Pintail Longboards

A pintail is a traditional style of longboard that takes a lot of cues from malibu surfboards of the past. They commonly vary from 37" up to 44", although they can go right up to 60"!

Short pintails don't have a lot of space on them due to the narrow nose and tail, so don't be put off by a longer board.

Pintails are timeless, surfy shaped longboards that are great for all kinds of cruising. Whilst perhaps not as functional as drop-throughs and drop-downs, they have that classic look that is synonymous with sidewalk surfing. Pintails are great for cruising around the streets in style!

Pintail longboards are "top-mounted," in other words the trucks are mounted on the underside of the deck like a regular skateboard. As long as a pintail has a quality pair of trucks, it'll give a mellow, cruisy turn that feels much nicer than a drop through.

Pintails also have more deck space than a drop-through, which makes them a bit easier to stand on for total beginners.

The downside of a pintail is that it's higher than a drop-through - so less stable, and harder to push, brake and slide.

You can see our range of pintail longboards here.

Most pintails are built to cruise - which means they are flexy. Flex is not what you want for downhill at all - it reduces rider input and contributes to speed wobble. The pintail deck shape is really not ideal for downhill either. If you want to carve up a hill snowboard or surf style, then pintails are great. Just don't get too fast!

You can stop on a pintail the same way you can stop on any longboard - footbrake, slide or carve your speed off. All of these things are easier to learn on a drop-through longboard first though - so if you plan on hitting the hills, we'd recommend a drop-through over a pintail.

You can learn more about pintails and see our recommendations on our longboard for beginners page!

In terms of how they skate, pintails offer a "surfier" feeling turn, a more classic aesthetic, a mellower carve, and more footspace. Drop-through longboards are more stable, and easier to learn footbraking, sliding and pushing on.

In reality, both pintails and drop-throughs are fine for beginners, and both are light-years nicer to cruise around on than a regular skateboard. If you like the look of a pintail, go for it. If you are thinking of getting into downhill, maybe a drop-through is a better option for a total beginner.

The longerger wheelbase of a pintail does make it possible to learn a few dance moves. A longer pintail is a good option for the "occasional" or "casual" dancer.

That said, a proper longboard dancer setup is a lot more functional for that kind of skating than a pintail, and they're often in a similar size category. For cruising around, dancers are often just as good as pintails If you're a beginner longboarder and you're thinkng about getting into dancing eventually, you might as well just go straight in for a dancer setup and be done with it.