The Difference Between Skateboards and Penny Boards

So you want to start skateboarding and you’re not sure whether to choose a standard skateboard or a Penny Board. You’re probably asking yourself what’s the difference between a skateboard and a penny board? Which is better for learning tricks? What are the pros and cons of skateboards vs penny boards? Well, we got you covered with this quick and easy guide.

Penny skateboards
Originally manufactured during the 1970s, their name and contemporary popularity comes from the Australian brand, Penny Skateboards, founded in 2010. Since then, “penny boards” has become the generic term for this type of skateboard with many other manufacturers offering their own penny boards too.

Penny boards are compact, lightweight and made from hard plastic with a tapered nose and tail. They tend to measure between 22 and 27 inches long and you can usually find a penny board to suit any budget from beginner right up to the high-end price bracket.

Penny boards are perfect for commuting or just cruising around, and are small enough to pop in your backpack. They are good for younger children learning to push and turn before moving on to a standard skateboard, but harder for teenage and adult skateboarders to balance on. Penny boards may also be easier to ride over cracks and curbs due to their large wheels but, if you’re wanting to learn tricks, a standard skateboard would be better as penny boards are not recommended for ramps or higher speeds.

Skateboards
There are many types of skateboards out there and, for the purpose of this guide, we are referring to the standard wooden skateboard. We will save cruisers, longboards and electric skateboards for another guide.

A typical skateboard is made of 7-ply maple wood with kicktails on the nose and tail. They come in many widths, lengths and shapes, so you can find the right board for you, and the type of skateboarding you want to pursue.

One big advantage with standard skateboards is custom builds, which means you can choose the board, trucks, wheels and hardware to exactly meet your skateboarding needs. Standard skateboard prices vary, from completes to custom builds, so it’s up to you how much you want to spend. Needless to say there’s a board to meet any budget.

Standard skateboards are more stable and highly versatile and perfect for street and ramp tricks of all kinds, many of which would be difficult or near impossible to on a penny skateboard. You can obtain higher speeds than a penny board as standard skateboards are more stable and, did we also mention they have rad graphics on them?

Should you buy a penny board or a skateboard?
Ultimately, it’s all down to what you want from a skateboard. Whichever boards works for you is the right board however, we'd recommend buying standard skateboards rather than penny boards if you want to learn tricks and experience everything skateboarding has to offer.

You can check out our boards here.