Taking care of your favorite skateboard is only a great idea, but also necessary for lengthening its lifetime. Many skaters don’t give a proper care to their skate, they ride it and when not needed, leaves it in a corner, uncared.
A skateboard, like other wooden things, easily gets damaged if kept in damp place. Its wood gets softened and warped. And the worst idea is to keep it outside, which allows dirt buildup on it.
So a proper care is needed, and how do you do it?
Tips to Take Care of Your Skateboard
Here, we have gathered some tips from good old users of skateboards to keep your skateboard in mint condition for long. Now, you decide! Scroll down to read it or regret it?
1.Don’t Keep Your Board Outdoors
Ok, why do people keep their boards out of the house? It’s a wonder that it sometimes doesn’t get stolen or someone wrecks it. Whatever it is, it’s a bad idea to keep anything like this outside of your house.
The above case will not always happen but what happens is your board is open to the extreme weather. The board gets rain on it straight, if you keep it under a cover to protect it from the water it still gets humid and the wood absorbs moisture.
In a place where things are mostly dry, dust is too prevalent and builds up on the board and inside of the wheels and bearings which you’ll have to clean by disintegrating the parts. Another hassle, no doubt!
If it’s summer, the strong heat radiation will stretch your skateboards metal parts and grip sand tape. After summer passes and there’s cold, all these shrinks in size and this brutal cycle will damage your board to a point where it no longer works.
2.Have Some Deck Care
The two highest vulnerable parts of a skateboard deck are the tail and the nose. Generally, these parts come into contact with tarmac and wears away pretty fast. And doing flips, ollies and other tricks accelerate the damage rate quickly.
If you notice splinters in the deck wood, cut the excess and sand them left down. Clip the broken, ripped parts. These things can hurt pretty much so you must immediately cover these parts with tape and clip them.
3.Care For The Bearings
Bearings are one of the vital parts of a skateboard, you cannot ride and have fun if your skateboard bearings aren’t smooth.
There are many articles about skateboard bearing care, you can read them and do the bearing care yourself. It’s very easy and will make your skate feel more natural to your moves.
4.Replace The Bad Parts
With more rides and more time, the shiny brand new skateboard will never remain the same. You will ride and break your board, damage your wheel and make wear itself down.
Not only it’s bad for the board but it’s risky for you too when you don’t care for your board and the various parts that make it work. Better to be safe from skateboard related tragedies.
How To Take Care And Maintain Your Skateboard
Frequently Asked Questions
1.Can I use WD40 for my bearings?
No. you shouldn’t do this. Although it’s a quick solution but not a good one. Doing this will attract more dirt and debris and worsen the situation for the long run. Cleaning will be harder as well later.
Check the board regularly and replace them if you notice anything less than average performance. The more you care for you board, the longer it will stay in better condition and you get to have more fun, not to mention also a good bang for the buck.
2.What type of truck should I get?
The answer is it totally depends on your riding style and application. If you choose to use the board for regular commute to work or school, then reverse kingpin is the choice. You’ll get smoother turns and better grip on your maneuver with this truck.
You can go for regular ones if your intention is to ride it on parks, doing a variety of flips and kicks. With regular trucks, you can cut the risk of kingpin bite during flipping and the lower height also makes doing all the stuffs very easy.
3.What type of deck is good?
There’s no good or bad here. If you want to do cruising or long commit, the wider decks are good. A longboard could be an option as well. Along with deck, look for softer wheels for a smooth long ride.
For regular commutes and doing tricks, a smaller width skateboard is a great choice.
4.Do I need Skateboard pads?
You should consider safety more than money sometimes. If you want to ride downhill, you should be very well protected. With higher speeds, a slight miscalculated slip can be fatal.
You should get the pads. Yes, they are expensive but doesn’t life cost more? The tightly fitted padding will reduce slipping and even if you fall, you can save your elbow and knee pretty much.
To conclude,
Hopefully, now you’ve got some basics of taking care of your skateboard. It may come into your mind that doing all these is unnecessary chores, but it is only you who gets the benefit of a good skateboarding experience if you give that a proper care.