unless your gonna be hardcore sliding like everyday, don't look at a board for that, unless you wanna get a totally seperate board for sliding. yea the durometer (hardness), and shape of the wheels are the main factor in sliding, but there are boards specifically for just downhill sliding which i don't recommend unless that's all you wanna do. what is the geograpghy and topograpghy of where u live? if u have a lot of hills and just wanna bomb, look for something with very little to no flex, and a long wheelbase. i highly recommend landyachtz for this because their boards are very specialized and excel in racing and bombing. if your looking to just cruise look for pretty much anything with a wheelbase of over 50 inches (i don't know much about these kind of boards so i can't really help). for cruising and carving or a little of everything i very highly recommend the loaded pintail. i have riden about 10-12 other boards, and i am definatley most satisfied with my loaded pintail. i got the flex 3 and it's perfect for rebounding out of turns into the next carve, and it's also perfect for crusing around and transportation. i probably ride about 15-20 miles a week without a problem. there's a lot more to be added, but like someone else recommended go to
www.silverfishlongboarding.com and read up. search a lot before posting because like on NS, a lot of questions have been asked already. good luck and have fun