny skating. Old school decks are a popular choice for this discipline. Vert and Pool boards for this style of skating tend to be shaped wider, directional and sometimes have a wide profile nose. These setups are usually complimented with bigger, hard but grippy wheels.
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Street By far the most popular branch of skating. The world is literally your skatepark: you get to skate urban obstacles like stairs and handrails, park benches or other street furniture. Street skaters perform tricks around, on, onto, or over these obstacles. The optimal setup is usually equipped with a narrower deck( 8" being the most popular, with core street skaters usually prefering a 7.75") and wheels smaller than 55mm to make the board flip and spin faster to make performing tricks easier.
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Cruising This style of skateboarding is usually done on longboards or cruisers but can also be done on cruiser decks or wider popsicle decks (otherwise known as a trick deck) set up with bigger softer rubbery wheels. Cruising usually involves using a skateboard as a mode of transport or to get from point A to B. Nothing too technical is involved apart from pushing and foot braking to stop. This style is a choice for skaters who want something in-between longboarding and skateboarding.
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Freestyle This unique style of skating was mostly pioneered by Rodney Mullen. This is highly technical and involves a quick succession of movements and choreography ( similar to dancing ) on a skateboard, usually to music.
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Park This usually combines “vert” features such as half pipes and bowls as well as “ street” obstacles like stairs and rails and encompasses a variety of sub-styles.
Size Matters : Skateboard Anatomy
The deck is the most important part of your setup. Also known as a board, the deck is traditionally made of 7 layers of wood composite. The most important factor when deciding on a deck is the board’s width. This depends on your height, shoe size and style of skating. But there are also some secondary less important measurements that can come into play.
Width
As mentioned before, this is the most important measurement when chosing a deck. Board sizes are measured in inches and the majority of skateboards measure between 7.5" and 8.5". There are two main factors that will determine what width to go for- Skate style, and your height and shoes size.
- Skate Style: If you're after a deck to practice tricks at the local park or for street deck then you should be looking at a thinner deck. If you choose a deck that is wider and heavier you will have to exert more power when doing flip tricks, which can make trick skating more difficult. Generally teen and adult riders should have at least a 7.75". While 8" is the most popular size in the street skating game, many core street skaters still prefer to go narrower.
- Height and Shoe size Your height and shoe size play a big role in what size deck you should buy. If you buy a board that is too big for you, it will make skateboarding and trick skating difficult because you will need to exert more power with potentially less responsiveness. On the other hand if you buy a deck that’s too small for you, your board will feel less stable. You can find a general size to shoe and height ratio guidline in our skateboard buyers guide section. Sizing is mostly based on feel, if it's comfortable under your feet then it's a good size for you.
Length The length of the deck is the distance measured from the nose to the tail. The shorter the board, the more narrow it is likely to be. However width and wheelbase should be the most important considerations when building your skateboard; the length tends not to matter as much.
Wheelbase Every skateboard has 8 mounting holes, 4 near each end of your skateboard deck. These holes are used to attach your trucks to the deck. The wheelbase is the measurement between the inner mounting holes. Generally a wider deck means a longer wheelbase, and a wider wheelbase generally allows you to have a wider stance when skating translating to more stability for higher speeds when crusing or skating tranny, bowl and vert. Shorter wheelbases tend to be faster to turn and are less stable at speed.
Nose Trick decks have a kicktail ( the rounded shape with a slight upwards bend ) on either side of the deck. The nose of your skateboard is the kicktail at the front of your deck. The nose is usually slightly broader than the tail to catch your foot better when performing flip tricks.
Tail The tail is the kicktail at the back of your skateboard. It is usually slightly smaller than the nose and closer to the ground for better pop and faster response.
Concave The concave is the curvature of your deck's surface. Different decks usually have varying degrees of concave to cater to different types of skateboarding. Concave allows you to feel the shape of the deck under your feet, that means that you should be able to locate your feet in relation to the sides, nose and tail without having to look down. Transition skaters typically need more speed to carve up steep banks and walls, and tend to prefer more concave. On the other hand street skaters prefer a mellow concave to allow for optimum foot placement. A mild concave has a largers area of flat surface which allows you to move your feet around more comfortaby in various positions. Street skating involves diffrentt flip tricks that use different foot positioning. So a flatter deck would make more sense.
NOTE: Remember that there are no actual rules when it comes to skateboarding. A board that feels comfortable under your feet is the right deck for you. Anyone can ride any deck. Although street skaters typically go for narrower decks with less concave and vert skaters usually prefer wider decks with more concave, skaters develop their own personal preferences when it comes to setting up their skateboards and the key is to not be afraid to experiment.
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