New skater w/ a new board

[Havoc]

Hey all, been reading the forum to see what kind of board a complete Newb like me should get....so lets see how I did.

Deck - I wanted something bigger so that it would be a little easier to balance on...like I said, complete newb

Mini Logo K-i11 8.25 x 32.5

Trucks - Independent with swapped out bushings that were a little stiffer so that the wheels wouldn't rub the deck (or so the shop guy said..who am i to argue) and independent raisers.

Wheels - Bones soft core 56mm...these were what the shop owner suggested. Said they were stickier so it would be easier to learn on, then switch to something a little harder

Bearings - just some generic ABEC 3 rated ones they had in bulk

Grip - just some generic black stuff the shop uses for all it's boards


Got it all at Santa Barbara Skate Shop over by the skatepark they have on the beach....guys there seemed nice enough. For all that put together for me it came out to about $105 with tax. So what do you think, decent price?

LoL...now for the fun part, got the board, got me, got a big ol' parking lot right behind me......now what? :-5:

[Mama_Skate]

$105 for a custom complete is a really good price.

You should start off by learning what stance you are, then how to balance and push After you get really comfortable with it, learn how to push switch (TRUST ME, you'll be happy you did it). Then if you want to start doing tricks, learn how to ollie first (learn all tricks moving). Then once you get your ollie moving, and at a decent height, learn some of the other basics (pop shuvit/ shuvit, kickflip, heelflip, fs/bs 180's...) After that, learn what ever you feel like learning, thats whats so great about skateboaridng. You can learn how you want to learn, and make up new tricks and such. Remember to have fun with it, but if you're not having fun, take a break for a little, then just have fun. Good luck!

[Think_Skater]

mama skate pretty much nailed it there.....but i just want to add something.
find other skaters to skate with. if none of your friends skate, get them into it. trust me, skating with friends is a lot funner IMO. and by the way, u got a pretty dope setup there:-3:

[cordell]

have fun. Santa barbera, huh? where do you live? I live in California too.
$105 dollars is perfect. Mine was $143. To much for a board, this was my setup:
deck-Flip--rodrigo tx
trucks-royal
wheels-flip hdk
bearings- bones--reds
grip-zoo york
Pretty nice but expensive. that was my first pro board. But anyway, you should learn the ollie, and then shove-it first. And dont get discouraged by the skaters at the skatepark, and the pros in the videos do make it seam easier then is. So stick with me and everyone else in the forum for advise. But ask me for help!

[DCsKaTeR]

Yes when your trucks are really loose then it can rub against the bottom of the deck. It's not like a total bad thing though. I like to ride my trucks almost as tight as possible though.
The bushings only limit how far the trucks would bend if they were loose/tight.
So if I were you I'd still tighten your trucks to how you would like them.

Your setup is just fine.

Just make sure to push with your back foot when you're riding.

[Havoc]

Thanks for the input so far. Considering I never even stood on a skateboard before it was pretty fun. Had to hold onto something to keep my balance for the first few min, but after that the board felt really comfortable. Coasted it down a couple very slight slopes in the parking lot (and by very slight i mean hardly enough for the board to move on it's own) but that got me feeling ok moving. Still working on the pushing (regular btw) and breaking...lol, can't keep counting on a big soft bush to be everywhere i want to stop lololol. Oh, and me and sharp turns definetely are not friends yet....but all in practice.

As for skating with friends, well that is kinda hard out here. I am actually just in CA on business till christmas, so other than the people I am meeting at work I don't really have a grouple of ppl to chill here with. Kinda why I bought the board...it is something I always wanted to learn, so while I am stuck here alone where like half the population skates I figured why not. Though if anyone in the area wants to hook up and take me under their wing i would deff be cool with that (hint hint) lol.

[DCsKaTeR]

How are you coming with the braking/stopping aspect. Because using the tail to scrape the ground isn't necessarily great for your board when you start doing tricks.

Whatever works for you. If I'm going too fast I just jump in front of my board and bail out. You want to leave the board behind you when you do that by the way. :P
I usually just take the foot I push with (back) and use the bottom of my shoe to stop.

How are you turning as well? Are you using the trucks or are you shifting weight to the tail and turning the board?

Haha just want to make sure you're doing all of the 'healthy' stuff and start out with good habits.

[cordell]

This is how i would learn first:
stand on the board and keep balance.
Practice pushing. roll around a little
practice braking and stopping
then start curving and turning on sharp corners.
Practice riding faster
after you got your board feel and balance its time to learn your first trick-ollie.
Then practice ollying while rolling.
then ollie while rolling faster.
after you master that trick, practice ollying over objects.
you take it from their. this is more specific than Mama skate. just thought id help more. not that she isn't helpful. but id like to help skaters so they wont have a hard time at first.

[Havoc]

Well the breaking is weak for now....i can kinda break with my right foot...but i have a feeling if i was going with any real speed it wouldn't end well....don't think i am quite doing it right.

As for turning i am getting ok with the slow lean and turn, but my balance goes straight to h3ll the second i try to add in a quick turn, so that needs a lot of work too....hopefully with a couple hours of practice tomorrow i will at least be able to cruise up and down the streets with ease. It will make it easier to run to the store and stuff if i don't have to walk every where.

In the mean time i am gonna keep working on a non moving ollie so what once i am comfortable just cruising around i can get working on the moving ollie. I just hope i get good enough so i can enjoy the nice skate park here before i gotta go home to orlando...home of the horrible condition streets and the non-existant sidewalks.

[cordell]

Keep us uptaded on your progress!

[skizzate]

Your set up is hella dope brah. Just push around and get used to skating around.

[switch245]

im a total beginner too, but i have a lot of skater friends who gave me this advicer while i was practicing on their boards. When turning, the sharper the turn, the lower you crouch on the board. And when stopping, simply take one foot off and hop along until it stops. It looks stupid, but it works until you can use your back foot and stomp down so that the heel of your shoe and not the board scrapes the ground.

[Havoc]

Hmm...I'll try crouching down on my stance a bit next time I go out. Tried doing a sharp turn at some speed today and all that happened was I lost my balance and really torqued a muscle in my thigh...that ended practice for today since lifting my foot on the board hurt after that. At least today was the first time I went out to practice without feeling like I lost everything I gained the last time I was out. For some reason the first few days I went out it felt like I was starting from scratch each time.

Also, is it normal for my wheelse to be scraping the bottom of the deck just doing some slight turns? I checke out the bottom of my deck today and you can already see where the wheels rubbed off the deck color.

[RooR]

Yea just bend your knees when you're carving, lower your center of gravity and try to stay on that board. The wheels rubbing the bottom of your board is wheel bite, it's not exactly bad but you want to avoid it. I've been tossed off my board when that happens and my wheels stop suddenly when I was starting out the first week or two. Don't worry about how your deck looks, just skate! :)

The idea with pushing is, you wanna be able to balance and support your body weight with just your front foot on the board, because that's basically what your front leg is doing while you push. So a good way to practice is just to go stand on the board with just your front leg supporting your body while you cruising. I remember I would lose balance even while pushing back then, and this exercise really helped.

Also I wanted to point out that, during those first few weeks of skating, it can take its toll on your legs when you aren't used to using those muscles in this kind of way. But keep at it, and you'd be surprised at how strong your legs become in a short amount of time.

How old are you anyways if you don't mind me askin?

[Havoc]

Thanks for the idea about cruising on just my left foot to learn to balance...I'll try that out when I get home from work.

And I as for my age...lol...25....yeah I know, I am starting kinda late.

[bucksaw87]

Thanks for the idea about cruising on just my left foot to learn to balance...I'll try that out when I get home from work.

And I as for my age...lol...25....yeah I know, I am starting kinda late.
hey dude you're never too old to start skating. just remember that there's NO better practice than just going out and kicking around on your board; learning how YOU are gonna react to the board and how hte BOARD is gonna react to you.
on a side note, have you ever looked into longboarding? they're quite a bit better for just cruising around...unless you wanna get into tricks and stuff

[RooR]

Dude I'm 22, so you aren't that far off from me. Just skate.

And Bucksaw, noooo don't convert him TT. :-9:

[bucksaw87]

Dude I'm 22, so you aren't that far off from me. Just skate.

And Bucksaw, noooo don't convert him TT. :-9:
lol "convert"
you make it sound like a BAD thing

[Havoc]

uh oh.....bucksaw is trying to get me to the dark side of the force *insert darth vader noises*.....well, his schwartz is bigger....I may have to think about this..lol well i am off to attempt ludicrous speeds on my board.

[RooR]

well i am off to attempt ludicrous speeds on my board.

And so it begins....to the Darkside he goes.

[Havoc]

I tried posting this as a new thread, but for some reason it won't let me post any new threads...

Ugh...dumb spellcheck tool on the forum...after installing it, it completely erased my post so I need to retype it now...ok enough venting lol.

As I typed once already...I am very new to skating, just been doing it for about a week now. During this week I have started to become a little more comfortable on my board and I am going a little faster, longer distances, and can somewhat make it over small things like speed bumps without wiping out (lol, my @ss met the ground the first few times I tried). I am using my apartment parking lot to do all my practicing which is covered in asphalt except the covered parking area which is concrete. Now that I am moving faster and more controlled I noticed that my board feels like it is sluggish on the asphalt compared to the cement...now I understand, cement is much smoother so of course the board will move less restricted, but it is a huge difference....on even a slight incline, and I do mean slight...it is just barely enough of a tilt to allow the board to move on it's own, while I am pushing up it I can only move about 10 feet before the board comes to a stop...this just doesn't seem normal to me, but I am new so what do I know.

Basically what I am asking is it normal for asphalt to make the board drag like that, do my tires and or bearings suck for this type of application, or am I just being a noob and doing something wrong lol? I am guessing it is prob the last one, but was hoping someone hear could give me some input.

Thanks for the help all!

[cordell]

You're not doing anything wrong. Asphalt is rougher and has some cracks. If you notice, when your riding slow and your front wheels hit a crack you will fall forward. So when your going fast the more lines, cracks, rocks, etc. you hit, the bumpier the ride will be.
Remember, keep your bearings out of the water. If they get rusty or stop rotating or making funny noises,or loose speed, you need new ones. Its best to carry bearing lubricant with you so you can clean them. DO NOT USE WD-40!

[bucksaw87]

You're not doing anything wrong. Asphalt is rougher and has some cracks. If you notice, when your riding slow and your front wheels hit a crack you will fall forward. So when your going fast the more lines, cracks, rocks, etc. you hit, the bumpier the ride will be.
Remember, keep your bearings out of the water. If they get rusty or stop rotating or making funny noises,or loose speed, you need new ones. Its best to carry bearing lubricant with you so you can clean them. DO NOT USE WD-40!
okay wait a second...to me, concrete is a slower surface to ride on than asphalt. also, my spitfire wheels grip a LOT more on concrete than asphalt.

[Ramp]