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Thunders aren't too hard to break in and they work best with their own bushings so I'd just ride them out. If you ride loose they'll be broken in within a session or so.
I'm having truck dilemmas lately tho, I'm literally torn between thunder and venture. Thunders are a little lighter, turn better, and make quick fliptricks a lot easier but I get a ton of wheelbite due to how I skate & my nose/tailslides are much harder to lock in. Ventures have amazing stability on hard landings and how they're shaped makes it easier to lock into any grinds or slides for me. I'm literally just overall better at grinds & gaps with ventures but I'm noticeably more agile while doing lines or quick, multiple ollies/fliptricks with thunders so it's a toss up. I've flip flopped between the two multiple times just within my last 5-6 sessions. When will the madness end?
Are you married to one setup or are you unable to having two in your quiver? I've got five that I ride on the regular depending on what I feel like.
Man when I think about it I probably could've been doing this for years but I'm bad enough with one board, I would just be buying shit all the time trying to experiment twice as much as I already do. I think I just like the puzzle of setting up that "perfect board" and maximizing every component, testing things out and adapting my board to how I'm skating at the time.
It does make sense tho, I could see myself skating a "tech" board in the 8.25 range with thunders & 52mm wheels and a gaps/rough spots setup on an 8.38 w/ ventures & 54mm wheels. Maybe one day if I decide to treat myself...
What're the main differences between your 5 setups?
#1 Street
8" Almost
Independents w/krux downlow kingpin (creature 90a independent bushings)
Ricta scorpions 56mm worn down to 52mm
Rock'n Rons Ballistic Missile Bearings
(I actually left this setup in Hawaii and is my designated vacation setup, but I am replacing it with a similar setup)
#2 Street/Park/Bowl
8.25" Blind
Theeves TIAX w/krux downlow kingpin (bones hard bushing)
Bones spf 56mm
Rock'n Rons Ceramic Bearings
#3 Park/Bowl
8.5" Boulevard
Independent w/krux downlow kingpin (bones hard bushing)
Bones spf 54mm
Rock'n Rons Ceramic Bearings
#4 Street/Park
8.4" Flip
Ace w/downlow kingpin (creature 90a independent bushing)
Spitfire Formula Fours 54mm 101a classics worn down to 48mm (soon to be replaced)
Rock'n Rons Ceramic Bearings
#5 Street
8.4" Flip
Mini logo w/grind king kingpins salvaged from a set of grindking AXL trucks (khiro yellow bushings)
Spitfire Formula Fours 55mm 99a classics worn down to 51mm
Rush Ceramic Bearings
Rails
I've actually got more but these are the ones skated most often. When I first started skating a lot when I was 13, my parents tried to limit me by taking my board away on weekdays and giving it back on the weekend. I would just go to the skatepark and ride my friend's boards during the week. Eventually my parents relented and I could skate whenever, but I never forgot the fun of trying/figuring out my friends' boards.
If I stuck with one setup, I'd probably be giving away bits and pieces more often which is what I did before. I only feel like a hoarder if don't actually skate a particular board for a while, and once I do skate it, then I realize why I set it up again.
Some wheels slide better at different spots for different tricks and some trucks let me sit on grinds easier than others. I've learned that for me there isn't a silver bullet setup that will magically make me skate great each time since I've had some of my best sessions skating some of the most questionable setups. Also, I hate stepping on a board and realizing the bearings are sluggish and need cleaning, hardware is loose and I forgot my skate tool, or some other thing feels off and trying to power through/having fun despite it. So much easier to just pull another one from the trunk and feel like that one is better and move forward especially if I already drove 30 minutes to skate somewhere. Hell, when I used to stick to one setup, I found myself skating the Upland skatepark full pipe with a set of skinny ass gold wheels and almost dying. Never again.
Skateboarding is my luxury so I don't feel bad having such a big quiver since other dudes in middle age waste their money on cars or some other much more expensive hobby. This shit is peanuts compared to that.
By the way, if I was trying to move hard goods, I'd be trying to convince kids to buy more than one setup. Like, you can get by with one, but if you had two...