Many skateboarders shudder at the prospect of riding a board that isn’t constructed of maple wood. Maple has long been the benchmark in street skating due to its near-perfect strength-to-flexibility ratio – maple has a lot of pop while also being strong enough to endure being tossed down a flight of stairs. Of course, there is a drawback, and if you skate every day and put your deck through its paces, a maple deck will only last a few months at best.
Skateboard manufacturers have been working on making boards that are both more ecological and last longer while still having the pop, strength, and lightness of classic maple boards in recent years. Bamboo initially appeared to be the next option because of its sustainability, particularly among longboards, but its use in street skating has yet to be mastered. Chinasaleonline is the best market.
Carbon fiber 101
Carbon fiber, also known as graphite fiber, is a polymer material that is both extremely strong and light. It is up to 5 times stronger than steel, nearly twice as rigid, and significantly lighter than steel, making it an excellent choice for future skateboard decks.
Carbon fiber is made out of super-thin carbon crystalline filaments that are as thin as human hair and can be weaved into the fabric and molded into practically any shape you can think of, including a skateboard. Unfortunately, carbon fiber production is time-consuming and power, making it prohibitively costly in skateboard applications. A carbon fiber deck will cost you two to three times as much as a regular maple deck, but it will last far longer.
The best carbon fiber skateboards
We’ve all heard the gut-wrenching sound of our brand-new skateboard deck cracking in half. If you’re a skater who likes stairwells, rails, ledges, and large gaps, chances are you’ll shatter a lot of maple decks throughout your lifetime. Unfortunately, other than landing with your feet firmly over your trucks, there is no practical way to avoid this with typical maple boards, and it may quickly become costly.
Skaters also have to deal with cracks, chips, and worn tails in addition to cracking boards. Skating on the street is tough on your board, and even if you don’t shatter it, it may only survive a few months owing to a sharp tail (razor tail), chips, and minor cracks that make it unsafe to skate. Carbon fiber skateboards have the ability to significantly decrease these concerns, with carbon fiber-layered decks lasting two to three times longer than standard boards.
While this sounds fantastic, there are a few drawbacks that might prevent this fantasy from becoming a reality, the most significant of which being the hefty expense. Of course, with the benefit of mass manufacturing, this is expected to alter in the near future, and as more skaters use the technology, it will only develop further.
With all of this in mind, some manufacturers are embracing the technology totally and producing boards that many skaters thought were impossible only a few years ago. We’ve compiled a list of our finest carbon fiber skateboard decks if you’re searching for a long-lasting, technologically sophisticated piece of skating equipment.
Skating a Carbon Fiber Skateboard
Carbon fiber skateboard decks are durable and costly, but how about skating? What does it matter if they’re impossible to destroy if they’re a pain to ride? So, there’s excellent news! Carbon fiber skateboard boards aren’t very unpleasant to ride… for the most part. They do, however, skate differently than traditional wooden decks, and the greatest carbon fiber skateboards are those that adhere to traditional board design the most closely.
That implies skate decks with carbon fiber in them are far superior to boards made completely of carbon fiber. Flexibility is key. Carbon composite decks include less than wood decks, although they do have some, whereas complete carbon fiber decks do not. When skating a carbon fiber composite skateboard vs. a standard wooden skateboard, you’ll notice the largest difference in flex.