Skateboarding Alternatives

Skateboards may come in one design structure only, but there have been other variations that made skateboarding something a bit ordinary, yet the results are still the same. Remembering the TV shopping ad called the Snakeboard, which is a skateboard with pivoting joints that allow the rider to freely go in motion as if slithering to move forward.

This is one of the inventions that have captured the spark of other companies when it comes to designing other ways to make a skateboard, and sometimes when the design is meant to do more than one thing only.

Longboards have been around even before the skateboard that is known today. Heavier and longer, these skateboards are meant for long cruising, where its larger size and wheels makes for a more stable ride than ordinary skateboards. It would be hard to perform tricks on a longboard, but it's the next best thing to emulate riding the waves of the ocean.

Mountain Boards (known as dirtboards for others) is another unusual invention meant for downhill shredding. As if trying to emulate the feel of downhill mountain biking, mountain boards are designed that way with much larger, threaded wheels and foot straps. Of course it would be dangerous to actually skateboard down a very steep hill, but more like getting the feel of surfing the hills in a more rugged terrain.

Freebord (spelled that way) is another skateboard alternative that has the same designs of a snowboard, only with wider trucks and wheels. It's designed to give the rider a more controlled carving (or shredding) sensation as the wider trucks and an extra wheel on each that makes it possible. Perfect for those who wants to get the feel of snowboarding, if one hates being cold even for a short time. Performing tricks would be impossible given to the weight, but just enough to shred asphalt or pavement. Snowdecks have a similar feature, only this time it emphasizes in actually sliding on roads, and it can be a bit difficult.

One other skateboard, if they could call it as that, just emulates the feel of skateboarding without the deck itself. It's mainly just a pair of wheels that can be attached under the shoes like a pair of inline skates, but the effects are not the same without a counterbalance.

Unusual designs, shapes, even some with dual purposes. Manufactures would go through certain leaps and bounds to give skateboarding a much different feel than the one that skateboarders are used to.