Hi all,

Am thinking of getting a longboard, looks a lot of fun and might be a fun way to spice up the commute. Does anyone have any experience of using one/riding one?

I know its sacrilege to talk about one on a bike forum but my friends who skateboard have never tried one so thought I would widen the net.

Ive been considering one too, my commute ends in a fairly steep hill though (think motorway slip road, which is pretty much what it is, but about 2x as long).

Still deliberating it.

used to all the time when I was at university. being able to control your speed is the key.

and tarmac hurts.

How old are you and when did you last skate?

Falling off skateboards hurts x10 more than bikes.

It’s awesome. Controlling your speed takes a bit of learning. It’s basically carve or scuff your foot at low speeds or full on slides at high speeds. Go on to the Arbor skateboards website and watch all the videos.

I also firmly believe that there is nothing more sexy a girl can do with her clothes on than ride a longboard.

as others have said, controlling your speed is key.

Start with foot braking, carving and then learn to slide.

Checkout Lush Longboards as well as Arbor, Sector 9 and Never Summer

A vert skater once told me that Longboards are for folks who can’t skate anymore and there’s probably an element of truth in it. If I ride a shorter board they feel really nervous and twitchy. But longboards are great for getting your ‘carve on’!

Key for me was finding somewhere safe-ish to ride and practice – ideally you want nice traffic-free smooth, flat (i.e. no camber) stretch of tarmac gently sloping downhill with a good ‘run out’

Since the best places are often public roads a helmet, gloves and pads are recommended. Tarmac really does hurt/rip your skin off.

I’ve got some mates who longboard a lot and I always have a go when I see them.

Rolling around on the flat is fun, but introduce hills and you’d better be able to control your speed otherwise you’ll tear your face off. Keeping everything under control on a hill is much harder than it looks.