Design

It began something like this: What if we put a surfboard on wheels? 

Early skateboards were made of simple wooden planks with wheels attached to the bottom from roller skates. It was meant to mimic the feeling of gliding without hands like surfing thus it was referred to as “Sidewalk surfing.”¹. There is not a clear inventor of the skateboard because of this, but a man named Richard Lawrence “Larry” Stevenson invented the well-known kicktail skateboard, which was sloped. The kicktail enabled riders to have more control of the board and more easily perform tricks.² The modern skateboard patent from year 2000 is held by Graeme Scott Attey. ³

Originally, the wood was stiff and the wheels were originally made of steel. The issue with this was that metal did not offer much traction which was very dangerous and difficult to control because of excessive skidding.⁴

Clay wheels began to replace metal wheels in the 1960s, which also provided a rough ride that was described as “…was wobblier than hell, moved way too fast, and vibrated on the asphalt enough to jar every bone in your body and loosen every tooth. It was more like getting electrocuted than anything else.” (Bob Schmidt, quoted in The Concrete Wave, 1999) ⁵
Skateboards began to be mass produced in the early 1960s but a large majority of skaters made their own homemade boards with clay wheels. Due to an increasing amount of injuries and board malfunctions many of the skate stores closed down in the 1960s because they were considered a hazard.⁶

Skateboarding’s dormancy was short lived because the invention was revived in the 1970s when a ground-breaking innovation was made by Frank Nasworthy. ⁷ He was a part of the movement of selling commercial skateboards with his company called Cadillac Wheels. He developed wheels out of polyurethane, which provided far superior flexibility and traction that revolutionized skateboarding throughout the 1970s and 80s. ⁸Polyurethane wheels were both safer and faster, while also providing more control to skateboarders. ⁹

The smooth new way to skateboard re-popularized skateboarding, bringing in tons of new interest for the movement.  New companies improving and selling skateboards popped up as the interest in skateboarding further grew. Manufacturers further began to develop different types of decks using more creative materials. metals, like fiberglass and aluminum. There are still skateboards made of these materials, but the most common skateboards are now made of maple plywood. ¹⁰The combination of improved skateboard parts gave skateboarders more and more flexibility and handling, so they began to experiment with tricks. Over the years, skateboards continued to improve to be narrower and more specialized to all sorts of skating styles. ¹¹

There are three main parts of the skateboard. The deck, the truck, and the wheels. ¹²The deck is the main part of the board that the user stands on. It is usually comprised of maple wood that is treated to be durable and slightly flexible. The front of the deck is the nose, and the middle is the concave, and the back is the tail. There are several different deck types for all sorts of skating types including freeriding, speedboarding, slalom, cruising, carving, long distance, boardwalking, and technical sliding.  Grip tape, the sandpaper-like coating often applied to the tops of skateboard decks reduces shoe sliding. ¹³

The truck is the T-shaped component that holds the wheels to the deck. This part varies in height and size depending on the deck size and rider height and weight. Low trucks are easier for beginners and kids because it’s easier to push. More advanced skaters who want more height out of tricks use boards with higher trucks. However, any size can ultimately use a low or high truck setup depending on the type of skating they’re doing. There is no industry standard for truck height.  ¹⁴

Individuals also took advantage of skateboards as a personal canvas to express themselves. Skate shops sell all sorts of custom stickers and decals to attach to skateboards for customization. People do custom paint jobs or modifications for further personalization.

1. Los Angeles: Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA, pp.1-13. Available at: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/youth/surf.pdf [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
2. Hamm, Keith. “Kicktail Innovator Larry Stevenson Dies.” ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, March 26, 2012. https://www.espn.com/action/skateboarding/story/_/id/7740600/skateboard-kicktail-innovator-larry-stevenson-dies-81.
3. Attey, Graeme Scott, n.d.
4. Skatemag. “The Evolution Of Skateboard Wheels.” Skateboarding Magazine. Skateboarding Magazine, February 12, 2012. http://www.skateboardingmagazine.com/the-evolution-of-skateboard-wheels/.
   
5. “Skateboard Design: Making Skateboard Wheels.” Exploratorium. Accessed October 30, 2019. https://www.exploratorium.edu/skateboarding/skatedesignwheel.html.
6. Cave, Steve. “Skateboarding: From Wooden Box Boards to Commercial Mainstream.” LiveAbout. LiveAbout, September 30, 2018. https://www.liveabout.com/brief-history-of-skateboarding-3002042.
7. Weiss, Eric M. “A Reinvention Of the Wheel Annandale Teen’s Idea Brought Skateboarding Back to Life.” The Washington Post. WP Company, August 17, 2004. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6502-2004Aug16.html.
8. Skateboard.” How Products Are Made. Accessed October 31, 2019. http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Skateboard.html.
9. “Skateboard.” How Products Are Made. Accessed October 31, 2019. http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Skateboard.html.
10. “Skateboard.” How Products Are Made. Accessed October 31, 2019. http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Skateboard.html.
11. Evolution of the Skateboard Deck.” https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com. Bio Medical Center (BMC), June 24, 2011.
12. Los Angeles: Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA, pp.1-13. Available at: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/youth/surf.pdf [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019]. 
13.  “Board Shapes and It’s Uses.” n.d. Accessed September 24, 2019. https://longboardgirlscrew.com/2011/12/board_shapes_and_its_uses/.
14. “All About Skateboard Trucks.” skatedeluxe Skate Shop. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://www.skatedeluxe.com/blog/en/wiki/skateboarding/skateboard-wiki/trucks/.