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Quick answer: Sort out your deck width first. Street and technical skating suits 8.0"–8.25". Transition and bowl tends towards 8.25"–8.5"+. Any deck from a proper branded family at £50+ will be pro quality. Pair it with Independent or Thunder trucks and Spitfire wheels and you're riding the same core setup as most people in the skate park.
If you've landed your first ollies, you're getting kickflips most of the time, and your beginner complete feels like it's holding you back. You're in the right place. This guide explains what to upgrade, why, and how deck brands actually work before you spend your money.
The most important decision when stepping up from a beginner complete is deck width, not brand.
Street and technical skating: most riders settle on 8.0"–8.25". Lighter boards, lower centre of gravity, faster flip response.
Transition, bowl, and park skating: most riders prefer 8.25"–8.5"+. More surface area underfoot, more stability on ramps and in bowls.
Once you've chosen your width, brand choice within that range is largely personal preference: graphics, team riders, what your mates ride. At £50+ from a proper skate brand, the construction quality is broadly comparable across the board. Paying more within that range doesn't get you a meaningfully better deck.
Most of the brands you'll recognise are pressed by a small number of factories worldwide. Brands from the same factory produce decks to the same standard. The difference between them is graphics, concave profile, and rider teams, not pressing quality.
The main brand families stocked at Skatewarehouse:
Real Skateboards and Anti-Hero are both DLX brands, pressed to the same standard. DLX also make Thunder trucks, Venture trucks, and Spitfire wheels, which is why you'll often see these brands paired together. If you're riding a Real or Anti-Hero deck with Thunder trucks and Spitfire wheels, you're building from a single distribution family that's been making consistent skate hardware for decades.
Santa Cruz is an NHS brand. NHS also make Creature skateboards, Independent trucks, Krux trucks, OJ Wheels, Ricta, and Slime Balls. Santa Cruz and Creature decks come from the same press. If you're riding Santa Cruz with Independent trucks and OJ wheels, you're working entirely within one family.
Girl and Chocolate are sister brands pressed at the same Los Angeles factory. Same construction standards, different graphics and rider rosters. The choice between them is down to which team riders and graphics you prefer.
Plan B is pressed by HLC in Spain alongside several other brands including Flip. Solid construction, consistent quality. Plan B at Skatewarehouse comes as part of step-up complete packages.
Powell Peralta Flight decks use a proprietary fibreglass-reinforced maple construction. Noticeably lighter and more durable than standard 7-ply. Available from 8.5" upwards at £130–£150, so they're suited to transition and bowl riders who want a wider, longer-lasting deck.
Some older skate brands have been relaunched under new ownership, with graphics licensed onto decks that aren't manufactured by a known factory family. The result is a recognisable brand name on what may be a generic or unverified pressing.
If you're not sure whether a brand sits within a known distribution family, check whether we stock it alongside affiliated hardware. DLX brands come with Thunder or Venture trucks and Spitfire wheels. NHS brands come with Independent or Krux trucks, OJ or Ricta wheels. A brand that exists only as a deck, without any affiliated truck or wheel brand, is often a sign it's a licensed product rather than a factory-backed one.
For intermediate riders, stick to decks from the families above and you'll know what you're getting.
The trucks on a budget complete are usually the weakest link. They're heavy, slow to respond, and often need constant adjustment. Switching to proper trucks is one of the most immediately noticeable upgrades you can make.
Independent Stage 11 is the benchmark: refined over decades and still the most widely ridden truck at every level. Durable, consistent, well-supported, and widely available. If you're not sure what to get, Indy is the safe answer.
Thunder runs lighter than Indy and turns more responsively. Very popular with street skaters for technical flip trick skating.
Venture is a slightly softer, more forgiving ride, good for transition and bowl skating. Also slightly more affordable than Indy or Thunder, worth considering if you're upgrading everything at once.
Tensor trucks are among the lightest available. If weight reduction is a priority, particularly for skaters focused on flip tricks. They're a legitimate choice. Less common than the three above but have a loyal following.
Truck height: Low for street and technical skating. Mid or high for bigger wheels and transition. Use our skateboard truck size chart to match truck width to your deck, and our high vs low trucks guide for height.
Browse all skateboard trucks.
Budget complete wheels are typically too hard for UK streets: fast on smooth surfaces, sketchy on anything rougher. Most intermediate riders benefit from stepping down in hardness, particularly for outdoor skating.
Spitfire Formula Four (99–101a) are the go-to for street and park. They resist flat spots, hold speed well, and are trusted at every level. The 52mm or 53mm sizes suit most intermediate setups. Spitfire is a DLX brand, so they pair naturally with Real or Anti-Hero decks and Thunder trucks.
OJ Wheels are an NHS brand. Their softer options (78a to 87a) are well-suited to rough UK street conditions where pavements crack and vary wildly. The Plain Jane Keyframe 87a at 52–58mm rolls over most surfaces cleanly.
Slime Balls are also NHS. Quality softer wheels with a broad hardness range. A good call for mixed skating where you want one wheel that handles most conditions.
Ricta Clouds use a soft inner core with a harder outer layer, designed specifically for cracked and rough surfaces. Good if you're tired of being thrown by debris. Also NHS.
Browse all skateboard wheels and compare hardnesses.
Bones Reds are the standard recommendation. Fast, reliable, and priced so replacing them isn't a big deal. Swiss Bones if you want to step up. At this stage, ceramic bearings are unnecessary. A fresh set of Reds will outlast most decks.
The brand choice is personal, but the hardware spec for most intermediate riders looks like this:
| Width | Trucks | Wheels | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.0"–8.25" | 5.25" (Indy 139 / Thunder 147) | 52mm, 99–101a | Street, technical, all-round park |
| 8.25"–8.5" | 5.5" (Indy 144 / Thunder 148) | 53–54mm, 99–101a | Transition, bowl, all-round park |
| Any width | As above | 52–56mm, 78–87a | UK rough ground, outdoor skating |
Pick a deck from any of the families above in the right width, match the trucks to the deck using the size chart, and choose your wheel hardness based on where you skate.
Pro complete makes sense for a straightforward step-up with branded hardware, without making lots of individual component decisions. Santa Cruz, Real, Anti-Hero, Girl, and Chocolate all come as Venom Core complete packages at Skatewarehouse, with proper Canadian maple decks, lightweight aluminium trucks, and 52mm 99a wheels. Expect to pay £100–£125 for a solid step-up complete.
Custom build makes more sense once you have specific preferences: a particular deck width, a truck brand you prefer, softer wheels for UK ground. Our skateboard decks and skateboard trucks pages let you spec each part. If you've never assembled a board before, our guide to assembling a skateboard walks through the process.
Most intermediate street and technical skaters ride 8.0"–8.25". Most transition and bowl skaters prefer 8.25"–8.5"+. If you're not sure which way you're heading, start at 8.25": it sits between the two styles and most riders find their preference from there.
Thunder and Independent are the most common choice for street skating at intermediate level and above. Thunder is lighter and turns more responsively. Independent is more durable and consistent. Both are used at every level of street skating worldwide. Match truck width to deck width using our skateboard truck size chart.
At intermediate level, less than you'd think. Any deck from a proper branded family at £50+ is pro quality 7-ply Canadian maple. DLX brands (Real, Anti-Hero), NHS brands (Santa Cruz, Creature), and Crailtap brands (Girl, Chocolate) all press to comparable standards. The main differences are graphics, concave shape, and which team riders you follow. Get the right width and buy the graphics you like.
Typically every 2–4 months if you skate regularly, or when you notice chips on the nose and tail, delamination, or the deck losing its pop. Razor tail, where the tail wears to a sharp edge, is a clear sign it's past its best. Never skate a waterlogged deck: moisture kills pop fast.
Beginner completes use budget trucks (heavier, less precise geometry) and wheels that perform poorly on rough surfaces. Step-up completes use proper branded decks, lightweight aluminium trucks, and 99a wheels. The difference in how they ride is noticeable from the first session. Expect to pay £100–£125 for a solid step-up versus £30–£65 for a budget beginner board.
The most common intermediate setups are an 8.0"–8.25" deck from the DLX family (Real or Anti-Hero) or NHS family (Santa Cruz), paired with Independent or Thunder trucks and Spitfire Formula Four 52mm 99a wheels. It works consistently because it's a setup built from aligned brand families.
Either works. A step-up complete is the faster, simpler option, good if you're not sure what's been holding you back. A custom build makes more sense once you have specific preferences around width, truck height, and wheel hardness. Most intermediate riders who've been skating a year or more have enough opinions to benefit from building their own.
