Well longboards and skateboards are similar options for novice riders, but actually, they are more different than you might ever think due to many reasons. Due to these features, longboards are more reliable and well-performed than skateboards.
You might think that in addition to their reliability and performance, why are longboards more expensive than skateboards? The simple answer to this question is that longboards are expensive as compared to skateboards because they are primarily used for transportation and cruising. Longboards have more durable decks trucks and wheels.
Reasons Why Is Longboard so Expensive
Here I discussed a few reasons why longboards are so expensive.
Price comparison
When it comes to price longboards are more expensive than skateboards as there are more durable materials being used for years together. These materials are wood for the huge deck, metal for the wider trucks, and urethane for wheels.
Anything that comes to less than 150$ is going to be a cheaper one and does not come with quality material in all terms.
Because less material is used in skateboards, they are cheaper than this option. They need more replacements from use. A regular skateboard comes to be anywhere between $25 to $200 depending on the build and quality of the material.
Component comparison
Deck
Decks are the most apparent difference between longboards and skateboards. Skateboards are cheaper than longboards because of smaller decks that are altered in width depending on the shoe size of the skater. They are also comparatively small to do tricks on the board because of less space.
In addition to the above features, the largest difference is the lip on the back side of the deck and what appears on the tail of it. Being a small lip makes it much easier to flick and pop your foot to do the various tricks on the board.
The skateboard decks are made normally with 7-ply maple wood, but there are also other brands that use this material. When it comes to shapes of decks, many out there prefer cruising like powel reissue decks, easier and wider for general cruising and pool reading. But still, a good option for many tricks to be done.
On the other hand, longboards are featured with wider and longer decks as compared to skateboard decks. On average the measurement of longboard decks comes to be 33 to 60 inches in length and 8.5 to 10 inches in width with various wheelbases.
Outside of the common skateboard deck, longboards are available in different shapes like drop-through, pintail, dropped, top mount, and drop-through.
Materials
In addition to shapes the most common reason to be expensive for longboards is the material used in them. These include fiberglass, bamboo, carbon fiber, maple composite, and corks.
In terms of the lip of the board, there is no lip that a skateboard has, so you can do loads of tricks on them like pop shuvit kickflip and even finger flip if your legs are strong and strong muscles.
Trucks
In component comparison, trucks make the most important difference to be expensive for the longboards, longboards come with heavier and wider trucks specially designed for carving and turning. Many latest and advanced longboards are featured with RKP and reverse kingpin trucks as they give more joy per turn per degree of lean and are most suitable for carving.
On the other hand, the skateboards have lighter and smaller trucks and very ideal for most tricks and techniques. They are exclusively designed with traditional kingpins or KTP. This innovative design is not ideal for turning but is a great option for grinds.
Wheels
Wheels are the main component in longboards as well as skateboards, as they play an important role in dragging the board. Longboards are characterized by softer, larger wheels that are best for transportation.
They are very helpful in keeping the board smooth and dealing with pesky rocks and road cracks. Longboard wheels carry high speed for a longer time and cruise around easily.
When it comes to wheels in skateboards, they are smaller and harder ones so the tricks cannot be easily done in them. Being lightweight and hard these features enable them to accelerate and run quickly and faster in smooth skatepark conditions.
FAQs
Why are longboards so expensive?
Longboards are more expensive as compared to skateboards because of the bigger wheel size. Larger decks and wider trucks. So more durable materials used is a cause of higher price.
Are long boards worth it?
Longboards are worth it because they offer the best cardio exercise as compared to regular skateboards. Longboards are made to offer longer distances with much more fluidity, speed, and maneuverability.
Is it easy to learn how to skateboard on a longboard?
You can obviously lean skateboard on a longboard using a standard skateboard or shortboard but from an ease of use and safety standards.
Conclusion
Generally speaking, longboards are more expensive than skateboards because of their durable materials in terms of wheels, decks, and trucks. But the good news is that because of these features, they last longer and have better performance.
