Take a complete skateboard apart and lay every piece on a table and you end up with seven blocks: the deck, the grip tape, two trucks (which hide most of the small parts), four wheels, eight bearings and the hardware. Knowing what each one is called solves half the usual questions when you’re buying or fixing something: what truck size fits your deck, why a truck squeaks, or what that B means on the hardness of some wheels.
To put this guide together we cross-checked the technical guides at Warehouse Skateboards, the Skatedeluxe wiki, the support pages of Bones and Powell-Peralta, the guides at SkatePro and CCS and Boardworld’s brand-by-brand size breakdown. The idea is that this page works as a map: each section explains one part in a few paragraphs and links you to the long-form guide or the dictionary entry when you want the detail.
The deck: nose, tail, concave, wheelbase and plies
The deck is the big piece, but it has several names worth knowing inside it. The nose is the front and the tail is the back. On a modern popsicle they look very similar, though the nose is usually a little longer, wider and steeper, and the tail a little shorter and flatter. Not every source describes it the same way, so the practical trick is a different one: look at the graphic, and if you’ve just built the board, use the colored bolt that comes in many hardware packs to mark the nose.
The raised ends are called kicks (the back one is the kicktail). Steeper kicks give you more leverage and more pop; flatter ones let you feel the board better. Between the two ends sits the concave, the side-to-side curvature that gives you control and stiffness. It’s sorted into low (stable, flips are harder), medium (the most common, the one usually recommended to start with) and high (more agile, less forgiving). One caveat from Skatedeluxe: manufacturers publish very little about their concave, and one brand’s “medium” may not feel like another’s. Separate from concave there’s lengthwise curvature too: camber if the middle sits raised, rocker if it sits sunken, though most skateboard decks are neutral.
The wheelbase is the distance between the inner mounting holes at each end, usually between 13 and 15 inches (Skatedeluxe stretches the range down to 12). Some decks come with several sets of holes so you can adjust it. Those holes follow a pattern, by the way: the modern new-school one measures 42 × 55 mm, the old-school one 42 × 65 mm.
And what’s it made of? The standard is 7 plies of North American hard rock maple, glued and pressed with the grain of the veneers alternating directions, which gives strength without too much weight. Almost nobody goes past 9 plies because the board turns into a brick. From there come the special constructions: 8-ply for heavier riders, epoxy instead of water-based glue (R7), carbon discs under the trucks (Almost and Darkstar’s Impact), Powell-Peralta’s Flight or Santa Cruz’s VX with fiber layers. We go through them one by one in the deck technology and materials guide.
On sizing: decks are measured in inches everywhere, Europe included. Most of the market sits between 7.5” and 8.25”: 7.5” to 8.0” for technical street, 8.0” to 8.25” for park and ramp, and from there upwards for vert, pools and cruising. Width matters quite a bit more than length. If you’re choosing a deck right now, the guide on how to choose a skateboard deck covers it properly, including size charts by foot size and height.
The trucks, piece by piece
The truck is the part of the skateboard with the most pieces, and the place where knowing the names helps most when something goes wrong. From the bottom up:
The baseplate is the plate that bolts to the deck with four bolts. It houses the kingpin and the pivot cup. The hanger is the big triangular piece, usually aluminium (forged versions are lighter than cast ones): it carries the axle and it’s what you grind on. The axle is the 8 mm steel rod that runs through the hanger and holds the wheels, threaded at both ends. If a thread gets damaged, it can be rescued with the 5/16” re-threader built into many T-tools.
The kingpin is the central bolt that holds everything together. Its nut controls how tight or loose the truck turns, and it’s a part that can snap and be replaced. Kingpins come solid (they take impacts better), hollow (lighter) and inverted, which thread into the baseplate with no nut and leave more hanger clearance for grinds.
The bushings are the two polyurethane cylinders that wrap around the kingpin and make turning possible: one on top (roadside) and one underneath (boardside). Cone bushings turn more, barrels are more stable, and the standard setup pairs a cone on top with a barrel underneath. Hardness is picked by rider weight: Skatedeluxe’s reference chart runs from 81–85A for riders under 65 kg who like loose trucks up to 96–100A above 90 kg.
The pivot cup is a urethane socket inside the baseplate where the tip of the hanger pivots. It’s worth knowing: if your truck squeaks, it’s almost always the pivot cup, and a bit of wax or soap fixes it. Rounding out the set are the washers that seat the bushings, the speed rings (thin washers between bearing and nut, and between bearing and hanger, to cut friction) and the nylon-lock axle nuts, which you shouldn’t overtighten because that damages the bearings and slows the board down.
Trucks also come in heights: low (46–49 mm according to SkatePro, for wheels up to 53 mm without risers), mid (49.5–53.5 mm, the option SkatePro itself calls a good choice for most people) and high (53.5–60 mm, for big wheels and carving). More height means a steeper pop angle and a wider turning radius.
And the size? The rule of thumb is that the axle should measure about the same as your deck’s width, within 1/4” either way. The messy part is that every brand names its sizes differently: for an 8.0” deck, the match is Independent 139, Thunder 147, Venture 5.2 or Ace 33. With Ace you need to check the model, because the AF1 chart and the Classic chart don’t line up: an Ace Classic 44 has an 8.35” axle while an AF1 44 measures 8.25”. The full equivalence charts are in the guide on how to choose skateboard trucks, the Independent trucks guide goes deep on that brand, and if you want to compare models we have a comparison of the best skateboard trucks.
The wheels: diameter, durometer, the B scale and shapes
Wheels are defined by two numbers. The first is diameter, which in skateboarding runs from about 50 to 75 mm: 50 to 53 mm wheels are small and stable for technical street, 54 to 59 mm is the all-round range that covers street, park and bowl, and from 60 mm upwards you’re into cruising, longboards and rough surfaces. CCS suggests starting between 52 and 55 mm. Bigger diameter means more top speed; smaller means quicker acceleration off the push and a lower center of gravity.
The second number is hardness, measured with a durometer on the A scale: higher number, harder wheel. The market average is 99A, street and transition usually sit above 98A, and for cruising you drop into the 78A–87A zone. Because the A scale maxes out with the hardest formulas, Bones measures on the B scale, which reads 20 points lower: an 80B equals a 100A and an 81B equals a 101A. Dual-durometer wheels also exist, with a core harder than the outside.
Then there’s what the name doesn’t tell you. The contact patch is the surface of the wheel that touches the ground: the wider it is, the better the weight spreads and the less the urethane compresses. That’s where shapes come from: the classic rounded cut (the street reference), conical (walls cut inwards, less weight and a better lock-in on grinds), radial (rounded walls with the widest patch, more stability) and lock-in (asymmetric, one conical side and one straight side, built to sit into grinds). Those names are Spitfire’s naming scheme, but every other brand plays with the same ideas. The core is the rigid insert some wheels carry to seat the bearing properly; with soft or coreless wheels, spacers are recommended because the urethane gives when you tighten the nut.
One last name you hopefully won’t need: the flatspot, the flat patch a wheel develops when it skids. Powerslides speed it up, and maintenance sites recommend rotating your wheels every two to three months to spread the wear. The guide on how to choose skateboard wheels goes through all of this in more detail, and we also keep a round-up of the best skateboard wheels.
The bearings: the 608 standard and the ABEC confusion
Here’s some good news: every skateboard bearing is the same size. They follow the industrial 608 standard (8 mm bore, 22 mm outer diameter, 7 mm wide), so any bearing fits any wheel and any standard axle. They’re sold in sets of 8, two per wheel. Inside there’s an outer ring, an inner ring the axle passes through, 6 or 7 balls made of steel or ceramic, a retainer that keeps them spaced and the side shields that keep dirt out. Shieldless (open or semi-open) models roll a little faster and louder, but get dirty sooner.
So what about the famous ABEC rating? It’s a manufacturing-precision scale (grades 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9) designed for industry. It measures dimensional tolerances, and it does not measure side loads, impact resistance, materials or lubricant, which is exactly what matters when you skate. Bones does the math on its support page: those extreme tolerances make a difference at 20,000 to 30,000 rpm, a skater’s realistic maximum is around 4,700, and roughly 90% of skating happens below 2,000. That’s why the brand doesn’t use ABEC and sells its bearings as Skate Rated, its own spec tested against drop impacts, turning side loads and dirt. Worth saying plainly: it’s a manufacturer’s commitment, not an independent standard. We cover the whole story in the Bones bearings guide.
Between the two bearings of each wheel you can fit a spacer, an 8 mm metal cylinder that stops them sinking inwards when you tighten the nut and keeps them parallel. Built-in bearings come with the spacer and speed rings integrated, so there are fewer loose parts. As for maintenance: clean before you lubricate, one or two drops of an oil like Speed Cream per bearing, and keep them away from water, which rusts them. Ceramic bearings exist and roll very well, but they cost several times more than a steel set.
The grip tape
Grip tape is self-adhesive sandpaper. The grit is usually silicon carbide, which cuts better and stays sharp longer; cheap grip tends to use aluminium oxide, a duller grit that smooths out sooner. The standard sheet is 9 × 33 inches (22.8 × 83.8 cm) and covers practically any skateboard deck; for very wide decks and longboards there are bigger sheets with coarser grit that you shouldn’t use on a regular skateboard.
A useful detail when buying: a lot of grip comes perforated with micro holes that let the air escape as you lay it down, an idea MOB made popular, so you don’t get bubbles. If your grip isn’t perforated and a bubble shows up, just pierce it. With use, shoe friction gradually smooths the grit until it stops gripping; removing old grip is easy with a hair dryer, which softens the adhesive.
The hardware and the risers (and the wheelbite rule)
The hardware is 8 bolts and 8 self-locking nuts, four per truck, with allen or phillips heads. Many packs include one colored bolt to mark the nose. The length depends on whether you run risers: without them, 7/8” to 1” bolts; with a 1/8” riser, 1” to 1 1/8”; with 1/4”, 1 1/4”; and with 1/2”, 1 1/2”.
Risers are hard plastic pads between the baseplate and the deck. They lift the whole setup so the wheel can’t touch the wood, they reduce the pressure cracks where the baseplate sits, and even a 1/8” one helps keep the hardware from rattling loose. Don’t confuse them with shock pads, which are rubber or foam: those absorb impact, add barely any height and can cost you a bit of speed. There are also angled risers (wedges) that change the kingpin angle and the turning geometry, more of a cruiser and longboard thing.
When do you need them? Warehouse’s rule is simple: with wheels under 55 mm, usually never. Which brings us to wheelbite, the name for the classic dead stop: the wheel rubs the deck mid-turn or landing a trick, the wheel stops and you don’t, and the wheel ends up marked. The four fixes, from cheapest to priciest: tighten the kingpin nut, harder bushings, smaller wheels, or risers.
How to use the parts explorer
Below you have every skateboard part as a card, grouped by area (deck, trucks, wheels, bearings, grip and hardware) and ordered top to bottom, the same way the board is built. You can filter by part, by how often each piece gets replaced (often, occasionally or almost never) and by tags like wear, adjustment or sizing, or search by name. Each card sums up what the part is, what it changes in practice and when it’s due for replacement, with a link to the guide or dictionary entry for more depth.
The deck
Nose
The front end of the deck. On a modern popsicle the nose is usually a little longer, wider and steeper than the tail, though they're hard to tell apart at a glance: the graphic and the colored bolt included in many hardware packs are there to mark it.
A steeper kick gives more leverage and more pop; a flatter one lets you feel the board better. It doesn't get replaced on its own: when the nose collects chips or the deck loses pop, you replace the whole deck.
Tail
The back end, normally a little shorter and flatter than the nose. It's the zone that hits the ground on every ollie and every foot-drag stop, so it collects a big share of the deck's wear.
When the edge ends up sharp and splintered from scraping, that's called razor tail, one of the usual signs that a new deck is due.
Concave
The side-to-side curvature of the deck between nose and tail. Concave gives you control and stiffness: low is more stable but harder to flip, medium is the most common and the usual recommendation to start with, and high is more agile but less forgiving.
A caveat when comparing brands: manufacturers publish very little about their concave, and one brand's "medium" can differ from another's. Separate from concave there's lengthwise curvature (camber or rocker), though most skateboard decks are neutral.
Wheelbase
The distance between the inner pairs of mounting holes, normally 13 to 15 inches (some sources stretch the range down to 12). More wheelbase means more stability; less means quicker turns.
Some decks come with several sets of holes so you can adjust it without changing boards. A fine detail: each truck brand shifts the effective wheelbase slightly because of where its axle sits.
Maple plies
The standard deck is 7 plies of North American hard rock maple, glued and pressed with the grain of the veneers alternating directions, which gives strength without too much weight. Almost nobody goes past 9 plies because the board gets too heavy.
For heavier riders or extra stiffness there are 8-ply decks and constructions with epoxy, carbon or fiber (R7, Impact, Flight, VX). We compare them in the deck technology and materials guide.
The trucks
Baseplate
The plate of the truck that bolts to the deck with four bolts. The baseplate houses the kingpin and the pivot cup, so it's the base the whole truck turns on.
It barely wears. If the wood creaks around the baseplate, those are usually pressure cracks in the deck, and a thin riser helps spread the load.
Hanger
The big triangular piece of the truck, usually aluminium (forged versions weigh less than cast ones). The hanger carries the axle and it's the part you grind on.
It outlasts several decks. You replace the whole truck when the hanger is badly chewed up by grinds or cracks appear.
Axle
The 8 mm steel rod that runs through the hanger and holds the wheels, threaded at both ends. The axle width, tip to tip, is the number you compare against your deck's width (rule of thumb: within 1/4 of an inch).
If a thread gets damaged, many T-tools include a 5/16" re-threader to rescue it. A bent axle, on the other hand, is a reason to replace the truck.
Kingpin
The central bolt that holds the truck together and runs through the bushings. The kingpin nut controls how tight or loose the truck turns, and it's the most-touched adjustment on the whole board.
It can snap and is replaceable. Kingpins come solid (they take impacts better), hollow (lighter) and inverted, which thread into the baseplate with no nut and leave more clearance for grinds.
Bushings
The two polyurethane cylinders that wrap around the kingpin and make turning possible: one on top (roadside) and one underneath (boardside). Cone bushings turn more and barrels give more stability; the standard setup pairs a cone on top with a barrel underneath.
Hardness is picked by rider weight: Skatedeluxe's reference chart runs from 81–85A (under 65 kg, loose trucks) up to 96–100A (over 90 kg). They're the most common truck spare: you replace them when they crack or squash flat.
Pivot cup
The urethane socket inside the baseplate where the tip of the hanger pivots. It shapes how smooth the turn feels: if your truck squeaks, it's almost always the pivot cup, and a bit of wax or soap fixes it.
Along with the bushings, it's the most common truck replacement part. If the turn feels vague or has play no matter how much you tighten the kingpin, it's probably deformed. More detail in the guide on how to choose skateboard trucks.
Washers and speed rings
Two kinds of washer live on the truck. The kingpin washers (cup washers) seat the bushings and spread the pressure of the kingpin nut.
Speed rings are thin 8 mm washers on the axle, between the nut and the bearing and between the hanger and the bearing, to cut friction. They barely wear; the real job is not losing them when you swap wheels.
Axle nuts
The nuts that hold each wheel on the axle have a nylon insert so vibration doesn't shake them loose. After many wheel swaps the nylon loses its grip and they're worth replacing, for pennies.
The right torque: tighten, then back off an eighth to a quarter turn, so the wheel spins free with minimal side play. Overtightening damages the bearings and slows the board down.
Truck height (low, mid, high)
The distance from the baseplate to the center of the axle. According to SkatePro: low, 46–49 mm (wheels up to 53 mm without risers); mid, 49.5–53.5 mm (up to 56 mm, its recommendation for most people); high, 53.5–60 mm (big wheels and carving).
More height means a steeper pop angle and a wider turning radius. Unlabeled trucks are considered high. Size and height charts are in the guide on how to choose skateboard trucks.
The wheels
Wheel diameter
In skateboarding it runs from about 50 to 75 mm. Wheels from 50 to 53 mm are small, light and stable for technical street; 54 to 59 mm is the all-round range (street, park, bowl); from 60 mm upwards you're into cruising and rough surfaces. CCS suggests starting between 52 and 55 mm.
Bigger diameter gives more top speed and ride height; smaller gives quicker acceleration off the push and a lower center of gravity. The guide on how to choose skateboard wheels covers it with examples.
Durometer and the B scale
Hardness is measured with a durometer on the A scale: higher number, harder wheel. The market average is 99A; street and transition usually sit above 98A, and for cruising you drop to 78A–87A.
Because the A scale saturates with the hardest formulas, Bones measures on the B scale, which reads 20 points lower: 80B equals 100A and 81B equals 101A. Dual-durometer wheels also exist, with a core harder than the outside.
Contact patch
The surface of the wheel that touches the ground. A wider patch spreads the weight, compresses the urethane less and reduces rolling resistance; rounded walls narrow it and straight edges maximize it.
It rarely shows up in the wheel's name, but it explains a lot of the grip and speed differences between two wheels of the same diameter and hardness.
Wheel shapes
Using Spitfire's naming as the reference: classic is the traditional round cut with a narrow patch; conical cuts the walls inwards (less weight and a better lock on grinds); radial rounds the walls with the widest patch of the range; lock-in is asymmetric, one conical side and one straight side, built to sit into grinds.
Other brands use different names for the same ideas. Which shape fits how you skate is covered in the wheels guide.
Core
Flatspots
The flat patches a wheel develops when it skids: the wheel stops spinning during the slide and sands itself against the ground in one spot. You feel them as a constant thudding when you roll. Powerslides are the main cause.
To prevent them: rotate your wheels every two to three months to spread the wear, and use spacers, which help the wheel keep spinning in line through the slide. More in the flatspot dictionary entry.
The bearings
Balls and races (the 608 standard)
Every skateboard bearing follows the industrial 608 standard: 8 mm bore, 22 mm outer diameter, 7 mm wide, so any set fits any wheel and standard axle. Inside there are 6 or 7 balls of steel or ceramic running between an outer ring and an inner ring, with a retainer keeping them spaced.
They're sold in sets of 8 (two per wheel). With cleaning and lubrication they last two years or more; replace them when there's rust on the races or they keep squeaking after lubrication.
Shields
The side caps of the bearing, held by a C-ring, that keep dust and grit out. Many models also carry a rubber seal.
Open or semi-open bearings, with no shields, roll slightly faster and louder but get dirty sooner. For a deep clean the shields come off; the full process is in the Bones bearings guide.
Spacers
Metal cylinders that sit between the two bearings inside the wheel. The spacer stops them sinking inwards when you tighten the nut and keeps them parallel, with less load and a longer life. The typical skateboard size is 8 mm (10 mm for longboards); if it rattles inside the wheel, it's too small.
Built-in bearings integrate the spacer and speed rings: fewer loose parts, and you can tighten the axle nut fully without misaligning anything.
ABEC vs Skate Rated
ABEC (grades 1 to 9) measures manufacturing tolerances designed for industrial machinery. It doesn't measure side loads, impact resistance, materials or lubricant. By Bones' math, those tolerances matter from 20,000 rpm upwards and a skater rarely exceeds about 4,700.
That's why Bones sells its bearings as Skate Rated, its own spec tested against impacts, side loads and dirt. It's a manufacturer's commitment, not an independent standard. The full story is in the Bones bearings guide.
Grip tape and hardware
Grip tape
Self-adhesive sandpaper covering the top of the deck. The grit of grip tape is usually silicon carbide, which cuts better and stays sharp; cheap grip tends to use aluminium oxide, a duller grit. The standard sheet is 9 × 33 inches and covers almost any deck.
Perforated grip lets air escape through micro holes so you don't get bubbles when laying it down. With use, shoe friction smooths the grit out; old grip comes off easily with a hair dryer, which softens the adhesive.
Hardware
8 bolts and 8 self-locking nuts, four per truck, with allen or phillips heads. Many hardware packs include one colored bolt to mark the nose.
Length depends on the riser: without one, 7/8" to 1" (the shortboard standard is 1"); with a 1/8" riser, 1" to 1 1/8"; with 1/4", 1 1/4"; with 1/2", 1 1/2". You replace them if a head strips or when nuts go missing, not much else.
Risers and shock pads
Pads between the baseplate and the deck. A riser is hard plastic and doesn't compress: it lifts the deck to prevent wheelbite, reduces the pressure cracks under the baseplate and, even at 1/8", helps keep the hardware from rattling loose.
A shock pad is rubber or foam: it absorbs impact, adds barely any height and can cost a bit of speed. With wheels under 55 mm you usually need neither. Angled risers (wedges) change the kingpin angle and the turning geometry.
Wheelbite
Not a part, but it explains several of them: wheelbite is the dead stop that happens when the wheel rubs the deck mid-turn or landing a trick. The wheel stops, you don't, and the wheel ends up marked.
The four fixes, from cheapest to priciest: tighten the kingpin nut, harder bushings, smaller wheels, or risers. If you run big wheels on low trucks, the riser stops being optional.
Nothing matches those filters.
Assembly order, and what wears out first
If you’ve just bought the parts separately, the usual assembly order goes like this: grip tape onto the deck first (in stages, so you don’t trap air), then open the 8 holes from below with an awl or a screwdriver, bolt on the trucks with the kingpins and bushings facing inwards, press the bearings into the wheels using the axle itself as a press (never a hammer, they don’t take side loads) and, last, each wheel onto the axle with its speed rings and nut, tightening and then backing off an eighth to a quarter turn so the wheel spins free with minimal side play. A skate tool carries every size you need in one piece. The full photo walkthrough is in the guide on how to build a skateboard.
Once the setup is built, it helps to know which piece dies first. The numbers floating around are rough, but the order repeats across almost every maintenance source: the grip smooths out first (and it’s the cheapest part to replace), then the deck, which with daily use and tricks can last anywhere from weeks to months between chips, razor tail and lost pop. A daily rider’s wheels usually get replaced around every six months, rotating them every two or three. On the trucks, the first things to go are the bushings and pivot cups, the most common truck spare parts. Bearings last two years or more if you clean and lubricate them. And the trucks themselves go last: they outlive several decks, and get replaced over a bent axle, cracks or a hanger chewed up by grinds. The full check-up plan is in our skateboard maintenance guide.
Keep exploring
- How to choose a skateboard deck
- How to choose skateboard trucks
- How to choose skateboard wheels
- Bones bearings guide
- How to build a skateboard
- Skateboard maintenance guide
- Best skateboard wheels
- Best skateboard trucks compared
Conversation
Your name will be public. Your email stays private. Comments are reviewed before publishing.