Gonna bump this thread as I kinda shat on magic carpet setups last time I tried. That was right after I sized down from 8.5 to 8.25 and went from 8.5 trucks to 8 inch trucks, so maybe too drastic a change.
Been skating 8.38s for a while now with 5.8 ventures, was grinding on a bent axle so decided to retire them. Tried some 5.6s (two washers on the inside) and I think I kinda like it, could see myself running these for a while in the future.
Pros:
Noticed the 'leverage' everyone talks about, a lot of flip tricks I'm not as good at just worked a lil better. Probably wasn't used to the trucks enough to take full advantage of it but I can definitely see it helping in the long run.
Sharper turns (nice especially on ventures)
A bit less jamming on nose/tail slides. Like when you overturn a front nose and your wheels jam on the ledge, that seemed to happen a bit less with these which was nice.
Didn't really try today but I'm pretty sure with some overhang its easier to break into powerslides, not really a big deal either way
Cons:
Definitely more wheelbite. If I didn't land right felt like I was more likely to fall off.
Less grind space, so far doesn't seem to be a dealbreaker. Plus its pretty minimal with the extra washer on the inside. May change my mind on this given more time. I don't grind as many round flatbars or really shitty concrete ledges anymore, so not as fussed about this as I used to be
Pinched a lil worse, but I'm almost certain thats just due to not having grooves.
Next two boards are 8.5, curious to see how thats going to feel with the overhang but maybe itll make the 8.5s more manageable.