What's up this is Tim with Tactics,
today I'm going to talk about when's the right time to get a new deck
and then I'll really quickly go over how long your board should last.
So, let's get started!
Of all the components of your skateboard the deck takes the most abuse.
Decks wear out at different rates depending on how often you skate, where you skate, and what you skate.
The obvious answer to the question is:
get a new deck when yours is very badly cracked,
delaminating,
or snapped in two.
But the less obvious answer is:
Replace your deck when the wear on the board makes it difficult or impossible
for you to do your favorite tricks and makes it unenjoyable.
So if your board is worn down to nubbins and it doesn't negatively affect your skating,
then just run it.
but if your board is chipped and soggy to the point that you can't even enjoy skating it,
then you should get a new deck.
Besides the obvious visible wear on your board,
a big sign that your deck is starting to get worn out is if it has soggy pop.
Soggy pop is when the rebound of the nose and tail is dampened from the wear
and causes the board to be less responsive and crisp.
All decks gradually start to lose their pop as they get more worn out,
and the soggier it gets the harder it is to do tricks.
Usually you'll notice when the board is feeling soggy.
But you can also tell by the sound that the deck makes when it pops off the ground.
A new deck will sound more crisp and sharp sounding. A soggy deck will have a flat muffled sound.
The most common culprits of soggy pop are razor tail and chipping.
Razor tail is when the bottom tip of your tail gets shaved down from popping tricks and scraping on the ground.
Eventually it gets whittled down to a sharp edge and it can really hurt if it bites your ankle or you credit card on it.
Razor tail diminishes the pop because there is physically less material to bounce off of,
and the increased contact patch of the tail spreads the impact over a greater surface area, which reduces the rebound.
Chips on the board can also cause soggy pop.
Boards get chipped when the nose and tail slam into things, smashing the plies causing them to mushroom or split apart.
Bailing tricks down gaps, slipping into walls, or throwing your board out of frustration are common causes of chipping.
Small chips usually aren't a big deal, but if you get one in just the wrong spot it can kill a board's pop.
Another cause of soggy pop is a waterlogged deck.
Skateboards are made of wood plies pressed together with glue or resin.
Many of these adhesives dissolve in water,
so if you leave your skateboard out in the rain or you roll through puddles a lot
the plies will start to separate because the glue is dissolving.
This causes the deck to lose a significant amount of pop, so try to avoid getting your skateboard wet.
Pressure cracks are thin cracks that run lengthwise along the deck.
They appear when you skate gaps and land on the board with a lot of impact,
or when you've over tightened your hardware causing the plies to split from countersinking the hardware too much.
These cracks aren't an immediate concern,
but they can cause your deck to lose some pop if they get bad enough.
So how long should you expect your deck to last.
Naturally the more you skate the quicker your board will wear out.
But if you skate at smooth skate parks your decks will last longer than if you skate rough street spots.
So it's common for transition skaters to have the same deck for several months or longer.
Street skating wears out your board much quicker
because the board ends up smashing into the ground a lot more from doing flip tricks, ledges, manuals, rails, gaps, etc.
So you'll have to replace your deck more often
and they can last anywhere between a few weeks and a few months depending on how often you skate.
And of course skating stairs, gaps, and drops adds the risk of the board breaking
from landing too hard in the middle or on the nose and tail.
There is something to be said about having a consistent feeling setup with a predictable pop
in order to dial in tricks and hone your skills.
This is why more serious skaters get new decks more often.
So they don't have to constantly spend their time readjusting to different feeling equipment.
If your old deck is still intact and isn't too worn down,
keep it around just in case you or your friends need a spare.
You could also give it to a kid at the skatepark who desperately needs a better deck but can't afford one.
In summary, if the condition of your board is bad enough to prevent you from enjoying your session,
then it's time to get a new deck.
If you got any questions at all or tips of your own about how to make your board last longer,
just put them in the comments down below, or just give us a call and we'll help you out.