How many 1/4 inches actually make a difference?

[Wockawocka]

7.5 vs. 7.75

8 vs. 8.25

etc...

Quarter inches make a huge difference?

[Powerslide]

Every quarter inch makes a huge difference. Going from 7.75 to 8.0 was huge for me, and going to 8.25 was again another big step. Now I don't like anything smaller than 8.25, with 8.5 being the biggest I'll go.

Going from 7.75 to 8.25 directly would have been like going from elementary skool to hi skool directly for me.

[FLstrange]

7.5 vs. 7.75

8 vs. 8.25

etc...

Quarter inches make a huge difference?

profound observation

[cheetahsheets]

Gettin ready for the Gay! one liner dick joke.

[roba]

been switching from 8.25s to 8.5s no problem, but i try to keep the length and wheelbases consistent. i remember once buying an 8.5 x 32 board which seemed ok and i guessed that the wb would be ~14.25 but it turned out to be 14.5 and i couldn’t get used to that shit

[mattchew]

People always wanna talk about width but it’s the fuckin wheelbase that matters.

[pinche gringo]

I just went from the ‘Dane shape’ 9.75 to an 8.4 and it didn’t make much difference. As stated above the wheel base is the crucial dimension.

[SneakySecrets]

I width I knew.

[stringsnthings]

been switching from 8.25s to 8.5s no problem, but i try to keep the length and wheelbases consistent. i remember once buying an 8.5 x 32 board which seemed ok and i guessed that the wb would be ~14.25 but it turned out to be 14.5 and i couldn’t get used to that shit

Took the words right outta my mouth ha. I skate mainly Crailtap brand boards 8.25-8.5 but some of their wheelbases are 14.43 and i can not bring a tre all the way around for the life of me.

Also side S/o to Rick Kane. I usually stroll through the message boards during my classes in college when I'm bored and i always would be cautious of people peeping at me on these forums seeing these fuck up signatures so i just switched it now and my eye balls thank you sir.

[banksandledges]

People always wanna talk about width but it’s the fuckin wheelbase that matters.

This

[ohnowisee]

I always rode 7.75 and I just recently switched to an 8.0 which was kind of weird but then I tried an 8.25 and no go.  It's like skating around on a boat for me.

[doublesteveburger]

People always wanna talk about width but it’s the fuckin wheelbase that matters.

short noses/tails are why 9/11 happened

[nosneb]

I have a 8.25 setup and a 7.5 setup. Can skate both no problem 🤷🏻‍♂️

[roomservice]

I wouldn’t know. I only skate 8.1253876326375’s

[swordtechnique]

8.125 all day

[Zurg]

i thought it made a big difference cuz going up a 1/4 meant i lost tres, but i think it was more of a length/wheel base thing in retrospect.

'memba when an 8 was huge?

[Mickey Knox]

i thought it made a big difference cuz going up a 1/4 meant i lost tres, but i think it was more of a length/wheel base thing in retrospect.

'memba when an 8 was huge?

Was probably the shape of your tail. I’ve found that smaller tapered tails are much better for tres than modern fat daddy tails.

[OwlGreen]

One half of one quarter inch makes a difference.

[landedprimo]

I used to ride an 8.38 way back in the day. Had to stop skating for quite some time. When I was able to skate again, I got a 7.75 with a 14 wheelbase. I just jumped up to an 8.25 with a 14.38 wheelbase and like the extra landing space.

Some will tell you wheelbase is the only thing that matters. Honestly, I've found both width and WB matter. Then you get into shapes. Plus you'd be hard pressed to find a 7.75 with a 14.25 wb. I found 7.75 feels like a toothpick in comparison to my 8.25.

Not sure if you're new to skating or not (I didn't bother to read much). But a good idea is to use a friend's board and see how you like the feel of balance front to back (width) and ask yourself "Do I feel safe dropping from a foot or more onto this width?"

Then see how you feel with your feet on top of the bolts. Good idea to also try the front foot near the front bolts and the back foot near the tail. Do you feel cramped, too far apart, or just right?

If you're serious about consistently buying boards that suit you, make notes of any board you try. Measure the length and width of the board. Measure the wheelbase of the deck. The nose and tail. Also, make note of which trucks they are using and measure the WB of the axels.

If you don't keep friends, then you'll have to buy stuff like I did. Sucks, but you always have extra sizes to try different things on.

Wheelbase is a whole different monster that I've only recently gotten into studying, thanks to Ben Degros and our very own SneakySecrets. Different wheelbases of a board paired with different trucks makes a difference. Through hearsay, I've gathered that heavy Indy's feel light on a longer WB because they make your WB shorter. Thunders make your WB longer and feel heavier. Depends on what kind of pop you desire.

If you need any help with how to measure, let me know.

I just wrote all that and it will probably end up not helping.

But, I'm proud of the fact that I didn't cuss once.

Edit: I just read through the thread, you didn't ask for any of this useless information. You better like it anyway.

[Roisto]

7.5 vs. 7.75

8 vs. 8.25

etc...

Quarter inches make a huge difference?

Half of a quarter inch.

I can definitely notice a difference in width between 8.375" and 8.5". Some brand 8.375" boards are wider than others. Skating a Polar 8.375" now and it feels pretty damn narrow compared to a DLX 8.375". Both with a 14.5" wheelbase.

And just to echo everyone here, wheelbase is what matters most. I can skate a 8.375", 8.5" or even wider just fine even though I notice it. But if the wheelbase is under 14.5", it's not gonna work out for me. Tail and nose dimensions I can't say much about as it really depends on the steepness also. Some short tails work great and some longer tails work great too. Also the flat space between the mounting holes and when the tail starts bending up makes a big difference too. And of course the trucks you're riding. I've found that the normal DLX 8.375" shape with Aces has an insanely good manual point. Actually it might be the best shape I've ever skated overall. 🤔

[behavioralguide]

Had a quasi square shape before and lost my impossibles but gained ssbs flip because that tail is impossible to miss when flicking

[fang]

I used to use 7.625 and 7.5 only. 7.75 was me "pushing it" size wise. 7.88 to me, was where I started overanalyzing sizes, and "this size is too much".
Current days, I skate 8.0 (and never bigger, I tried an 8.25 and felt like I was out of my realm), but I am thinking about sizing down. Not that many brands I like make 7.75 or under, but I see that Traffic does a 7.75, so that is cool.

[Sondor]

it's more about the graphics, than dimensions

[thomas kook]

i'm trying real hard not to get into this wheelbase shit but you lunatics are making it real hard.

but seriously half the decks i see in the shop don't have any wheelbase info, don't tell me you walk into your local with a measuring tape.

[p_higgles]

How else will you know the true measurements though? I can't trust the sticker info ever again after buying a 32 that was actually 31.75 or something.

[radcunt]

Cmon, it’s time for metric you maniacs

[Photognini]

I skate a 9" Antihero board atm and also have an 8.5" set up but i find doing kick + varial flips easier on the 9 but tres and heelflips easier on the 8.5

[feedmeseymour]

8.75 GANG !

[SneakySecrets]

don't tell me you walk into your local with a measuring tape.

Well how else are you going to measure it? 🤓

[cockrabbit]

fuck a dimension i can skate anything cause im a BEAST