Longboard Pintails

Pintails are type of longboard taht permit looser trucks and larger wheels which are better suited for carving or a "surfy" feel where as drop decks and drop throughs allow the rider to be closer to the ground, hence a lower center of gravity which allows these boards to support more downhill riding. 

Dimensions of the longboard

Most longboards measure 84 to 150 centimetres (33 to 59 in). There are several shapes of longboards, such as pintails, flat-nose riders, drop through decks, drop decks and boards with the same shape of a standard skateboard. Pintails permit looser trucks and larger wheels which are better suited for carving or a "surfy" feel where as drop decks and drop throughs allow the rider to be closer to the ground, hence a lower center of gravity which allows these boards to support more downhill riding. Mid-length boards, 94 to 127 centimetres (37 to 50 in) are the most versatile. Their greater weight and bulk makes them less suitable for many skateboarding tricks, but contributes to a fluid motion by providing more momentum. The longboard's design allows for big turns or quick short carves similar to the motions of surfers or snowboarders.

The record for the longest distance travelled on a longboard was set by David Cornthwaite in 2006 when he skated 3,638 miles (5,820 km) from Perth to Brisbane across Australia.

History of longboarding

A Brief History of Longboarding

The sport of long-boarding was born, unsurprisingly, in Oahu, Hawaii. When the waves weren't curling, a few enterprising surfers decided to put a board on wheels to stay gnarly. In its infancy, this activity was called "side-walk surfing," and was characterized by fluid movements and fast carving. The surfers went so far as to drag their hands on the concrete, imitating the feel of a wave. This motion is still in use by long-boarders, but for different reasons; mainly sliding. After a few years of bumpy and frequently painful rides, people decided that long-boarding was dangerous and risky, possibly because early boards were crude and lacked the shocks and urethane wheels of modern boards.

A couple of decades later, in the early 70's, boarding was reborn and soon became vastly popular. By the 80's boarding (mostly short-board skate-boarding) had become associated with rule-breaking and, to some extent, counter-culture in general. This development certainly aggravated the die-hard boarders of yore, but they kept cruising and passed on the real soul of long-boarding to future generations. In the past decade, skate-boarding has mostly lost its negative associations, and long-boarding has grown increasingly in popularity and acceptance.

Longboard Girls