2. A longboard generally can be as short or as long as the rider
desires; the most popular range is about 36 to 60 inches. As
well as being usually longer than a trick deck skateboard
longboards may also be equipped with larger, softer wheels
which afford a smoother ride. However, there are many
different uses for longboards, as shown below. Since
longboards use softer bushings than a typical tech skateboard,
carving is generally easier. Some trucks use springs instead of
bushings,
such as Seismic trucks or Original trucks. Original trucks also
feature a wave-cam mechanism to control the lean and turn of
the truck. The truck can usually be slightly wider than the
board but this is not always the case.
The most basic use of a longboard is travel or transport. However,
it designs to take many different shapes, including long, wide
cruisers as well as shorter hybrid type boards. Their trucks are
designed to be loose to allow for sharper turns and corners. It is
useful to have a pintail on a commuting longboard in order to corner
on sidewalks and to lift the front of the board when riding off curbs.
Also, one may prefer a shorter board, around 24"-35" for
commuting, as well as medium sized wheels (65mm-75mm) which
help commuters manoeuvre bumps, cracks and other minor surface
obstacles.
3. Longboarding, also referred to as "sidewalk surfing", is
an offshoot of street skating that combines surfing and
skateboarding. It originated in Hawaii around the late
1950's and was further developed as a sport on the
West Coast of the United States, primarily in California
in the 1970's. Surfers were seeking a similar ride in the
streets when the waves were flat. By the 1990's, a
resurgence in board sports such as skateboarding and
snowboarding was seen,
They would imitate the moves of surfing a wave by skimming their
hands across the ground, carving quickly, changing their
positioning on the board and trying to keep everything flowing.
Longboarding or Skateboarding wasn’t what it was originally called.
It was actually called Sidewalk Surfing. It wasn’t until 1959 when
longboarding/skateboarding hit the market place. Skateboards were
sold all over the place, toy stores, convenient stores, etc. Makaha,
was the first professional board distributor. Gordan and Smith made
the first fiberglass boards, more popularly they were also known as
G&S. But, of course, these things were very dangerous at this time
in our history.
4.
5.
6. Surfing is one of the oldest practiced sports on the planet. The art
of wave riding, is a blend of total athleticism and the
comprehension of the beauty and power of nature. Surfing is also
one of the few sports that creates its own culture and lifestyle.
The act of riding waves with a wooden board originated in
Western Polynesia over three thousand years ago. The first
surfers were fishermen who discovered riding waves as an
efficient method of getting to shore with their catch . Eventually
catching waves developed from being part of everyday work to
being a pastime. This change revolutionized surfing.
There is no exact record of when stand-up surfing became a
sport. It is known that during the 15th century, kings, queens and
people of the Sandwich Isles were big into the sport of "he'enalu"
or wave-sliding, in old Hawaiian,. "He'e" means to change from a
solid form to a liquid form and "nalu" refers to the surfing motion
of a wave.
Early historical records of surfing appear in the late 1700s, when
Europeans and Polynesians made first contact in Tahiti. Navigator
Captain James Cook described how a Tahitian caught waves with
his outrigger canoe just for the fun of it: "On walking one day
about Matavai Point, where our tents were erected, I saw a man
paddling in a small canoe so quickly and looking about him with
such eagerness of each side. He then sat motionless and was
carried along at the same swift rate as the wave, till it landed him
upon the beach. Then he started out, emptied his canoe, and went
in search of another swell. I could not help concluding that this
man felt the most supreme pleasure while he was driven on so
fast and so smoothly by the sea."