My 5yo lad has a skateboard but I’m not sure if it is now suitable or safe. It is one of those scaled down ones, around a foot long and quite narrow. Should the size of the skateboard relate to the size of the rider directly. He seem “too big” for it somehow. Feet close together for his frame etc causing unstable riding….or should he just practice more?

those wee ones are pretty useless for learning how to skate.
depends how much you can/want to spend, but i bought a 7″ by 27″ for my little guy (5th b-day) from rawk:

http://www.rawk.com/c76/kids-complete-skateboards/

decent wheels, trucks and good maple always cost money, tho.

stan.

I was told to avoid the small boards for my 6 year old & so I got her an Enuff board in the end. Specced the trucks, wheels & tape to exactly the colours she likes too & she absolutely loves it!

Yes, rubbish. Bear with me and i’ll reply in full tomorrow as i’m on my phone now. Suffice to say, you wouldn’t put your kid on a adult bike!

following with interest; my daughter (coming up 6) wants one for her birthday but have not a clue what she needs. Looking for all sorts of hinst and tips. Plus I may need one so i can skate with her……

Ok, long winded answer tomorrow. ; )

finally got 5 mins to answer.

i’m not going to go into skateboard types here, suffice to say that your modern ‘street’ double kick board is pretty specific in its use and with little rock hard wheels ain’t the thing if all you want to do is cruise around.

but if its skatepark/street skating…

firstly those little tiny boards are rubbish both in terms of size and componentry. as, componentwise, is a 6.99 complete from sports direct. but if you want a disposable complete to see if you/your kid takes to skating they are worth trying. you can always use them to move furniture in the future – seriuosly, skateboards are brilliant for hefting heavy stuff around a house!

a little kid can skate said full size board, generally about 32″ long, anything from 7-8.75″ wide and a wheelbase around 14.5″. but its not ideal, you would’nt put a 4ft6 kid on a 19″ frame 26″ wheel bike – well, halfords might (he’ll grow into it!), because their stance will be all stretched and when they begin to try an ollie the boards too long.

darkstar skateboards did a chart thats pretty helpful…

Mid 7.3″ x 29″
Height 4’5″ to 5’2″
Shoe Size 6 -7 UK
Age 9 to 12

Mid 7″ x 28″
Height 3’5″ to 4’4″
Shoe Size 4 -6 UK
Age 6 to 8

Mid 6.5″ x 27″
Height Under 3’4″
Shoe Size 5 UK or Under
Age 3 or Under

boardwise you have a few choices. there are some decent kids completes, look for darkstar ‘first push series’, flip ‘young one’ and i believe world industries do some as well.

or you can build up from separates, if you shop about you can get some good deals. my boys board (flip creepyard, indy 129 low and 52mm bones og cost about 70-80quid.

again look for flip young one series decks, termite decks (kid specific company), element twig, pretty sure creature do a kid deck… and theres no doubt more.

finally… please insist on elbow/knee pads, a helmet (most important) and maybe wristguards. for pads TSG do a junior set for around 30quid that are really good quality.

another thought… consider swapping out the truck bushings for some xtra light ones so the kid can turn the board. i used khiro ‘whites’ for my boy when he was small, as he gained size i stiffened the board up.

what gav said… although i’d use bones hardcore bushings in soft over the khiro ones… the bones ones centre better is my only reason.

http://www.rollersnakes.co.uk/product/305427-darkstar-warheads-pre-built-youth-micro-complete.html

Bargain.

thanks for the tips chaps…
I think I am erring on the junior from rawk but would that be ok? Will it have the softer bushings to accomodate his lower weight?

probably not, but its not an expensive replacement – err, unless you use bones, which i use myself, then they are a tenner.

so these bushings are all interchangable then?
All new to me is this!

pretty much a standard. when you get into different areas then you do start to have some truck specific sizes… but i would not worry about that.

with the truck itself you adjust tension through the kingpin that compresses the bushing (used to be called ‘rubbers’ in my day – the 70s) to make said truck looser or stiffer.

my email is in my prof if you ever need advice. or post a link to the board you are looking at and i’ll take a look.

as i mentioned from the outset though, where the board will be skated makes a difference to what you should buy.