All You Need to Know About Skateboard Bushings

 

Skateboard bushings are usually made of polyurethane. It has a very important role for the skateboard. They allow you to rotate smoothly. Let’s take a closer look at them.

What are skateboard bushings?

Bushings are considered as one of the very important parts of a skateboard. In fact, every skateboard comes with two bushings:

• The street-facing top bushing
• The board-facing bottom bushing

Similar to skateboard wheels, the material of bushings is polyurethane. They are available in a variety of colours, shapes and hardnesses. Therefore, you may have difficulty in choosing.

However, you don’t need to worry about that. In fact, manufacturers often pre-equipped their skateboard trucks with bushings. They’ve made the settings perfectly suited for trucks and players. However, you can also customize your setup. That means you can replace them.

 

The Ultimate Guide to Choose the Right Skateboard Bushing

All skateboards come with bushings that align perfectly with the wheels. However, you can also change them easily to enhance your experience. However, it is important that you know exactly what you are doing.

1. Skateboard bushing: style  &  shape

There’s no denying that the shape of the skateboard bushing is important. In recent years, manufacturers have made many bushings with different shapes. The following are the most basic bushing shapes.

• Barrel/Cone bushings

Barrel/Cone bushings are the most common shape for skateboard bushings. The reason is that they are very flexible. The bottom bushing is barrel-shaped while the top bushing is cone-shaped.

• Double barrel bushings

They offer outstanding stability. Therefore, they are the first choice for those who love to slide downhill at high speed. However, they won’t give you the flexibility to turn like barrel/cone bushings.

• Cone bushings

This style includes two conical bushings. They are also known as super carve bushings. Hence, this style provides sharp turns and carving.

• Double stepped bushings

Double stepped bushings are similar to double barrel bushings.  These bushings will make for very tight trucks.

• Barrel/Stepped bushings

This design comes with a barrel on top with a stepped bushing on the bottom. Thanks to that, it creates very high stability for the skateboard. It is a great choice for long downhill trails.

2. Skateboard Truck Bushing Durometer

In fact, people use Durometer as a measure of the stiffness of skateboard bushings. In most cases, two different scales are used to measure the bushing durometer.

The A scale is the most commonly used. It ranges from 1 to 100 to measure hardness. The B scale is less common. It is 20 points lower than the A-Scale in measuring hardness. For example, durometer 60b and durometer 80a have the same hardness.

When choosing the hardness of the bushing skateboard, you need to make decisions based on your needs and preferences. If you want smooth turns, choose a softer bushing.

Based on your riding style choose different durometers for top and bottom bushings.

Final Thoughts

In general, bushing is an important component of the skateboard. In some cases, you can tweak it for a better experience. There are many different styles of bushings. Make a choice based on your preferences.

In addition, to get the best driving experience, you need to make sure that the washers you are using are suitable for the bushing. It is also essential to prolong the life of the skateboard and its components.

Do you have a mongo problem?

 

Can’t seem to find the right balance and you fall into mongo? Is it ok to push mongo? Don’t feel ashamed of these questions, you’re not alone. Salt Lake is full of mongo pushers.

What is pushing mongo

What is mongo you ask? In skateboarding pushing mongo refers to using one’s front foot for pushing. Normally a skateboarder feels more comfortable using their back foot to push, while their front foot remains on the board.

In the minority case of mongo footed skateboarders, the opposite is true. Some consider mongo footedness to be a faux pas in skateboarding, as a skateboarder requires more time to prepare for a trick, and some simply find it aesthetically displeasing. Also, due to the fact that the back foot is usually positioned behind the rear wheels, taking the front foot off the board can cause the tail to drag on the ground if care is not taken to move the rear foot forward slightly when pushing. Some skateboarders who don’t push mongo in their regular stance, may still push mongo when riding in switch stance, rather than push with their weaker back foot.

Pushing mongo is alright

Pushing mongo is alright, but it’s a bad habit if you plan on learning technical flip tricks. It’s tough to say that pushing mongo is “wrong” – I don’t believe that there is a right or wrong way to skate, and if it works for you, you should enjoy it! So, if it’s working for you, then go for it!

But, if you are unsure and looking for my opinion, I would say it’s usually better to push with your back foot. If you are just learning to skate, this is a good time to re-learn to push with your back foot. Pushing “mongo” can get in your way, with you having to shuffle your feet around before doing technical tricks.

If, however, you have been pushing mongo for a long time, it can be a little more tricky to decide if you should switch or not. There’s nothing wrong with pushing with your front foot, at all. The only problem is that most skaters push with their back foot, and a lot of people agree that this is the better way. But, if you’ve already pushed with your front foot for a long time, and it’s not getting in your way, then why not stick with it?

Consider

Another thing to consider, unfortunately, is that if you are a young new skater and push mongo, other skaters might make fun of you for it. Which is lame, and it makes a lousy excuse to change how you skate. In fact, if that were me I would be tempted to keep pushing mongo just to rub it in their faces. But, not every skater is as aggressive as I like to be in my imagination. If you are in this position, you really need to get over caring what other riders think of you. It will hold you back until you do.

So, the answer to the question we started with – “is it OK to push mongo?”, is yes. You can push mongo all you want. But, my advice is to push with your back foot. I think you’ll be more stable, and be more quickly set up to do tricks. But, if you already push with your front foot and it’s working for you, then why change?

The 5 Different skateboard stances

 

There are 5 different skateboard stances, 2 standard stances and 3 alternate stances.

Here is a quick list of all 5 different ways to stand on a skateboard. If you are just looking for the terms.

Skateboard stances

• Standard Stances
  • Regular
  • Goofy
• Alternate Stances
  • Fakie
  • Nollie
  • Switch

If you want to learn about each stance, keep reading and we will go over each one in depth.

What are the 2 standard skateboard stances?

The 2 standard stances on a skateboard are goofy footed and regular footed. These stances are different from the other 3 stances because they are chosen for you at birth the same as being born right handed or left handed.

Some people are born goofy footed and some people are born regular footed. You can tell if a person is goofy or regular as soon as the step on the skateboard, even if it is their very first time.

What is Goofy footed on a skateboard?

The term goofy footed just means that you skate with your right foot forward and your left foot near the tail. The term goofy footed doesn’t mean that you skate strangely, or that you look goofy on the skateboard. As for doing tricks a goofy stance uses the left foot to pop the tail and the right foot as the kick foot.

What is Regular footed on a skateboard?

Regular footed is the reverse of goofy stance. A skater who rides regular stance naturally puts his or her left foot toward the nose of the skateboard, and their right foot near the tail.

A regular footed skater pops with the right foot and uses the left foot to flick or slide for flip tricks. The term regular footed doesn’t mean that you have won some prize and you automatically have average skateboarding abilities.

Am I goofy footed or regular footed?

If you are new to skateboarding and want to know if you are goofy footed or regular footed then all you need to do it get on the board. Before you do that I want to warn you to not push mongo, this will confuse you on how to ride properly.

What does pushing mongo mean? This mean that you put your standing foot on the back of the board while you push. So here is the best way for a new skater to tell if he or she is goofy or regular.

After you get on the board push around a few times. If you are pushing with your left foot on the ground then you are goofy footed, if your are pushing with your right foot on the ground then you are regular footed.

What are the 3 alternate skateboard stances?

The 3 alternate ways to ride a skateboard are fakie, nollie, and switch. These are generally only used for performing different variations of skateboard tricks.

For each skateboard trick there are three different variations of that same trick. Let’s take the kickflip for example. If your riding in your standard stance and you do a kickflip then that’s it, you have done a standard kickflip. Do not call it a standard kickflip. If you are riding fakie and you do a kickflip then you have done a fakie kickflip. Riding nollie and doing a kickflip would be a nollie kickflip. Same goes for riding switch. This applies to every flip trick in the book.

What is riding switch on a skateboard?

This is the same as trying to bat left handed for right handed person. To put it as simple as possible. If your goofy footed and you do a trick in regular footed stance then that would be a switch trick. If your regular footed and you do a trick in goofy stance that would be switch for you. So switch is relative to your standard stance.

To skate switch you just SWITCH to the opposite of your standard stance on a skateboard. I think switch is perhaps the most challenging of the 3 alternate stances. For the large majority of tricks the name stays the same just say SWITCH in-front of the name of the trick. An ollie performed in switch stance is called a switch ollie. A kickflip done switch is a switch kickflip, but some just say switch flip. Switch heelflips are called switch heelflips but you can shorten that to switch heel.

What is riding nollie on a skateboard?

Nollie is when you ride toward the front of the board. With the intent to pop the nose with your front foot rather than popping the tail with your back foot. Your front foot becomes your pop foot and your back foot becomes your kick-foot.

Most tricks that are performed in the nollie position have the same name. The Ollie however is not called a Nollie Ollie, instead it’s just called a Nollie. But just about all the rest of the tricks are called the same thing but with the word nollie precedes the name. Kickflips performed nollie are called nollie kickflips, but again you can shorten that to nollie flip or nollie kick.

What is riding fakie on a skateboard?

I’m going to take a different approach to explaining this stance than most would. Most would explain this as simply riding backwards on a skateboard. While they are not wrong, it is more than just riding backwards. Or they would have just called it backwards instead of fakie. I don’t want to cause a new skateboarder to want to look forward and ride backwards. So! Yes you are riding backwards but your focus is still in the direction you are rolling. And easy way to ride fakie is by pushing mongo.

When you hop on the board put your push foot on the front, because your standing foot is already at the back. Now your riding fakie. The trick naming convention is the same as the other 2 alternate stances.

 

How To Choose The Right Riser Pads

Riser pads, also called risers, are the plastic rectangular pads you insert between the longboard and truck. This will make the longboard higher. Why? On reason you want to do this is to avoid wheel bite. Wheel bite is the friction between the wheel and the longboard deck during a turn or trick. You don’t want this because the wheel will suddenly stop spinning and you will have a nasty wipeout and damage for your longboard wheels.

Riser Pads can preserve your longboard deck. It can reduce the stress cracks where the deck and the truck meet.

There is a variety of riser pads available. Thick, thin, different colors and designs.

 

Do I need riser pads or risers?

The larger the wheels, the more chance you get for wheel bite. Nowadays longboards have wheel wells (a cutout in the deck) allowing for more space for your wheels, but most longboards still need risers to make sure the wheel doesn’t touch the deck. The bigger the wheel, the higher your risers need to be.

Another reason to get risers is that they absorb some of the shocks of impact. The risers can prevent your hardware to get loose over time. You will see most longboards with risers. Only the drop through longboards are without risers. You will see short boards with and without riser pads. Skateboards and longboard decks that use wheels smaller than 55mm do not typically  require risers but even 1/8″ of risers can help you  prevent hardware from vibrating loose.

Hardware sizes

With your board and trucks, you need hardware to get your trucks in place. If you add risers, you need to adjust your hardware to the right length. Below is a chart with sizes:

No Riser – 7/8″ to 1″ hardware
1/8″ Riser – 1″ to 1 1/8″ hardware
1/4″ Riser – 1 1/4″ hardware
1/2″ Riser – 1 1/2″ hardware

Riser Pads holes

When you want to install your riser pads, you will have 4 screws that attach your truck and riser pads to the deck. You will notice 6 holes with the regular most standard riser pads. You only need four. Why are there six holes in risers? Well, the manufacturer added a set of holes to accommodate both new school and old school skateboards. The mounting holes in old school skateboards are slightly closer together since old school trucks were smaller. So the risers can be used on old school boards and new school boards.

Riser Pads Designs

You will also see different kinds of designs. The most common one is the flat riser pads with 6 holes. Some have a design to make the pads more interesting. This makes it not only look cooler but a plus is that it decreases the extra weight of the board. The purpose is the same, though.

          

 

Riser Pads Shapes

Rectangular flat

The most common and basic riser is the rectangular flat one in different thickness. It will increase your deck height and decrease the shock. Larger wheels ask for thicker pads. Experiment with different heights to see what works best for you.

Wedge Risers

Angled or wedge risers do not only raise your deck, but also fixes them at an angle from your deck. You can install them so they are angled away from the center, or towards the center. The wedge risers change the angle of the kingpin and the pivot point. To increase your turn capability, install the thick part closer to the center of the board. If you place the thick part of the angled risers towards the center of the board, you can increase front turn capabilities while decreasing rear turn capabilities.You can also flip the direction of your wedges to create different effects. Play with it to see and feel the effects.

No matter what riser pad shape you choose, you will need to buy longer hardware to accommodate the extra height.