Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here at Endless Longboards! We thank everyone who comes and views the blog and supports us! Also for all longboarders in Houston, ride strong.

Where are the good hills in Houston? Well the one place I would like to mention today (and I strongly encourage everyone to go there because it can be loads of fun) is Terry Hershey Park. If you haven't been there before, go. It can be located at 15200 Memorial Dr, Houston, TX and it a blast. Everyone go try it out and have a Thanksgiving ride for me.

How To Clean Your Bearings

So looking at today's weather, it's hot, humid, rainy, humid, nasty, and a little more humid. Needless to say, is sucks outside. Yay for Houston weather, right? Well with the rainfall we had earlier today, longboarding or skateboarding can actually be a bad idea! I told myself I would never say that, but it is necessary. All the water on the ground can hurt your bearings and cause them to go bad rather quickly. I would like to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone; so today we will make sure you know how to properly maintain your bearings.

Here are a few steps to avoid having your bearings to bad on you:
1) AVOID WATER!
Water is usually the number one reason that bearings go bad. They can destroy your bearings instantly. Lubricating your bearings with grease (I personally prefer White Lithium Grease) can help keep your bearings from getting damaged from water exposure but never think it will save them completely. Oiled bearnigs are not protected at all as oil only helps the bearings go faster, not stay cleaner.

2) IF YOU HEAR DIRT OR LOCK UP, STOP!
Dirt inside the bearings can damage the bearings physically, and trying to force a locked up bearing to rotate will cause similar damage and even possibly warp your bearing. You need to asses and clean your bearings always if either of these two situations comes up.

3) AVOID DAMAGING BEARING SEALS!
The only thing protecting your bearing from the outside world is that dirt seal. If warped or damaged it will allow dirt, water, and anything else to easily make its way inside your bearing and can cause serious damage. Good tips to avoid hurting this seal is to carefully remove it with a paperclip when cleaning your bearings and avoid pressing on it with your wrench when your screwing your wheels back on your board.

A few tips for when you are cleaning your bearings to help make your job easier!

• Never use water to clean your bearings. It will rust them over. Use a good solvent such as acetone or alcohol to clean them, and then a good grease such as white lithium grease to finish the job.
• You usually never need to take a bearing fully apart. Just taking the dirt shield off and keeping it "open" is about all you need to do.
• Ensure your bearings are placed on your wheels with dirt shield facing out. Duh.
• Clean your bearings regularly so you avoid the chance of ever having issues with them. Silverfish Longboards says about every 50 hours, I like to clean them once a week or maybe once every two weeks depending on how much I use the board.

Long Distance in Houston

As we all know, Endless Longboards is based out of Houston, TX. The best city in the country, except for longboarding. As many Houstonians know, we live in a very flat city and the few places we have to longboard, such as garages and the occasional hill, are loaded with cops because that's just our luck. One good thing we have in Houston however is the fact that we can do a good amount of long distance travel sense we are on a flat plain and never have to worry about going up the hill, so tonight I would like to make sure we all know what a good board is to go these long distances.

A good cruising board is one that overall you are comfortable on all the time and won't tire you out quickly (obviously), so one recommendation I have is a drop-thru deck so you are lower to the ground. Two decks I highly recommend are the Arbor Axis Bamboo and the Loaded Dervish. Reason being is because they low to the ground, have amazing stability at almost all speeds, aren't limited to their turn because the wheel well is cut out, and they just look spiffy.

Today's lesson however is on your wheels.

One factor you must look into is the wheels you get. Sense you will be on sidewalks a lot (most likely) you will need something that can catch the concrete and hold it well. For this you need to look at two factors on the wheel: the shape to have a corner edge on the wheel to hold concrete rather than a rounded edge to slide, and the "A" number that's an indication of how soft or hard the wheel is, labeled "78A" or "86A". These tell exactly what kind of wheel you are looking at. Slaloming on a longboard is just dodging people, poles, holes, or hot women chasing you because longboarding is sexy. To ensure that your board won't slide on you, you want to make sure you have a solid wheel that can grip the concrete. So to do this you need to look into having a softer wheel; they will wear out on you a bit faster (but if you're only casually riding don't worry about that as much) but they grip the a lot concrete better. Soft wheels are lower "A" numbers, such as a 72A, 76A, or somewhere around that. I wouldn't go much past 80A if you want solid grip on the concrete.

So all in all, a softer wheel will give you the best grip on concrete and will ensure you can take the tight turns on the sidewalks and the cornered edge will ensure you don't slide and die. Ok not die but you could bust your &#$ and then those hot women will catch you (however that might not be such a bad thing.. minus your gonna hurt from that fall). So get out there and enjoy Houston.

Bearings

What defines a longboard? It's deck? It's wheels? It's trucks? Personally, I believe its the bearings that define the board. They give you the power to roll however fast you want, and with bad, old, rusted, or warped bearings you will never be able to do anything that you want. However I have the solution for your problems. Whether you are new to longboarding, just bought a new stock complete board, or are as broke as me, bearings seem like an expensive fix; however this couldn't be any more wrong.

Bone REDS

The bearings that I personally use on most of my boards (because I haven't put them on the rest yet) are a very reliable style called Bone REDS. These are more than just your generic bearings and are the most valued bearings for the price you can get them at. Made by Bones, a well known company for their bearings being of top quality, you know for sure that you will get only the best out of these guys.

Why buy these? That is simple. They work. Need I say more? But why do they work so well? Thats because of their simple design. With the standard seven ball design inside the bearings, and easy to clean design, I wouldn't want to ask for more. Being skate rated by Bones, these bearings are proven to be able to take the beating that skate board and longboard wheels and bearings take. This includes the strain from sliding, hard landings, and dirt!

My favorite part about these bearings however is that they come pre-lubricated and ready to use, but if you want to lube them up or clean them at a later date, it couldn't be any easier than 1, 2, 3!

Bone REDS Ceramics

For the more advanced users, try Bone REDS Ceramic bearings, unique to their white dirt cover instead of the red. Have any questions about ceramic bearings, comment and I will be sure to answer you.

If only..

If only I could get someone to make me a custom longboard deck with my design on it, that would be lovely.. (hint hint wink wink?) because I came up with a nifty 'Phantom' deck that could begin a Endless Longboards series.

Its a rough concept idea that I put together at.. 2:43am so yea! But what would be cooler is a Texas Tour to promote the board, the company who makes the board, this website, and longboarding! Who doesnt want to promote longboarding? Anyways, here is the Endless Longboards Phantom deck.

Woah...

Its been almost a month sense I've posted on here last. Sorry about that! I got busy with life and school and its been a major mess but I promise I am still here!

Quick post for me tonight though! For those riding in Houston, TX, I have been trying to find new sick garages to post up and bomb! So far there is little luck! But I have found a few!

The first is in Bunker Hill Village. Take I-10 to Bunkerhill, go south on bunkerhill then at the light, take a right on gay lord. The garage is most of the way down the street to your right! Its a smaller but easy and SMOOTH garage! Bomb it! Just watch out for mall cops! Some let you longboard and others dont!

The next garage is on I-10 and Barker-Cypress. Its just north on barker-cypress just right of a 24-Hour Fitness (or balle total?).. one of them. Its called Woodgroup and it says it on the garage! Its a fun one! Go late night and its empty! Smooth and has few speed bumps that are easy to get around. Lights turn off at 11pm so go boarding in the dark! Be careful you can get hurt! (Theres my disclaimer so you cant get mad at me if you do. Just know where the car stops are...)

Also there is a tall garage on I-10 and Dairy Ashford that I need to look into, so once I get a chance to do that I will post about it for sure!

Bomb it! Have fun. Longboarding for life!