LONGBOARD/SKATEBOARD GRIPTAPE
The Griptape works like sandpaper. It provides a certain grip (that’s why GRIPtape). The adhesion between your boots and the board provides a stable riding feeling and tricks. Unfortunately it has the disadvantage of mutilating your boots. Nevertheless, a Griptape is indispensable for skaters.
DIFFERENT TYPES
There are not only different sizes, but also different grip strengths. For example, if you own a cheap penny board and you want to have a grip tape afterwards, you can stick it on it without any problems (Nothing can go wrong, but if you own an expensive board, I would advise against it!)
It must be said that there is no official scale for the grip. To find this out, there are enough reports of experience that go into it. For normal skaters a “standard” grip tape is basically sufficient. Only later, for example when it comes to the triplekickflips, a stronger grip might help. At longboards for beginners we differentiate how aggressive they ride. The more aggressive, the stronger the griptape should be in the end.
THE WEAR
This does not only apply to the shoes, unfortunately. The sandpaper itself loses its adhesion over time. This is accelerated if you get on the board with dirty or wet shoes. So try to avoid this as much as possible. I often see other skaters who ride over the sole with a cleaning rag. Actually not a bad idea at all. Meanwhile groups are researching tapes that are not made of sandpaper. This gives rise to a wide variety of ideas. A quite interesting patent is the spray griptape. The principle is simple.
A spray can, which actually contains nothing more than glue and another can with small grains of sand. First the glue. Then the grains of sand and voila, that’s it spray griptape. Of course this is not the perfect alternative now. Many complain about the short life span of the tape. As Longboard Griptape this can be used, but is only recommended for cruising. Another alternative is the Griptape rubber. Manufacturers such as Globe have already developed very good rubber-like tapes that put minimal or no stress on the shoe. No matter how you twist and turn it, in the end the good old sandpaper is still the best variant.
DIFFERENT DESIGNS, SIZES AND PATTERNS
Who does not know the typical schake junt tape. But this is only one of many patterns. The choice is damn big. There are also some in different colours, such as green, blue or red. As cool as the colour may look, it is not recommended, because very quickly dirt gets on the griptape and the result would be a brown deck.
Rather choose a simple design that you like. There are different patterns besides the design. The Grip tape has cut out patterns, like a circle or something similar. The disadvantage is in the adhesion, because where it is cut out, there is no more grip tape. For skateboarders rather unsuitable, but for penny boards, or longboards, quite usable. So now to the size. It is defined in width and length.
Tip: Better take a size bigger, so that you don’t get problems with bonding later.
