 |
|
|
Page Last Updated:
Friday, 8 August 2008 |
|
|
|
|
|
Home>Sport and Leisure>Skate/ BMX Parks in Hobsons Bay>Skateboard Maintenance
| This page contains information about maintaining your skateboard and basic instructions with regards to cutomising your skateboard and your quiver so it feels right for you, after all it is your skateboard and you are different to other people you may skate with.
Trucks: All hardware (nuts and bolts) on a skateboard tighten in a clockwise direction. Check all hardware, wheels, deck hardware and trucks on a regular basis to ensure that they have not worked loose.
If they have, tighten them up with the appropriate tools. Never loosen nuts beyond the nylock/plastic section unless you are removing specific parts on the skateboard and intend to put the nut back on, if there is no nylock on the nut, replace it!
Deck: Always take care of your skateboard, use it with clean shoes, keep mud and dirt off your skateboard so the griptape remains like new.
Riding your skateboard in wet weather will wreck your deck and make it fall apart, it will rust your bearings and parts of your trucks. Treat your skateboard like your best friend. If the griptape gets dirty, it can be cleaned with an old toothbrush and some mild soapy water. Dip the toothbrush into the water and scrub the griptape being not to let it drip into the deck bolt holes or any exposed timber of the deck.
Once you have finished, towel dry and go skating. After a while your griptape will need replacing, you can buy it at the local skateshop and they will generally put it on for you. The better care you take of your skateboard the longer everything will last. Better quality decks are generally made of Canadian rock maple. It is an idea to have a couple of different boards for various types of terrain.
Bearings: Your bearings, just like you need to be cleaned once in a while. This is how it's done...
First of all, remove them from your wheels using the end of your trucks axle, as you remove them put them into a small container. If you have removable shields, use a fine pointed object like a safety pin to remove the c-ring which will allow you to remove the sheild. Be careful when doing this so that you don't prick yourself or loose the c-ring.
Once all the bearings are in the container, pour in some solvent or mineral spirits, taking note of the instructions for use and disposal, use a toothbrush to clean the bearing removing each bearing as it is cleaned and placing them onto a towel or clean dry surface.
Allow the bearings to dry, then lubricate them with a fine oil like sewing machine oil. Place the sheild back on the bearing replacing the c-ring. Put the bearins back inside your wheels and roll like you've never rolled before. At some stage you will need to replace your bearings, and ABEC means the amount of noise that your bearings make, NOT how fast they are.
Wheels: The wheels and bearings control the roll and dictate how fast you will be hitting the terrain.
The softer the wheel, the smoother the ride and more suitable for rougher terrain or a stealthy, quiet and criusy ride.
The harder the wheel, the faster yet rougher the ride. Softer wheels grip much better and harder wheels slide much easier. Rotate the position of the wheels once in a while, so that the wear is even. They will last longer and look much better than having one or two wheels looking completely thrashed and coned out.
Some wheels have cores, flat-backs, radiuses, conicals, no cores come in different colours, they could be bigger, smaller, flatter, wider, these all have specific purposes for all different types of skateboarding.
Better quality wheels are made from urethane, cheaper ones have a plastic appearance. Hard wheels are generally anything from 95A upwards and softer wheels can go as low as 78A, which is a super soft gooey ride. Choose whichever wheels suit you needs, it is an idea to have a few sets of wheels, all different hardnesses for different terrains.
| |
| |
|