Starting DH/Freeride Gear Basics

J

Jenny Talia

New member
At the bare minimum, you'll need a complete skateboard, slide gloves, and a helmet to get started.

A complete skateboard includes a board, grip tape, trucks, hardware, wheels, and bearings when individually. These components are pretty standard across all skating types.

Slide gloves and helmets come ready to use, without any assembly required.

Additionally, investing in other pads like knee pads, and disposable pants is highly recommended as in there isn't anybody that wouldn't regret not buying them, especially for beginners who are going to experience frequent falls no matter what for a few sessions.
 
Kneepads feel pretty mandatory to me for learning freeride/downhill.



Other people can probably suggest the best hard shell traditional kneepads.



I wear kneepads without the hard caps under my jeans when I skate. I'm typically not slamming hard and sliding on my kneepads, but I still like having protection if I end up hitting my knee. I use Sweets bear suit lights, but it looks like this kneepad isn't made anymore.

For non hardshell kneepads, make sure that it's a foam insert into a pad rather than exposed foam (gforms). Gforms tend to explode on impact and don't last very long.
 
Wheel terms



Durometer is the hardness of a wheel.

The size of the wheel is how tall it is.

Contact patch is the width of the wheel touching the ground.

Cores are the center of a wheel which hold the core to the urethane part of the wheel.

Skin is the outside of a new wheel that isn’t stone ground.

Stone ground means the wheel is broken in from the factory.

Race wheel means any downhill wheel meant for speed. Typically square lipped, with skin and larger then free ride wheels

Freeride wheels are wheels meant for sliding. Usually round lipped, stone ground and a little smaller then race wheels.

Torched means the wheels are done or bad in some way.

Swirled wheels are wheels with improperly mixed urethane.

Flat Spotted wheels are wheels that where slid at 90 degrees making them not round.

Ovaled means the wheels are oval shaped, probably due to being slid a few times after flatspoting.

Buzzing wheels are wheels that vibrate the board due to either a flatpot or a oval.

Scrubbed wheels means they have been broken in.

Scrubs usually means wheels that have been broken in, often with around 80% of there life left.

Cored wheels equals wheels that have no life left since they were worn to the core.

Thane are the marks that wheels leave behind.

When wheels dump, they leave a lot of thane, often being buttery wheels.

Icey wheels are wheels that feel like they slide a lot with not a lot of control.

Buttery wheels are wheels that slide with a more secure feel.

Grippy wheels are wheels that resist sliding.
 
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