How To Look After Your Skateboard

If you want your board to last and keep your ride nice and smooth you need to make sure you take good care of your skateboard. Check out our beginner's guide below on how to care for and get the best out of your skateboard.

First Things First: Know Your Skateboard
To look after it properly it helps to know what all the bits are. Here's the basics: 

	Deck: The bit you ride on. Often made of layered wood, but plastic is also popular. Most decks have some kind of grip, our Double Kick boards have classic grip tape (the sandpaper stuff), and our Mini Cruisers have a 3D waffle texture.
	4 Wheels: Skateboard wheels are usually plastic, and come in varieties of sizes and hardness. Bigger wheels can get faster speeds, harder wheels are better for tricks and softer ones offer more traction and speed control.
	2 Trucks: Under the deck. They let you turn when you pivot and keep your wheels on! They're made of 5 parts: - Baseplate: The metal that attaches the trucks to the deck. - Hanger: The largest part of the truck, it's triangular and houses the axle.  - Axle: The long pin that the connects the wheels and runs through the hanger. - Kingpin: A big Bolt. It sits inside the bushings and holds your trucks together! - Bushings: Made of rubber, they fit around the kingpin for a smooth pivot. Softer bushings make turning easier and firmer ones make a board more stable.
	Bearings: These slot into the wheel - they let you roll and build speed. Rated using the ABEC system: the higher the number, the greater the precision and the longer and faster the roll. Our bearings are ABEC 7s; a higher end bearing for good precision, and fast but not too fast. Perfect for beginners and intermediate riders.

Knowing what the parts of your board are and what they do makes looking after them properly that bit easier, and now you know why they're so important, too! 

How To Maintain Your Board
These are the basic steps you need to take to look after your board. Go through them regularly to keep everything tip top.

1. Check your deck! Watch out for signs of wear and tear if you want to avoid a catastrophe. Keep the top and bottom of your board clean to prevent dirt from building up. It also helps the longevity of your grip tape. A toothbrush works wonders on tricky dirt spots - just remember a dry brush is best! You want to avoid water logging your board at all costs.
   
   
2. Look after those bearings! Keep your bearings clean and lubricated to stay smooth! Clean your bearings regularly and apply a lubricant once they're all cleaned up. Even good bearings like our ABEC-7s benefit from some TLC.
   
   
3. Keep an eye on your kingpin! The kingpin is absolutely vital to any board. DO NOT ride your board if the kingpin looks like it's damaged in any way. Replace it immediately. Tightening the pin keeps you balanced - count the rotations as you tighten to make sure both trucks stay even.
   
   
4. Switch your wheels! Move the wheels around on your board so they wear evenly. A popular way to do this is using an 'x' pattern: your front right wheel shifts to back left, and the front left becomes the back right etc. 
   
   
5. Keep it out of the rain! Store it somewhere dry! For wooden decks in particular prolonged exposure to rainy weather could lead to your deck absorbing water which could crack or split your deck. Big no-no! 

It's a good idea to do a quick preliminary check of your skateboard any time you head out so you don't get any nasty surprises - it only takes a couple of minutes to give your board a onceover so make a habit out of it! 

There are tons of options for customising skateboards out there that can change how your ride feels; however we would highly recommend beginners get the skating basics nailed down with our boards as they are.