For many riders, a longboard is a big investment, and you want to make sure you're extending the life of your board. You may be wondering how to protect the nose and tail of your longboard. In short, PK Nose guards will protect your board, extend its life, and add pop to your ride.
What are nose guards?
A PK nose guard is a piece of what looks like plastic (it's actually glass filled nylon) that you put on either end of your Apex longboard, screwed on with two bolts. They make your board last *way* longer than it would without the nose guard. They also give you extra leverage and more pop because the material over the wood makes it feel a bit harder on the surface.
Pictured above, team rider, Eduardo Campos, on the Apex with PK nose guards. Nick Jones behind the lens to capture it all.
Are nose guards + tail guards worth it?
With any typical freestyle board, you’re going to wear through the kicktails every time you do a trick. What does that mean for your $$? If you buy a new $300 complete board, you’ll skate it for like five months. Without nose guards and depending on how often you ride, you'll have to get a new one because the nose wears down to the point where you can’t use it anymore. That's really a bummer because you get really used to a board and you love the way it feels, and then you just can’t use it anymore.
So how do you keep your longboard in good shape?
One of the biggest advantages of getting an Original Skateboards Apex longboard with nose guards: all you do when your nose guard wear down is you take it off and put on a new one.Instead of paying $200-$300 for a new deck, you’re only paying $26 for a set of PK nose huards, and you can skate with a board that will last much, much longer.
Longboard Nose guards = Added Pop
Another advantage of the nose guards is that they give you more pop. Without PK's there is more distance between the kicktail and the ground. When you add nose guards, you’re reducing that distance and you’re keeping your foot higher off the deck as well. It just gives you so much more leverage so you can pop down ever harder and scoop some crazy tricks.
Now you can pop tre-flips, hard flips, inward heel flips, and so much more.
Of course you can ride an Apex without a Nose Guard. There's nothing wrong with that, but it just doesn't really make sense when you can have a Nose Guard that lasts super long, makes tricks easier, and makes it last longer. You really can’t go wrong.
Thanks to our team rider, Nick Jones for the photos and videos.