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Freeride longboarding is one of the most interesting types of longboarding that there is. It’s not exactly downhill and not simply just cruising around. So what is freeride longboarding? And what are the best longboards for aspiring riders looking to get into freeriding? We’ll answer all of these questions and more in this ultimate guide to freeride longboarding.
| Product | Our Thoughts | More Information |
|---|---|---|
| Landyachtz Switch 40 | With an affordable price and high quality parts, the Landyachtz Switch is perfect for anybody just beginning to experienced freeriders. | Check Price Now! |
| Rayne Avenger | More expensive than the Landyachtz Switch, the Rayne Avenger makes up for it with it’s high quality. Perfect for intermediate to experienced riders or simply riders who want a long-lasting longboard. | Check Price Now! |
| Atom Longboards Atom Freeride / Downhill Longboard – 37″ , Magic Carpet | Cheaper than the other longboards, the Atom Magic Carpet is our affordable option if you simply want to try out freeriding. | Check Price Now! |
| Arbor Axis Walnut | A great longboard overall, the Arbor Axis Walnut can be used for so many different uses of which freeride is only one. A great multipurpose board. | Check Price Now! |
What is Free Riding?
For beginners especially, a common question I hear is: what is free riding? Everybody knows downhill riding, and people love to cruise around on longboards but free riding is almost a mixture of both of them.
According to skaters, freeriding is thought of as riding no matter what the speed and doing slides the entire time. The speed is what makes it different from simply cruising around and the slides make it different from pure downhill.
Downhill is all about the maximum speed down a hill while freeriding is all about “tearing up” the hill with a mixture of speeds and fancy slides that leave long lines streaking on the pavement.
If you’re going fast down a hill, and decide to start practicing your stand up slides? That’s freeriding. And as with any type of longboarding, you’re going to want the proper longboard if you want to freeride longboarding right.
What to Look for in a Freeride Longboard
Choosing the correct longboard is very important if you want to have the best freeriding experience. The first thing you should think about if you want the best freeride longboards is the shape of the deck.
Deck Shape
The most popular deck shapes for freeride longboards are drop through, drop-platform, and top mount longboards and there are advantages to each of them. Drop through and drop-platform longboards have more stability due to the lowered deck and center of gravity while top mount longboards are better at carving yet are worse at high speeds.
Because most slides end with the back of your board pointing forward, a nice aspect of good freeride longboards is that they are symmetrical. This allows riders to easily ride the board after completing slides.
Flex and Length
One thing that you should avoid in a good freeride longboard is FLEX. While flex is perfect for cruising boards, at higher speeds, it simply takes away power from your slides and makes it harder to keep the board stable.
The final characteristic to consider for freeride decks is the length. Most freeride longboards are in the range of 38” – 42” because this allows the board to remain stable at higher speeds while also being short enough to easily kick out and perform tricks on.
Top 4 Freeride Longboards
To help narrow down the wide field of freeride longboards, we looked at the longboarding market today and found the best freeride longboards for all types of riders, beginner to advanced. For each of the longboards listed below, we also consulted with long term riders to get their opinion on the board’s free ride capabilities.
Landyachtz Switch
Check the reviews and its price here!
The perfect mix of affordability and quality, the Landyachtz Switch is the absolutely choice of freeride longboard for any rider just looking into freeriding to intermediate riders who have been riding freeride for months.
One of the reasons this longboard fits freeride like hands in a glove is the drop down deck. While it provides stability, it also produces great places to wedge your foot up against making it easy to cause the longboard to break traction and slide.
If buying complete (check here for the price), the Landyachtz Switch comes with premier Bear Grizzly 852 Trucks. It also comes with Landyachtz wheels to provide a mix of durability and sliding capability to the longboard.
We have reviewed this longboard before, so if you want a deeper look into the Landyachtz Switch and all of it’s advantages, check out our full review.
Rayne Avenger
Check the reviews and its price here!
Considered by many the best freeride longboard on the market today, the Rayne Avenger is perfect for those riders looking to get serious about free riding. The deck measures 37” long and is made out of maple to provide a stiff base for riders.
The deck also measures a little wider than most at 10”. For riders, these means that you have more space for different foot positions and can place more weight on the sides of the longboard.
To provide a mix of stability and carving, the Rayne Avenger comes with Paris 180mm trucks. For wheels, you get Abec 11 Classic Zigzags measuring 70mm diameter and 81A for durometer. These wheels are perfect for freeriding and will make it easy to slide the board and last long enough to be worth it.
Atom Magic Carpet
Check the reviews and its price here!
Made out a stiff, 9 ply maple laminate, this longboard has the stiffness necessary in a great freeride longboard. The reason this longboard makes the list, however, is its astounding cheap price. For a good freeride longboard that will last you, you are not going to find better deals than the Atom Freeride Longoard Magic Carpet (check its price here).
For trucks, this longboard uses 40 degree Navigator drones perfect for building up speed while maintaining stability. The wheels are Atom Freewheels which are 70 mm diameter and have a durometer of 82A. They are constructed out of Atom’s special super high rebound slide formula helping riders slide their Magic Carpet easier than ever before.
Arbor Axis Walnut
Check the reviews and its price here!
At the longer end of the best freeride longboards spectrum is the Arbor Axis Walnut coming in at 42”. We have reviewed this longboard in the past and had great things to say about it then and now, we have even more great things for freeriders.
The shape of the deck helps eliminate wheel bite with those huge wheel cutouts on either side of the board. And as every good freeride longboard, the Arbor Axis Walnut is symmetrical making riding it in either way very easy.
It comes with black reverse kingpin longboard trucks and red 70mm longboard wheels. One common complaint of this board, however, is that the clear spray-on grip tape often wears off or does not keep rider’s feet on the board.
If this is a concern of yours, consider regripping the board using Vicious Grip Tape. And if you want more information on the Arbor Axis Walnut and a complete list of it’s uses check out our full review.
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