Skate Buying Guide

A skateboard is made up of six main parts: the deck, trucks, wheels, bearings, grip tape and hardware. Whether this is your first skateboard or are a seasoned pro, this guide will help you with everything you'll need know.

SKATE PARTS INFO

DECKS

GRIPTAPE

TRUCKS

WHEELS

BEARINGS

HARDWARE

SKATE TOOLS

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Skate Buying Guide

A skateboard is made up of six main parts: the deck, trucks, wheels, bearings, grip tape and hardware. Whether this is your first skateboard or are a seasoned pro, this guide will help you with everything you'll need know.

SKATE PARTS INFO

DECKS

This is going to be the life line for your skateboard. If this is your first time buying a skateboard it's important to find a width that fits your need's.

8.0”: Common deck size that’s great for flip tricks. Ridden by pros such as Jamie Foy, Boo Johnson, and Eliana Sosco.

8.25”: Most popular deck width, excellent for street skating and parks. Ridden by pros such as Lizzie Armanto, Brad Cromer, and Andrew Reynolds.

8.5”: Wider decks are great for transition skating, bigger street tricks, pools, or just cruising. Ridden by pros such as Milton Martinez, Nora Vasconcellos, and Brian Anderson.

All boards seen in the link below, are good for skateboarders of all levels of experience, even pros. Shop Decks

GRIPTAPE

Think of grip tape as adhesive backed sand paper, just better. Grip tape is applied to the top of your skateboard deck to provide traction and enables you to do tricks. Apply grip tape to your deck before mounting
trucks; don’t put grip tape over your hardware!

Prey Usa specializes in delivering graphic grip tape and colored grip With as little human intervention as possible. Meaning, your grip tape will not be sitting gin some warehouse for months collecting dust before its used. Shop Griptape

TRUCKS

Trucks allow your skateboard to turn and connect your skateboard deck
with its wheels. Trucks should generally be the same width as your
skateboard deck, and every skateboard needs two trucks.

WHEELS

The most common question regarding skateboard wheels is what kind of
skateboard wheels should I get? While there are many factors on picking
out a set of skateboard wheels, you should mostly focus on the wheel
size and wheel hardness (called durometer).

SIZES:

Below are some general size suggestions based on the style of riding you might be interested in:

52mm-56mm: for street and park skating.

56mm-65mm: for vert ramps or cruiser boards.

65mm-70mm: for cruising or longboards.

HARDNESS / DUROMETER:

So what type of skateboarding are you going to do? If you are mostly going to skate streets and parks you will want a harder skateboard wheel. If you are mostly going to use your skateboard for cruising or transportation you may want a softer wheel that will be more forgiving on rough surfaces.

BEARINGS

Bearings are used to attach your wheels to your trucks, while still
allowing them to spin freely. Higher quality bearings will spin easier
and are typically more durable.

HARDWARE

Hardware has one function: to mount your trucks to your deck. Unless you
are using riser pads, any 1″ hardware will do. If you are using risers,
you will need to take into account the thickness of your riser pads and
add that to the 1” length of standard hardware.

SKATE TOOLS

The tools you will need are a 3/8” socket or wrench, a ½” socket or
wrench, a 9/16” socket, or wrench, and a Phillips screwdriver. You may
need an Alan wrench depending on the type of bolts you are using.

Boring Stuff

Shopping Cart

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Skate Buying Guide

A skateboard is made up of six main parts: the deck, trucks, wheels, bearings, grip tape and hardware. Whether this is your first skateboard or are a seasoned pro, this guide will help you with everything you'll need know.

SKATE PARTS INFO

DECKS

This is going to be the life line for your skateboard. If this is your first time buying a skateboard it's important to find a width that fits your need's.

8.0”: Common deck size that’s great for flip tricks. Ridden by pros such as Jamie Foy, Boo Johnson, and Eliana Sosco.

8.25”: Most popular deck width, excellent for street skating and parks. Ridden by pros such as Lizzie Armanto, Brad Cromer, and Andrew Reynolds.

8.5”: Wider decks are great for transition skating, bigger street tricks, pools, or just cruising. Ridden by pros such as Milton Martinez, Nora Vasconcellos, and Brian Anderson.

All boards seen in the link below, are good for skateboarders of all levels of experience, even pros. Shop Decks

GRIPTAPE

Think of grip tape as adhesive backed sand paper, just better. Grip tape is applied to the top of your skateboard deck to provide traction and enables you to do tricks. Apply grip tape to your deck before mounting trucks; don’t put grip tape over your hardware!

Prey Usa specializes in delivering graphic grip tape and colored grip With as little human intervention as possible. Meaning, your grip tape will not be sitting gin some warehouse for months collecting dust before its used. Shop Griptape

TRUCKS

Trucks allow your skateboard to turn and connect your skateboard deck with its wheels. Trucks should generally be the same width as your skateboard deck, and every skateboard needs two trucks.

WHEELS

The most common question regarding skateboard wheels is what kind of skateboard wheels should I get? While there are many factors on picking out a set of skateboard wheels, you should mostly focus on the wheel size and wheel hardness (called durometer).

SIZES:

Below are some general size suggestions based on the style of riding you might be interested in:

52mm-56mm: for street and park skating.

56mm-65mm: for vert ramps or cruiser boards.

65mm-70mm: for cruising or longboards.

HARDNESS / DUROMETER:

So what type of skateboarding are you going to do? If you are mostly going to skate streets and parks you will want a harder skateboard wheel. If you are mostly going to use your skateboard for cruising or transportation you may want a softer wheel that will be more forgiving on rough surfaces.

BEARINGS

Bearings are used to attach your wheels to your trucks, while still allowing them to spin freely. Higher quality bearings will spin easier and are typically more durable.

HARDWARE

Hardware has one function: to mount your trucks to your deck. Unless you are using riser pads, any 1″ hardware will do. If you are using risers, you will need to take into account the thickness of your riser pads and add that to the 1” length of standard hardware.

SKATE TOOLS

The tools you will need are a 3/8” socket or wrench, a ½” socket or wrench, a 9/16” socket, or wrench, and a Phillips screwdriver. You may need an Alan wrench depending on the type of bolts you are using.

Boring Stuff

Shopping Cart

Think of grip tape as adhesive backed sand paper, just better. Grip tape is applied to the top of your skateboard deck to provide traction and enables you to do tricks. Apply grip tape to your deck before mounting
trucks; don’t put grip tape over your hardware!

Trucks allow your skateboard to turn and connect your skateboard deck
with its wheels. Trucks should generally be the same width as your
skateboard deck, and every skateboard needs two trucks.

The most common question regarding skateboard wheels is what kind of
skateboard wheels should I get? While there are many factors on picking
out a set of skateboard wheels, you should mostly focus on the wheel
size and wheel hardness (called durometer).

Bearings are used to attach your wheels to your trucks, while still
allowing them to spin freely. Higher quality bearings will spin easier
and are typically more durable.

Hardware has one function: to mount your trucks to your deck. Unless you
are using riser pads, any 1″ hardware will do. If you are using risers,
you will need to take into account the thickness of your riser pads and
add that to the 1” length of standard hardware.

The tools you will need are a 3/8” socket or wrench, a ½” socket or
wrench, a 9/16” socket, or wrench, and a Phillips screwdriver. You may
need an Alan wrench depending on the type of bolts you are using.