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Best Cruiser Skateboards of 2024

JUMP TO: ARBOR PILSNER | LANDYACHTZ DINGHY CLASSIC | SECTOR 9 BAMBINO BIVY | LANDYACHTZ RAFT | ARBOR COLLECTIVE BREACH | SECTOR 9 UNAGI | KROOKED ZIP ZINGER | BUYING ADVICE | COMMON QUESTIONS

Author: John Nichols | Updated: Jan 1, 2023
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The Short Version

The Long Version

The cruiser skateboard, or cruiser for short, is almost certainly the most accessible style of board there is. With the big soft wheels of a longboard and the nimble playfulness of a shortboard, cruiser skateboards offer the best of both worlds. Think of them like the chill older brother of the modern “popsicle” skateboard, and the slightly more energetic cousin of the longboard.

If you haven’t already looked for yourself, though, you will soon find out—there’s a lot of alchemy going on in the cruiser laboratory. Some are closer to longboards, some are basically shortboards with bigger wheels. There’s a lot of room to find your style and what you like—which is what draws so many of us to skateboarding in the first place—but it might be hard to do that right off the bat.

No fear, though. We’ve got you covered. Whether you’re stepping onto a skateboard for the first time, looking for a more reliable and easy way to skate to work, or just ready to let the concrete be your wave, here’s our picks to help you find the best cruiser skateboard for a few different uses.

If you love reading this review of the best cruiser skateboards, then you'll likely love reading some of our other skateboarding and longboarding content:

 

Need To Know What To Look Out For?

Looking to know more about wheelbase? Wondering what different wheel sizes and hardnesses have to do with anything? Want to figure out what the theoretical limits of your cruiser skateboard are? Check out our buying advice at the bottom of the article for the lowdown on how specs translate into the way your cruiser rides.

 

Best Overall: ARBOR PILSNER

LENGTH: 28.75”

WIDTH: 8.25”

WHEELBASE: 15.25”

PRICE: $$

PROS: Stable yet agile, much-loved Paris trucks

CONS: Bearings could be better, unwieldy for aggressive riding

You would have a hard time talking about cruisers nowadays without mentioning the Arbor Pilsner. Constantly in the running for top spots due to its easygoing ride and flexible performance, the Pilsner is as comfortable carving your local plaza as it is bringing you to work.

Pintails are lovely for style and mellow carving, there’s no getting around it, but we love a nice wide platform to lock into. The Pilsner delivers on that and gives you plenty of real estate on the bolts and kicktail to plant in, coming in at a very comfortable 8.25”. This gives you a deck that inspires confidence but stays well shy of certified-wide 9” territory. You also get a bit of nose, which will help you feel more secure about your front foot—and opens the door for some ollie and kickflip action!

Set up with Paris trucks and 61mm 78A Arbor wheels, the Pilsner is ready to give you a smooth ride right from the rip. Some folks like to swap their bushings out right away, and the Paris trucks give this board a solid boost into top overall territory by being compatible with the readily available Independent bushings. We don’t mind the stock setup, but if you have a preference or want to tinker this board won’t hold you back. 

Speaking of tinkering, one easy upgrade you can do for this board is to throw some real bearings in there. The one common peeve we have is this otherwise awesome board being setup with just some factory bearings. It might not be noticeable to some, but we just feel better rolling on some Bones Reds or Swiss. Given that every board on this list is guilty of it, though, it is hard to dock the Pilsner any points. 

While the mellower concave and slightly longer, more stable wheelbase means that the Pilsner won’t be the slashiest cruiser skateboard in your quiver, its more than capable of handling all but your most aggressive days.

Best for Overall Runner-Up: LANDYACHTZ DINGHY CLASSIC

LENGTH: 28.5”

WIDTH: 8”

WHEELBASE: 14.6”

PRICE: $$

PROS: Tighter wheelbase, bigger kicktail, Fatty Hawg wheels

CONS: Trucks are just okay

If you read how the Arbor Pilsner just offers you so darn much but found yourself bummed at the prospect of being potentially limited in your radical endeavors, don’t you worry. The Landyachtz Dinghy Classic offers you a super similar platform with little tweaks that make it more suitable for dedicated cruising. However, this does make it a bit less practical for the casual rider or commuter.
At .25” shorter but with a wheelbase about .75” inches shorter, you will immediately notice the tighter turns and more playful ride. 

This means you also get a bigger kicktail for manuals, ollies or popping the board into your hand. Unfortunately, the space to plant your feet is limited more due to the width, though this won’t be as much of a problem for those with relatively smaller feet. Landyachtz offers the Dinghy in multiple shapes as well though, with the Coffin XL giving you the most board.

The Fatty Hawg wheels give you a bit more cruise-y goodness with a bigger, 63mm diameter and similar 78a hardness. What’s really notable here though is the wider ride surface, almost double the Pilsner’s. That translates directly to more grip. We like bigger wheels in general to reduce the constant pushing once you get rolling, but those cruising through situations with more stop-start flow might not get the full benefit.

Overall, the Dinghy will give a similar ride to the Pilsner but shines as a dedicated cruiser for those that want to get out there and push themselves a bit.

Best for Casual Cruising: SECTOR 9 BAMBINO BIVY

LENGTH: 26.5”

WIDTH: 7.5”

WHEELBASE: 14”

PRICE: $$

PROS: Bamboo deck, stylish touches, Gullwing Trucks

CONS: Small, not as versatile as other options

First and foremost, the Bambino Bivy is just a beautiful skateboard. It is dripping in skateboarding’s surf heritage. Its aesthetic features give off a tropical, almost Hawaiian feel, making it a solid accessory for summer outings or to have in the back of the car to fool around on. We wouldn’t take the Bivy for more than a relaxed, flat, oceanside mile though: the deck dimensions really tell the story on that. It is the shortest, skinniest option on this list with the tightest wheelbase.

Children should have a good amount of room for their feet on this board, but adults may find their own stance less confidence-inspiring. This isn’t to say the board isn’t fun—this little carver is at its best when you don’t ask it to go in a perfectly straight line. 

The contact surface for the wheels is more in line with the Dinghy at about 30mm, with a fairly standard 61mm 78a durability wheel. The Gullwing trucks may be the best on the list, having once contended with Ace and Independent for bowl carving supremacy in the 80s. The deck also reinforces this skateboard’s status as a beach cruiser due to the bamboo being more resistant to wet conditions than the standard Canadian Maple.

While the Bambino Bivy might not be perfect for commuting or for those looking to get extra radical, it’s a solid choice to add some summery fun to a day at the seaside or a driveway cookout.

Best for Commuting: LANDYACHTZ RAFT

LENGTH: 32.5”

WIDTH: 9.9”

WHEELBASE: 15”

PRICE: $$$

PROS: Huge!

CONS: Huge…

When you’re commuting on a cruiser skateboard, you want to get where you’re going without being entirely disheveled, scraped up from a fall, or frustrated from some difficulty in bringing what you need for the day with you. That translates into needing a wide board and longer wheelbase, which the Landyachtz Raft happily provides. 

This beast is well wider than any other option listed and is designed more in line with 80s and 90s street and bowl skateboards. If you have genuinely small feet, it may feel like too much—but really, the Raft is going to feel wide no matter your size, which is why you want it for an easy ride that gets you there in one piece. A generous kicktail and nose give you the ability to ollie up curbs and kickturn. You also get the same Polar Bears and Fatty Hawgs that you get on the Dinghy, so stability and a solid carve are a given. 

It’s worth noting here that we are taking into account urban commuting on town/city roads and sidewalks, where a degree of agility and fast thinking is necessary for dodging pedestrians and potholes. For those with long paved trails or stretches of less used road, consider bumping right on up to a longboard. For a cruiser dedicated to urban commuting, it’s hard to recommend anything else, but there are better options for hard carving and a more truly cruise-y skateboard experience.

Best for Pintail Lovers: ARBOR COLLECTIVE BREACH

LENGTH: 34”

WIDTH: 8”

WHEELBASE: 21”

PRICE: $$$

PROS: Flex for pumping, larger wheels

CONS: Less nimble, no kicktail

If there is a notable absence of pintails on this list, it is purely for the reason that cruisers gain distinction from longboards by their kicktails and shorter wheelbases. To us, they are more like short longboards. However, the Arbor Collective Breach is not only a solid pintail, but also a good runner-up option for best commuter cruiser for those who may have different needs or taste. 

The Breach is another beautiful skateboard with a much longer wheelbase than any of the other options featured here. It is also a very agreeable 8” wide, which may feel a bit skinny for those with large feet but not drastically so. You also get 65mm wheels, which gets into longboard territory. Acceleration won’t be as snappy as other options, but you’ll get to hold speed and carve it out for longer once you’re there. 

Another feature you get from the Breach’s longboarding DNA is its built-in flex. You’ll feel it bending beneath you, and that is by design. This is partially due to the longer wheelbase, but also gives you the ability to pump it while you carve, which can replace the need to push in some cases. If you can’t resist the call of the longboard but still want a stylish cruiser, the Arbor Breach should scratch that itch.

Best for Carving: SECTOR 9 UNAGI

LENGTH: 34.5"

WIDTH: 8.75”

WHEELBASE: 17.25”

PRICE: $$$

PROS: The absolute carviest trucks, stylish swallowtail-style kicktail

CONS: Turning is much different than typical cruisers

We’re getting right into that hazy line of where longboards sort of begin, and cruisers sort of end. With its tight carves and surfy performance though, the Sector 9 Unagi brings cruiser vibes to longboard dimensions. As a surfskate, this board has been optimized to act more like a surfboard—think laybacks and flatground pumping. 

Altogether this is a different beast, with double kingpin trucks and a more stable rear than front. The turning is a blast but a bit impractical and active for a commute, though you can definitely still put a few miles in this board. The 58mm wheels will pick up speed better than any others on this list, but top out relatively quicker, making the board reactive to pumping but giving a more active ride.

A bit expensive and a bit more specialized, the Unagi has a certain novelty factor for casual cruising built in as well, though probably more for experienced skaters and surfers. Overall, it’s a solid choice for those looking for the carviest cruiser skateboard they can find.

Best for Street Skating: KROOKED ZIP ZINGER

LENGTH: 29.8”

WIDTH: 7.75”

WHEELBASE: 14.31”

PRICE: $

PROS: Nose for tricks, solid price point

CONS: Need to set it up yourself

In many ways cruiser skateboards are the throughline connecting modern skateboarding to its roots. The Krooked Zip Zinger is the board that kept the cruiser spirit present in street skateboarding. It provides a cruiser feel with a shorter deck length and longer wheelbase than a standard popsicle shape, but still gives a tail good enough to pop and a nose for flicking and sliding. 

The downside for the Zip Zinger is that it isn’t currently for sale as a complete, so you’ll have to seek out your own parts setup and install yourself or have a local skate shop do it. A properly sized set of Independent Stage 11’s should set you up to carve to your hearts content and still give you street performance. Wheels will be your own adventure to choose depending how you want it to turn or slide; 58mm should do you just fine at your preferred hardness.

Overall, the Zip Zinger will be the cruiser skateboard for you if you love the unique shape and stability a cruiser will give you but still imagine yourself doing some kickflips along the way, and maybe want to imagine you’re the Gonz. Don’t worry, we all do.

BUYING ADVICE FOR CRUISER SKATEBOARDS

Deck

What deck you get (the wooden part you stand on, for the uninitiated) will determine much of how your board rides.

SHAPE & WHEELBASE: Look for something in a shape that will work for you first. Make sure it has a kicktail or nose if you want that, and then consider dimensions—especially wheelbase. Shorter means smaller turning radius, while longer means larger. One board may be a bit shorter than another, but if it has a longer wheelbase it will handle like a larger board. 

DECK MATERIAL: Another thing to consider is material. 7-ply Canadian Maple is almost the ubiquitous standard, so if you see anything else it’s worth checking the pros and cons of that material choice. Some alternative materials include combinations of maple and fiberglass ply, like the Powell Peralta Flight Deck, or polymer compounds, like used by Capsule Skateboards. Generally these alternative materials focus on improved durability (making a deck less likely to snap) so aren’t so prominent amongst cruiser decks, but that may change over time.

Wheels

When looking at wheels, there are two primary features to consider: size and hardness.

WHEEL SIZE: Cruiser wheels will generally be sized between 61mm and 68mm. Wheels in this range will help you achieve a higher top speed and keep that speed while you roll. Too large of a wheel risks wheelbite (depending on your setup), and too small of one won’t hold speed. 

WHEEL HARDNESS (DUROMETER): Next up is the wheel durometer, or hardness. The system is fairly easy, a higher number meaning a harder wheel. 78A is a very common cruiser hardness, but depending on your needs and preferences 75A to around 85A offer different ride feels. Anything above 90 will act more like a street wheel and may slide when you try to carve too hard.

Trucks

For cruiser skateboards (and most other skateboards) the most important thing to look at in the truck spec is the bushing hardness. Like wheels, the larger the number, the harder it is. Generally, you’ll be set on a cruiser board at around 88a/90a. You can go harder or softer for more or less responsive turning. Like many aspects of your skateboard setup, the best choice ultimately comes down to your own preferences.

The “X” Factor

What do you like? What gets you psyched? Skateboarding is about expressing yourself, feeling free, and having fun. If commuting on a Bambino Bivy feels more your style, for example, go for it! There is no “right” or “wrong” choice: take skateboard categories and conventional wisdom with a grain of salt, and always go with what looks and feels right to you.

COMMON QUESTIONS

What size board do I need? 8”-8.5” wide are generally more comfortable for adults. Some board styles below that range are deliberately skinny, while those higher are deliberately wider. It is largely a combination of board style and preference. 

Do cruiser skateboards have a weight limit? It varies by style, so check with the cruiser manufacturer. Generally, weight limits fall somewhere around 250 to 300 pounds.

Can I do tricks on a cruiser skateboard? The short answer is yes. The long answer is, probably not easily, unless you are experienced. 

Are cruiser skateboards good for downhill? They are not designed for high speeds. While they can likely handle going down some relaxed local hills, they aren’t designed for mountains or “downhill” itself. Skate within your limits.

MORE INFORMATION

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