Santa Cruz has been making skateboards since 1973. That’s not a marketing line — that’s longer than most skateboard companies have existed at all. The Screaming Hand graphic by Jim Phillips is one of the most recognizable images in all of skating. But legacy doesn’t automatically mean a brand is still worth your money right now.
So here’s the real answer: yes, Santa Cruz skateboards are genuinely good. But that answer comes with some important asterisks depending on what you’re buying, and no article currently out there is telling you the part that actually matters before you spend your cash.
Let’s get into it.
Are Santa Cruz Skateboards Good for Beginners?
Santa Cruz is a solid choice for beginners, but you need to know the difference between their Standard and Premium complete setups before buying. Standard completes use 7-ply birch decks, which are softer and have less pop than maple. Premium completes use 7-ply North American maple, which is denser, stiffer, and gives you that snappy response you actually need when you start learning to ollie.
If you’re just getting your kid a board for the first time and they’re still figuring out how to push, the Standard is fine. It’s affordable, rolls well, and it’s a real skateboard — not a toy-store special. But if you or your kid is serious about progressing, learning tricks, and spending real time at the skatepark, skip the Standard and go straight to the Premium. The pop difference is noticeable, and pop is everything once you start working on ollies, shove-its, and kickflips.
One more thing beginners should know: the entry-level Santa Cruz completes come with Bullet trucks and OJ wheels. Both are functional and made by NHS (Santa Cruz’s parent company), but the bearings in particular are pretty basic. You’ll feel the difference once you swap in a set of Bones Reds. That said, this is true of almost every complete skateboard in this price range — it’s not a knock specific to Santa Cruz.
What Makes Santa Cruz Decks Actually Good?
The quality of a Santa Cruz maple deck comes down to how it’s pressed. Their standard 7-ply North American maple decks are pressed individually with epoxy rather than the cheaper water-based glue used by many mass-market boards. Epoxy pressing creates a stronger, more consistent bond between the plies, which translates to better pop retention over time and less chance of delamination when the board gets wet or takes hard impacts.
The concave on Santa Cruz decks tends toward medium, which is the sweet spot for most skaters. Not so mellow that your feet slide around, not so steep that flicking a kickflip feels like a workout. Real skaters who’ve ridden dozens of different decks consistently describe Santa Cruz as feeling “right” straight out of the box.
Their graphics are a genuinely big deal too. Jim Phillips’ artwork has been iconic since the 1980s and people still get it tattooed. Collectors buy Santa Cruz decks and hang them on walls. The cultural weight of riding a Screaming Hand or a Natas Kaupas reissue is real — this stuff has meaning in skateboarding in a way that a generic blank deck doesn’t.
What Is a VX Deck and Is It Worth It?
Santa Cruz’s VX technology is the most interesting thing the brand has done for serious skaters in recent years. A VX deck uses 5 plies of North American hard rock maple plus 2 layers of Quad X technology — a fiberglass and carbon fiber composite woven together crosswise. The result is a board that is thinner and lighter than a standard 7-ply, but significantly stronger.
The real-world performance difference is noticeable in two specific ways. First, the pop. VX decks maintain their snap for far longer than standard maple. Most street skaters replace their boards every few weeks because maple gradually loses stiffness and the tail starts feeling dead. A VX deck holds its crispness considerably longer. Second, durability under heavy use. Testing by heavier skaters (around 210 lbs, skating street four to six days a week) showed VX decks lasting dramatically longer than standard 7-ply boards before snapping.
There’s a trade-off worth knowing about though. VX decks can develop razor tail faster than regular maple. Because the outer layers are thinner proprietary carbon composites rather than thick wood, the tail edge wears into a sharp, knife-like point over time. It doesn’t affect performance much, but it’s the reason some skaters still prefer standard maple even after trying VX.
VX decks run around $15 to $20 more than standard Santa Cruz decks. If you skate hard and burn through boards regularly, the extended lifespan makes that premium worth every cent. If you’re a casual skater who goes out twice a week, a standard maple deck is perfectly fine.
How Do Santa Cruz Skateboards Compare to Other Brands?
This is where you need an honest answer rather than a ranking nobody will argue with.
Santa Cruz competes directly with brands like Powell Peralta, Baker, Zero, Girl, and Enjoi in the legitimate street and park skating category. Here’s how they actually stack up:
Deck quality: On par with any of the core brands. There’s no meaningful difference between a well-made Santa Cruz deck and a well-made Baker or Girl deck at the standard 7-ply level. They all use North American or Canadian maple, all get pressed with similar methods, and all feel pretty close once you’re actually skating them. The VX tech does give Santa Cruz a genuine edge in the durability category that most brands don’t have an answer to, unless you’re comparing it to Powell Peralta’s Flight Deck technology, which is a similar concept.
Completes: This is where Santa Cruz edges ahead of a lot of competitors. Their complete skateboards — especially the Premium range offer better component quality than you typically get from brands like Birdhouse or Element at a similar price point. The trucks and wheels are made in-house by NHS, so there’s real quality control. The one caveat, as mentioned, is the birch Standard range, which is a cost-cutting move you should be aware of.
Cultural legitimacy: Santa Cruz is undeniable. Erick Winkowski, Maurio McCoy, Jake Wooten, and the rest of the current team are genuinely doing heavy skateboarding. This isn’t a brand coasting on 1980s nostalgia. They’re putting out fresh skate content constantly and their team montages show skating that any serious skater respects.
Santa Cruz Skateboard Deck Sizes — Which Should You Get?
Deck width is one of the most important decisions you’ll make and most guides breeze past it. Here’s what actually matters:
Standard Santa Cruz maple decks come in widths from around 7.75″ up to 8.8″ and beyond on their cruiser and reissue shapes. The modern popsicle decks most relevant to street and park skating run from 7.75″ to 8.5″.
If your shoe size is around men’s 8 to 10 and you’re focused on flip tricks, street skating, and technical park skating, an 8.0″ or 8.25″ deck gives you the most control. Smaller boards flip faster and are easier to catch. Wider boards feel more stable under your feet but can be sluggish for technical tricks.
If you’re a bigger person, or you skate bowls and transitions more than street, sizing up to 8.38″ or 8.5″ makes sense. More surface area means more stability at speed and in the bowl.
Their reissue shapes the wide, old-school boards based on original 1980s designs — run much wider, often 9″ to 10″+. These are for nostalgia, pool skating, or collectors. Riding one for modern street skating is like trying to parallel park a truck.
Are Santa Cruz Completes Better Than Building a Custom Setup?
For most beginners, a Santa Cruz Premium complete is genuinely the smarter buy. Here’s the practical reality: if you build a custom setup from scratch using a quality deck, Independent or Thunder trucks, Spitfire or Bones wheels, and Bones Reds bearings, you’re looking at $160 to $200 minimum for good components. A Santa Cruz Premium complete comes in around $130 to $160 with components that are actually decent.
The only time building custom makes more sense right away is if you’re an experienced skater with specific preferences — you know you want Indy 149s, you only ride 52mm wheels, you need Spitfire Formula Four. At that point, the complete stock setup will feel like a compromise and you’re better off speccing exactly what you want.
For everyone else getting started or coming back to skating after a break, the Santa Cruz Premium complete is a real board that will take you from first push through learning the basics without feeling like you’re fighting the equipment.
Are Santa Cruz Reissues Worth Buying?
Santa Cruz reissues are the old-school shaped boards based on classic pro models from the 1980s and early 1990s — things like the Natas Kaupas Panther, Rob Roskopp Face, Jeff Kendall, and Steve Caballero. They’re pressed with modern materials and quality, so they’re not just novelties. They’re real, rideable skateboards.
Whether they’re worth buying depends entirely on what you want to do with them. For pool skating, bowl riding, and vert, the wider shape is actually functionally better — your feet have more platform and the boards are more stable. The original shapes were designed for the skating of that era, which was primarily pool and ramp, and they’re genuinely good for that purpose.
As collector’s items, they hold their value extremely well. Limited collabs and special editions from Santa Cruz — like their Marvel and Stranger Things releases — often appreciate over time, especially in unridden condition.
For modern street skating? Probably not. The shapes just weren’t designed for the technical skating that’s standard now.
FAQs
Are Santa Cruz skateboards of good quality?
Yes. Santa Cruz uses proper North American maple for their decks, solid aluminum trucks through their in-house NHS manufacturing, and urethane wheels across their range. Their VX technology produces some of the most durable decks available at any price point. Quality varies by product tier — their Premium complete range and standalone maple decks are significantly better than their budget birch Standard completes.
Is Santa Cruz a good brand for beginners?
Santa Cruz is one of the better choices for beginners because their Premium complete skateboards offer legitimate components at a reasonable price. The brand’s long history means consistent quality control. Just make sure you’re buying the Premium (maple) version rather than the Standard (birch) if you plan to progress and learn tricks.
How long do Santa Cruz skateboards last?
A standard Santa Cruz maple deck will typically last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on how hard you skate and your body weight. Heavier skaters and street skaters who do a lot of manual and ledge tricks will burn through boards faster. A VX deck will last noticeably longer under the same conditions — some testers report two to three times the lifespan of a regular maple deck.
Are Santa Cruz skateboards made in the USA?
Santa Cruz boards are manufactured at the NHS Fun Factory in Santa Cruz, California. NHS has been producing Santa Cruz decks domestically since the brand’s founding, which is part of why the quality consistency is as high as it is.
Is Santa Cruz a legitimate skateboard brand or just a lifestyle brand?
Fully legitimate. Santa Cruz sponsors a competitive pro team, produces regular video content, and is deeply embedded in actual skateboarding culture. It’s not a fashion brand wearing skateboarding’s clothes — it’s one of the founding companies of the industry itself.
The Bottom Line
Santa Cruz skateboards are good. Not just good for a legacy brand, not just good for what they cost genuinely good skateboards that hold up in real use.
The caveats are specific and worth knowing: their birch Standard completes are a step down in quality, and the entry-level complete bearings are worth upgrading once you start skating seriously. But pick up a Santa Cruz maple deck or a Premium complete and you’re getting a board with real pop, real durability, real history, and a team that backs it up with footage that earns respect.
If you’re buying your first board, the Screaming Hand Premium complete is one of the most consistent recommendations you’ll find anywhere in the skateboarding world. If you’re an experienced skater who eats through decks, the VX technology is worth every extra dollar.
It’s been 50-plus years and Santa Cruz is still one of the most legitimate names in skating. That doesn’t happen by accident.