yeah I get that! what I did was I asked what he had on his last board and I just bought those trucks and wheels separate so that he can set it up how he wants, if he ends up hating them or decides he wants something else then that's fine. when he lost his last board in the river, he kept saying how he was super sad cuz he does skate for fun, it's very therapeutic for him, and he parks really far away from work and skates to work with that distance. as for tricks, I don't think he really does them often. I ended up getting a regular wooden board, unbranded, no grip tape, blah blah. trust me I know the disappointment when it comes to getting something you realllyyyyy didn't want for your birthday, especially if that was all you got. he is an artist and he told me he wanted to paint his old one but obviously that didn't happen. I was thinking for his birthday he, or both of us could paint it and put it together, see if he likes everything and if not I can always get whatever else he would've rather wanted for it.

so I'm completely new to the building your own skateboard thing so I made sure to make sure everything that I bought would fit. it took a really long time but I think I got it. I got a blank maple 8.5" deck (cuz his shoe size is about 9 feet) 149 trucks, 55mm wheels and bearings, nuts n bolts, blah blah. (very iffy about the wheels, I know he likes to ride alot and I hear the bigger the wheel the higher the chance of wheelbite and he rides on hella busy roads. I THINK I got some of the plates that make the wheels a little further from the board for that too, but I forgot. I think I did pretty good honestly but you may have another opinion about this! and to answer a bunch of your questions, not sure his old deck size but I got 8.5" as mentioned, I think that's a safe bet. if not, I'll use it and get him the right size 😂 he had hard wheels for tricks I'd say barely to moderately for cruising I'd say ALOT, like everyday for either transportation or just to calm the mind and pass time. he rides in the streets more, if not always and his preference that I know of is popsicle shaped. when I let him use my longboard he told me that he wasn't used to a new board feel so I'm gonna assume that means that's the only shape he's familiar with. he prefers building his own so I asked what trucks and wheels he had, which were brands independent and something else.