Despite many innovations in fun sports, the good old enjoys skateboard is still very popular among young, sports-loving people. The origins of the skateboard go back to the 60s, when the first pioneers wanted to transfer surfing in the sea to the street or the asphalt with simple rollovers. With the development of polyurethane rollers, which provided very good adhesion and rolling properties, as well as buffered axle bearings, which made steering the boards possible, the skateboards became increasingly popular and began a worldwide triumphal march among the youngsters. As the pioneers of the big skateboarding movement were the members of the Zephyr team, who came from Venice Beach and in the 70s repeatedly attracted media attention. Skateboard riders are not only on the road with their roller skates, but also drive through courses and halfpipes, where they sometimes perform almost artistic artefacts. In addition to the actual skateboarding sport, the community is characterized by its own clothing style, by listening to hip-hop music and the proximity to the graffiti scene.

Heroes of skateboarding

Unlike many other sports, there are no fixed leagues and associationswho organize the sport. Nevertheless, there are larger events such as the Mastership or the X-Games, where the world elite of the sport compete with each other. In many countries, including Germany, there are also other contests of various sizes. The most well-known skateboarder, who makes a fortune with his sport and the associated sponsoring business, is Tony Hawk. Other big names are Danny Way, Chris Cole, Jamie Thomas, Eric Koston or Ryan Shakler. The most famous german skateboarder is Mack McKelton.

Construction of the skateboard

The basics of each one skateboard make up the board, the so-called deck, two steerable trucks called trucks, and four wheels called Wheels. The locomotion is done by pushing with a leg, which is called pushing. The decks are usually made of veneer plywood and usually consist of twelve layers. Standard boards have a length of 80 centimeters and a width of 20 centimeters. Many of the boards have a slight curvature inward, so a concave shape. Other components of the skateboard include the names Axle Nuts, Baseplate, Bearing, Bolts, Shorties, Bushings, DohDohs, Rubbers, Griprape, Hanger, Kingpin, Nose, Nuts, Pad, Spacer and Tail. Of these, above all, the tail, as the bent end of the deck, the nose, as the top of the deck, and the Griptape to call what the rough and non-slip coating that sticks to the deck, called.

Variants of the skateboard

In addition to the classic shape of the skateboard described above, there are still some variants that play their strengths in certain uses. Especially in recent times, especially longboards have become increasingly popular. They have a longer deck, the nose and tail are less pronounced, but the roles are bigger and softer. Longboards usually have a length of 90 to 150 centimeters and are more suitable for relaxed cruising than for use in the halfpipe. If you really want to achieve speed, you should opt for a slalom board. These boards are between 60 and 90 centimeters long, also have larger and softer wheels and waive a projection at the nose and tail. With it skaters can easily reach speeds of 30 and more kilometers per hour. Another variant is the Snakeboard, a two-parted one skateboard with which you can drive very well in slalom and also do tricks and jumps very easily.

Good boards

There are a large number of skateboard manufacturers, some of them operating in regional markets and some even appearing globally. For example, boards from Titus, Toy-Machine, Santa-Cruz, Almost or Mob are widespread in Germany. In the retail trade can buy completely finished boards, many professional fathers often screw but also from many individual components their boards themselves together to tailor them exactly for their needs.