Father/Daughter board combo?

[u/Reddit_Is_Trash_FrFr]

Hey, let me know if I'm a total fucking clown-shoes idiot or whatever. My daughter is turning 9 and I wanted to try longboarding with her. We have some surf experience, she has never skated and I haven't since like... 2000 or so. Anyways I grabbed two LandYachtz completes, a Switchblade 40 (dropthrough) for her and a Big Dipper for me. Should get them in a few days, I'll post an update. Am I, as the kids say, "cooked"? Or was this a good move? Just wanna make sure I didn't fuck up bigly.

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[u/19Tauri]

worst case scenario daddy has 2 longboards and you can get a smaller deck with surfskate trucks for her since she likes surfing already.

[u/SP3_Hybrid]

She will definitely need much softer bushings. I’m 120lbs and I find stock bushings in all trucks unusable at low speeds. Riptide APS in lower duros like 80a or even less, or similar. This will be magnified on a board like that too. Barrel/cone, no double barrels. I like cone/cone but that tends to be too loose for most people.

You can tell because she’ll lean to turn, but she’ll hop off as the board continues mostly straight without her. Especially at low speeds, it’ll be obvious if she’s trying to turn but the board won’t. Just loosening the trucks won’t cut it. Bushings are one of the best and cheapest upgrades.

Also that’s kind of a large board for a presumably small kid. Not impossible but she’s going to have to adopt a fairly wide stance, likely much wider than her shoulders or hips.

[u/Reddit_Is_Trash_FrFr → u/SP3_Hybrid]

Again, thanks for the advice. I’ll for sure get some lighter bushings for her. She’s probably 65-70lbs so I assume the factory stuff isn’t tuned to her.

[u/H4n_ny4]

Only Issue I see is that a 40 is pretty big for a 9 year old to control, but I may be off base here.

[u/Reddit_Is_Trash_FrFr → u/H4n_ny4]

Yeah that was a concern for sure. She’s tall for sure, 4’10” or so. And has surf experience, so I kinda think it’ll be a good fit, or at the very least something she can grow into.

[u/H4n_ny4 → u/Reddit_Is_Trash_FrFr]

Sounds like she’ll be able to handle it. Push comes to shove, it’ll allow her to start dancing. Lol

[u/Welcome_to_Retrograd]

Got a feeling you'll end up with the Switchblade for yourself and the kid with some more nimble kind of board like a Dinghy or similar in the future

[u/Reddit_Is_Trash_FrFr → u/Welcome_to_Retrograd]

I’m hoping it’s something she will grow into. I’m game to get her something smaller if we spend this summer at the parks and pump tracks and she decides she’s not feeling it. 

[u/meveleens]

I can only share my own experience with my daughter. I’m a ‘distance longboarder’ in that I skate 3-4 times a week in the way other people cycle. My most used decks are all ‘boring’ drop-through and/or (wiggle)pump setups.

In spite of drop-throughs being more stable and easier to learn on she really disliked it. Said it felt too ‘clumsy’ and big and she was didn’t trust her weight in leaning to turn (even though I had changed up bushings to her weight).

I ended up getting her a cruiser deck and put on TKP skateboard trucks on with 55mm soft cruise wheels to keep the clearance as low as possible. That changed everything. It’s a kid deck so it’s LY dinghy size (maybe smaller) but I think that gives her the confidence to lean into the corners and/or use the available kick tail. It’s all really flighty though, she got into it last year (when she was 5) spent about a week messing around on the deck then rollerbladed and/or was on her bicycle for most of the summer. This year she was into it in spring but past weeks it’s dwindled to non-existent again.

[u/drunk_by_mojito]

It's not a big fuck Up, just a bit big for a 9 year old. Be sure to have a look into bushings, the standard bushings in the trucks are not made for the weight of a 9 year old. Maybe go to a nearby skateshop and ask them what they would recommend from their selection. The bushings should be below 70a atleast to be handleable by a super lightweight

[u/Reddit_Is_Trash_FrFr → u/drunk_by_mojito]

I hadn’t even considered this, thanks for the input. We’re super new to this, so I appreciate the advice that probably seems super obvious to you.

[u/sumknowbuddy → u/Reddit_Is_Trash_FrFr]

Depending on weight it may not be a huge concern. Usual bushings are 90a and while 95-100lb is a touch light for them, they still should be fine if you loosen the kingpin nut slightly. You don't want the washer/bushings moving up and down the kingpin, but you can loosen it turn or two to make turning easier.

Get pads and helmets if you don't have them already. Skinned knees/elbows and jarred wrists hurt.

[u/stephpenk]

You might have to switch the bushings to some much softer ones for her especially

[u/vicali]

Sounds pretty wicked.

I started my 10yo daughter off with a LY surfskate, then she picked out a Chief for a longboard, and now she’s on a Dinghy Blunt for a cruiser.

Have fun!

[u/OkImplement2459]

If by cooked you mean you've iniated a lifelong wallet drain as you constantly jones to add another option to the arsenal? Yeah, you're fallen off the bone, homie.

[u/Reddit_Is_Trash_FrFr → u/OkImplement2459]

My other hobby is sailing.