Spaces, thickness, and weight are only a few aspects relevant when picking skateboards. For some, these are negligible, but if we spend more time learning these figures, we’ll understand more of their significance.
And for once in your skating journey, you have probably asked, “what is wheelbase on a skateboard?”. It’s not a component, but it’s the space between the inner truck bolts of your skateboard. Keep reading this article to learn whether does wheelbase matter skateboard.
Table of Contents
What Does a Skateboard’s Wheelbase Do?
Not everyone may recognize it, but the distance between the inner truck bolts varies among skateboards, even the electric ones like Space Chariot Skateboard. With that, let’s understand these variations and their impact.
1. It affects popping on the skateboard
When you pop on your skateboard, you don’t get uniform heights. It may be due to your execution, or probably the wheelbase.
Granting you have mastered this technique, the wheelbase most likely affects your performance.
While long wheelbases are more responsive, they tend to feel heavy to lift. Also, both ends of the deck seem shallower with a long wheelbase. These impose an added challenge to toss the nose up.
2. It dictates turning and balance
Conceptually, long decks help you balance better and shorter boards work best for achieving sharp turns.
We can associate long decks having long wheelbases. Most tall people can benefit from long wheelbases because they provide enough space to establish balance. And if you’re one of these long-legged riders, your knees won’t have a hard time securing your core.
On the other hand, shorter decks, having shorter wheelbases, yield a smaller radius. This aspect makes skateboards like this fit technical skating more.
Whether you find the deck long or short, it’ll still depend on your build, height, and preference.
The Skateboard Wheelbase Guide
At this point, we’ll assess the best skateboard wheelbase measurement for different riders considering their style and other factors. Consider the following steps:
- Grab a measuring tape with intervals in inches.
- Point one end on one of the inner truck bolt holes of the deck.
- Run the measuring tape straight and parallel to the deck’s length.
- Stop on the opposing inner bolt hole of the deck.
Consequently, we don’t frequently encounter a skateboard wheelbase chart. But see what some measurements tell you:
- 2″ – Good for street and riding a wide array of deck dimensions
- 15″ – Long vert wheelbase, and it’s generally ideal for achieving enough stance.
Some brands also produce a 17 inch wheelbase skateboard or 18 inch wheelbase skateboard. But following our rules, these configurations improve the rider’s balance, especially the tall ones.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Allow me to feed more of your concerns with these questions.
What skateboard size should I get?
Skateboards are flexible. You don’t frequently see a fixed size configuration for each level of rider. You can combine different setups, but complementing several aspects can be challenging.
The most common length adults use ranges from 31″ to 33″. While this aspect is not as relevant as the width, its wheelbase directs the board’s turning radius and the user’s balance.
For the width, it’s best to have a deck at around 8.0″ to 8.25″. These figures set the denominator for the majority of skateboarders.
How many wheelbases are there in a skateboard?
Confusion arises when one talks about deck and truck wheelbases because these are two different things. The deck wheelbase is the one we’re using in this article. Meanwhile, the truck wheelbase is the distance between the front and back wheels.
However, we don’t make use of the truck wheelbase that much. But if you want to relate these numbers with the deck wheelbase, let me teach you how to obtain them.
- Point one end of the measuring tape on one of the front truck axles.
- Extend it to the back axle of the same side of the board.
- Your measuring points should be right at the center of each wheel.
You may browse for a skateboard truck wheelbase chart online for the implications of the number you get. But they may be hard to find.
Conclusion
Not everyone knows how the wheelbase affects your stability and the board’s sharpness. But if there’s one thing that’s sure, knowing about these will improve the quality of your rides.
The answers to the question “what is wheelbase on a skateboard?” are crucial. So, always remember what I have shared with you to help educate other skateboarders.
Did you learn a lot from this article? Don’t hesitate to share it with those who might find the content helpful. Thank you!
Hi, I am Charles Harris. I opened this site to write as much as I can about my biggest passion – skateboarding!
I started as a clumsy yet passionate rookie 10 years ago to now a still passionate yet much better skateboarder! But I have to tell you, the whole journey has always been fun and rewarding, indeed not without hardship.