Beginner or not, buying the best longboard for tricks is priority #1 to either learn or perform more advanced tricks such as those crazy, fun freestyle quirks.
In this article, I will list down 9 best longboards for performing tricks, freestyling, freeriding, and so much more. And a quick, informative buyer’s guide. This means taking into consideration various important factors like weight, material, size, length, etc., so be it. As long as it gets you closer to that perfect longboard you’ve always wanted!
9 Longboards for Tricks Reviews
1. Magneto Bamboo Carbon Fiber Longboards – Best for carving and jumping
The Magneto Bamboo Carbon Fiber feels and glides like a premium longboard. Not only is it one of the best longboards for tricks. But it also offers incredible features like top-mounted aluminum trucks, higher rebounding bushings, and a stiff wheel design. Together, the longboard glides faster with excellent maneuverability.
The first thing you’ll notice about this longboard is that it has 2 kicktails. So double the flexibility in performing tricks, doing freestyle, and lots more. Both edges have a not-too-intense curve that is great for cruising or freestyling on sidewalks and around bends on the road.
Probably with a longboard like this one you’ll feel more confident about your freestyling and cruising moves. It can carry up to and over 200 pounds without wavering. It’s an incredibly compact and stable longboard for a variety of tricks, shoves, and other moves.
The 46-inch length and 9-inch deck rise offer the ideal and most convenient shape for longboarding. The deck is made up of 3 plies of bamboo and fiberglass to feel lean and strong at the same time.
2. Atom Longboards All-Terrain Longboard – Best for coarse use
The Atom Longboard All-Terrain Longboard is for the more experienced user as it is very powerful and agile. You can use it right out of the box. It has a superior wheel design with super-high-rebound urethane materials that allow on- and off-road traction like a pro.
This is one serious longboard with high-quality bearings, trucks, and grip-tape. It moves incredibly smoothly but feels lightweight so it’s not a burden to your feet. You won’t know the difference between riding on a rough surface and a flat plane.
Also note that on the Atom Longboard, you can perform tricks while accelerating. This, of course, is only if you are an expert-level rider so you can perform these moves confidently, without hurting yourself.
The board is durable and can take on more than 300 pounds easily. The ABEC-9 bearings and reverse kingpin trucks support jumping, shoves, and lots more with little flex to allow freedom of movement.
3. Landyachtz Stratus 46 Watercolor Longboard – Best for beginners
The Landyachtz Stratus is a strong and nice longboard for daily use. It features all the essential parts of a longboard, plus an attractive design. The 78A wheels are super-durable that stabilize movement on different surfaces.
Speaking of surfaces, there is little surface tension with traction. This is the perfect setup for performing tricks, especially for a beginner. The length and deck width are convenient for medium-level flexibility.
I recommend this longboard to someone for freestyling and lightweight longboard tricks. If you’re in the mood for something more precise and intense, this may not be able to keep up.
It does encourage carving with its top-mounted trucks. And it is also suited for riders who are slightly over 200 pounds. But based on what I’ve seen on the Landyachtz, it’s more entry-level and is only compatible with simple foot movements.
4. Volador 46-Inch Maple Dancing Longboard – Best for a smooth ride
For an advanced rider, who knows how to perform many tricks and flips, the Volador has to be a super-comfortable and durable pick. And at such a reasonable price too. I had only good reviews with compliments from beginners as well as pro-level riders.
The Volador has molded wheels and a 100% maple deck with 8 plies. It’s a spacious deck too. With 46-inch length, 10-inch ride, and around 37-inches width. So it allows more freedom of movement with stability for a smooth and creative ride.
Creative in that it is equipped at handling tricks and dance moves and shoves without any problems. You can adjust the 7-inch reverse kingpin trucks to suit your specific riding style. And since they’re reverse kingpin, it is accommodative of multiple riding styles including downhill riding.
The deck has the perfect amount of flex with medium-soft wheels that offer a blend of stiffness and flexibility in their movements, contributing to an unshaky and consistent ride.
5. PHOEROS Longboard Skateboard 41-Inch Cruiser – Best for children
The PHOEROS is more fun to use than feature-specific. It is made up of all standard parts that come together to ensure smooth and consistent performance. And this longboard also holds up well to daily, prolonged use.
But when it comes to performing advanced-level skills, it is not that high up on the mark. But it does promote cruising and beginner-level carving. You can take it out to the part and test out new skills and get a nice overall feel of the longboard.
It has a waterproof and slip-free sand paper on the deck. With high rebound wheels and ABEC-11 bearings. It’s durable with a thick aluminum alloy truck and sound dampening system. What’s really special about this longboard is that it can support up to 550 pounds.
You’ll definitely feel safer and more balanced on the board. It feels very light and is quite easy on the feet for adults and children. So even if you’re new to the world of longboards, this is a great start.
6. Arbor Catalyst 41-Inch Flagship Complete Longboard – Best for daily freeriding
What hasn’t already been said about this longboard? It’s one of my favorites in that it is made of superior materials such as hardwood. I recommend this longboard for freeriding and sometimes even downhill riding. You can learn some tricks along the way as well.
The first thing people notice about the Arbor is the concave curve of the deck. It combines two features: that and the low center of gravity. As a result, the board feels light but incredibly stable to glide on.
The 78A wheels, ABEC-7 bearings, and sturdy trucks make it easier and faster to power freestyle with a few tricks up your sleeve. The surface feels great under your feet with little surface tension and strong traction.
You have to push past the edge a little bit when you’re on street road but I don’t see how that will not contribute to adding speed and power and control over your feet movements. Making it a sophisticated and fine choice for beginners, intermediates, and experts.
7. Slendor 42-Inch Drop-Through Deck Cruiser Longboard – Best grip longboard for freeriding
If by sight, the Slendor looks good and professional, it performs way better than it looks. The preciseness and design quality of the Slendor feel premium. With a 9-ply natural hardrock maple and epoxy glue deck, it feels smooth and fast.
It is also because of this that the board is perfect for heavier riders. The camber concave with PU impact-absorbing rings prevent shock, wheel bite, and any other difficulty while accelerating.
The PU wheels are superior and one of my favorite things about this best longboard for tricks because it means I can take this board out on rough terrains. It makes no difference at all. In fact, I found it more forgiving on uneven surfaces, thanks to the grip tape and sturdy wheels.
If you’re just getting into longboarding, with slight modifications, the Slendor feels powerful and stabilizing to ride on. There is little to no inconsistency in riding, cruising, freestyling, or performing tricks.
8. INNOWEIGH 41-Inch Longboard Skateboard – Best for rider control
The INNOWEIGH features a long (41 inches) and wide (9 inches) deck ideal for stabilizing feet movement and accelerating for tricks. It has a powerful and durable truck design with aluminum trucks equipped with elastic PU support pads.
The PU wheels, too, are stiff and supportive. It has absorb rings that prevent resistance and regular smoother and more consistent feet movement. It’s a useful board, whether you’re a beginner or an expert level rider. It’s also compatible with all ages.
The deck platform has a low center of gravity which means it’s closer to the ground. And its weight limit is around 330 pounds which is more than enough for any rider.
You won’t feel left out with the INNOWEIGH because it’s a durable pick. Easier to make adjustments with, especially since it features a tool that lets you tighten or loosen the overall flex/feel of the board.
Secondly, the deck has amazing ABEC-11 bearings for controlling spin and accelerating. There’s even a grip tape on the deck that improves how well you can perform tricks and turn on the deck fairly well.
9. WHOME Pro 42-Inch Dancing Longboard – Best for performing all kinds of tricks
The WHOME Pro is good for freeriding and cruising enthusiasts. It allows freedom of movement and also lets you perform a variety of fun and challenging longboard tricks. Features such as the slip-resistant grip tape on the deck, extra room on the wheelbase, and large weight capacity support this performance.
Another great feature of the WHOME is its tensile strength. It features strong aluminum trucks with 80A PU wheels and ABEC-9 bearings. The PU wheels are stiffer so they allow less resistance on bumps, gravel, and coarse terrain. Meanwhile, the bearings and trucks absorb shock, allowing you to glide smoothly while accelerating.
I recommend this longboard to anyone looking for something agile and firm. It’s good enough for a beginner to start learning longboard tricks. And it doesn’t offer too much flex so it’ll keep all your foot movements steady without a fuss.
Choosing Longboards for Tricks to Turn You Into A Pro Skateboarder!
1. What Is the Mount Type?
You can just narrow down your search by choosing one longboard style/shape from the many options available to only confuse you. The most common of the lot are as follows…
+ TOP MOUNT
These types of longboards consist of trucks installed directly below the deck. A design such as this increases maneuverability. And it makes that board more adaptive with regards to the input while driving.
+ DROP-THROUGH MOUNT
A construction like drop-through mount has the baseplate lying within a cut-out at the top of the board with its trucks inserted directly underneath. In this case, the center of gravity is lowered, thus the longboard feels more comfortable and balanced for pushing. Even applying that foot brake because of this seems more complacent.
+ DROP-DOWN MOUNT
Here there’s the top mount and the drop-in concave. Basically, a design like this paves the way for the longboards to be closer to the ground while moving. Thus, an extremely stable ride. No wonder beginners generally choose the drop-down mount framework!
+ PINTAIL
Shaped like a leaf, pintail boards have no concave or a flat one, which makes the whole riding experience much easier. Once again, that’s great news if you’re a beginner.
In comparison to them all, the pintail is the most traditional and common longboard that also seems perfect for large-sized campus cruisers.
+ CRUISER
The compact-sized cruiser design, first of all, will fit into your backpack very conveniently. So it’s the best campus cruiser indeed that you can carry from one class to another.
Secondly, as for its performance, the compact shape makes way for extreme carving. Plus, you also get complete control at the time of performing sharp, quick turns.
2. Check the Wheels
Because if you don’t, you’re most likely to end up with injuries! And here’s why.
Soft wheels are packed with loads of shock resistance. While big wheels are specifically put in place to carry out cool and cocky longboarding tricks. Thanks to their exceptional grip and stability!
The latter takes the form of traction wheels of course that work on the most difficult surfaces, which means you worry much less about taking on challenging movements.
3. What’s the Vertical Clearance of the Deck?
The board’s stability is highly dependent on its vertical clearance. How easy and quick it is for you to stop the board via its foot brake as well as how effortlessly the longboard is pushed on smooth surfaces – all of this is also determined by vertical clearance.
The most preferred shape/design in this context consists of the board being closer to the ground (around 4 inches). The closer it is, the easier and more effortless it becomes for you to perform short carves.
4. Look Into Longboard Trucks
You have two options here – traditional and reverse kingpin trucks. The traditional kind works the best when downhill riding and freestyling. As for the reverse version, this one’s also quite good in terms of fitting the majority of riding styles (especially the nose and dancing tricks).
But then if you’re into jumps, check out forged and precision trucks. These are more commonly used than cast trucks for performing such tricks.
5. Find Out the Weight
Things are just so much simpler when the board is not more than 7-pound heavy. The whole point is to be able to cart the longboard around the most easily, right?
As for size, go for medium (34-38 inches approx.) for tricks like shuvits and tiger claws. On the other hand, a larger-sized deck is more suitable for dancing (so you can cross-step easily).
Frequently Asked Questions! (FAQs)
What Size of Longboard to Buy for Tricks?
The longboard deck that’s the most common is sized between 30 inches and 45 inches. This size range is ideal for beginners who’ve just got into longboarding. Anything smaller and you’ll have a hard time learning even the most basic techniques.
So keep in mind that, compared to your body, a size that’s too small is more likely to break and also provides the least amount of flexibility. Hence, to narrow it down further, choose a size between 38 inches and 42 inches.
What Are the Easiest-to-Perform Longboard Tricks?
No doubt those would be pausing and speed control.
As a rookie, you want to make sure that accidents are prevented at all costs. So it’s highly advisable to first learn to manage your pace and the basic foot braking technique. After all, you only need your feet and longboard to achieve this goal of controlling the board.
Then there’s cross-stepping too which ranks among the easiest and simplest longboarding tricks. It consists of maneuvering the board, at the tail of course, to cross-step and then walking up for riding the nose.
Is It Possible to Kick-Flip On A Longboard?
This common technique of kick-flipping requires you to keep the back leg dangling off at the end with your heel of the front leg pushed up against the opposite end. And the sole, at this point, is used to grip the edge of the board.
You then crouch down gently before leaping by either keeping the weight well distributed in both your legs or shifting more weight to the hind leg.
Now you jump, turn the body (right-angle turn) for landing and standing back into the original position. And as the rotation of the front foot takes place to rotate the longboard, capturing the board becomes possible. Needless to say, the direction of the leap must be similar to the board spin direction.
Can Grinding Tricks Be Performed On Longboard?
Yet another common trick performed by teenagers and beginners but it’s not something that should be done using longboards. And it’s simply because the shape and size of longboards are not conducive to grinding, which can make the activity quite difficult and even dangerous.
Conclusion
Both highly skilled and inexperienced riders want to buy the best longboard for tricks to perform and hone their skateboarding talent. And the winner of the lot is always the one incorporated with the maximum amount of flexibility, safety, and even ease of use.
It should work on different surfaces and for various riding techniques, and this includes performing tricks and freestyling.
Hello all skateboarding enthusiasts. I’m Frank Nasworthy- The Founder and Author at MegaSkateboard. My goal is to provide the best of skateboarding knowledge: buying guide & review, tips, tricks, tutorials. In addition, I also write a lot of articles about longboards. I have been skateboarding for 10 years and my writings on skateboarding and longboarding are from my skateboarding experience. From there help the skateboarders increasingly progressive and get the right skateboard products.