Skateboard Design: Nose Angle & Radius

Note: at the time of this article, there is not a clear industry standard for skateboard dimensions. This article presents the “SK8CAD” Standard; please note that other manufacturers and distributors may use alternative definitions than those presented here.

In the last post, I covered the tail angle and tail radius of a skateboard. If your board has an angled kicknose, it will have corresponding specifications that describe the nose: the “nose angle” defines how steep the kicknose ultimately gets, and the “nose radius” defines how quickly it gets steep. Much of what was covered in that last post applies to the nose as well, so, instead of repeating a bunch of information here, I'll skip to the different considerations that apply to kicknoses.

First, a steeper nose can help you pop ollies higher by providing a more pronounced edge for your foot to pull the board up with.

Second, you may want to have your nose defined exactly the same as the tail or have it different. If it’s the same, your skateboard is symmetrical, and if not, it is asymmetrical.

A nice thing about asymmetry is that you can get the benefits of two different geometries without needing two different boards. For example, one trick may work better with a steeper kick, while another works better with a mellower kick. If your board has no kicknose, it’s called a single kick (and to make a single kick in SK8CAD, you can simply set the nose angle to zero).

On the other hand, a symmetrical board can be nice because you can ride it both ways equally, helping your board wear down a little slower and last a little  longer. (I'm a big fan of symmetrical boards :) )

If you'd like your board to be symmetrical, defining your nose is easy - just make it the same as the tail. Otherwise, you may want to try all sort of combinations of tail specs and nose specs to discover what works best for you.

Typical nose angles and radii:

Street decks: 19° - 21°, 4" - 5" (typically street decks have a nose that's a little steeper and longer than their tail)

Transition decks: 0° - 21°, 4" - 7"

Longboards (dancing): 10° - 16°, 4" - 9"

Longboards (downhill): 0° - 12°, 4" - 9"

Surf skates: 0° - 21°, 4" - 9"

Cruisers: 0° - 21°, 4" - 9"

Freestyle: 0° - 19°, 4" - 8"

Recommended ranges for goals:

Maneuverability (flip tricks, pivoting, quick movements): 18° - 21°, 4" - 6"

Stability: 18° - 21°, 4" - 5"

Dancing: 10° - 16°, 4" - 9"

Pop: 19° - 22°, 3" - 5"

Speed: 0°, N/A

Start designing: https://sk8cad.com