What is the difference between cruisers and longboards

However, all types of longboard wheels are quite soft and are shaped like seventy millimeters. In addition, the longboard trucks are made in a special shape so that it is possible to take sharp turns in a very good way with the longboard. Trucks, wheels, bearings, and decks are some of the most important parts of a longboard.

Grip Tape — Grip tape is also a tape that covers the top of the deck. The main function of this grip tape is to give good traction. This means that when the rider rides on the board, the responsibility of making sure that his shoes do not slip off the board easily is the responsibility of this grip tape.

Deck — The deck is the main part of the longboard. Riders usually stand on that part. This deck is sometimes made of maple wood and sometimes of bamboo.

Some companies also make decks in a combination of maple wood and bamboo. Churchill longboard is one of the best longboard companies in the marketplace! Decks made of both maples wood and bamboo tend to be quite strong and durable. Decks can have different shapes, and the shape and shape of the deck depend on the type of longboard.

You can also buy separately from some longboard decks. Trucks — A metal of three shapes is called a truck. It is basically attached to the lower part of the deck so that the longboard can bend very easily and remain stable.

These trucks also come in a variety of shapes and styles. Longboards are usually fitted with two trucks and have strong ties to the wheels. The various activities of the board are conducted through that relationship.

Axle — The axle of the truck is the pin that turns via the hanger and assigns it to the wheels. Bearings — Bearings are attached to the wheels of the longboard, through which the wheel can rotate very comfortably. Kingpin — This is a bolt that holds the different parts of the truck together. It is applied to face the front but occasionally it is also applied facing the back. Truck bolts — Truck bolts are used to attach the longboard truck to the deck of the board.

Wheels — We all discern what wheels are. These wheels allow the longboard to glide, crave, or cruise on the riding ground. There are diverse stipulations for longboard wheels for instance contact patch, durometer rating, wheel width, and lip shape. Related Article: Best shark wheels review. There are various types of boards available in the current marketplace.

And these different types of boards have their own distinctiveness and uniqueness. And it is through this individuality that the distinction between the cruiser and the longboard is made. And so longboards also have some peculiarities, such as with longboards you can easily travel a long way. On the other hand, the cruising board made in the shape of a cruiser is quite comfortable on the streets of cities, ensuring a safe journey in your direction.

In our article, besides the longboard, another board will also be very important. And that is the cruiser board. Although cruiser boards are much smaller in size than longboards, their structure and type are much closer. However, cruiser boards tend to be much thinner and lighter than longboards. Which is easily portable which means you can take the cruiser board with you anywhere you want.

Also, the top of the cruiser board is much flatter. Would you buy a longboard or a cruiser board? This lets you pop your deck to execute tricks like the Tiger Claw or No Comply.

Ultimately, longboards enable you to perform more than just cruising around. You can still pop an ollie on some cruiser board decks though! This gives you more confidence to solidify your foundations and build up to learn more tricks. Jumping straight into a mini cruiser for this purpose will be dangerous. Stay stoked everyone! Odyssey Boards' very own blog. Everything under the sun about longboarding, skateboarding and having a good time.

Accelerate your learning process with our tailored classes. Tap into our instructors' years of experience. Get started today. Most mini-cruisers are topmount , meaning the trucks are bolted underneath the deck.

This means cruisers are relatively high off the ground, making them harder to push on — your kicking foot has to drop more to reach the ground, your standing knee has to bend more. Top mount also means less stability at speed because of higher center of gravity. Cruisers are generally not the best choice for downhill speed. A full-size cruising longboard , on the other hand, can be either topmount like most pintails or drop-through — where the trucks traverse the deck through holes.

A pintail longboard, such as the Sector 9 Lookout , will be tougher to push on for long distances and less stable at speed than a drop-through longboard, but it will be faster-turning. A drop-through longboard will be more stable at downhill speed.

Mini-cruisers typically run traditional kingpin TKP trucks, which are street skateboard type trucks. Regular longboards, on the other hand, typically use reverse kingpin trucks RKP. TKP trucks are designed to respond to very small movements of the feet, making them well suited for boards with kicks riding at lower speeds.

TKP trucks are shorter than RKP, so on a cruiser this partly offsets the ride height caused by the topmount design, making it easier to push than on a longboard. Besides wheelbase length, RKP trucks e. Turning on them requires leaning harder. TKP are twitchier and more prone to wobbles. Truck size on a mini-cruiser varies. By default, the Dinghy runs very narrow mm Polar Bear trucks, making the board very reactive and fast turning, but not nearly as stable as with a bigger truck.

The Loaded Poke , on the other hand, is a bigger cruiser that comes with RKP trucks in either mm or mm in size, similar to a regular longboard. Because of this, the riding feel on the Poke is quite different from the Dinghy, less twitchy but more stable. Note that the Poke can also be set up with carver trucks, which makes for a totally different experience see this article about surf skateboards and this one about carving longboards.

Cruisers often have small wheels by longboard standards, typically in the mm range, matching smaller trucks and a smaller deck — bigger size wheels cause wheelbite. Cruiser wheels are generally bigger than on a traditional street skateboard, though, which are typically around 50mm. Most importantly, wheels on a cruiser are usually on the soft side , with durometers between 78A and 82A. Soft wheels are better for cruising because they help absorb shocks, particularly on uneven terrains, and offer better traction when carving.

Some riders prefer to use slightly harder wheels which are more slideable and roll faster on smooth surfaces less friction. Urethane quality also plays a role. In comparison, wheels on a full-size longboard used for cruising are typically bigger, starting at 70mm. Bigger wheels roll faster , which is part of the reason why longboards can get to higher speeds. Like mini-cruisers, most longboards fit for cruising run softer wheels for good grip and better cushioning on rough terrain.

Freeriding and freestyling require harder wheels for sliding. A cruiser is great for riding short distances in crowded or congested areas. A cruiser is not so well-suited for traveling far or for riding very fast. A longboard is more stable and comfortable for pushing long distances and for riding downhill at higher speeds. It can have a much wider turning radius than a cruiser though, is generally longer, heavier and more cumbersome to log around and store.

Both cruisers and longboards can be used for freestyle, depending on the type of tricks you do. If you are a human, do not fill in this field. Street skateboards are nimbler, lighter, and less cumbersome for you to carry around than longboards.

However, if you ever use this type of board, you will easily find it quite slow and more uncomfortable to cruise on due to the shocks and vibrations you get. You know why? The main usage of cruisers is to travel in short distances. As we talked a lot above, cruisers are lightweight and compact, so carrying them around is like a piece of cake. Meanwhile, longboards are bulkier and heavier. However, you will see they are more smooth and stable to ride in long distances at high speeds. With the ability to handle high speed, they are an ideal choice for downhill rides.

The key factor in distinguishing a longboard and a cruiser is the deck size. Typically, the decks of a cruiser cannot surpass 34 inches long and 8. On the other hand, a longboard deck is available from 36 inches to 42 inches in length and 8.

The length of a deck and wheelbase — the distance between the front and back trucks — affect the ability to turn. Furthermore, though flex generally varies much for a longboard, some flex supports cruising more smoothly and comfortably in harder surfaces. Especially, a cruiser often features a more robust deck, allowing more pop when skaters use the kicks.

Most cruisers look like surfboards with a kick tail or a small nose kick, which we can use to do kick tricks, as well as pop over cracks, and manuals. On the other hand, a longboard has various shapes. However, most have the pintail-like shape or symmetrical cutout-like shape. A longboard has kick tails to allow some dancing tricks or freestyling. In general, you will not perform the similar types of tricks on a cruiser as on a longboard. Instead, you will concentrate on steeping tricks and manuals vs.

Regularly, cruisers have narrower wheel flares and noses to curb the wheel rub risks. The trucks of a cruiser are typically loose for fast turns. Therefore, it is essential to have a proper wheel clearance for tight carving whenever riding in narrow spaces. For a conventional longboard, wheel clearance, drop-through, and topmount are all critical. Some longboards are used for distance pushing, riding fast on the straight roads, in contrast with turning and carving continuously, so they undoubtedly flaunt limited wheel clearance.

You might not know this, but when cruising, how the trucks of a board are attached on the decks impact the way that board rides much. Most of the mini cruisers have the trucks mounted below the decks. This means they are quite high off the ground, which makes them more difficult to push on.

Furthermore, topmount can make the board less stable at high speeds due to the higher gravity center. Generally, a cruiser is not ideal for long riding as it features small wheels and topmount design. Meanwhile, a longboard can come with drop-through or topmount design like pintails. Accordingly, pintail longboards are tougher for long-distance pushing, as well as less stable at high speeds than drop-through ones.

However, they deliver better performance in faster turning. In sum, longboards are hardly as nimble as cruisers due to their size.