Just bought my brother his first board and went with stand Stage 11 149s. He’s a strong/tall 23 year old and the stock bushings are way too soft for his size and skill level. I don’t want to get him too hard of bushings but he needs something more stable.
I’m leaning towards Indy Hard Cylinders over my preferred Bones Hardcores (I usually go medium or medium too with a hard bottom depending on the trucks).
Does that sound like a good idea? I’m thinking the cylinder will prevent wheelbite/bottoming our a little bit better than Conical Indy or Bones Bushings.
Also do Indy bushings tend to get harder as they break in or just softer?
my first deck had indy stage 11 and as a tall rider, found that they were too unstable when i first started skating. went the bones hardcore route with the highest duro and that was a huge improvement, but still not good enough. rode them setup like that until i could comfortably set up some thunders, which has felt like home to me ever since.
i think it has to do with the geo. if you ride stage 11 anything but tight, the slightest bit of lean will result in turning.
it might be due to the 55mm stock height that made them feel tippy side to side. i vividly remember hating those trucks. the amount of energy i needed just to set up for tricks almost broke me. unless i had my body weight dead center (hard thing to do when your center of gravity is higher), the board would turn left or right just before i popped, fucking everything up. tried them tight and the issue was a little better, but at the cost of boardfeel which is huge for a newbie. i was stoked when i got a good enough excuse to buy a new setup because those trucks were a huge pain in the ass for me.
indys make me feel like im surfing. i plays tricks on me. i let my body just go with the flow. this is a non issue if im cruising. when its time to be serious, its hard to balance while bending knees, keeping balance, finding center of gravity, etc. these are fundamentals you should plan to get dialed as a beginner and its frustrating if you cant balance easily. imo thunders are a much more controlled turn where they dont break straight line movement until you really want them to. they are noticeably lower. i lean into my turns on thunders and its more of a commanded turn in a sense. their marketing team got it right with the "know control" slogan which describes the trucks well even though skate marketing is really cringy.
when i first bought my first setup, i really fell for the "ride the best, fuck the rest" shit people kept telling me. i steered clear of the brands that "dont turn" only to realize that can mean fucking anything and is a poor excuse of a description. nowadays i equate that description with "stability" and thats what im really diggin right now. stability has made skating way easier than the amount the trucks turn ever will. going to try out some ventures real soon.
TLDR: indys and other "carvy" trucks have a higher learning curve and arent the best option for beginners from my own experience. also, if your brother likes skating now, i doubt he will ever stop. its a strong drug and a stage of truck madness is just a part of the trip. try everything if you can and if not, make calculated decisions with what you buy and rule certain things out. its working for me