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.