From a beginner’s point of view, skateboarding has a steep flame curve because you have a small surface to keep your balance. Longboards have a larger surface that helps you stay on your board. At high speeds, large wheels, wide trucks, and large decks can slow you down.

Longboarding is easier than skateboarding. Longboards have wide and long and soft wheels that make it much easier to keep your balance. Skateboards have tighter little wheels and less space for your feet and take longer to learn. In general, if you are new to riding board, it is better to start with soft wheels, it will make you progress faster.

Longboard & Skateboard are quite different sports and there are many similarities between them. To find out what's easier for you, ask yourself what you want to do. You don’t take a longboard to a skate park and you don’t bomb the mountains on a regular skateboard. If you slap the right wheel, you can wiggle a bit on both sides.

So let’s see what kind of styles there are so you can decide for yourself what kind of board you should get.

The difference between skateboarding and longboarding

Many have no formula, skateboarding and longboarding are the same. The differences between you and me are quite obvious just by looking at them but there are a few key reasons that set them apart.

Longboards are made for smooth rides and turns, have large wheels and trucks, and are much larger. 

What has in common between them

Skateboarding and longboarding both come from surfing. In the early days, surfers found a way to practice their moves when there were no waves to ride. It quickly evolved into pool skating and a new kind of board came to life. There is much more to it but I will save it for another post.

Both have their own subcultures, music, and clothing. For some, it’s a lifestyle and both are great ways to make new friends. To this day, I am still friends with many skateboarders from my childhood.

Apparently, both have a board, bearings, bushings, trucks, wheels, and so on. We all eat now and then and like to skate both skateboarders and longboarders occasionally.

Regular skateboard and style

It’s hard to pin down. Most skateboarders like to do everything but at times, some skateboarders prefer to do pieces on the street where others just skate balls, warts, and mini ramps.

Just riding is something that everyone can learn with a little patience. Once you move on to the trick it becomes much harder. There are some apprentice techniques that you can pick up relatively quickly, but crushing the rails and jumping huge stairs is something else.

If you just want to learn to travel but feel like at some point you want to hit something, take a regular skateboard. 

What is a good longboard for beginners?

This is a difficult question. It depends on what you want to do, as mentioned earlier. You need a setup with some reliable and suitable quality parts. Buying a cheap longboard will make it difficult for you to learn the basics. It can make you frustrated and leave.

Just ride, do a little carving and when you get more confident, do the pumping work.  Take something that gives you the best bangs for your buck and still high-quality ingredients. I will not divide all my money into things that I may or may not enjoy.

What is a good skateboard for beginners?

Like longboards, you shouldn’t go for cheap toy skateboards. It will be an incredibly frustrating experience. You can either assemble it yourself or buy a complete one and it can be done with. Assembling yourself means you choose the truck, bearings, wheels, grip, and board. This is not rocket science and you can choose high-quality parts.

Although assembling is much more expensive and requires some knowledge of wheel specifications, decks, and trucks. You can get a beautiful complete skateboard for around -0-80 rupees and upgrade gradually.  I recommend buying one of these complete, you will find lots of skateboards at good prices.