The most popular question in my inbox is some version of “Which distance longboard should I choose between…?” I get it. We make a lot of low, easy-pushing boards, and from the outside they can look pretty similar. But with complexity comes specialization. We wanted to make the right distance board for every rider and every situation, and that meant building a quiver instead of one board that does everything okay.
This guide has been updated for our 2026–2027 lineup. If you just want the short answer, start with the table below. If you want to know why, keep reading. Looking beyond distance boards? See our picks for the best longboards in every riding style.
Quick picks: the best long distance longboard for how you ride
| If you mostly want to… | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Push and commute on mostly flat ground | Pranayama | The lowest deck in our lineup, built around our 149mm Stylus TKP trucks. My go-to for distance on the flats. |
| Push long distances with hills, traffic or racing | Trip | The same platform as the Pranayama, set up with RKP trucks for more grip and stability at speed. |
| Commute with kicktails and a little more flex | Ember | A low commuter with kicktails, offered in two shapes. |
| Both push and pump | Superdupersonic | Our hybrid distance pusher and pumper: lively front, stable back end. |
| Push and pump in wet or messy conditions | Supersonic Aegis | The same proven geometry with fenders that keep water and grime off you. |
| Pump for fun and fitness on a top mount | Genesis | A dedicated top mount LDP pumping deck. |
| Get more foot room, ride tall, or skate pack | Quest | More platform, a longer wheelbase and an extra ply. Good for riders up to about 280 lb. |
| Mix distance with downhill, or ride as a heavyweight | Nexus | Our stiffest double drop. Handles serious speed and riders up to about 350 lb. |
Still not sure? Email me how you picture yourself riding, your riding conditions and your weight, and I’ll point you to the right board.
Distance Longboards: The Common Thread
First, every pusher in our lineup is low. That’s their primary nature. They’re low, and they’re easy to push. Second, every one of these boards is designed to run large wheels and slim trucks. The pumpers (Superdupersonic, Aegis and Genesis) are designed to push AND pump, with setups tuned to turn your body’s movement into speed.
Gone are the days when 180mm trucks should be your go-to for distance pushing. I will simply never get behind that. A slimmer overall ride width reduces the chance that you’ll accidentally kick a wheel. That isn’t a common occurrence, but the further you go, the more tired you get, and the more likely you are to make a mistake. We reduce that risk by building boards that stay out of your way.
These setups run large wheels that roll over just about everything in your path, like our 92mm Karma and 102mm Hoku wheels. And they fit slim trucks to keep your feet away from those wheels. Depending on the deck, that means our own 149mm Stylus TKP trucks, 150–165mm RKP trucks, or 130mm trucks on the pumpers.
Different Distance Longboards for Different Styles of Riding
It comes down to style. How do you picture yourself riding? What’s your vibe? Here’s each board and what makes it different from the others.
Pranayama
The Pranayama is the lowest deck in our lineup. It’s designed specifically around TKP-style street trucks, so much so that we designed our own 149mm Stylus trucks and our own wheels from scratch to fit it. The result is an extremely low ride height, a slim profile and a setup that feels right on day one.
The Pranayama is 9 inches wide at its max, found right at the heel next to the drops when you’re standing in “snowboard stance.” It has deep drops and a slight mustache profile, much like a snowboard, which gives it a more aggressive, locked-in feel than our more relaxed commuters. For riders who are heavier, it’s also available in a heavy flex.
How I ride the Pranayama
The Pranayama is my commuter longboard of choice for all things relatively flat. Individual comfort will vary, but I can personally handle any straight hill up to about 35mph on the Pranayama without any fear. Most riders will prefer this deck on the flats, because the TKP truck style is especially easy to control on one foot, making small turning corrections with ease. That makes the board feel a little “wild” at first.
Generally, when I hop on this board, I feel a little more out of control (compared to the RKP-style pushers), and then about 15 seconds in, that “lack of control” becomes “ease of manipulation.” The deck is just easy to control and easy to ride! It would be my board of choice for taking on substantial distance in most applications. That’s me, though. Everyone likes different things. For me, the wild but tamable stallion is what I’m most into.
It performs, too. I rode a fully stock Pranayama to win the 2019 Beijing Skateboard Marathon, its debut distance race, and it won the women’s class at the 2024 Broadway Bomb.
Trip
The Trip has been a staple of our lineup since 2015, and it has always been the most integral piece of our pusher offerings. That’s because it uses more standard “longboard” equipment with RKP trucks. The Trip was our first highly competitive distance longboard. Guys like Joe Mazzone, Kyle Yan, Eric Palmer and Harrison Tucker have all ridden and competed on the Trip at one point or another. I designed the Trip and have competed on it plenty as well. It has not been outdated, only updated.
The Trip shares the exact same platform shape and size as the Pranayama; it just has a longer neck designed to fit RKP trucks and large wheels. For this generation, you can choose between three constructions: the Whale Trip, built with pre-preg fiberglass for maximum durability and strength; the Trip Fields, our classic construction with a natural look; and the Carbon Trip, for riders who want a sleek, high-end finish. Our go-to complete pairs Paris 150mm 50° trucks with our 92mm Karma wheels.
Difference Between RKP and TKP Trucks
The most notable difference between the Trip and the Pranayama or Ember is the standard “longboard,” or RKP, trucks. These have been the gold standard for longboard trucks since their inception. They’re inherently more stable than street trucks, and their turn is noticeably more “linear.” The second you start to lean, they’re turning, and the more you lean, the more they turn. That turn is consistent from top to bottom.
Street trucks feel a bit more squirrely by comparison, and their turn is “progressive”: the more you lean, the more the turn increases, on a curve. They’re loose in the center, then they dive over easily and increase their turn as they go. With the Trip and its RKP trucks, you get more stability. That makes it especially good for higher-pressure rides like skating in traffic or racing. A lot of skaters prefer the Trip for very long distances because the added stability lets them focus less on balance. That’s why we recommend the Trip as our top double drop longboard for long distance skateboarding.
That stability matters even more once you take the Trip on hills. I have no problem riding the Pranayama and its TKP trucks through traffic, and I love it on extra-long rides. I thrive on that loose center, which helps me keep the board under me any time I lose balance. But once I’m riding hills, especially when I need to grip corners, the Trip takes over as my board of choice.
RKP trucks are inherently grippier than TKP trucks, and that grip is confidence-inspiring when you need it. They also stay under control more easily, reducing the chance of wobble. Some would say RKP trucks feel more reactive, and I’d agree: the initial turn is more abrupt, with no floating around in free space. You’re straight, or you’re turning. The Trip has been my board of choice for hilly courses.
Truck Angles
One way to add even more stability to your distance setup, on a Trip or any other board, is to change your truck angles. Some riders experience speed wobbles when they’re going really fast. The best fix is to improve your form and confidence, because when riders get nervous, they get tight, and a tight body stops absorbing road vibration and truck oscillation the way it should. So lean forward (keep your weight around 80/20 front bias), stay loose and ride it out.
Beyond your riding, you always control your setup. The best way to focus your steering to the front is an asymmetrical setup: lower the rear angle and leave or even increase the front angle. The front does more of the steering and the rear does more of the trailing. That’s a setup basic when it comes to stability. Many trucks come in a standard 50 degree baseplate, but lower-angle options like Paris’s 43 degree or Bear’s 40 and 30 degree trucks can add stability when placed in the rear.
Ember
The Ember is our low commuter with kicktails. It has a 0.75 inch drop and 0.25 inch of rocker, a 25 inch wheelbase and a width of 8.5 inches. It’s built from 6-ply maple with triaxial fiberglass on top and a layer of fiberglass tucked inside the bottom ply, so the glass stays protected as you scrape up the tails. The flex is medium: noticeably more than a Pranayama or Trip, but not excessive.
The Ember comes in two shapes, both 8.5″ wide: the Freestyle (35.8″) and the Classic (34.4″). Compared to the Pranayama, the Ember’s drops feel much more relaxed, almost like a heavily rockered platform, and it rides a little higher. Pick the Ember if you want a chill, flexy commuter you can also pop around on. Pick the Pranayama if you want the lowest, most locked-in push deck we make. If you want the Ember lower, add our drop-through risers.
Superdupersonic
If you’ve followed the evolution of this board, you know it has a legacy. It began as the Supersonic, became the Bamboo Supersonic, and is now the Superdupersonic. It’s our hybrid distance pusher and pumper. Pump setups CAN get extremely complicated (see bracket decks below), but the general idea is simple: a lively front and a dead back end.
The Superdupersonic is everything we’ve learned from years of refining this deck. We widened the neck and tail to add strength and balance the flex, then added carefully tuned wheel wells for more clearance, so you can run the board loose enough to really bring out the pump. Both necks are thicker and stiffer, strengthening the highest-stress zones of the board. And we eliminated the weak link that plagues most skateboards, cross-ply maple: on the light and medium flexes we replaced it with fiberglass, and on the stiffest flex we used long-ply maple.
Why pick it? Adaptability and versatility. You can complicate this board if you want to, but it also comes out of the box in a perfectly dialed format, whether you’re a racer or just starting your first miles. We’ve seen wins on the Supersonic everywhere from short sprint races like the Broadway Bomb with Daniel Lindsey to 24-hour UltraSkates with Adam Ornelles. For true distance rides, it’s hard to beat. Riders MAY find general cruising a little less exciting when they’re not pumping, because of that stable back end. That’s by design.
Supersonic Aegis
The Aegis takes the same proven mold and geometry as the Superdupersonic and makes it ready for all conditions. Instead of widening the deck and carving wheel wells, we cut it square and precision-machined the wheel wells directly into fenders that keep water, slush and road grime off you while you ride. Pair it with 130mm Bear trucks so your wheels tuck inside the wells. It’s designed to run with risers, and the included riser package clears our 92mm Karma wheels. The squared shape also makes the neck and tail slightly stiffer, which is exactly what you want when the riding gets messy.
Genesis
The Genesis is our top mount long distance pumper, a specialty deck designed specifically for LDP and pumping for fun. Pumping uses each turn to accelerate, and once it clicks, it’s an intoxicating way to ride. We strongly believe in standing on the trucks for this style of riding, so the front of the Genesis is very wide, about 10 inches right where your heel lands when you’re nose riding.
Quest
The Quest was the original Pantheon distance longboard back when we started in 2014. At the time, we weren’t even sure we could get these curves to work. The crescent drop in the Quest was the most radical mold curve in skateboarding, and more than a decade later, we still haven’t seen anyone match it.
So why pick the Quest? First, it has a LOT more foot space than our smaller boards. Most riders can get used to the small platforms on the Trip, Pranayama or Ember (some even prefer them, since there’s no wasted space), but some riders simply want more room. More platform builds confidence. You don’t want to be on a long skate worrying about stepping back onto a wheel in the middle of an epic adventure. That also makes it a great fit for tall riders and riders with large stances.
The Quest has one more ply than the Trip or Pranayama: 7 layers of Canadian maple sandwiched by triaxial fiberglass, with a bird’s eye veneer on the bottom to protect the glass from scrapes. That extra ply significantly increases stiffness and strength, which makes the Quest a great choice for bigger riders who want to push distance. We recommend it for riders up to about 280 lb. It has a bit more concave than the Trip, a longer, more stable wheelbase, and active crescent drops that let your foot wrap around the drop and use it as a leverage point. Flat in the center for comfortable pushing, locked-in when you dig into a downhill stance.
Skate Packing and Adventure Skating
The Quest is our recommended skate pack and adventure longboard. With our fiberglass and veneer shell and full epoxy layup, the deck is exceptionally weatherproof. Thanks to the longer wheelbase and stiffer platform, you can trust it at speed, whatever lies ahead on the trail. It has a slight flex, enough to feel, that soaks up a lot of road vibration when paired with large, soft wheels like our 92mm Karmas. One of the top reasons we recommend it for skate packing is that it comfortably runs 150mm trucks with our wheels. That slim setup is especially ergonomic, and on long multi-day treks, you want every single push to be as easy as possible.
Nexus
The Nexus is the beefiest distance board in our quiver. It has the deepest concave, the most “active” drops (we cut the profile so the entire curve of the drop is a big part of the shape) and the stiffest platform of any of our push decks, plus the longest wheelbase options. We consider it primarily a freeride and downhill board that ALSO sits super low and pushes very easily. It’s the widest board in our pusher lineup and pairs nicely with 165mm trucks.
There are two truck mounting options. The Nexus truly shines as a double drop freeride board: set it up with 165mm 43 degree trucks on the inner holes and a slide wheel like our 73mm Meatballs or 66mm Sliders. That combo puts your feet closer to the wheels for added control, gets you low for stability and releases traction easily, while still giving you a long enough wheelbase to feel comfortable at just about any speed.
Where the Nexus stands out is speed management. I would take this board down the fastest hill I’ve ever ridden, given the right setup, and I wouldn’t think twice until I really needed more grip around corners. At the same time, you can ride that setup for miles thanks to the low platform and comfortable concave. That makes the Nexus my board of choice for my favorite type of ride: the up-down. Here in Colorado, one of my favorite challenges is to push up a mountain and ride back down. Every person I’ve taken on one of these rides has loved it. In fact, the main reason I redesigned the Nexus and brought it back was so I’d have a board that could handle exactly this.
It’s also easily the strongest double drop in our quiver, handling riders up to about 350 lb. If you’re a heavier rider looking for a low board that’s super easy to push, look at the Quest and then the Nexus, depending on your weight. More on that in our guide to the best longboard for heavy riders.
Bracket Decks
If you haven’t seen bracket boards before, here’s the quick rundown. A bracket fits to each end of the standing platform. It lowers the board and sets the truck angles up to be more efficient at pumping, so you get a low platform for pushing that also pumps well. These are advanced, modular setups for riders who want to tinker with angles, bushings and trucks in search of peak performance.
Bracket setups are used by a large share of riders who attempt the UltraSkate (24 hours of skating to see how far you can go), and many riders prefer them for ultra long distances. For me, it depends on the course. All flat with few, long turns? Bracket decks can be awesome. But count me out when you add significant hills, hard turns, traffic, or conditions where you don’t know what’s in the path. Many riders set these up with zero degree rear trucks or close to it, which makes for a very long turning radius. Very efficient in the straights, not what you want in tight turns.
Our bracket platform is the Bandito, Joe Mazzone’s pro model. Joe rode his Bandito to a world record at the UltraSkate, skating just over 313 miles in 24 hours. It’s lightweight and minimalist, mapped specifically around Joe’s feet and needs, with no wasted space.
How Low Is Each Board?
Lowness is a major factor with all of these boards, so here’s how their center profiles compare.
- Pranayama: the lowest of our distance longboards. It has the deepest drop, a slight mustache profile with a touch of rocker in the foot pockets and a little camber in the center for clearance and a lively feel. It drops 1.3 inches at the lowest point, and it pairs with TKP trucks, which typically sit lower than RKP trucks.
- Trip: the exact same platform as the Pranayama, with a longer neck for RKP trucks. This particular curve is the most radical wood bend in skateboarding. Prove me wrong. Set up, it rides a bit higher than the Pranayama because of the trucks.
- Ember: a 0.75 inch drop with 0.25 inch of rocker. Add drop-through risers if you want it lower.
- Quest and Nexus: the same lowness, with 1-inch drops and a very slight center rocker. Set up with RKP trucks, they’re the highest of the double drops, but only by slightly over 1/8 inch. You can feel it, but I’d let stiffness, setup and intended use decide between them.
If lowness is your top priority, the Pranayama is the lowest board in the quiver, and it’s noticeable.
Quivers Are the Future
The idea that one longboard can or should do everything is the past. We make this many distance boards because they’re all different. They ride differently, and they handle different riders, styles and terrain differently. Every detail has been heavily considered, and years of small shape changes and mold updates bring out the best in each deck.
Our completes are the setups we feel offer the best value and ride. You can certainly buy a set of expensive CNC trucks for these, and many people do, but for most riders it isn’t necessary. When I won in Beijing, I rode a full-stock Pranayama, exactly as we sell it on the website. I even rode stock bushings.
Consider your purpose, how you picture yourself riding and the terrain you’ll be on. Then reach out with questions if you need extra clarity. Ask just about anybody with a Pantheon pusher which board they ride the most, and one of these will likely be the answer.
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Distance Longboard FAQ
What is the best long distance longboard?
It depends on how and where you ride. For pushing on mostly flat ground, I recommend the Pantheon Pranayama. For long distances with hills, traffic or racing, the Trip. To both push and pump, the Superdupersonic. For mixing distance with downhill, or for heavier riders, the Nexus.
What’s the difference between the Pranayama and the Trip?
They share the exact same platform. The Pranayama is built around TKP street trucks for a loose, lively, easy-to-steer feel and the lowest ride height in our lineup. The Trip uses RKP trucks for more grip and stability at speed, which makes it better on hills and in traffic.
Are wide trucks better for distance longboarding?
No. We recommend slim setups, like 149mm TKP or 150 to 165mm RKP trucks. A narrower ride width keeps your push foot closer to your center of gravity and makes it less likely you’ll kick a wheel when you get tired.
What is the best distance longboard for heavy riders?
The Quest is a great choice for riders up to about 280 lb, and the Nexus is our strongest double drop, handling riders up to about 350 lb.
What wheels are best for long distance longboarding?
Large wheels roll over cracks and pebbles and hold speed. We pair our distance boards with our 92mm Karma or 102mm Hoku wheels.
Do I need expensive trucks for a distance longboard?
For most riders, no. I won the 2019 Beijing Skateboard Marathon on a fully stock Pranayama, exactly as we sell it, stock bushings included.
Thank for sharing useful information. This helps me a lot. Its provided many choices to choose for beginners like me.
For beginners, stepping into the wider world of skateboarding is a daunting prospect. From choosing the right deck for your style to selecting trucks and wheels, and from learning kickflips to rock drops, there is a lot to learn. Then there’s choosing your first set of longboard trucks.
Hey Jeff,
First of all this is a great article. When I picked my first Pantheon board almost 6 months ago, this was really helpful for me. I finally decided on the Trip even though I really like the Prana. ( I’m building a prana later this month)
I’m now trying to introduce this to my friend and I’ve to say the information might be slightly hard to absorb as it’s quite lengthy and text heavy w/o images to support.
For better UX, maybe you might wanna segmentise the truck topic into another article. More images or diagram like the old one where you showed the profiles of the different decks would help. Just my 2c.