Maybe you saw Daniel Popescue the other night. Or maybe you didn’t because he wasn’t on Australia’s Got Talent, he performed on the Romanian version:
And after seeing Popescue rock some freestyle tricks, you’re thinking of adding freestyle to your skate repertoire.
Or maybe you’re just puzzling over his setup: ‘What ARE those black things on the kicks?’ and ‘What is with that extra griptape?’
Anatomy of a freestyle skateboard
Freestyle skateboards differ from the standard popsicle setup.
Firstly, freestyle decks are usually narrower (7.25″ to 7.6″) than their counterparts for fast flips and stable rail work. Smaller wheelbases (between 11.5″ and 13.75″) help speed up footwork. Concave is nonexistent or extremely mellow; no one wants to catch their foot on the concave while walking-the-dog. And at least one kick is squared off for optimised pogos.
Offset wheels, sometimes paired with extra bearing washers, protect the axle nut while in rail (aka ‘primo’) and are essential for rail stability.
Trucks are one size narrower than the deck, with the standard bushings swapped out for stiffer bushings. Tight trucks, often derided by street skaters, are the freestyler’s cheat for consistent rail tricks and precise footwork.
On the graphic-side of the kicks, griptape is often added for extra traction and control of casper tricks.
Then there are wooden or plastic skid plates that protect and reinforce the kick(s), allowing freestylers to perform truck tricks and nose or tail stalls and scrapes without destroying their boards.
More on freestyle skateboard anatomy from the WWW
The above is a basic breakdown of a freestyle skateboard setup, written with the typical park/street/transition skater in mind.
For more on freestyle parts and how they come together, we suggest checking out Sarah Park-Matott’s video ‘What Makes a Freestyle Skateboard – a set up deep dive’:
If you’re unsure what wheels to choose, Mike Osterman’s article ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Freestyle Skateboard Wheels’ might help. Not only does it explain the difference between offset and regular wheels, it also goes through wheel shapes and durometers.
YouTube viewers will be pleased to learn that Osterman elaborates on his freestyle truck + wheel rule mentioned in the above article in his video ‘How to Choose Trucks for your Freestyle Skateboard’:
If you’re rusty with your deck terminology and need a refresher, Mike Osterman (again) has written ‘Freestyle Skateboard Decks’, explaining features such as ‘concave’, ‘wheel base’, and ‘single-kick’. It’s an easy read, albeit with the obligatory Waltz Skateboarding plug.
But if you want to really nerd out over how deck features affect tricks, Tony Gale’s ‘The Freestyle Deck Guide’ is as in-depth as it gets. It also links to Rodney Mullen’s thoughts on the matter—‘Freestyle Board Notes’ originally published in the March 1989 issue of Thrasher.
Finding freestyle gear in Australia
Not all freestylers subscribe to a specialised deck with all the trimmings. You can certainly ‘hack your popsicle’ for the service of freestyle; it’s a topic that we’d like to discuss at a later date.
But for now, let’s assume you’ve set your sights on a freestyle setup. If you live in the U.S., Europe, or Japan, it’s relatively easy to get one. However, if you call Australia home, it’s a ‘nah, yeah, nah’ situation. Most local shops do not carry freestyle goods and the overseas ones either a) don’t ship to Australia or b) ship to Australia for a hundy or more.
Thankfully, we are not completely without freestyle gear in Australia. Most Powell-Peralta stockists will sell Per Welinder deck reissues and Andy Anderson Nano Cubic wheels.
The Nano Cubics are freestyle-street wheels which were designed to complement Anderson’s hybrid-skate style. They range from 52mm to 60mm in wheel diameter.
We recommend using a 54mm to 56 mm on a freestyle setup. Opt for the harder 97a: the axle nuts will be protected for longer with a harder wheel.
In addition to Powell-Peralta, Perth’s Aikenheads Skateboards sells decks from Waltz Skateboarding and Maple Road.
Founded by Americans Mike Osterman and Daniel Trujillo, Waltz Skateboarding is a freestyle-focused skate company. It currently produces 3 deck shapes:
- the Huntington – a modern interpretation of the 80s single kick
- the Yuta – a symmetrical double kick
- the Bixby – an asymmetrical double-kick allrounder
For traditionalists wanting an 80s board with modern dimensions, Aikenheads-affiliated Maple Road has released a zero-concave, single-kick deck with Kevin Harris.
The Perth skateshop also carries skid plates, unbranded freestyle trucks, and offset wheels from Waltz, Sk8kings, and Momentum.
In Melbourne, OCD Skateshop stock bearing washers and a variety of trucks from Ace, Bullet, Independent, Mini-Logo, and Tensor. They do not carry Paris 108s, unfortunately, but these do occasionally pop up elsewhere.
There’s (surprisingly) a lot of truck models available in Australia (if you look hard enough):
| Truck Model | Hanger width | Axle width | Board fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ace 00 Classic1 | 98mm | 6.50″ | 7″ |
| Ace 11 Classic1 | 117mm | 7.25″ | 7.5-7.6″ |
| Bullet 1102 | 108mm | 6.9″ | 7.25-7.4″ |
| Bullet 1202 | 116mm | 7.2″ | 7.5″ |
| Independent Stage XI 1093 | 109mm | 6.9″ | 7.25-7.4″ |
| Mini-Logo 7.134 | 116mm | 7.13″ | 7.5″ |
| Paris Street 1085 | 108mm | 7″ | 7.25-7.4″ |
| Tensor Alloy Raw 4.256 | 108mm | 7″ | 7.25-7.4″ |
| Unbranded7 | 117mm | 7.25″ | 7.5-7.6″ |
- https://www.acetrucks.com/sizing-chart (accessed 2 March 2024) ↩︎
- https://www.tactics.com/bullet/standard-skate-trucks (accessed 2 March 2024) ↩︎
- https://independenttrucks.com/trucks (accessed 2 March 2024) ↩︎
- https://www.facebook.com/minilogo/photos/a.273075179383196/3946446108712733/?type=3 (accessed 2 March 2024) ↩︎
- https://www.paristruckco.com/collections/trucks/products/street-108mm-raw-orange(accessed 2 March 2024) ↩︎
- https://www.skatedeluxe.com/blog/en/wiki/skateboarding/skateboard-wiki/trucks/(accessed 2 March 2024) ↩︎
- Unbranded trucks used in Waltz Skateboards’ beginner completes. Measurements supplied by Aikenheads Skateboards. ↩︎
‘Out of stock’ (a final note)
We were hoping to add Hopkin Skate to our list of freestyle stockists. They sometimes have Seismic skid plates available. However, at the time of writing this post, the Seismics were sold out. There’s hints of another shipment coming, containing Seismic Focus wheels, but we don’t know when that will be.
In fairness, out of stocks issues are not limited to one skate shop; it is a symptom of an ongoing global supply chain crisis that began with the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, some freestyle stuff is better than no freestyle stuff. So please be kind to the few skate shops that take a punt on carrying such niche goods and try to support them when you can.
Love your comprehensive guide to freestyle set-ups! Especially love the swipey widget of popsicle to freestyle board image 💜🧡💜