Why Is My Skateboard So Slow (9 Authentic reasons)

Are you muddled in finding the right default and asking yourself why is my skateboard so slow? With the passage of time, your skateboard gets slower especially when you do the moves or perform technical tricks on it regularly. Most of the time, the skateboard behaves sluggardly because of the wheels and the bearings. As these components play a distinguished or eminent role when it comes to skateboard speed. And the skateboard speed can touch the sky if you ride it professionally. But there could be many other factors that you must look into them if wheels and bearings are not the problems.

If you like to skate fast, having a lower speed can be extremely frustrating for you. However, you don’t need to be worried anymore. Because we’ve expounded all the factors that make your skateboard slow. Now let’s plug into the elements with enough detail of every factor to make it easier in detecting the problem.

Make sure that you are quite eligible for skating at a higher speed. As you know the basics of skateboarding like balancing, turning, and slowing down the skateboard. Read all the guides to understand all the aspects before scrutinizing the skateboard.

Why is my Skateboard so Slow

Before we plunge into the detail of how you can repair or fix all the skateboard problems. let us give you a rough idea of all the elements that can affect your board. Having a slower skateboard isn’t always a bad thing for technical skaters to perform maneuverability. So they don’t prefer to have a higher speed. But if it’s affecting your skating abilities, better to perceive and fix the problem.

Here are the 9 most common reasons why is my skateboard so slow:

1- Observe the wheels’ abilities for the surface

2- Check the diameter and durometer of the wheel (wrong size wheel)

3- Analyze the quality of the wheels

4- Maybe your bearings need neatness

5- The axle nut blocks your wheels

6- Bearings are not appropriate for getting the speed

7- Need the skateboard speed washers

8- Pushing technique issue

9- You might have an overall low-quality skateboard

Now it’s time to illustrate all the factors with handy and helpful detail to solve your skateboard problems. Illustrated below are all the points that should be noted and understood for fixing trouble with little effort.

1- Wheel’s required the suitable surface

All the mentioned factors make a huge difference to your skateboard. And recognizing the suitable surface for your equipped wheels with the board is an essential thing to concentrate on. As you can’t ride on the rough terrains if you’re having the smaller and tougher wheels but can be skated at skate parks. Softer wheels assist you in providing you with a comfortable and smooth ride but will slow down your skateboard.

73a ranked as the softest and 101a is the hardest skateboard wheel. This might be the reason for your slow skateboard as you don’t have the hardest vehicles. Probably you always wanted to have vehicles that give you a grippy ride. Now the right time has come by your side to make some changes to skateboard wheels. And get the speed by choosing the hard wheels but they are not as grippy as the softer wheels are.

So you have to find the wheels that pledge you a better grip as well as roll sensibly fast. The 96a to 99a can be the option to consider for the best speed and appropriate grip. Quality and suitable wheels make a huge difference to your skateboard speed.

2- Might have picked the wrong wheel size

Let’s understand the concept of wheel size and then discover the solution to the slow speed of your skateboard. The larger the wheels, it requires some rotations to cover more distance as compared to softer and smaller wheels. If you are a tricks lover, you will prefer the wheels under 56mm as they are perfect for basic (like an ollie) and advanced tricks(technical and hard tricks). These kinds of vehicles help the riders to show some skateboarding skills on the streets.

Above the 56mm, bowl and vert skaters come into the ground to show their skating abilities and to keep the speed momentum. But if the case is to cruise around the town or use the wheels for transportation and downhill riding, 60mm to 70mm can bring a lot of speed. Don’t waste your more time and get the wheels in the mentioned range and enjoy the speedy skateboard.

3- Analyze the quality of the wheels

Analyzing the quality of skateboard vehicles is essential and relatable to the previous factor. Usually, the beginners or mediocre ones don’t realize the material via skateboard wheels is made gets disappeared from them after skating for a couple of months. As a result, a huge difference in diameter appears on the wheel. That’s why you get the slow skateboard wheels and unstable riding.

To protect your wheels from this type of problem, cross-swapping and the placement of the wheel is a compulsory tasks to adopt. Another factor that we’ve found in slowing the skateboard is the flat spot. It happens when you feel that something has stuck into the vehicle or provided you a bumpy riding.

4- Clean the Bearings

Dirty bearings can make your skateboard slow down. For a time you don’t realize the effect of dirty bearings. But ultimately it affects your board speed.

If you have used a board or skating for a couple of months, make sure to clean the bearings to optimize the speed and performance of the skateboard. After cleaning the bearings, you would see a huge difference in the pace of it.

Before cleaning the bearings, you’ll need to have some important tools to do this process.

• Plastic container with a lid
• Isopropyl alcohol
• A skate tool
• Thumbtack, razor blade,
• Paper towel

First of all, take your wheels off, and then use the thumbtack and razor blade to take off the bearings too. You can use the nail polish remover to clean the bearings. Or isopropyl alcohol can get the job done within 30 minutes. Just let the bearings soak into the isopropyl alcohol for 30 minutes. Once the time gets up, place it on the towel and apply some silicon lube (use 3 drops only) to work as the new bearings. Then insert the bearings into the wheels and give some rotations to the wheels for spreading silicon lube.

5- The axle nut blocks your wheels

Axle nuts mean a lot when you don’t get the free and effortless ride. Tightening the axle nuts is better but over-tightening can damage your bearings, As it causes a lot of friction to the bearings. So this might be the reason for your slow skateboard, Take the skating tool and lose the axle nut as much as the wheels get enough space for rolling.

6- Bearings are not appropriate for getting the speed

Bearings are the components of the board that takes the decision about the pace of the skateboard. If you get the higher ABEC rating, the wheels rotate faster and make your board roll fastly. Zealous bearings can be our recommendations for the ones who prefer to do cruising or longboarding. Also, buy the spacers as well along the bearings.

7- Need the skateboard speed washers

Speed washers prevent the bearings from wearing and reduce the friction between the axle and the nut axle. These tiny rings are placed exterior of bearings and if you don’t use them, tightening the axle wouldn’t be possible. As a result, your skateboard will give you a slower speed.

8- Pushing technique issue

This kind of mistake can be done by beginners as they don’t know how to use their feet rightly for better speed and get the feet pain as well. Some individuals stomp instead of pushing back via one foot and the other one onto the skateboard. So learn the pushing and skating the board first before analyzing its problems.

9- You might have an overall low-quality skateboard

Another thing that keeps your skateboard speed down because sometimes you get the wrong setup board. And the components used don’t meet the standard of the quality board. And It doesn’t mean that higher rating brands are the best to consider but this is not the same in every case. So you have to do research before purchasing the best skateboard for an epic experience.

Conclusion

Plenty of factors have been described successfully with convenient detail to assist you in realizing your skateboard problems. There can’t be any element that we’ve left in describing why is my skateboard so slow. One of the major reasons for slow skateboarding is the wheels and the bearings.

By reading the guide, analyze your skateboard bearings and wheels, then react accordingly. If that needs some repairing, repair them as soon as possible. But if those components need replacement, change these components and skate your board like a rocket. I hope this guide will help you in fasting your skateboard.