Gear madness support thread

[Daydream]

Got some Fastbreak Pros for $35. Debating if I should skate or put ‘em on ice. I already rotate between three pair of skate shoes 😖

got the same, fellow size 13’er right? Probably use em as summer chillers to start and break in then start skating em eventually

[OhioGuy]

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Got some Fastbreak Pros for $35. Debating if I should skate or put ‘em on ice. I already rotate between three pair of skate shoes 😖

[close]

got the same, fellow size 13’er right? Probably use em as summer chillers to start and break in then start skating em eventually

Yup! They look great. I lowkey want to use them as chillers too. But I’m trying to not wear skate shoes daily. Need to Ultraboost for running around.

[OhioGuy]

Proud of myself for fighting setup madness. My ollies have turned to shit partly because this Sci-Fi Fantasy deck has steep kicks. Mellow kicks/lower trucks is calling me, but I’m like, “If you can skate this you’ll be able to skate anything.”

Don’t want to be confined to one brand and have to search all day for mellow boards.

[Daydream]

Proud of myself for fighting setup madness. My ollies have turned to shit partly because this Sci-Fi Fantasy deck has steep kicks. Mellow kicks/lower trucks is calling me, but I’m like, “If you can skate this you’ll be able to skate anything.”

Don’t want to be confined to one brand and have to search all day for mellow boards.

which sci fi deck?

[OhioGuy]

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Proud of myself for fighting setup madness. My ollies have turned to shit partly because this Sci-Fi Fantasy deck has steep kicks. Mellow kicks/lower trucks is calling me, but I’m like, “If you can skate this you’ll be able to skate anything.”

Don’t want to be confined to one brand and have to search all day for mellow boards.

[close]

which sci fi deck?

This one. I swear the tail is as steep as the nose. It’s wild 😭

[Richard Skidder]

Shoe size madness has crept back in. After deciding that most shoes in an 11 is the perfect fit they’ve all the sudden started to feel too big. What gives? The madness started when trying out slip-ons and the 11 just flops right off my feet. Now I’m wondering if I should have gone with 10.5 this whole time. I used to cram my feet into 10s and after sizing up lost almost all my flip tricks for a while. I don’t want to buy a 10.5 and have buyers remorse. I guess my question is:
How much room is too much room?
If say an 11 is too big in a Vans slip-on then is it also too big in a Halfcab?
Anyone else have this madness?

[Ok]

Shoe size madness has crept back in. After deciding that most shoes in an 11 is the perfect fit they’ve all the sudden started to feel too big. What gives? The madness started when trying out slip-ons and the 11 just flops right off my feet. Now I’m wondering if I should have gone with 10.5 this whole time. I used to cram my feet into 10s and after sizing up lost almost all my flip tricks for a while. I don’t want to buy a 10.5 and have buyers remorse. I guess my question is:
How much room is too much room?
If say an 11 is too big in a Vans slip-on then is it also too big in a Halfcab?
Anyone else have this madness?

yes, i’ve had this message. don’t.
smaller shoes are bad for your feet, don’t.
wear em as big as you can, and just swear silently.
don’t.

[KidCarl]

Came here for someone to tell me I'm tripping and it's all good. I've been having deck size madness lately. I'm 6'2" with size 13 squatch feet, and for the past 2 years I've been on 8.25s, stacking up any I find on sale, but my feet hang over on both sides, which doesn't bother me on tricks, I really only think about it when I'm looking at a new deck to set up. I recently copped a few 8.38s and like it, but feel I need to go to 8.5. I skate pretty much all terrain. I listened to Shecks nine club, and dude was saying hes got like size 10 shoes on a 9" board because of the same madness. No way I'm going to 9", and my thought process is that back in the day guys would ride 7.75 decks with size 13 kicks no problem. Sorry for the long coffee fueled post, I just want to be satisfied with my setup, without longing for something else.

[LebowskisRug]

Proud of myself for fighting setup madness. My ollies have turned to shit partly because this Sci-Fi Fantasy deck has steep kicks. Mellow kicks/lower trucks is calling me, but I’m like, “If you can skate this you’ll be able to skate anything.”

Don’t want to be confined to one brand and have to search all day for mellow boards.

Dude the Sci-Fi I just setup is steep as well and it fucks my nollie tricks up badly with the Indy Standards I have otherwise been stoked on, but just focusing on adjusting my technique.

[Democratic Republic Of Mongo]

I consider the Krooked Manderson shape pretty much perfect. Dimensions, shape of nose and tail, steepness. Feels about right. For those of you that appreciate this board, what are your favorite alternatives when this one isn’t around?

[munchbox]

Came here for someone to tell me I'm tripping and it's all good. I've been having deck size madness lately. I'm 6'2" with size 13 squatch feet, and for the past 2 years I've been on 8.25s, stacking up any I find on sale, but my feet hang over on both sides, which doesn't bother me on tricks, I really only think about it when I'm looking at a new deck to set up. I recently copped a few 8.38s and like it, but feel I need to go to 8.5. I skate pretty much all terrain. I listened to Shecks nine club, and dude was saying hes got like size 10 shoes on a 9" board because of the same madness. No way I'm going to 9", and my thought process is that back in the day guys would ride 7.75 decks with size 13 kicks no problem. Sorry for the long coffee fueled post, I just want to be satisfied with my setup, without longing for something else.

i have the same size foot skating 8.75-9.25
most comfortable on 9s, just gotta get short wheelbases

[tzhangdox]

Came here for someone to tell me I'm tripping and it's all good. I've been having deck size madness lately. I'm 6'2" with size 13 squatch feet, and for the past 2 years I've been on 8.25s, stacking up any I find on sale, but my feet hang over on both sides, which doesn't bother me on tricks, I really only think about it when I'm looking at a new deck to set up. I recently copped a few 8.38s and like it, but feel I need to go to 8.5. I skate pretty much all terrain. I listened to Shecks nine club, and dude was saying hes got like size 10 shoes on a 9" board because of the same madness. No way I'm going to 9", and my thought process is that back in the day guys would ride 7.75 decks with size 13 kicks no problem. Sorry for the long coffee fueled post, I just want to be satisfied with my setup, without longing for something else.

I'm 6ft5 size 13 and skate 8.5. Dont ever feel the need to go bigger, and can skate an 8.25 just fine as long as the kicks aren't too pointy. Mostly ledges rails curbs and flat though. If I skated more transition or something probably would wanna stick to the 8.5 side of things but never feel limited by board size relative to my foot.

[goodatmeth]

My current madness is that I feel the need to keep skating my thunders down to the axle, but there's no kingpin clearance anymore and it sucks. They would be my first set to get down all the way. Been skating them for about two years (no slappies), on a symmetrical board so they should be axled right around the same time at the same spots. Not sure if the crook or 5050/5-0/smith/feeble spot is going to axle first.

[Richard Skidder]

My current madness is that I feel the need to keep skating my thunders down to the axle, but there's no kingpin clearance anymore and it sucks. They would be my first set to get down all the way. Been skating them for about two years (no slappies), on a symmetrical board so they should be axled right around the same time at the same spots. Not sure if the crook or 5050/5-0/smith/feeble spot is going to axle first.

That’s the real cure for truck madness. Would love to see those grooves.

[Mbrimson88]

My current madness is that I feel the need to keep skating my thunders down to the axle, but there's no kingpin clearance anymore and it sucks. They would be my first set to get down all the way. Been skating them for about two years (no slappies), on a symmetrical board so they should be axled right around the same time at the same spots. Not sure if the crook or 5050/5-0/smith/feeble spot is going to axle first.

I had cut down the top bushings on quite a few setups to then get the kingpin nut down lower to give more clearance on various setups, for myself and others.  For the most part, everything worked fine for the people and their boards until they did eventually break through the axle or retire them, with only one person I can recall saying it felt weird or didn't work for them.  Others on here have done the same thing too.

Angle grinding down the kingpin itself once the nut is on and in the right place for truck tightness was the only other thing I would often do, some more than others, but again that is just prolonging the life of a set of trucks, before retiring to a cruiser board, passing on to someone else who wasn't so concerned about kingpin clearance or whatever.


My madness is to make anything and everything last as long as possible for anyone, be it the original owner of the skateboard part or fixing it with the view to passing it on to someone who can make the most of it, eg a lot of beginners / kids would enjoy well worn trucks and never really worry about kingpin clearance, or still skate a cracked deck or whatever like that too.

I totally get where you are at though - just want to feel the acomplishment of getting trucks to axle but not wanting to catch kingpin or have issues / slams from it too.

[j....soy.....]

nowadays i'd rather not go to the axel but piece the old trucks with other old parts and give away a whole set up.....

I'm not sure what's happened to me....

[macho taildrop]

As the OP several accounts later: Gripping over your bolts is a game changer if you have truck madness.

[DarkPools]

As the OP several accounts later: Gripping over your bolts is a game changer if you have truck madness.

Gamechanger in a bad way?

[macho taildrop]

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As the OP several accounts later: Gripping over your bolts is a game changer if you have truck madness.

[close]

Gamechanger in a bad way?

No, it's great. It makes it way too much trouble to try and impulsively swap out trucks.

[j....soy.....]

I have a twin board that I'm getting more life out of than normal combined with some street skating, I finally went ahead and regripped it.

Because I cross grip into three pieces, they came off super easy and I did it with the trucks still on.  At that point, I thought real hard about just gripping over.....

[goodatmeth]

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As the OP several accounts later: Gripping over your bolts is a game changer if you have truck madness.

[close]

Gamechanger in a bad way?

[close]

No, it's great. It makes it way too much trouble to try and impulsively swap out trucks.

How so? If the grip holds the bolts, you don't even need a screwdriver to change your trucks.

[macho taildrop]

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As the OP several accounts later: Gripping over your bolts is a game changer if you have truck madness.

[close]

Gamechanger in a bad way?

[close]

No, it's great. It makes it way too much trouble to try and impulsively swap out trucks.

[close]

How so? If the grip holds the bolts, you don't even need a screwdriver to change your trucks.

I know you are trolling, but anyone who would consider doing that and riding titty twistered grip like that is sick and needs to be put down.

[Newphone]

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As the OP several accounts later: Gripping over your bolts is a game changer if you have truck madness.

[close]

Gamechanger in a bad way?

[close]

No, it's great. It makes it way too much trouble to try and impulsively swap out trucks.

[close]

How so? If the grip holds the bolts, you don't even need a screwdriver to change your trucks.

[close]

I know you are trolling, but anyone who would consider doing that and riding titty twistered grip like that is sick and needs to be put down.

Don’t kink shame

[goodatmeth]

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As the OP several accounts later: Gripping over your bolts is a game changer if you have truck madness.

[close]

Gamechanger in a bad way?

[close]

No, it's great. It makes it way too much trouble to try and impulsively swap out trucks.

[close]

How so? If the grip holds the bolts, you don't even need a screwdriver to change your trucks.

[close]

I know you are trolling, but anyone who would consider doing that and riding titty twistered grip like that is sick and needs to be put down.

Not trolling, that actually works. Neither grip nor bolt will move if you carefully tighten/loosen the nut using only a skate tool. At least it worked with mob some years ago

[backside_frontside]

Grip over bolts is objectively insane.

[j....soy.....]

Stevie does it…..what do you think his exit strategy is? 

[FrenchSkater]

Help me skater friends .. I'm back in the infernal madness but this time with a little more personal psychology.. Indeed, I bought a pair of independent hollows 139 on an 8, and I loved the first 2 sessions .. until a bad session .. And there I
say that I should never have bought this, that it would be better with such or such brand of trucks .. honestly I tried almost everything .. I am small, and I even also tried a wheelbase 14 with my venture raw high that I skated now for a year and 3 months until the change with the independents.. and with these recent bad sessions, I tell myself that I should have taken low trucks, that it would surely be better.. . I fell into a vicious circle and a negative mentality.. I've been skating for 16 years, I'm 31, and sometimes.. my sessions are fabulous, or I think skateboarding is fun and that's it.. and sometimes back to reality, or I don't master basic tricks, like the Kickflip which I've had a problem with for 10 years now.. I sometimes feel useless, this is also the lack of confidence.. I find also that I have an awful style .. In short, to admit to you .. I have the BIG fault of me unfortunately compare to others..

Why are you talking about this with the truck madness too? Because I would like to get back the fun I had before when I didn't think about those fucking parameters (high/low trucks, length, wheelbase..), but.. I think the craziness will be everywhere for me from now on. (I also reassure myself by telling myself that Reynolds or Degros also have it ahaha). Sorry for these personal confidences, but I love skateboarding so much, and feeling useless in your passion is horrible .. Yet I have a relatively good directory of tricks in flatground, I put almost all the rotations, but a little badly on some flip tricks..

 I want to say that it's not a death either and that the importance is to ride and have fun without asking questions.. I know that my lack of confidence has surely blocked my progress.. In my early years skating, I was made fun of a lot about my style, I think I started off with a negative mentality and that must have played a part.. I have one last question for you, despite the madness, honestly, does the setup have an influence on our progress and on the tricks ?

Thank you in advance for your answers skater friends.. I didn't dare to talk about it, but I think that opening up to the world and discussing your resentment for your passion for skateboarding does not hurt..

[goodatmeth]

Help me skater friends .. I'm back in the infernal madness but this time with a little more personal psychology.. Indeed, I bought a pair of independent hollows 139 on an 8, and I loved the first 2 sessions .. until a bad session .. And there I
say that I should never have bought this, that it would be better with such or such brand of trucks .. honestly I tried almost everything .. I am small, and I even also tried a wheelbase 14 with my venture raw high that I skated now for a year and 3 months until the change with the independents.. and with these recent bad sessions, I tell myself that I should have taken low trucks, that it would surely be better.. . I fell into a vicious circle and a negative mentality.. I've been skating for 16 years, I'm 31, and sometimes.. my sessions are fabulous, or I think skateboarding is fun and that's it.. and sometimes back to reality, or I don't master basic tricks, like the Kickflip which I've had a problem with for 10 years now.. I sometimes feel useless, this is also the lack of confidence.. I find also that I have an awful style .. In short, to admit to you .. I have the BIG fault of me unfortunately compare to others..

Why are you talking about this with the truck madness too? Because I would like to get back the fun I had before when I didn't think about those fucking parameters (high/low trucks, length, wheelbase..), but.. I think the craziness will be everywhere for me from now on. (I also reassure myself by telling myself that Reynolds or Degros also have it ahaha). Sorry for these personal confidences, but I love skateboarding so much, and feeling useless in your passion is horrible .. Yet I have a relatively good directory of tricks in flatground, I put almost all the rotations, but a little badly on some flip tricks..

 I want to say that it's not a death either and that the importance is to ride and have fun without asking questions.. I know that my lack of confidence has surely blocked my progress.. In my early years skating, I was made fun of a lot about my style, I think I started off with a negative mentality and that must have played a part.. I have one last question for you, despite the madness, honestly, does the setup have an influence on our progress and on the tricks ?

Thank you in advance for your answers skater friends.. I didn't dare to talk about it, but I think that opening up to the world and discussing your resentment for your passion for skateboarding does not hurt..

Just go back to what you've been riding most of the time in those 16 years you skated. That might be the only way out of this. Stick to one setup that worked great in the past. You've been posting the same problem for months now, it's time to stop thinking about gear and actually skate. Don't do this to yourself. But if you do, I don't think anyone on slap can help you, but therapy might. And this isn't an insult, absolutely everbody could gain a lot by going to therapy. I sure did

[Wizard0f0dds]

Help me skater friends .. I'm back in the infernal madness but this time with a little more personal psychology.. Indeed, I bought a pair of independent hollows 139 on an 8, and I loved the first 2 sessions .. until a bad session .. And there I
say that I should never have bought this, that it would be better with such or such brand of trucks .. honestly I tried almost everything .. I am small, and I even also tried a wheelbase 14 with my venture raw high that I skated now for a year and 3 months until the change with the independents.. and with these recent bad sessions, I tell myself that I should have taken low trucks, that it would surely be better.. . I fell into a vicious circle and a negative mentality.. I've been skating for 16 years, I'm 31, and sometimes.. my sessions are fabulous, or I think skateboarding is fun and that's it.. and sometimes back to reality, or I don't master basic tricks, like the Kickflip which I've had a problem with for 10 years now.. I sometimes feel useless, this is also the lack of confidence.. I find also that I have an awful style .. In short, to admit to you .. I have the BIG fault of me unfortunately compare to others..

Why are you talking about this with the truck madness too? Because I would like to get back the fun I had before when I didn't think about those fucking parameters (high/low trucks, length, wheelbase..), but.. I think the craziness will be everywhere for me from now on. (I also reassure myself by telling myself that Reynolds or Degros also have it ahaha). Sorry for these personal confidences, but I love skateboarding so much, and feeling useless in your passion is horrible .. Yet I have a relatively good directory of tricks in flatground, I put almost all the rotations, but a little badly on some flip tricks..

 I want to say that it's not a death either and that the importance is to ride and have fun without asking questions.. I know that my lack of confidence has surely blocked my progress.. In my early years skating, I was made fun of a lot about my style, I think I started off with a negative mentality and that must have played a part.. I have one last question for you, despite the madness, honestly, does the setup have an influence on our progress and on the tricks ?

Thank you in advance for your answers skater friends.. I didn't dare to talk about it, but I think that opening up to the world and discussing your resentment for your passion for skateboarding does not hurt..

Honestly, the most important thing is to have fun for me. While progressing is fun in it's own way, being way too in your head about random stuff like your style and bag of tricks isn't. Some sessions are good, some are better, and other are just horrible, and that's OK.

I'm definitely not the best skater in my town, but whenever I go, I have fun. That's all that matters for me. I like to go fast, do the tricks I can do as well as I can, and work on some tricks I think I could get, which doesn't always work out.

I always see dudes who are really freaking good at skating freak tf out, getting super mad because they didn't land their crazy flip in/flip out trick or something, and they don't look like they're having the best time. Unless you get paid to skate, there's no reason to take it this seriously. On the contrary, I spend a shit ton of money on skate stuff, so I might as well enjoy it otherwise what's the point?

As for your question about "does the setup have an effect on your progress", I'd say changing your setup constantly is gonna have a negative effect on your progress for sure, while getting to know your own setup and adjusting to it is gonna make everything much easier, at least for me. There is no mystical, magical setup that's gonna make someone a better skater, otherwise everyone would be skating the same shit. It's all about preference, influence and the type of skating you do.

In short: have fun and don't be too hard on yourself. Just go skate.

[fs1/2cab]

Help me skater friends .. I'm back in the infernal madness but this time with a little more personal psychology.. Indeed, I bought a pair of independent hollows 139 on an 8, and I loved the first 2 sessions .. until a bad session .. And there I
say that I should never have bought this, that it would be better with such or such brand of trucks .. honestly I tried almost everything .. I am small, and I even also tried a wheelbase 14 with my venture raw high that I skated now for a year and 3 months until the change with the independents.. and with these recent bad sessions, I tell myself that I should have taken low trucks, that it would surely be better.. . I fell into a vicious circle and a negative mentality.. I've been skating for 16 years, I'm 31, and sometimes.. my sessions are fabulous, or I think skateboarding is fun and that's it.. and sometimes back to reality, or I don't master basic tricks, like the Kickflip which I've had a problem with for 10 years now.. I sometimes feel useless, this is also the lack of confidence.. I find also that I have an awful style .. In short, to admit to you .. I have the BIG fault of me unfortunately compare to others..

Why are you talking about this with the truck madness too? Because I would like to get back the fun I had before when I didn't think about those fucking parameters (high/low trucks, length, wheelbase..), but.. I think the craziness will be everywhere for me from now on. (I also reassure myself by telling myself that Reynolds or Degros also have it ahaha). Sorry for these personal confidences, but I love skateboarding so much, and feeling useless in your passion is horrible .. Yet I have a relatively good directory of tricks in flatground, I put almost all the rotations, but a little badly on some flip tricks..

 I want to say that it's not a death either and that the importance is to ride and have fun without asking questions.. I know that my lack of confidence has surely blocked my progress.. In my early years skating, I was made fun of a lot about my style, I think I started off with a negative mentality and that must have played a part.. I have one last question for you, despite the madness, honestly, does the setup have an influence on our progress and on the tricks ?

Thank you in advance for your answers skater friends.. I didn't dare to talk about it, but I think that opening up to the world and discussing your resentment for your passion for skateboarding does not hurt..

First of all. Mad props that you can talk so open about that. And I totally understand you. I am skating for 20 years now and there are days, where I feel absolutely terrible about my skills (check my signature under my post if you are interested). Anyway, you come off as really passionate and skateboarding is very important to you.

But, bad sessions are a part of that all. We all have those from time to time. We might have these expectations in our head, how we would like to do certain things.
I had a long talk yesterday with my homies, the key is, to let go of these expectations. Try to push yourself BUT always keep it fun. We all tend to be our own worst critic sometimes. That's where my feeling comes from, to never be happy with the things you do. It sucks and I need to work on that mentality.

These are my personal thoughts about that all, others might disagree with me here, but..
The best influence on personal progress is to stick with a specific setup which you feel comfortable on and ride that most of the time. Of course, try different things if you see a reason why you should change something. But no matter what, there just isn't one exact perfect setup for someone. My advice would be, to either stick with the Ventures or the Indys and try different foot placements for example. Ventures and Indys are very different trucks and I personally would tend to the Indys but that is for you to decide where you feel more comfortable. Skateboarding is mad difficult and will always be. Most people on this planet can't even ride one without falling.

Keep your head up mate and remember why you started skating. Because it is the most fun thing in the world.
Much love. <3