Everyone is free to add to this thread. All accurate posts made by members will be kept in the thread and all inaccurate or false posts will be deleted. Please do not post anything in this thread unless it's to add a myth debunk! All other posts asking questions or challenging the debunk posts will be deleted. If you would like to ask a question or challenge any of the information please private message the person that created the post. The reasoning is I'd like this to be a clear, concise, and easy to read through thread free of hundreds of posts between debunk posts.

Skateboarding myths:

1. Large decks aren't good for street, only vert. They also flip slow.

Decks come in different sizes because people come in different sizes and weights. Deck sizes should generally be chosen by feel and comfortability. If you feel your knees are too close together thereby offsetting your balance you will need a larger deck. If you're shorter and lighter and a deck feels overwhelmingly large you will need a shorter narrower deck. It's best to choose one that feels like the perfect balance between stability on the board and enough width for comfortable foot placement. If you have large feet and get too narrow of a deck it's likely to pose problems with stability and trick execution. A shorter person having smaller feet will have a harder time controlling a deck that's too large or wide. It's often said that large decks flip really slow. A smaller person, let's say a kid age 10, kickflips a 7.5" x 31.25" deck. Then you take an adult, say age 29, kickflipping an 8" x 32" deck. Both flips should appear extremely similar without a noticeable difference in flip speed. You can observe this in skate videos. The reason is a full grown adult will have more strength and power in their flip thereby moving the extra weight with ease. Now, of course if that same adult kickflips a narrower shorter board it will likely flip quicker because the same power is moving a smaller object. But either way, the flip speed of a large deck is by no means slow when done by a person of proper proportion to the board. Yes, of course young kids will flip large boards slower but it doesn't mean this is correct for everyone.

2. Larger wheels, say 56-58mm, aren't good for street, only vert.

This is a bit of a miscontrustrued idea. The theories vary from the wheels being too heavy to the center of gravity of the board is offset too much. While the center of gravity may change it's by an extremely tiny amount, not enough to truly make any different unless you're using huge wheels and have added very thick risers. It really just comes down to the person and personal feel. The difference in weight between wheels that are 50mm and 56mm are quite small. In the Oldschool days people were kickflipping non-uniform 10" wide decks with 10" wide trucks with huge 64mm wheels with little problems. Of course, leg strength plays a role but when working with a heavier object you eventually adjust to it and gain the extra strength. Larger wheels are beneficial in two ways. First, they let you roll faster. Second, they raise your board a little higher off the ground thereby increasing the tail angle which gives an added benefit, though very slight, to Ollie height. So all in all things usually balance out. Like I mentioned, it's all personal feel. If you like your trucks really loose and don't like using risers (raising the deck higher from the ground) then smaller wheels should be your choice. If you like a faster, smoother ride, you should consider wheels that are a little larger. It doesn't mean you won't be able to skate street anymore

3. The lighter the board the higher you can ollie.

This comes from what would appear to be common sense. Obviously you can lift something lighter higher than something heavy right? Well, not always. Ollieing is not simply lifting your board. An ollie is an action->reaction. You pop and the board comes up and toward you. Then you slide your foot up creating the opposite resistance and upward drag, etc. Having a slightly bolder weight at the front of the board (front truck) provides more backward push against your foot sliding up thereby allowing your shoe to grip the board more firmly and take it up into the air. A slightly bolder weight also gives more stability against the powerful motions of your feet. Of course, too heavy would be completely counter productive but in all honesty the weight of the "heavier" setups out there are only a tiny, pretty much imperceivable, amount heavier than the "lighter" setups. Obviously there will always be those swearing up and down they can ollie a lot higher now that they got the lighter deck and trucks etc. But there is such a thing called the Placebo Effect. A board weighing 3 ounces lighter will not make you ollie a foot higher. In other words, don't be so concerned about weight!

4. If you're xx years old you're too old to start skating.

Age is something that affects everyone differently. You will find people that are obese with health problems at the age of 14. Should someone like this take up skating? Probably not. Should the 40 year old couch potato that's 260lbs and hasn't exercised in 10 years try to suddenly get into skating? Again, probably not. But what about those still fit and active? Why the heck not? If you're 50 and still in shape and don't have joint problems and all that and want to try skateboarding go right ahead! A number of professional skaters are in their 30's. Rodney Mullen is now 40. Danny Way is 32 (and still setting world records), Tony Hawk is 38. They're still skating. Why? Cause they're immune to aging? No, but as I said everyone ages differently. And these guys are examples of people that kept fit and can keep going for many years to come. Look at the age of a number of people in the olympics, look at Lance Armstrong. So when it's asked, "Am I too old?" the response should be, "Age means nothing, but what physical shape are you in?". Lastly, skating doesn't have to be popping nollie kickflip boardslides down a 15 set. Some people are content with riding around, or doing simpler tricks, things that are still fun and much less taxing to a not so young and fit body.

5. Freezing skateboard wheels makes them last longer.

With certain metals, freezing at cryonic temperatures (-320 degress for example) re-alligns the molecular structure thereby eliminating molecular gaps - in other words it creates a tighter structure. A company called Dean Markley applies this technology to a line of guitar strings they make called Blue Steel. Skateboard wheels however are urethane so this doesn't apply. Nonetheless, your common household refrigerator comes nowhere near even being close to cryogenic temperatures so freezing your wheels in you refrigerator would simply only make them cold. It has no benefitial effect on the wheels whatsoever. People will claim they can tell a difference but again… that’s the placebo effect. For more reading on cryogenics and their application you can check this link out: http://www.lycos.com/info/cryogenics.html

6. Blank Decks aren't as good as pro decks:

This is both true and false - mainly false. Most blank decks are actually made in the same factories as pro decks and are made with the same shape templates as pro decks. As a matter of fact, most pro decks are made from already designed templates from the deck manufacturers. Companies can get samples to see which template shapes they like best and then they provide the artwork to go on the deck. Deck manufacturer Watson Laminates has made decks for companies such as Pig Wood, Zero, Foundation, Sector 9, Element, Toy Machine, and many others. So has California Skate Factory (Alien Workshop among others). These same companies will make decks for pretty much anyone that can afford to order their quoted minimum number of decks (usually 500 - 1000). They get cheaper the more you order. A good number of blank decks come from the same companies so you'd be surprised to learn that your blank may be of the exact same quality as a pro deck simply without the graphics.

On the other hand, some blanks, and maybe even some "pro" decks, may be made by a manufacturer of lesser expertise (ie. cheaper cost). On that account the one problem is how do you know which is which when they're just blanks with no info on them? Well, unless the place selling the blanks indicates where they were made you really can't tell otherwise. But when it comes down to it you have to understand that what primarily, though not solely, makes a pro deck cost more is the advertising, graphic printing, and the pro skaters whose names are on the decks they have to pay. Advanced construction technologies, such as carbon fiber inserts, varying laminate thicknesses, Rock Bottom layer, etc also drive up the cost - sometimes as much as $7 per deck more! But put plainly, with blanks costing approximately in the neighborhood of $20 each and pro decks approximately $50 each I honestly can't say the length a pro deck will outlast two blanks. The pluses of buying a pro deck however are in the support you give to the pro skater whose name is on the deck as well as supporting the company, getting special construction, and at the same time maybe getting a graphic you really identify with. Either way, whichever you buy you're still supporting skating and helping to keep people employed ;-)