Choosing Your First Surfskate (Beginner's Guide)

Here's a simple guide for choosing your first surfskate. For those who are not looking for technical surf trainers.
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Surfskate vs cruiser: • Surfskates vs Cruisers...
Longboard vs surfskate: • Longboards vs Surfskat...
Beginner carving tips: • Longboard Carving Tips...
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Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
0:59 - Surfskate trucks
3:00 - Wheelbase
5:14 - Surfskate decks
5:46 - Surfskate wheels
7:24 - Customizing
ABOUT CONCRETE WAVES
Our mission is to get more people cruising & carving by inspiring & educating.
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#concretewaves

[@Kufunninapuh]

Just because facts are important to me the segment about core position needs an asterisk. In principle you get more grip the narrower your track width. This means that a center set wheel theoretically has the most grip out of the three exanples, all else being equal, and the side set has the least. In practice the grip of a longboard wheel is also highly dependent on how much the lip can deform to "hug" the riding surface. The products available on the market tend to favor center set cores for slide wheels for the very good reason that they can be flipped for more even wear while maintaining the same feel. Very important for a wheel that is build to be destroyed. Almost all other disciplines tend to favor off set wheels with the amount being adjusted for a huge variety of reasons like wear, grip, compatibility with trucks and decks etc.

[@concrete-waves]

Wow. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this. Thank you! I’m gonna pin this 🙏

[@Kufunninapuh]

@@concrete-waves Thanks!

[@filipmyszkowski1979]

When I was considering buying my first serious board, Steve's videos from Surfskate Love helped me choose the perfect board for me. So I bought my Carver with the perfect wheelbase, with the perfect concave and, most importantly, with the perfect system for me - CX. What convinced me was the simplicity of this system. The only thing that can break are the bushings. No springs, no additional bearings in the truck. I'm heavy, so CX is perfect for me. I once rode a borrowed YOW Meraki, and while the ride was extremely smooth and enjoyable, I felt the system was too gentle for heavy riders. I think weight also matters when choosing a system.

[@concrete-waves]

Interesting thanks for sharing! Totally agree that the CX is a great starting point. Its still one of my favorites trucks to ride

[@nateross14]

Good analogy with the Bike gearing, and newbies will definitely have a much more enjoyable and easier time starting out on a Bushing based Surfskate like the Carver CX...... Some people have better natural balance and pick things up quicker than others, but with practice everyone can get to a very advanced level of riding, so if you struggle at first don't get discouraged! It will come. I started out with both, a Carver CX and Yow Meraki. After about a week of learning to ride, the Yow Meraki became my go to and I never enjoyed the CX nearly as much due to the lack of nose swing that a secondary pivot provides. Its just so much more flowy and easier to pump. There are a lot of people saying the secondary pivot systems aren't great for long distance cruising, which I 100% disagree with, wholeheartedly, once you ride them long enough to where your leg muscles have developed permanent stability memory.....but yeah, at first they will seem much less stable for cruising. Just realize that will change. With secondary pivot surfskates, rear truck adjustment and setup is CRUCIAL. If the rear bushings are too soft, it will allow the front to nose dive. Too stiff and you won't get much lean. Running stiffer bushings on the rear of a secondary pivot Surfskate makes it WAY more stable, so if your ride feels too unstable and twitchy, tighten up that rear truck and/or switch to stiffer bushings. One other extremely important factor with riding secondary pivot Surfskates, is your weight and foot placement. For the greatest stability, you want to keep more of your weight on your rear foot right over or just in front of the rear trucks, and your front foot should stay behind the back of the front wheels. If you are too far forward on the board, with too much weight on the front, it can easily nosedive when turning. Really, all it takes is a little time on the board and get used to weight placement and how it responds. After a few months, itll feel natural and very stable. You'll learn how to ride all positions on the board and I guarantee you'll have a blast.

[@concrete-waves]

Dude once again, such awesome insights. I appreciate you taking the time to share all this 🙏 I can see what you mean about pivoting adapters being okay for longer distances

[@ghostdoggtv]

Nerd point - waterborne adapter is a hybrid of pivoting and bushing based, it does both. The surf truck bushing is one of the easiest and cheapest parts to switch out in order to customize your ride.

[@concrete-waves]

For sure! I've always thought it was cool they use a cube urethane bushing rather than a spring - especially from a durability aspect

[@bradwadefishtx]

The bike anology is good. A pivoting surfskate truck is fun in the driveway or small area. It is not a set up I would grab to go to the corner store. I started my SF journey on a Yow Pipe with meraki trucks. I'm glad I did, but I think for anyone who wants to try out a surfskate, the bushing truck is the way to go. Good stuff as always Billy

[@concrete-waves]

Cool thanks for sharing 🙏 The yow pipe was my first board from yow and it got me hooked. I agree, bushing trucks is a great starting point

[@SurfskateLove]

Such a helpful video, Billy! Thank you! And I love the bike analogy. Spot on!

[@concrete-waves]

Thanks Steve 🙏🙏

[@eBoard3R]

🤙🏽🤟🏽🤙🏽🤟🏽🤙🏽 *The main thing people should realise is what you expect to like, based on previous trucks/setups, never automatically translates to what you like in future,* try everythin folks! You will be surprised what you like/love Another great video 👌🏽

[@concrete-waves]

Try everything. Haha yup! You never know what speaks to your soul. Thanks for sharing man 🙏🙂

[@mikeynaziri]

Phenomenal channel so glad I came across

[@concrete-waves]

Stoked to hear that! 😎

[@waxybikes7138]

I bought the carver cx because i skated more traditionally trying flip tricks and skating transition and got bored of it after a while so the carver cx was a good medium for me between a traditional truck and a street truck and skating has never been more fun!!!

[@concrete-waves]

Dude sick! Makes total sense. I freakin’ love the CX 🔥 I’ve used CX riding transition but it can get sketch real quick. You might wanna check the C5 next since it’s their closest to street trucks 🤷‍♂️

[@user-if2zr7rw4x]

Nice work on this 👊 🙌🏼

[@concrete-waves]

Thanks bro! Means a lot 🙏

[@dxsaigon]

Regarding Gear Ratio: This is something I've often thought about when experimenting with my setups. In addition to how turney the front truck is, wheelbase and wheel size will also affect the gear ratio. So something like a carver cx on a 17" wb and grasp or meraki on a 19" wb could have similar torque at low speeds and similar top end speeds. Because I often have to start and stop at intersections riding in a grid-layout city, I often go with 60mm or 65mm wheels to get a little easier gear ratio vs the more common 70mm surfskate wheel.

[@concrete-waves]

Great point! Thanks for sharing this 🙌

[@Echoes128]

thanks been watching ur videos and you have help a lot in to my skating journey and i love ur channel

[@concrete-waves]

I’m so stoked to hear that! Thanks for the support 🙂

[@pavlatoar]

Fascinating, everytime I watch your video, I learn something new:)

[@concrete-waves]

Yeewww! Love to hear that. Thanks bro 🙏

[@rossmurray956]

really helpful! great vids like this really help build a healthy ecosystem this shit is so important

[@concrete-waves]

Means a lot to hear this. Thanks 😎🙏

[@stricken1666]

Great video as always, I’m looking for a longboard to start, have you done a video on starter longboards?

[@concrete-waves]

Thanks for watching 🙂 I plan to do a video soon similar to this but for beginner longboards

[@Aluenvey]

Ive been hanging out more at Mastodon these days and the larger fediverse, so Im not sure how many surfskaters hang out there. Im also not sure if Im standing 100% correctly, as I use more of a fencing stance, and my fencing shoes most approximate skate shoes. By the way KZbin seems to be auto unsubbing you. But I still watch your channel.

[@concrete-waves]

Nice. I usually just stand shoulder width apart - whatever feels comfortable. And ya I’ve noticed the reach has been lower lately but it’s all good! I appreciate you watching the vids 😎🙏

[@ghostdoggtv]

I use Lemmy so there's at least one of us, no community to speak of yet.

[@whitetailskateboards]

Great video, thanks Billy! About riding fakie, as a rider who likes get the best of both worlds and skate my surfskate, Solride and Grasp Surfskate trucks both works well fakie, from my experience. I thought I share this, in case there’s other people who want to skate a surfskate ✌🏽

[@concrete-waves]

Thanks Sophie! That’s great insights 🙂🙏

[@jorgecardoso5863]

I love you dog

[@concrete-waves]

Appreciate ya dawg 🙏💙

[@nudgeA7]

hiya, nice video:), and I do have a question for you :) I just got me a YOW surfskate( Gabriel Medina Pantera) and am having a lot of fun with it, but i find the wheelbase rather short and puts my weight far back from the front, over the rearwheels AND on strong turns the wheels tend to lockup, due to extreme radial circle...., my question would be, can I and do i have the room to move the rear truck, say an inch further back? or as I heard in your video, give the reartruckfiller an angle...? ty in adv, grtz from NL^^

[@concrete-waves]

Thanks I’m glad you liked it! Nice choice with the YOW Gabriel Medina 🔥 I think that’s an optimal wheelbase for surfskates to be honest but it is personal preference. It’s common for the wheels to lockup on surfskates and I think that could be a riding technique thing to adjust. If you distribute your weight more gradual, you’ll probably fix this. But it’s tough to say without seeing you ride. I am not sure about moving the truck back because of the kicktail angle. I wish I could help more but it’s tough to exactly say

[@icantsee0]

How long does it take for you to come up with these analogies?? They're all just so👌

[@concrete-waves]

Appreciate it bro! But I can’t take credit for it lol. I usually just read a bunch from Facebook groups and Reddit

[@Soloriderpowder]

Which one is better for riding skate bowl

[@concrete-waves]

You can use pivoting adapters in parks, but imo bushing-based trucks are the way to go. I usually just use indy TKPs in bowls, but Carver C5 is a great option. I've also heard others really enjoying Grasp

[@ShortswithAkash870]

From Bangladesh

[@concrete-waves]

Much love bro 😎

[@crackin2000]

Its funny little kids can ride fakie on a surf skate without a second thought .

[@concrete-waves]

Haha you mean because they’re smaller and the trucks don’t react as much?

[@crackin2000]

@@concrete-waves it probably is that but I like to think they have a whole different relationship with gravity and motion. I wish I could shape clips of what I mean . There is this kid in the newer landlocked surfer film that shows off a bunch of people but this one little girl who you can see is getting it much easier than the adults though her part is short.

[@_Ramen-Vac_]

Esoteric the esoteric and then try getting people into it. 69.9K subscribed.. how come that ~just don't add-up? You know somebody. and really have 0 flow. I mean, cannot you just spit a clause out, without pause? 🤔

[@concrete-waves]

💙💙💙