Wanna ride your skateboard in full swag? With tons of cool skateboards around, it’s really hard to pick the right one for yourself. But don’t worry! You’re not alone in this search. In this post, you will explore the top 5 skateboard brands that suit your personality and amp up your style.
Skateboards are not limited to“just “a mode of transport”. Gaining recognition as an Olympics game in 2020, skateboarding has evolved to become one of the most favorite extreme sports games played in the U.S. According to stats,
Skateboarding hit its highest popularity in the United States in 2020 and 2021, with almost 8.8 million participants each year.
Whether you're cruising alone, listening to your favorite music, or showcasing your incredible maneuvers at a skateboard park, it’s just a matter of personal preference how you wanna enjoy the sport.
You might experience some falling hard on the concrete pavement and suffer painful injuries, but the desire to skate and improve is what keeps you moving ahead. Do keep in mind that the chances of accidents increase if your skateboard is of poor quality and lacks the durability to withstand impacts.
If you're new to the whole skateboarding thing, you want to find the best one for yourself. Let's dive deep into the article to find out about the raddest skateboard brands that are known for their cutting-edge style and unbeatable toughness.
What Makes a Winning Skateboard Brand?
Riders
Skateboard brands sponsor professional skaters. If your brand is championed by a respected pro, your influence grows. Imagine being a pro skater’s deck; it’s a pretty hard life. Constantly getting flipped, slammed, and beaten into all manner of terrain. If your deck can withstand pro-level skating, safe to say your brand is solid.
Skaters understand this, and you get the added benefit of riding the same brand as your role model.
Visuals and Art
You see the board before you ever touch it.
Simply browsing through the displays of a local skate shop is fun and entertaining. Skateboard brands have a unique visual ethos. Decks designed by respected artists fetch very high prices.
The look of a skating brand will also extend to their fashion/apparel. The skateboarding industry is unique, resting at the confluence between sports and fashion.
Brands like Supreme have transcended the sport and penetrated pop culture. They began as a skateboarding brand with pro skaters on their team in 1994; fast-forward to 2020, and the brand was acquired for 2.1 billion by fashion giant VF Corp.
Technology/innovation
Each Skateboard has a distinct character: the concave curve, the width of its nose/tail, and its weight. All these details matter, and skateboarders are hyper-aware of the tiniest deviations in quality, also known as the ‘feel’ of the board. Consistent quality craftsmanship earns brand loyalty.
It is important to understand that skateboards are meant to be broken. Destroying your deck every few months is considered normal. Skateboarding brands want to retain these insane customers.
Some brands have made innovations that have pushed the entire sport forward. Including the first on our list:
The 5 Best Skateboard Brands
These are some of the most awesome brands that are sure to meet your expectations. Take a smooth ride down the list to find the best skateboard of your choice.
1. Powell Peralta
Talk about some deadly designs. The vibrant colors and spooky images make Powell Peralta stand out amongst other boring manufacturers around. One gaze, and you are immediately attracted to the board.
Teaming with big skating icons like Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, and Rodney Mullen, the brand rose to fame and became one of the most popular choices around.
Many credit them with building the first ‘indestructible deck’, also known as the Powell Peralta flight deck. This was the brainchild of an aerospace engineer (George Powell) and Stacy Peralta, the top pro-skater at the time (1978).
These tech-savvy folks put in a few things, like fiberglass with layers of carbon fiber. It made it super-strong while staying light-weighted. This technology is unique and patented, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anything as durable on the market.
When you’re looking for stunning visuals, quality, and durability of an all-in-one board, then you should give the Powell Peralta flight deck a shot. Though the setup might cost a little extra, it's gonna stay with you for long.
2. Deluxe (DLXSF)
If you wanna know the true powerhouse behind the most iconic brands like Real and Venture Trucks, it’s this renowned distribution company, Deluxe (DLXSF).
So, whether it’s Jimmy Wilkins performing a maneuver that even the camera finds it hard to fit in one frame or Mile Silvas scoring the skater of the year award, there’s no stopping these champs from nailing it.
One of its founders, the late Fausto Vitello, also co-founded Thrasher magazine, which helped skateboarding grow from a fad to a multibillion-dollar industry.
Jim Thiebaud, the vice president and pro skater, is a living legend in this sport. That’s why the passionate culture hasn’t changed much in many years. Wanna know which brands make DLXSF so popular?
- Anti-hero
- Krooked
- Real
- Spitfire Wheels
- Thunder Trucks
- Venture trucks
DLXSF is a big deal in the skating world. It represents some of the most talented and influential pro-skaters like Ishod Wair (Real), Grant Taylor (Anti-hero), and street-skating pioneer Mark Gonzales (Krooked).
3. Baker Boys Distribution
From simple and cute graphics to unusual and scary ones, you can find a skateboard that matches your style, kind of like the edgy, street-focused ethos that speaks directly to those who live and breathe skateboarding.
Every skateboarder knows the name Andrew Reynolds, a.k .a. ‘The Boss’. If you’re unfamiliar, Andrew is basically Tony Hawk and Andrew Mullen’s successor.
Reynolds founded Baker Boys distribution with pro-skaters Erik Ellington and Jim Greco. Similar to DLXSF, BBD distributes some of the most coolest skateboarding brands on the market, including:
- BAKER
- Deathwish
- Shake Junt
- Heroin
- BirdHouse (founded by Tony Hawk)
You can choose from a variety of flexible shapes and sizes. Known for stability and smooth ride, these boards come at a budget-friendly price, making them a favorite among the crowd.
4. Quasi
When it comes to funky visuals, Quasi is your top choice. Formerly known as the Mother Collective, Quasi is a brand famous for its authenticity and killer styles.
While Quasi lacks the extensive history enjoyed by some of its counterparts, it has managed to make a significant impact on current skate culture. Despite the sudden rebrand (prompted by legal issues), it looks like nothing can stop Quasi’s upward trajectory. Many consider Quasi as the face of a new ‘small brand renaissance’.
The mother collective emerged after the dramatic fall of iconic skateboard brand Alien Workshop; Quasi rose from the ashes and soon managed to gain popularity, ultimately becoming the new favorite in the skateboarding community.
Many hardcore skaters swear by the quality of Quasi decks, and the brand is gaining a solid reputation for excellent craftsmanship and unique art. Additionally, they also have collaborations with footwear giant Vans.
The devil is in the details, and Quasi checks all the boxes. The brand’s team has featured talent such as Gilbert Crockett, Tyler Bledsoe, Josh Wilson, and Jake Johnson. The team's diverse styles and contributions to the skateboarding scene further solidified Quasi's position as an influential brand.
5. NHS Inc.
When it comes to quality and shape, NHS Inc. is the top name in the industry. Focusing on adding value to skater’s purchases, NHS, in 2013, earned a spot in the Skateboard Hall of Fame.
This company has been distributing some of the most impactful skateboard brands in history, tracing back its origin to the early 70s. The founders of NHS began as surfboard distributors but switched to skateboarding with Santa Cruz Skateboards, the oldest continuously running skate brand in the world.
NHS Inc. manages and distributes other iconic brands, such as:
- Creature
- Independent Trucks
- OJ Wheels
Let’s not forget their innovations in skate technology, pioneering the use of precision bearings on wheels, which has now become an industry standard.
NHS Inc. and its affiliated brands share the same love and passion for skateboarding. Their continuous research and commitment to providing value have indeed made them the best in the business.
Conclusion
Now you know about the coolest skateboard brands that will have you saying Wow! From Powell Peralta’s killer designs to the most durable boards of NHS, these skateboards have their own way of showing off their indestructible nature.
So, whether you're hanging out with your friends skateboarding like crazy or just using it just to enjoy some quality time on your own, these skateboards have your back.
Depending on your riding style, you can choose the right deck size and proper height. With these top 5 brands in mind, you can easily pick a board that’s easy on your pocket yet makes you look like a rad skateboarder in your circle!
