Weird question, but I'm curious is anyone knows why most of the 8.62/8.625 boards produced out of BBS and PS (regardless of brand) have longer wheelbases than their 8.75 counterparts.
I put this in the DLX thread because I've skated a fair number of their 8.62s and am currently setting up a There 8.62. Just something that I noticed. They feel so wildly different from the 8.5 or 8.75 versions. I assume there are other reasons (taper, shape, etc), but the wheelbase difference—and that it's consistent across BBS and PS 8.62/8.625s stuck out to me.
It also seems like there is only one set of dims for most 8.62/8.625s. At least I haven't seen many variations.
8.62X32.5x14.75. Maybe it's just such an odd width that there isn't much demand and companies can throw in their longer wheelbase board on a model that doesn't interfere with more popular widths like 8.5 and 8.75?
DLX 8.62 - 14.75
DLX 8.75 - 14.5
Quasi PS 8.625 - 14.75
Quasi PS 8.75 - 14.5
Anyway, something to chew on. Maybe I've been chewing too long.
There was a really good post by someone about this earlier, but I am not about to go looking right this minute.
They offset longer and shorter boards as they go through the widths, so if someone wants a longer board around 8.6 to 8.7 width, they can go with the 8.625.
Standard DLX boards
8.125 shorter wb
8.25 medium
8.28 shorter
8.38 longer wb
8.5 shorter (blue eagle)
8.5 medium
8.6 longer
8.75 medium
9.0 longer
* That is not even close to all the shape options either.
As of more recent shapes, they do also have the Cardiel Hella 8.6 which is shorter, as well as the 8.75 AH short which is only 14.25 wb with 31.8 length as well, but occasionally bring out the 8.5 longer wb 14.75 (a bit rare) and some other ones from a while back.
I have definitely heard some people ask why they can't get a certain other size board in shorter / longer, for which I don't have an answer, but the Tru Fit boards are way shorter, as well as some of the other shapes now coming out, so when is it too much?
Any which way, I think there will always be someone who wants a different size / shape than what is currently out, which is a normal thing, not a problem at all.
Compared to the BBS Generator board shapes, which do gradually go up in width, length and wheelbase, which is a very generic rise, some of the other brands are bringing out shorter boards overall, some longer, some with very distinct shapes and sizes, but I think as the trend in shorter boards and shorter wheelbases continue, there will be others coming out as well, eg a 9 that is way closer to an 8.5 in all other dimensions, rather than the orange eagle with 33+ length and 15 wb.