A skateboard is a platform with two pairs of wheels attached to its underbelly. The sport of skateboarding involves pushing this platform forward by standing on it with one foot and propelling it with the other foot. A skateboard can also be used while standing on an incline and allowing gravity to pull the skateboard down a natural or a man-made hill. There are no regulations or a governing body which dictates the measurements of a skateboard or the rules of the sport. Therefore, there are many different types of skateboards in use. For example, there are long boards which have larger wheels than a regular skateboard. In comparison to a regular skateboard, these wheels are softer and are attached to a longer wheelbase.
A normal, standard issue skateboard comprises a deck made from materials such as laminated Canadian maple wood, plastic, aluminium, bamboo, carbon fibre or fibreglass. A grip tape is attached to the user’s feet in to increase stability. A pair of aluminium trucks connects the deck to the wheels. The part of the truck which is screwed to the deck is called the base plate and below it is the hanger through which the axle runs.
No one is quite sure exactly when the first skateboard was invented or by whom. However, one theory suggests that during the 1940s and 1950s, children would have soapbox races. These soapboxes were fixed onto planks of wood which were, in turn, attached to wheels from roller skates. When the soapbox came off the wooden plank, children would use the planks as skateboards.
Another theory suggests that the skateboard was deliberately modified from the design of a roller skate. A roller skate would be dismantled and its wheels would be attached to a wooden plank. The earlier skateboards were often shaped like a surfboard and were straight in shape. Metal, wood and plastic were used to create these early skateboards which had wheels made from clay or steel. Traditionally the wheel axles were single action in comparison to the double action axles available today.
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