My friend @TheLoneSentry just started a series of posts about the madness of constantly looking for better setups for your skating, setups for different purposes, etc. I thought I’d chime in.

I enjoy thinking about the one board that is good for everything. The problem is that such a board doesn’t exist. If you only skate one spot, in one style, in one aspect of skateboarding, one board may be enough for you. If you are young or have limited financial resources and can’t afford multiple boards, you may be forced to use the same board for everything. No foul. We’ve all been there.

I don’t really do that many different kinds of skating now. I do some very mild street skating, some bank and ditch skating, and some freestyle.For that I have a freestyle board, but I often use an 8.25" wide pops because I like to roll around in parking lots and that size is nice for riding around. I like to turn, as well. When I’m doing freestyle, for the last three years I have not been into any flip tricks or shove-its. I really didn’t want to end up in the ER with a broken ankle during the pandemic. So my skating has been mostly wheelies, footwork, slides, spins, and flow during that time.

The truth is, for this particular version of freestyle (I call it Parking Lot Style), an even bigger board works really well. I’ve been riding a 9x32.5 pointy nose shaped board for a couple of years. When you are doing the kind of stuff I’ve been doing the larger board flows better. It feels good in ditches too.

Now, if I wanted to REALLY practice freestyle, pure freestyle, I’d of course use my freestyle board. If you want to really practice freestyle, with the full variety of tricks that are part of that discipline, the right tool for the job is essential. There will come a day when I’m preparing for a contest and I’ll be back on the freestyle board more.

Anyway, here are my three main riders. From left to right. 9x32.5 shaped board, Indy 159s, 54mm Bones STF. 7.4" Mode Freestyle Deck, Indy 109s, Mode FS wheels. 8.25" Mode pops, Indy 149s, currently with 54mm Bones STF (was using some Speedlab wheels when I took this photo). Each of these setups is finely tuned to the way I like them to feel, and together they give me the variety of board types I need and enjoy.