The holiday season is soon to arrive! With so much to choose from it can be difficult to choose the right gift item for your that special skater someone. Here are a neat gift ideas that may help out: Gift Idea 1: The Complete Skateboard Gift - At your neighborhood skate shop this particular skateboard setup would cost upwards of $100. Our complete skateboard is an awsome gift for someone who needs a new skateboard. Gift Idea 2: The Skateboard Deck Gift - This is an awsome gift for someone who regularly skateboards. Decks don’t last forever and I am always excited to add another to my collection. I will sometimes use up a deck every month or so. They get chiped, cracked, broken and lose their “pop”. You can never have too many or too many different sizes and designs. The other great thing about decks is the selection of designs. There is a deck for every personality. Check out the Skateboard Decks here. If you are confused please visit How to Choose a Skateboard Deck or send us an email. We’ll respond as quickly as possible! Gift Idea 3: Skater Clothing - Skater brand clothing is always appreciated. We have some really popular hats, pants, and shirts to choose from. All of our clothing is from current designs and the same that is being sold in the local shops right now! As long as you choose the right size you will have a super happy skater, GAURANTEED! Gift Idea 4: Skateboard Backpacks - These backpacks have a special carrying strap for a skateboard. Most of them also have special compartments for storing extra wheels, trucks, spare parts, etc. Great for school, bumming around town, and carrying pads/your helmet.
The ollie is the most fundamental of skateboard tricks and opens the door for an entire arsenal of other skate tricks. Many were amazed when they first saw Alan “Ollie” Gelfand working variations of this trick into his vert ramp maneuvers.
Here is how to ollie on a skateboard:
1. Position your back foot on the tail of the board and your front foot just above the middle of the board.
2. Crouch down and then as you jump up you want to jump off of your back foot while kicking the tail and lift up your front foot to allow the skateboard deck to lift up in the front.
3. Now slide your front foot forward and drag it slightly up the deck to level the front with the back. When you jump you also want to bring your knees up to your chest. This will give you more ground clearance and a higher ollie with your skateboard. You should now be in the air with the skateboard.
4. Now land. Try to land the ollie with the skateboard level and straight. Practice keeping your body straight during the ollie.
Here are some tips while learning to ollie on a skateboard. You may want to practice your ollie on the grass or carpet at first. Once you can ollie you will want to learn to ollie your skateboard over and up onto objects. This may be difficult at first but after the first 20 tries or so you should start getting it. You want to practice and ollie as much as possible. You want to perfect your ollie so that it is second nature.
Choosing Bushings
The bushings are the rubber part of the truck that flexes when you turn. The bushing can be removed and replaced to custom tweak your riding experience. The harder the bushing is the more stable and stiffer the turning of the board will be. Softer truck bushings give you a looser faster turning ride. Most trucks come from the factory with Medium hardness truck bushings. Harder bushings give you more control while doing tricks or going fast. Soft bushings are usually for people who want to carve a lot. Medium bushings are recommended for most skaters.
Choosing Truck Height
Skateboard trucks typically come in three different heights. Low, Mid and High. Low trucks give you more stability, quicker flip tricks, and go well with smaller wheels. High trucks allow you to use larger wheels for more speed/roll distance and more flexible terrain use(rougher roads/ramps). Mid trucks are going to be in between. Most people choose Low trucks for street, Mid trucks or High trucks for both or cruising.
Choosing Axle Length
The axle length is going to be total length of the truck. You probably want to stay within about a quarter inch of the width of your deck. This will ensure that the wheels aren’t sticking out from under your deck. Longboards and old school setups can be a little more flexible with this rule.
SKATEBOARD TRUCK MANUFACTURERS:
Choosing the right skateboarding truck brand can be hard. Here are some of the key points to several popular skateboard truck brands available at KABSURF.
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Grindking Trucks Grind King trucks will be the best trucks you will find for grinding. the hangar of these trucks is made from aluminum which makes them extremely light and superior for grinding. The aluminum hangar is also slightly softer and weaker which means that you may end up having to replace them faster if you grind extensively, but your grinds will definately be much smoother and better. They also have a hex-head kingpin design which is more flush and doesn’t stick out interfering with grinds. |
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Tensor Trucks Tensor skateboarding trucks are the most highly engineered skateboard trucks on the market today. Designed by skateboarding legend Rodney Mullen, they are known to be like the Mercedes Benz of conventional trucks. They are available in both standard and low design. They are a superior all round excellent skateboard truck. |
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Phantom Trucks Phantom II trucks have a low profile, lightweight design with nice smooth edges for grinding. The main difference between Phantom trucks is that they have a built in 1.5mm rubber padding into the bottom of the truck. This adds shock absorbment to the mix. Phantom calls this their “Impact Dispersion System”. This helps to reduce stress on the deck and your feet. |
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Fury Trucks Fury trucks are heavier duty and stronger than most other trucks. Fury trucks have a several special features including a bushing built in to the bottom of the trucks(like the Phantoms), special premium bushings, and a unique ballpoint turning design which has the ball point joint sitting in a socket in the base plate of the truck. |
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Destructo Trucks Destructo trucks have brought us some great truck designs. The Destructo raw series skate trucks are available in low, medium and high. The Limited and Pro series trucks are super sweet with tons of color schemes and pro signature models. |
This guide will help answer some of the questions you may have when deciding which skateboard deck to buy. Skateboard decks tend to be designed around four common types of skating. FYI - When you see 8.25×33 beside the name of the skate deck. This means that the deck is 8.25″ wide and 33″ long.
Transition and Vert
Typically people who skate mostly vert ramps and pools will go with a little bit of a wider skate deck. This is common for this particular type of skateboarding. Reasonable deck size choices would be 8.25″ or 8.5″. This will give you more stability when you need it.
Street and Technical
For street skating or technical skating an 8″ skateboard deck or smaller is usually the best choice. This will allow you to do flip tricks, grinds, and technical skateboard trick combos with more ease than you would with a wider skate deck. 7.5″, 7.75″ and 8″ are all excellent choices.
Both / All Terrain
If you are planning to skate parks and street equally or only want to have one setup for both then you would want to choose something in between. An 8″ deck would probably be a great choice. Of course if you do one more than the other you would probably want to adapt slightly in that direction. Skinnier skate decks are less stable on ramps and wider decks are more clumsy for flip tricks. Find a happy medium and go skate 
Cruising & Carving
There are a lot of options for cruising decks. Most people go with a hefty wide old school deck or a longboard deck. The larger the skateboard the more control and stability it will provide. Think about getting a sweet retro 80s deck. This is your chance to integrate a cool retro or classic deck style into your arsenal. See Longboard & Old School Skateboard Decks
Skateboard wheels are designed in countless different sizes and hardnesses. A skateboard wheel typically has two measurements. The diameter(how tall the wheel is) and the durometer(how hard the wheel is). Most wheels are identified using the A-scale of hardness. For example 99A. Hardness is a very important to where you skate and the kind of skateboarding you will be doing.
Vert and Transition Skating
Most people who skate ramps will be want larger wheels due to the fact that they will roll faster and maintain more speed. A recommended wheel size for ramp riders could be between 55mm and 65mm with a hardness of around 97A to 100A or so. 60mm is a good size to start with but many people will go upwards of 65mm depending on their personal preference.
Street and Technical Skating
If you do a lot of flip tricks you will probably be much happier with smaller skatebaord wheels. They are lighter and keep the board closer to the ground. This will produce easier and faster flip tricks. Recommended wheel sizes would be between 50mm and 55mm with a hardness of 97A to 100A.
Both or All Terrain
If you would like wheels that would bridge the gap between vert and street skating then you should probably go somewhere in the middle. Recommended wheel sizes would be between 52mm and 60mm with a hardness between 95A and 100A.
Cruising
For cruising you want to go with wheels that are larger and softer. Larger for speed and softer for a smooth ride on all types of surfaces. The most common choice of cruising skateboard wheels is between 64mm and 75mm with hardness of 78A to 85A. This will ensure a smooth ride and plenty of speed on rough and changing street terrain.
If you have any questions please email us at: info@kabsurf.com
We will usually respond immediately.
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Old school pool riding virtually drove the world into a ravenous skateboard culture explosion. The Z-boys came out of Dogtown in the mid 70s riding for the infamous Zephyr Surfboard Production shop’s owner Jeff Ho. Shortly after their claim to fame they all eventually parted ways from Zephyr and joined with more polished companies or started their own. To check out Jeff Ho of Zephyr go here: Zephyr Productions.
Jay Adams
One of the most famous of the Dogtown boys was Jay Adams. Jay is hands down one of the most influencial skaters of all time. His spontanious and carefree skateboarding style made him both famous and infamous. It has been rumored that he once publicly snatched a wig off of a womans head while skateboarding past her.
VIDEO - JAY ADAMS Skateboarding 1975.
The Jay Adams Skateboards
The Jay Adams uni-directional skateboards were deemed the highest performing boards of their time. Z-products is still producing them to this very day. You can find order them here at KAB under Jay Adams Skateboards or Z-Flex Products.
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