Longboard skateboard

A longboard is a type of sports equipment similar, but not the same as a skateboard. It is much longer than a skateboard. Often faster because of wheel size, longboards are commonly used for cruising, downhill racing, slalom racing, sliding, dancing, long distance racing, and transport.

The first longboards were made by Hawaiian surfers in the 1940's and 50's as an alternative when the waves were too dull. Early skaters built dangerous, improvised boards out of planks of wood and roller skates in a practice known as Sidewalk Surfing. Manufactured Lonboards first became commercially available in 1959 when Makaha, Jack's, and Hobie became the first professional longboard distributors. These early longboards were still relatively crude, as they still featured metal wheels, but later had clay wheels due to improved safety factors. Longboarding became a popular activity in the late 1950's early 1960's, but its popularity had largely died by 1965. Longboarding made a comeback in 1972 when Frank Nasworthy and the Cadillac Wheel Company introduced the urethane longboard wheel. Urethane wheels allowed skaters to reach very high downhill speeds which were not possible before. Standard vertical kingpin skate truck's at the time could not maintain stability at these speeds. In the 1990's, Sector 9 developed the reverse kingpin skate truck. The reverse kingpin truck's stability and maneuverability helped downhill longboarding grow into a legitimate sport, with the International Gravity Sports Association (IGSA) as its governing body. The 90's also saw the introduction of the cutout deck, which has sections cut out around the wheels to prevent the wheels from touching the board during hard turns. Longboard technology has evolved rapidly to accommodate unique modern skating disciplines including downhill, slalom, freeriding, dancing, and freestyle. Modern longboard decks can be made from a variety of materials including fiberglass composites, aluminum, and carbon fiber. Precision trucks, which are machined with cutting edge CNC technology instead of die casting with molds, offer more strength and maneuverability than cast trucks and have achieved popularity among professional skaters.

Most boards measure 84 to 150 centimetres (33 to 59 in) in length while widths vary from 22.8 to 25.4 centimetres (9.0 to 10.0 in). There are several longboard shapes, such as pintails, swallowtails, flat-nose riders, drop-through decks, drop decks and boards with the same shape as a standard skateboard. Pintails permit looser trucks and larger wheels which are better suited for carving or a "smooth" feel, whereas drop decks and drop throughs allow the rider to be closer to the ground, hence a lower center of gravity which increases stability and allows these boards to support more high speed downhill riding disciplines. 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. Longboards have 3 axes: the tail axis (running from tail to tail), the central axis (running straight down through the center of the board), and the short axis (running from the width of the board and perpendicular to the tail axis).

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Wikipedia