What is a Good Longboard for Sliding?

longboarder sliding around a corner on a steep hill
1 February 2020
What is a Good Longboard for Sliding?

Without a doubt, sliding is one of the most fun things you can do on a longboard. Building speed downhill, letting loose and drifting feels amazing and is something you can really add style to whilst progressing your riding.

However, longboard sliding is not as easy as the pros make it look. You’ll need plenty of practise and likely take loads of falls trying to learn. But there is one way you can get ahead, and that’s by getting yourself started on the right board. Here, we’ll guide you through all the elements that make up the best longboard for beginners when it comes to sliding.

Best longboard wheels for sliding

Ask anyone about a skateboard setup for sliding and they’ll tell you it all starts with the wheels. It makes sense that the only contact point between you and the tarmac would be crucial to help you go sideways.

First things first, make sure you’re on wheels with a relatively hard compound. Wheel hardness is measured on a durometer scale which ranges from 73A – 101A with the higher number being the hardest (learn more about that in our longboard wheels guide).

In short, soft wheels provide more grip while hard wheels provide less grip, making it easier for you to initiate a slide. We’d recommend not going too hard however, or you’ll lose a lot of grip where you might need it.

stoneground longboard wheels and smooth longboard wheels

Another important part of longboard wheel construction for sliding is the finish of the contact patch. This can either be smooth or stoneground. Smooth provides more grip whereas a stoneground finish is rougher, meaning the contact with the tarmac is less consistent, again helping you to initiate a slide.

Narrower wheels also make a skateboard much easier to slide because of the decreased contact patch, however, with a wide longboard we wouldn’t recommend going too narrow on your wheels. As with the hardness, the width needs to be balanced so that you don’t lose too much grip.

Best longboard deck for sliding

Skaters who want a board specifically for sliding, will more often than not be using what is known as a freeride longboard. These boards have been designed to offer a low centre of gravity and long wheel base for maximum stability and control at high speeds. Often, they achieve this by using drop-through trucks which are mounted through the deck.

These characteristics also have a huge effect on how easy it is for the rider to initiate a slide. The low centre of gravity allows the rider to get lower with the slide and really kick the tail of the board away. The longer wheelbase means that whilst you are in a slide, it’s much easier to control thanks to the added stability.

freeride longboards range

Longboard deck concave

Another element to longboard deck design that you will often find on a freeride board and really helps with sliding is the concave in the board. Concave essentially refers to the profile of the deck and you can identify the concave of your board by looking down the length of the deck with your eyes level to it.

The most common concave type is a radial concave where the sides of the deck turn up so that they are higher than the centre—looking down the length of the board, this will resemble a subtle U-shape. The depth of the concave can vary and is usually indicated as either mellow, medium or steep. This type of concave can be found on many types of board as it really helps with grip.

For freeride longboarders it’s especially helpful for sliding, as it means you can confidently push your foot into the curve of the deck knowing that the higher sides will stop your foot from sliding off as you try and push the board into a slide.

‘W’ concaves are also found on freeride longboards such as our Duke bamboo model. This where the deck profile will resemble a ‘W’ shape, usually just in the area towards the tail. The extra curve in the centre line allows you to shift more energy from your heel to toe giving a really precise, responsive feel to your board. It means that you also still have grippy foot pockets towards the edges of the deck so this style can work for sliding as well as being an agile carver.

Best longboards for sliding at Two Bare Feet

Here at Two Bare Feet, we have a huge range of freeride longboards in different lengths, deck profile designs and concave types so there’s bound to be one to suit you. We also provide all of our longboards as completes so they will come ready with 78A stoneground wheels, ready to get you going sideways in no time.

If you need any further advice on which of our freeride boards to choose, please give us a call or drop an email and one of our experts will be more than happy to help.