What Makes Longboarding Possible? Longboarding is amazing.  It is a lot like skateboarding, but it allows people to glide and almost "surf" on roads.  But what is it that makes this possible.  The secret is in the wheels. Longboard wheels are made of a soft polyurethane material, allowing them to grip to pavement and easily roll over small rocks, cracks, or bumps on the surface of the road.  What gives the wheel its angular velocity is the ball bearings inside the plastic core.  These allow the wheels to spin quickly and for a very long time before slowing down to a stop.  The size of the wheels, the type of bearings, as well as the type of material they're made up of determines how the longboard will ride.  It is also the reason longboards are much faster than traditional skateboards and can glide much, much farther.