Skateboard Glossaries ― Canada's Online Skate Shop

Deck Glossary
Concave: amount of "dish" the board has. Concave holds your feet in place and adds strength and reduces flex. Griptape: Applied to the top of the deck for foot traction. Plies: Amount of layers of wood glued together to make a deck. Most decks are 7 ply. Maple (or hardrock maple):The majority of decks manufactured today use maple wood, known for it's dense, hard qualities Plies: Amount of layers of wood glued together to make a deck. Most decks are 7 ply. Pop: How lively a deck is for doing ollies, flip tricks, and other tricks. It is not an indicator of how high the nose or tail is. Wheelbase: The distance between the two inner truck holes. A large factor in how a board rides.

Deck Glossary

Concave: amount of "dish" the board has. Concave holds your feet in place and adds strength and reduces flex.
Griptape: Applied to the top of the deck for foot traction.
Plies: Amount of layers of wood glued together to make a deck. Most decks are 7 ply.
Maple (or hardrock maple):The majority of decks manufactured today use maple wood, known for it's dense, hard qualities
Plies: Amount of layers of wood glued together to make a deck. Most decks are 7 ply.
Pop: How lively a deck is for doing ollies, flip tricks, and other tricks. It is not an indicator of how high the nose or tail is.
Wheelbase: The distance between the two inner truck holes. A large factor in how a board rides.

Skateboard Truck Glossary
Axle: The steel rod that goes through the hanger, to which the wheels and are attached to. Barrel: The metal that surrounds the axle. A bigger barrel is more durable for grinds. Baseplate: The bottom half of the truck which gets mounted to the board. Bushings (or cushions): The urethane rings that go around the kingpin. Buttonhead kingpin: A lighter alternative to the hexhead kingpin. Must be knurled to prevent spinning in the baseplate. Centre Mounting Pattern: After the mounting pattern went from old school to new school, some truck manufacturers repositioned the hole pattern so that it is perfectly centred on the baseplate. Thunder and Destructo, for example. Cupwashers: These are metal caps that go on the top and the bottom of your bushings to protect them. Some trucks do not use a bottom cupwasher, it's built into the design of the baseplate. Hanger (or hangar): The top half of the truck which houses the axle, separate from the baseplate. Kingpin: The large bolt which you can adjust to determine the tension on your bushings which affects how your truck will ride, loose or tight. Geometry: Each truck has it's own design so they will turn and respond differently, known as it's geometry. Grade 8: The strength rating of the kingpin. Grade 8 is the strongest, practically speaking. New School Mounting Pattern: This is the modern mounting pattern on decks. where the rear holes of the truck have been moved in to prevent wear on the mounting bolts from noseslides and tailslides. No-slip axles: The hanger is cast with the axle in place. This prevents the axle from shifting if there is excessive impact on it. Old school mounting pattern: This is the original mounting pattern used on boards before 1991. Pivot: This is the stem of the hanger that goes into the baseplate, into the pivot cup. Pivot cup: The pivot cup is made of urethane and houses the pivot Profile (high, low, mid): The overall height of the truck axle. There is no set standard, it is up to each manufacturer to set the height of their trucks. A higher truck allows more wheel clearance and a deeper turn, a lower truck decreases the board's centre of gravity.

Skateboard Truck Glossary

Axle: The steel rod that goes through the hanger, to which the wheels and are attached to.

Barrel: The metal that surrounds the axle. A bigger barrel is more durable for grinds.
Baseplate: The bottom half of the truck which gets mounted to the board.
Bushings (or cushions): The urethane rings that go around the kingpin.
Buttonhead kingpin: A lighter alternative to the hexhead kingpin. Must be knurled to prevent spinning in the baseplate.

Centre Mounting Pattern: After the mounting pattern went from old school to new school, some truck manufacturers repositioned the hole pattern so that it is perfectly centred on the baseplate. Thunder and Destructo, for example.
Cupwashers: These are metal caps that go on the top and the bottom of your bushings to protect them. Some trucks do not use a bottom cupwasher, it's built into the design of the baseplate.

Hanger (or hangar): The top half of the truck which houses the axle, separate from the baseplate.

Kingpin: The large bolt which you can adjust to determine the tension on your bushings which affects how your truck will ride, loose or tight.

Geometry: Each truck has it's own design so they will turn and respond differently, known as it's geometry.
Grade 8: The strength rating of the kingpin. Grade 8 is the strongest, practically speaking.

New School Mounting Pattern: This is the modern mounting pattern on decks. where the rear holes of the truck have been moved in to prevent wear on the mounting bolts from noseslides and tailslides.
No-slip axles: The hanger is cast with the axle in place. This prevents the axle from shifting if there is excessive impact on it.

Old school mounting pattern: This is the original mounting pattern used on boards before 1991.

Pivot: This is the stem of the hanger that goes into the baseplate, into the pivot cup.
Pivot cup: The pivot cup is made of urethane and houses the pivot
Profile (high, low, mid): The overall height of the truck axle. There is no set standard, it is up to each manufacturer to set the height of their trucks. A higher truck allows more wheel clearance and a deeper turn, a lower truck decreases the board's centre of gravity.

Wheel Glossary
Centre-set: The bearings are in the middle, which usually means the wheel is symetrical and reversible. Coning: The front wheels on a board will usuall wear out faster than the rear wheels because the front truck turns much more than the back. This will cause the wheels to cone, which is when one side of the wheel is smaller than the other. This can be prevented by rotating and flipping your wheels on a regular basis. Conical: The side of the wheel are flat and angled, to lock you into grinds. Diameter: The size of the wheel, in millimetres. A larger wheel (56mm+) will last longer and has a higher top speed, but will be heavier and raise the board's centre of gravity. A smaller wheel (49mm-54mm) will accelerate quicker, weighs less, and will lower your board's centre of gravity making it easier for flip tricks and technical skating and usually do not require riserpads since wheel bite is not a factor. They will wear out quicker, flat-spot easier, hang up on cracks and pebbles easier. Durometer: The wheel hardness, usually using the "A" scale. 101A is the hardest, 75A is the softest. 97A to 101A is ideal for technical street skating and park riding for most riders. 92A to 95A gives better grip on smooth surfaces. 80A to 85A provides a smoother ride on rougher surfaces. 75A to 81A is more suited for cruising with a lot of grip and an extremely smooth and fast ride on very rough surfaces. Some companies are using other scales such as the "B" scale and the "D" scale, but for the most part, wheels that do not have a durometer rating are hard end of the scale, usually 99A. Lathed (or ground or grooved): Wheels are poured larger than their intended size. Afterwards they are lathed to ensure the wheel is truly round. The wheels initially have visible lines or grooves instead of a smooth surface. These will wear off after a minimal amound of riding. Flat-spot: Excessive sliding can flatten a section of the riding surface. Power slides, nose slides, and tail slides can induce flatspotting. Some wheel formulas are designed to be more abrasion resistant to flatspotting. Off-set: The bearings are off centre, toward the truck, effectively giving you a wider footprint. Side-set: The bearings are flush to the inside of the wheel. This gives you the largest effective width. Radiused: The sides the wheel are rounded. Makes it smoother to get into and out of grinds Reversible: The wheel has a centre-set bearing seat, which allows you to rotate and flip the wheels to ensure even wear and to reduce coning.

Wheel Glossary

Centre-set: The bearings are in the middle, which usually means the wheel is symetrical and reversible.

Coning: The front wheels on a board will usuall wear out faster than the rear wheels because the front truck turns much more than the back. This will cause the wheels to cone, which is when one side of the wheel is smaller than the other. This can be prevented by rotating and flipping your wheels on a regular basis.

Conical: The side of the wheel are flat and angled, to lock you into grinds.

Diameter: The size of the wheel, in millimetres. A larger wheel (56mm+) will last longer and has a higher top speed, but will be heavier and raise the board's centre of gravity. A smaller wheel (49mm-54mm) will accelerate quicker, weighs less, and will lower your board's centre of gravity making it easier for flip tricks and technical skating and usually do not require riserpads since wheel bite is not a factor. They will wear out quicker, flat-spot easier, hang up on cracks and pebbles easier.

Durometer: The wheel hardness, usually using the "A" scale. 101A is the hardest, 75A is the softest. 97A to 101A is ideal for technical street skating and park riding for most riders. 92A to 95A gives better grip on smooth surfaces. 80A to 85A provides a smoother ride on rougher surfaces. 75A to 81A is more suited for cruising with a lot of grip and an extremely smooth and fast ride on very rough surfaces. Some companies are using other scales such as the "B" scale and the "D" scale, but for the most part, wheels that do not have a durometer rating are hard end of the scale, usually 99A.

Lathed (or ground or grooved): Wheels are poured larger than their intended size. Afterwards they are lathed to ensure the wheel is truly round. The wheels initially have visible lines or grooves instead of a smooth surface. These will wear off after a minimal amound of riding.

Flat-spot: Excessive sliding can flatten a section of the riding surface. Power slides, nose slides, and tail slides can induce flatspotting. Some wheel formulas are designed to be more abrasion resistant to flatspotting.

Off-set: The bearings are off centre, toward the truck, effectively giving you a wider footprint.

Side-set: The bearings are flush to the inside of the wheel. This gives you the largest effective width.

Radiused: The sides the wheel are rounded. Makes it smoother to get into and out of grinds

Reversible: The wheel has a centre-set bearing seat, which allows you to rotate and flip the wheels to ensure even wear and to reduce coning.

The Misunderstood ABEC Rating
The ABEC rating measures tolerance and is not an indicator of bearing speed, durability, or overall quality. We provide the ABEC rating only because it's how some bearing manufacturers differentiate their own bearing lines. You might have noticed that prices can vary a lot for bearings with the same ABEC rating, and other manufacturers don't use it at all, which should tell you that you should not base your bearing choice solely on the ABEC rating (if at all). Check out NTN's page on "The Truth About ABEC" for a more detailed explanation.

The Misunderstood ABEC Rating

The ABEC rating measures tolerance and is not an indicator of bearing speed, durability, or overall quality. We provide the ABEC rating only because it's how some bearing manufacturers differentiate their own bearing lines. You might have noticed that prices can vary a lot for bearings with the same ABEC rating, and other manufacturers don't use it at all, which should tell you that you should not base your bearing choice solely on the ABEC rating (if at all). Check out NTN's page on "The Truth About ABEC" for a more detailed explanation.