Hello hello, welcome back! Today I am writing about skateboards, more specifically to inform you about the anatomy of a skateboard. Back in high school, I did a bit of skateboarding with friends. While it was mostly for cruising, I did educate myself on the parts of a board and their purpose. With not much else to say really, let's get right into it!
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Before we get into the anatomy let's establish something first. There are a few different types of skateboards. While the anatomy remains the same, how it functions, how the deck looks, and the wheel's positions change. I am just covering anatomy today so if you are curious about the different boards, here is a picture with a link to a great article that explains with pros and cons of each.
To start off the deck (the board on which the skater stands) has a nose and a tail. The nose refers to the front part of the deck and the tail refers to the back part of the deck. The length and the look of the nose plus tail depend on the type of board.
The top of the board is lined with something called grip tape. Grip tape is important because it has a sandpaper side that allows friction between your shoes and the board. The other side of it is sticky so you may mount it to the top of the board.
Next, the trucks are located underneath the skateboard and screwed into the deck, allowing the board itself to turn. The trucks consist of an axle which the wheels are then attached to. In the picture below you can see the axle sticking out, it is the two points farthest from the truck's center.
The wheels are what allow the deck to roll but there are different types of wheels. Separated by shape, size, and hardness, it is very important to understand because how your board navigates and interacts with terrain is dependent on your wheels. The post Different Types Of Skateboard Wheels (With Their Usage) goes more in-depth about it all.
These are wheels from both my skateboards just to show you an example of different wheels. My Grinch wheels are smaller and harder with full opaque color, and the lips are also rounded. The Kryptonics wheels are larger and softer with a more transparent gel-like look, in addition to the lips being square.
The bearings are round metal disks placed inside the wheels. This holds the wheels to the axle of the trucks.
(picture taken from Independent Stage 11 Forged Hollow Hawk Transmission Skateboard Trucks)
Risers are inserted between the trucks and the deck. Used to raise the height of the skateboard and consists of hard plastic. It is a pad that helps reduce the chance of wheel bite. Wheel bite is when a wheel touches your board, which is not good because it can send you flying off the board (not fun, wouldn't recommend it personally). This picture shows a riser in use, the silver metal truck sits right on top, and the light gray non-metal riser lays beneath it.
To recap, a skateboard contains a deck, grip tape, wheels, trucks, bearings, bushings, and risers. All of these serve a unique function in such a simple skateboard.
Well, that's all there is to it, thanks for reading, and until next time!
This blog should be given to each new rider in pamphlet form at the purchase of their new skateboard. This a great tutorial about skateboards and how and what each part does and how it functions. Great pictures made it easy to follow along and see what you were talking about.
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