Skateboard, Cruiser or Longboard: Which Should You Get?
These four boards look related and ride completely differently. Buying the wrong one is the most common mistake people make in skateboarding, and it is almost always the same mistake: buying a street skateboard to get places, or a longboard hoping to learn tricks.
Answer one question first. Do you want to learn tricks, or do you want to get somewhere? Everything follows from that.
The short version
- Want to learn tricks: skateboard. Nothing else does this properly.
- Short trips, carry it a lot, fits in a bag: cruiser.
- Longer distances, commuting, comfort: longboard, usually drop-through.
- Carving, surf or snow cross-training: surf skate.
- Rough Australian footpaths: anything with soft wheels. Not a street skateboard.
- Already own a skateboard? Soft wheels turn it into a decent cruiser for about $60.
- Buying for a kid who wants to skate like their friends: skateboard.
What we cover
The four compared · Skateboard · Cruiser · Longboard · Surf skate · Why wheels decide everything · Common mistakes · FAQ
The four, compared
| Skateboard | Cruiser | Longboard | Surf skate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Tricks | Short trips | Distance and speed | Carving and pumping |
| Deck | Popsicle, symmetrical | Shaped, compact | Long, various shapes | Surfboard-inspired |
| Length | 31 to 32in | 28 to 34in | 33 to 47in | 28 to 34in |
| Wheels | Hard, 50 to 54mm | Soft, 56 to 60mm | Soft, 65 to 80mm | Soft, 60 to 70mm |
| Rough ground | Poor | Good | Excellent | Good |
| Portability | Good | Best | Worst | Good |
| Tricks | Yes | Limited | Dancing only | No |
| Learning curve | Steepest | Easy | Easiest | Easy if you surf |
| Price from | $99 | $180 | $200 | Under $330 |
Prices current as at August 2026.
Skateboard
The standard popsicle board: symmetrical, roughly 31 to 32 inches, with a nose and tail that are nearly identical and hard wheels between 50 and 54mm.
Get one if you want to learn tricks, skate parks, ledges or transition. This is the only board on this page that does that properly, and everything about it is built for it. The symmetry lets you ride and land in both directions. The tail lets you pop. The hard wheels slide predictably.
Do not get one if your plan is getting to the station. Hard wheels stop dead on gravel, transmit every crack straight into your feet, and are genuinely unpleasant over distance. People buy a skateboard for commuting, hate it, and conclude they do not like skateboarding.
Steepest learning curve of the four, which is worth knowing but not a reason to avoid it if tricks are what you want.
How to choose a skateboard · Shop skateboards
Cruiser
A compact shaped board with soft wheels, typically 28 to 34 inches. Built for getting somewhere rather than tricks or speed.
Get one if you want short trips around town, campus, the shops or the last kilometre from the tram, and you want something you can pick up and carry into a building or slide under a desk. This is the most practical board on this page for city living.
Do not get one if you are covering real distance. Small wheels and a short wheelbase get tiring over a few kilometres, and a longboard will be far more comfortable.
Most cruisers have a kicktail, so you can kick turn and hop kerbs even though they are not trick boards.
Longboard
Anything from 33 to 47 inches with big soft wheels. The broadest category here, covering commuting, carving, downhill and dancing.
Get one if you want to cover distance comfortably, ride rough surfaces without thinking about it, or go fast. A drop-through around 38 to 42 inches is the most versatile board most people can buy, and it is the easiest of the four to ride from day one.
Do not get one if you need to carry it constantly or store it somewhere small. A 42 inch board on a peak hour tram is a genuine nuisance.
Easiest learning curve of the four. Big soft wheels and a long wheelbase make them very stable at low speed, which is why they suit nervous beginners.
How to choose a longboard · What size · Shop longboards
Surf skate
The odd one out, and genuinely a different machine. A surf skate uses a pivoting or spring-loaded front truck that swings through a far wider arc than a normal truck.
What that means in practice: you generate speed by pumping your hips rather than pushing with your foot. Once you have it, you can ride flat ground indefinitely without ever putting a foot down. The motion is close enough to surfing that it works as genuine off-season training.
Get one if you surf or snowboard and want to train the movement, or you simply want the most fun way to carve a flat car park.
Do not get one if you want to commute. They are not efficient for covering ground and they are not designed to be.
How to choose a surf skate · Shop surf skates
The wheels decide more than the deck
If you take one thing from this page, take this. Wheel hardness matters more than deck shape for how a board feels to ride.
| Wheels | Behaviour | Found on |
|---|---|---|
| Hard, 99a to 101a | Fast on smooth concrete, slides predictably, stops dead on gravel | Skateboards |
| Soft, 78a to 87a | Rolls over cracks and debris, grippy, quiet, cannot slide | Cruisers, longboards, surf skates |
This is why a skateboard is miserable on a Melbourne footpath and a cruiser is not. It is not the shape. It is the urethane.
Which means you have an option most people miss. If you already own a skateboard and want to get around on it, fit soft wheels of 56mm or larger. Same deck, same trucks, and it becomes a decent cruiser for around $60. Check for wheel bite first, because bigger wheels usually need riser pads and longer bolts.
Plenty of people keep two sets of wheels and swap depending on the day. Ten minutes with a skate tool.
The mistakes we see most
- Buying a skateboard to commute. The most common one. Hard wheels are the wrong tool and it puts people off entirely.
- Buying a longboard hoping to learn tricks. Different discipline, wrong equipment.
- Buying a dancer because it looked good online. A 46 inch board is a specialist tool and a nuisance to carry.
- Buying a surf skate as a commuter. They are built to carve, not to cover ground.
- Buying a cruiser for a 5km commute. Small wheels get tiring. Size up to a longboard.
- Assuming a longboard is the beginner version of a skateboard. It is not a stepping stone, it is a different sport.
Which board FAQ
What is the difference between a skateboard and a cruiser?
A skateboard has a symmetrical popsicle deck and hard wheels, built for tricks. A cruiser has a shaped deck and soft wheels, built for getting places. The soft wheels are the real difference: they roll over cracks and gravel that stop a skateboard dead.
Should I get a skateboard or a longboard as a beginner?
It depends entirely on what you want to do. If you want to learn tricks, a skateboard. If you want to get around comfortably and stably, a longboard or cruiser is easier to ride from the first day. Neither is a beginner version of the other.
Can you do tricks on a cruiser or longboard?
Not the way you can on a skateboard. Soft wheels, shaped decks and often no proper tail make flip tricks impractical. Some longboards are built for dancing and freestyle, but that is a different discipline rather than street skating.
What is a surf skate and how is it different?
A surf skate uses a pivoting front truck that swings much further than a normal truck, so you generate speed by pumping your hips rather than pushing. It is the closest thing to surfing on land and is used mainly for carving and cross-training.
What is the best board for commuting?
A cruiser for short trips you carry a lot, or a drop-through longboard for longer distances. Both run soft wheels that handle rough footpaths. A standard skateboard with hard wheels is the worst choice for getting places.
Can you put soft wheels on a skateboard to make it a cruiser?
Yes, and it works well. Fitting 56mm or larger soft wheels transforms a street skateboard for getting around. Check for wheel bite first, since larger wheels usually need riser pads and longer hardware to clear the deck.
Stand on all four
This is a decision that takes two minutes in person and ages badly online. Come to 435A Bridge Road, Richmond and stand on one of each. It becomes obvious very quickly which one you want.
Free shipping Australia wide on orders over $90. Call 03 9421 2293.
Keep reading: How to Choose a Skateboard · How to Choose a Longboard · How to Choose a Surf Skate · What Does a Skateboard Cost? · Beginner Checklist
Shop: Skateboards · Cruisers · Longboards · Surf Skates