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To give ACE [and Theeve] some love tho, as it's clearly not easy to burst into the market and take any brand over/out...FFS, Indy are on S T A G E X I, that's eleven iterations of geometry and decades of users/brand loyalty; plus, when something new doesn't work as good as the old, well, everyone goes back to the old...it took Thunder, and subsequently Venture, how long to get marketshare? Hell, without Gonz, Venture probably would have withered on the vine decades ago.
Theeve got it all right with attempt #3 in my opinion, but I fear it was too little too late, tho they [and ACE] could tweak baseplates to not get kingpin wiggle but other than that, Theeve are as solid as they come...ACE is close but they have got to get their act together (which I agree, they seem to be doing, hell even their FB page is busier than usual with multiple posts per day)...but that won't be enough...I think if they did some forged and hollow combinations and ended the poor QC they'd get more market share.
My guess is Theeve makes enough based on locals and import fees on other brands and isn't the metal from a family business or something?
Both suffer from lack of money to sponser big names to game easier market share...but I doubt kids buy tensors because of mullen or daewon
I’ve yet to try Theeve. I will fully admit it’s a very stupid reason and I’m laughing at myself as I type this, but I don’t like the identifying truck graphic font on the hanger and the baseplate with that stupid looking theeve logo in plain view stamped into the aluminum below the bushing seat. As much as I need a truck to perform good...aesthetics, brand identity, and logo play a part in my choices. It’s probably one of those sad and disturbing things that someone in advertising could explain better than I could about the psychology behind marketing and how it works on consumers. I see how Indy has completely dominated the market and think about how everyone just blindly rides them because it’s just what you’re supposed to do.
You’re correct, Indy is on fucking Stage 11 but has gone backwards ever since Stage 7. No wonder people like myself sought older models and still do. All they needed to do was maintain the 7’s geometry and incorporate modern quality control standards with axles that didn’t slip like they did in the 90s, and offer other modern technology like forged plates, titanium axles, etc.
The thing with Ace now, is they are stepping up their hype and advertising big time and finally have a legit site up and running where you can order direct. They are tagging tons of shops and reposting photos letting people know who has them in stock, and also tagging all sorts of team riders or “pilots” like crazy and reposting clips. Ace has a seriously heavy roster now. If you have nothing better to do and have Instagram, you’ll see they have Neil Blender and a lot of legends backing them, even that crazy ass dude Chef Pierre, and now Donny Barley handling their east coast sales. Ace is blowing up right now, and it’s good to see and I’m happy for them. Shrewgy and Joey have deep roots in the truck game. I think now the reason they’re really hyping things up and getting the ball rolling is because they possibly actually fixed the major issues.
Theeve lost a lot of respect when that video came out talking about their misleading marketing and QC issues. Overall I think they just don’t have the widely accepted image and hype like the other brands.
I started skating on Stage IIIs so I have a soft spot for both ACE and Theeve, but also miss the old OG Thunders (Indy Stage II geo, which is supposedly Krux?) and went through, Stage, IV, VI, thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder, X and XI and yeah they've lost it, they really just went down the slow long carve feel and stuck with it.
Theeve's name and logo suck, I couldn't care less if they have the logo on the baseplate, Indy does that shit on the pivot...yeah the Ti 'blend' bullshit and the QC (liek I said, never bothered me). Was out skating them today and was killing it, they are surprisingly stable for as 'wobbly' as they are by hand jiggling them...could be the kiros.
I've backed ACE since they launched (33s are soo good, just wish I skate skinny boards). Hopefully they stay on their shit and intro the/a new line soon. You don't re-brand with ACE 'classics' without something in the works.
Thing is, right now, Theeve provide everything I want from a better 'ACE' (turn as fast and as deep that I feel comfortable on both, something I can't do with swapping back and forth from ACE/Theeve to say Indy or Thunders), lighter, better QC and more build options) or better Indy (you know turning
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I'm on the Theeve train until new 44s drop or I can find super cheap or free ace plates
But I'm also back on rictas from like 3 years go (still so fucking good) and bronsons so i'm on the kook side of slap gear.