How to Find the Best Off Road Skateboard or Longboard

Many types of recreational vehicles exist today for private consumers. There are dirt bikes and mountain bikes, for example, which are great for stunts or exploring the wilderness on two tough wheels. Roller skates and ice skates are also great fun and can be used even professionally, such as famed ice skater figures. ATVs and motorcycles are also great motorized ways to get around, and skateboards are also very popular, and they too can be motorized. Regular skateboards are probably the more common type, and they can be used for casual riding or for stunts in skate parks, and there’s plenty of famous skateboarders around the world. But even a skateboard can have wheels installed if the rider wants them, and an off road longboard can be a fun and stylish way to get around if the sidewalks and streets aren’t thrilling enough. An off road longboard or a remote control skateboard will have the oversized wheels, tough body, and strong motor to get its rider around, and an automatic longboard or an off road longboard can be found at sports goods stores or in the secondary market.

Skateboarding Today

An off road longboard of an all terrain skateboard figures into the larger market of skateboarding today, and it’s a pretty popular industry by any measure. About 11 million people have recently self-reported that they enjoy skateboarding regularly, and nearly 16 million skateboarders can be found across the United States, and six million more can be found in the rest of the world, too. In fact, more and more older people are getting into skateboarding, which is no longer an exclusive club for teenagers. As of 2006, some 13 years ago, 71% of skaters were aged 12-17, and by now, only 45% of them are in that age range. Women first entered the competitive skateboard scene in 1964, when Patti McGee turned pro. Skateboarding is a popular and fun sport. But new options are opened up if an off road longboard or some other electric off road skateboard is used. How are they different? What should someone look for when interested in buying one?

About Off Road Longboards

Off road skateboards have the same core ideas as regular skateboards, as in a flat and hard body to stand on, along with two sets of paired wheels for getting around. But while a regular skateboard has small wheels and is powered by human effort, an electric, off road skateboard will have bigger, rubber wheels with traction grip so that they can navigate rougher terrain like grass, sand, small rocks, or anything else out there. A regular skateboard’s wheels would soon get stuck in rough terrain outside of a sidewalk or skate park. By contrast, an electric skateboard’s wheels are big and flexible enough to roll over sand, rocks, dirt, and whatever else might be out there.

Then there’s the motor. A person riding an electric skateboard isn’t using their leg to get moving, but instead, they can use a remote control to make the skateboard go, and the motor might be pretty powerful depending on the model. In some cases, there might be a handheld remote control, and in other models, the rider can tilt the board to the left or right to steer it, and the wheels will turn. They may need their batteries changed every so often if they are electric, or they might have a small motor instead (this may be the case for older models).

An interested customer can look for electric skateboards at their local hobby or outdoor shop and browse models, or they might look to online retailers and check out an online catalog to find a model they like. An online shop should have clear images and descriptions of each longboard for the customer to view so they can get the right model, and once shipped, a longboard can be taken right outside. Another option is to visit the secondary market and buy from a private seller. A used longboard should be tested first before buying, to make sure that’s still in good condition for riding. If the model checks out, then it’s a deal.