What is something you wish you knew when you started skating?

Bushings, the smallest part of a setup, make a world of difference. I rode nothing but stock bushings my first couple years skating over a decade ago, and it was awful. Most stock bushings are better nowadays, but they're still pretty high in duro and I don't think most people weigh as much as me, haha.

Bearings (for the most part) don't matter as long as they're not corroding.

These two small tidbits could have saved me trouble and money years ago.
 
@Zach Maxon Fr, another thing to consider is differences between bushing types which is often not considered. Hated cals untill I dialed them in since my GF wanted something very budget, makes me somewhat regret giving away my perscision cals to the first person to show intrest in them.
 
I wish I knew stability wasn't derived from shoving the HARDEST bushings available into my super dead cal 2s. I immediately got on softer bushings once I learned and wow, did it make a huge difference.
 
I've got another one - I wish someone had told me that learning how to skate correctly mattered. I have skated mongo for close to 20 years because no one told me that I should learn a different way. Can't bring myself to learn any other way, either. Old habits die hard I guess. 😅
 
I wish I knew that skating as a whole is so fluid, it is very abstract and on a spectrum of style to effort and enjoyment. Everyone experiences this differently, I think I just wanted to learn about it in such a black and white form. But learning that it's just an interpretive dance once you learn the basics. And you're just navigating.
 
I wish I knew not to be so stubborn towards social media when I had first started. I could've found friends to learn with/from sooner
 
Something I wish I knew was how many pair pants I'd chew through in my beginning phases of skating. Also generally invest in your safety. Whether that's taking an extra session or two to fine tune something new or spending the cash on equipment that will make you safer. No timeline for safety gear, get what will keep you safe and comfortable. Also, buy gear that makes you stoked to get out and use it! Only you can make you a better skater. Friends help tho
 
@Matt Needs Wheels A 47" Gravity board is literally what I started riding with Gullwings and 78a wheels😂 I learned to drift slide it, then finally got a stiff Evo.

I think bushings(softer than it felt like I needed) and getting a good pair of trucks made all the difference.
 
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I wish I started learning dh freeride earlier. I always shied away from it due to the fear of pain and how it seemed really difficult. Now that I'm doing it, I recognize that I could've started learning so much earlier without consequence.
 
I wish I knew two things:

1 - Bushing setups making all the difference in the world. I would skate the stock Paris bushing setup with the tiny cone and was wondering why I would always get speed wobbles haha. That also had partially to do with the truck angles too, but that's a whole other topic.

2 - I wish I would've reached out to the other downhill skaters in my city sooner! I was cool just skating with my buddies but it would've been so much more fun with the big scene back in 2016. I didn't know what I was missing out on back then till it was gone, not as many skaters these days as there was back then :(
 
Most of my most grievous injuries have come just cruising around because I stopped paying attention and didn't wear my protective equipment when just cruising around.
 
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