Do you have a skating background and want to enjoy the thrilling speed on your skateboard? Before starting, you should have to understand the tricks behind speed skating. Fast skating, also known as powerboarding, is a type of skateboarding that uses powerful motions and quick bursts of speed to propel the rider quickly across the ground.
Compared to regular skateboarding, fast skating is much more explosive and requires more energy to execute. Does the thing create a question in every skater’s mind how fast can a skateboard go? We tried to summarize the knowledge about fast skating in this article. So, you can offer tough competition not only on smooth but on rougher terrain such as dirt roads or concrete ramps.
How Fast Can A Skateboard Go?
A skateboard can typically run at a speed of 6 to 13 mph. The average speed for cruising could be between 6 and 8 mph. However, skateboarders with professional skills can achieve an average speed of 8 to 9 mph. But that average is purely based on my personal experience on flat terrain.
Additionally, one of my teammates indicated that skateboarders could reach speeds of up or 13 miles an hour on the extra smooth surface and settings. He emphasized that they can travel at an average speed of around 9 miles an hour. The speed is enough for the beginners as they can’t control the cruising.
Similarly, the longboard skateboard has an effortless pushing average speed of around 9-10 mph. For the more intense pushing, the skateboard can go at speeds of 10 or 13 mph. If you’re traveling for a distance of at least 10 miles, your skateboard’s speed should range from 9 to 13 mph.
Does the Bike Travel Faster or a Skateboard?
Bikes run with a different and stronger mechanism than the skateboard as they just depend upon the ball & bearing system. Additionally, the bikes can run at a very fast speed due to their humongous wheels compared to skateboards’.
However, bikers can speed up than skateboarders, with speeds of as high as 20 MPH. They travel at an average of 12 MPH speed for normal routes. Skateboarders, on the other hand, can travel more quickly than bikers on a downhill road. However, we won’t recommend it because of the high danger for beginners.
How Can Terrains Affect Your Skateboard’s Speed?
Different terrains affect your riding speed and put you in a testing period. Several factors influence skateboard speed.
Road Pattern
A Traffic rule accepts that skateboarders typically travel one mile in just 7 minutes and achieve a 9 miles per hour average speed. The route’s quantity of uphill, flats, and downhill patterns can also influence the average speed. Rural areas and hills are more conducive to speed if you’re trying to beat the record for your speed.
Metropolitan Objects
Traffic, road curving, curbs, and stairs can greatly affect your speed, especially in urban areas. You should slow down at stop signals and traffic lights. If you speed up without being able to slow down properly, it can become extremely risky. That’s why our team never asks you to speed things up in the urban areas.
Road Condition
The surface you’re riding can significantly affect your speed on skateboards. Urban roads that are deteriorating and sidewalks could reduce the speed of your skateboard as you have to avoid every pothole and crack. You cannot achieve your high-speed goal unless you’re experienced enough to leap over hurdles.
Can Skate Skills Influence Skateboard’s Speed?
Undoubtedly yes! There’s a direct correlation between your average speed and your riding skills. During the learning period, you travel at a slow speed and hesitate to gear things up. However, as you advance your skills, you’ll be closer to the speed of a bike. As you progress, you’ll be able to attain speed with high acceleration.
The speed of your skateboard also depends on your skills at pushing, i.e., the effectiveness, intensity, and frequency you use to push. Your effectiveness is based on your ability to maintain balance and control using your non-kicking foot. We believe that how you push the ground and the length of time your foot is on the ground greatly influence speeding.
Urban areas are crowded and have cracks, and uneven pavement riding skills can affect the speed of a rider by a higher amount. An experienced rider can generally glide over obstacles or avoid them effortlessly. As you improve your skills as you progress, you’ll likely increase 1-2 mph your speed on skates in an urban environment.
How Do Wheels and Bearings Affect the Speed of a Skateboard?
Wheels play a significant role in accelerating the speed of the skateboard. Softer wheels provide more grips and significantly absorb shocks from bumps in the ground. The thing leads the skateboard to perform highly in terms of smoothness. They are slower to roll, but they offer comfort and let you glide through obstacles with ease.
Additionally, bigger wheels cover more area in a shorter time. The ability of the skateboard enhances the speed by a major amount. It is the first recommendation everyone gives to new skaters for high speed. Additionally, bearings can make skateboards faster by decreasing friction between wheels and axles.
We recommend you choose the most suitable wheels for urban travel with a diameter of around 65mm. Additionally, the durometer between 85A and 78A can handle huge pressure for enhanced speed. However, quickly analyze your skateboarding skill before picking up the spec.
Longboards are quicker than skateboards because they’re larger and have larger wheels. If you’re looking to improve your speed, you can do it, you should consider switching to longboards. They can travel faster over asphalt and require less effort to glide over rocks and cracks easily. Their size makes them much more stable when traveling at higher speeds.
Tips For Increasing the Skateboard Speed
- Work to improve your balance on the skateboard while traveling.
- If you are a beginner, avoid Mongo-style thrill, as it can go out of control.
- We highly recommend you practice the basic techniques and styles for enhanced grip over your skateboard.
- Don’t waste your time obsessing. If you didn’t achieve the odd trick after so much time, we recommend you focus on the basics and your ride without wasting time.
- Working on a switch stance helps you in swapping and switching while riding. It ultimately allows you to flip over the small hurdles of all time.
- Taking a short course or watching videos on the internet for enhanced knowledge.
- Don’t rush into the different modules. Working slowly and with high patience is the key to success in skateboarding.
- Try to buy a longboard and start practicing on it. Longboards are usually faster than normal skateboards.
- Try to install bigger wheels on your skateboard as it covers more distance with the shorter stunt.
- Continuous learning about skating tricks and experience is the thing we highly recommend. It will help you to jump over or dodge metropolitan obstacles.
- We also recommend rubber wheels for this purpose as they remove shocks and add more comfort while riding.
FAQS
Do the bigger wheels play any role in speed enhancement?
Wheels play a major part in speeding up the skateboard. It is because bigger wheels roll quicker than smaller wheels. The soft wheels can also be beneficial since they can grip better and absorb greater shocks from the ground.
Does the better bearing affect the speed of the skateboard?
Bearings with better quality can dramatically increase the speed of the skateboard regardless of other factors being equal. The switch from stock bearings to Swiss or Ceramics bearings could increase the average speed by 1 millimeter.
Do the rubber wheels increase the skateboard speed?
Rubber wheels aren’t designed to enhance the speed. However, they work for greater efficiency and comfort against rough patches and road obstacles.
What is the faster means of transport a cycle or a skateboard?
As far as skateboards are concerned, they are way slower than the cycle. It is purely because of the structure and different engineering. The cycle works with bigger wheels, whereas the skateboard travels with tiny wheels compared to the cycle.
What is the average speed of a skateboard?
A skateboard typically operates at speeds of 6 to 13 miles per hour. The typical speed for cruising could range from 6 to 8 mph. However, skilled skateboarders can attain speeds of between 8 to 9 mph.
Conclusion
Most skateboarders love thrilling traveling, but the metropolitan area and other road objects daunt the high speed. In addition, inappropriate skateboard settings and wheel types also lead to a slow experience.
We are a skateboarding team and suggest you put bigger wheels and enhanced bearings for smooth traveling. You should easily find the answer to how fast a skateboard can go? in this article.