The Set-up Thread

[Seadramon]

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Alright keeping it going 


Maxallure 8.75” x 32.5” (tape flat) x 14.5”wb
Venture 6.1 (good looks @off)
Carry over reds and 54mm F4 conical 99a
1” shorty’s allen

[close]

8.75 Damn homie, you out here riding boats

lol seriously. Appreciate the profile shot too.

[whatsreallygood]

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WKND logo deck 8.25" x 31.75" 14.25"wb
Film 5.5 hollow
54mm Bones stf 99a (V4 wide)
Hard Luck Swiss
Jessup Ultra

I'm such a sucker for Pittsburgh colors.

[close]

Dang, dedicated enough to that #ThreeStripeLife to cut it into your grip?? Dedication. How is that Jessup Ultra grip though? I've been interested in trying it. Grippier than normal Jessup right?

Still enjoying the film trucks? Also how wide are the 5.5s?

[munchbox]

Alright keeping it going 


Maxallure 8.75” x 32.5” (tape flat) x 14.5”wb
Venture 6.1 (good looks @off)
Carry over reds and 54mm F4 conical 99a
1” shorty’s allen


Rowan pro

looks more stable than my mental health. good shit

[jay_nev]

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Alright keeping it going 

Maxallure 8.75” x 32.5” (tape flat) x 14.5”wb
Venture 6.1 (good looks @off)
Carry over reds and 54mm F4 conical 99a
1” shorty’s phillips

Rowan pro

[close]

looks more stable than my mental health. good shit

hahah bro. Thanks again for the 6.1. Liking it so far, didn’t ride it enough yet tho. I guess anything 8.5”+ is foreign but I like w my height and foot size.

[munchbox]

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Alright keeping it going 

Maxallure 8.75” x 32.5” (tape flat) x 14.5”wb
Venture 6.1 (good looks @off)
Carry over reds and 54mm F4 conical 99a
1” shorty’s phillips

Rowan pro

[close]

looks more stable than my mental health. good shit

[close]

hahah bro. Thanks again for the 6.1. Liking it so far, didn’t ride it enough yet tho. I guess anything 8.5”+ is foreign but I like w my height and foot size.

8.75 axles feel so good with big ass feet. i want to try out ti 149s but a part of me is saying just be happy with the stability of a wider truck

[Sativa Lung]

it’s not China wood. I mentioned already about it believably being SC wood.   

Maxallure isn’t distributed by baker boys, have no clue where you heard that

I can't say anything 100% for sure but I'm fairly certain it isn't SC. SC boards almost always have "Made in the USA" on the top graphic because they print it for free if you put that on there. Source for that is Fletch who owns DOA. The Maxallure doesn't have any top art. If you look in the Woodshop thread, it's the same stuff that Consolidated is using. I would think Consolidated would do a free "Made in USA" top print if they were using US wood, it just seems like something they'd want to publicize.

Edit: I went back and looked at my pictures and the Maxallure did have a top graphic. Which makes it even less likely, since they could have gotten it for free by including the "Made in the USA".

Aside from that, it's thicker than any of the definite SC boards I have. From my digital caliper readings -

Board 1 - DOA Strings 8.25 "Flat as Fuck" (E mold) - 10.4 mm
Board 2 - DOA ACG 8.25 Square mold - 10.4 mm
Board 3 - DOA Knows 8.38 Square mold - 10.5 mm
Board 4 - DOA 9 lives 8.12 "Flat as Fuck" (E mold) 10.5 mm
Board 5 - DOA (I can't remember the name of this graphic) 8.25 Standard mold - 10.4 mm

Maxallure 8.25 Isaac Villanueva - 11.1 mm

All measurements taken from just in front of the point where the tail and nose start to curve upwards on both sides of the deck and averaged together for the final result.

Beyond that, every SC board I have is 14.25" wb while the maxallure is 14". The nose and tail measurements are also different and the shape is somewhat similar to the E mold but a little different (it's actually a little flatter believe it or not).

The stickers (or lack thereof) on the packaging, alignment marks, and shape of the rail bevel are all different as well. The Maxallure had a size sticker on the top ply in the middle of the tail truck holes which wasn't on any of the SC boards I've owned or looked at in shops. The only other place I've seen it is on a consolidated deck (refer to the woodshop thread for the photos).

Those are just the tangible differences, this is entirely subjective but I ride a lot of SC wood (obviously) and it has a very unique, somewhat soft sound and feel to it. The Maxallure is very stiff and has a muffled sounding pop that reminded me more of a resin-7 board than anything.

If you have any compelling evidence to the contrary I'd love to hear it, but if it's an SC board than it's different from every other one I've owned, ridden, or seen.

[Seventyfrigginseven]

Haven't skated a shop deck since the late 90's. And this shape is straight from that time so I had to try it. Really brings me back..Just minus the 38 specials.

[Sativa Lung]

Alright Consolidated emailed me back. It's not SC. It's PGI... which is... take a guess....

https://panjiva.com/Pgi-Enterprises-Inc-1000-Beecher/29162368

China Wood.


Should be noted that Consolidated also use Generator for other runs, but the one that I matched to the Maxallure decks was PGI.

[FrozenIndustries]

Haven't skated a shop deck since the late 90's. And this shape is straight from that time so I had to try it. Really brings me back..Just minus the 38 specials.

Graphic is sick. Shop boards having good graphics and being on good wood is amazing.

[Seventyfrigginseven]

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Haven't skated a shop deck since the late 90's. And this shape is straight from that time so I had to try it. Really brings me back..Just minus the 38 specials.

[close]

Graphic is sick. Shop boards having good graphics and being on good wood is amazing.

They did a great job on these. Best part is if I cant get used to this size, I think they have 8.25 and 8.5 in the same graphic and pointy shape.

[backinaction]

Haven't skated a shop deck since the late 90's. And this shape is straight from that time so I had to try it. Really brings me back..Just minus the 38 specials.

Nice.  I grew up in Livermore and used to skate street in Lewiston/Auburn in the early 90's

[Seventyfrigginseven]

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Haven't skated a shop deck since the late 90's. And this shape is straight from that time so I had to try it. Really brings me back..Just minus the 38 specials.

[close]

Nice.  I grew up in Livermore and used to skate street in Lewiston/Auburn in the early 90's

Hell yeah man. I hadn't made it over the Piscataqua yet. I was mostly in Plymouth Ma. and Boston back then.

[Sativa Lung]

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Haven't skated a shop deck since the late 90's. And this shape is straight from that time so I had to try it. Really brings me back..Just minus the 38 specials.

[close]

Nice.  I grew up in Livermore and used to skate street in Lewiston/Auburn in the early 90's

[close]

Hell yeah man. I hadn't made it over the Piscataqua yet. I was mostly in Plymouth Ma. and Boston back then.

Apologies if I missed it but do you know what kind of wood it is? I actually really like that graphic even though I have zero ties to Maine.

[Seventyfrigginseven]

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Haven't skated a shop deck since the late 90's. And this shape is straight from that time so I had to try it. Really brings me back..Just minus the 38 specials.

[close]

Nice.  I grew up in Livermore and used to skate street in Lewiston/Auburn in the early 90's

[close]

Hell yeah man. I hadn't made it over the Piscataqua yet. I was mostly in Plymouth Ma. and Boston back then.

[close]

Apologies if I missed it but do you know what kind of wood it is? I actually really like that graphic even though I have zero ties to Maine.

I know He said it was pressed in the US I believe he said in the midwest..I dont think I ever asked who, just where..I will ask the next time I go in

[BMCsteve]

8.5 DOA
Venture 6.1 w/ Riptide pivot cups
50mm 101 F4s
Bronson Raw

[TastyBurrito]

Had a mad stressful work week and while my old set up was still good, putting together a new one made somehow made me feel better.

8.5 Quasi Bobby D
Thunder 149
53mm Spitfire F4 Tablets
Bronson Raw

[SneakySecrets]

^There is something kind of therapeutic about it.  All the little rituals and whatnot.

[rocklobster]

Darkstar 8.0 - 31.6" length, 14" WB. Got it on discount and wanted to size down my boards both width and length.
Venture 5.2 Lo Hollow Lights - I've got Venture fever at the moment, would prefer them in a Hi but the pinch on the Lo for Crooked grinds is so good. Got them for $15 barely used.
Bones 52mm V1 103a - Skinner wheels FTW, plus the park I usually skate has decent ground
Bone Super Reds - Got an open box for a discount, loving them over my previous discount bearing. They were so smooth they were throwing off my push!
Grizzly Grip - Got it with the board, not a fan of the stuff. Glue feels weak and the damn bear cutout is annoying; plain black grip always
Whatever bolts

Not to happy with the grip job, but I'll live. Didn't expect it to look like a toy board with the blue trucks but shit they were $15, only raw or polished from now on.

[chris.]

^There is something kind of therapeutic about it.  All the little rituals and whatnot.

When I’m feeling overworked and stressed I just tinker with my gear, even if there’s no real point to it.

[moonordie]

Darkstar 8.0 - 31.6" length, 14" WB. Got it on discount and wanted to size down my boards both width and length.
Venture 5.2 Lo Hollow Lights - I've got Venture fever at the moment, would prefer them in a Hi but the pinch on the Lo for Crooked grinds is so good. Got them for $15 barely used.
Bones 52mm V1 103a - Skinner wheels FTW, plus the park I usually skate has decent ground
Bone Super Reds - Got an open box for a discount, loving them over my previous discount bearing. They were so smooth they were throwing off my push!
Grizzly Grip - Got it with the board, not a fan of the stuff. Glue feels weak and the damn bear cutout is annoying; plain black grip always
Whatever bolts

Not to happy with the grip job, but I'll live. Didn't expect it to look like a toy board with the blue trucks but shit they were $15, only raw or polished from now on.

You can always make them raw with some paint remover.

[rocklobster]

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Darkstar 8.0 - 31.6" length, 14" WB. Got it on discount and wanted to size down my boards both width and length.
Venture 5.2 Lo Hollow Lights - I've got Venture fever at the moment, would prefer them in a Hi but the pinch on the Lo for Crooked grinds is so good. Got them for $15 barely used.
Bones 52mm V1 103a - Skinner wheels FTW, plus the park I usually skate has decent ground
Bone Super Reds - Got an open box for a discount, loving them over my previous discount bearing. They were so smooth they were throwing off my push!
Grizzly Grip - Got it with the board, not a fan of the stuff. Glue feels weak and the damn bear cutout is annoying; plain black grip always
Whatever bolts

Not to happy with the grip job, but I'll live. Didn't expect it to look like a toy board with the blue trucks but shit they were $15, only raw or polished from now on.

[close]

You can always make them raw with some paint remover.

Ain't got time for that, I'll just need to find the roughest curbs in my city and slappy the paint off them. First and last time I get coloured trucks.

[Sativa Lung]

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Darkstar 8.0 - 31.6" length, 14" WB. Got it on discount and wanted to size down my boards both width and length.
Venture 5.2 Lo Hollow Lights - I've got Venture fever at the moment, would prefer them in a Hi but the pinch on the Lo for Crooked grinds is so good. Got them for $15 barely used.
Bones 52mm V1 103a - Skinner wheels FTW, plus the park I usually skate has decent ground
Bone Super Reds - Got an open box for a discount, loving them over my previous discount bearing. They were so smooth they were throwing off my push!
Grizzly Grip - Got it with the board, not a fan of the stuff. Glue feels weak and the damn bear cutout is annoying; plain black grip always
Whatever bolts

Not to happy with the grip job, but I'll live. Didn't expect it to look like a toy board with the blue trucks but shit they were $15, only raw or polished from now on.

[close]

You can always make them raw with some paint remover.

[close]

Ain't got time for that, I'll just need to find the roughest curbs in my city and slappy the paint off them. First and last time I get coloured trucks.

Colored trucks can look really good in my opinion, but they have to be on the right deck. Color harmony is key, you can't slap green trucks on a hot pink stain and expect it to look good.


If you change your mind in the future and want to remove the color paint thinner never worked on anodized trucks for me, but you can take some grip scraps and sand em raw. Pretty easily. I'll do it while I'm watching stuff on YouTube or listening to a podcast and it's actually kinda relaxing. You can use a wire brush to get the hard to reach spots and then use steel wool to give them a nice smooth kinda polished look. If you have a dremel with sanding attachments it takes like 5 minutes but I like doing it by hand for some reason.

[rocklobster]

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Darkstar 8.0 - 31.6" length, 14" WB. Got it on discount and wanted to size down my boards both width and length.
Venture 5.2 Lo Hollow Lights - I've got Venture fever at the moment, would prefer them in a Hi but the pinch on the Lo for Crooked grinds is so good. Got them for $15 barely used.
Bones 52mm V1 103a - Skinner wheels FTW, plus the park I usually skate has decent ground
Bone Super Reds - Got an open box for a discount, loving them over my previous discount bearing. They were so smooth they were throwing off my push!
Grizzly Grip - Got it with the board, not a fan of the stuff. Glue feels weak and the damn bear cutout is annoying; plain black grip always
Whatever bolts

Not to happy with the grip job, but I'll live. Didn't expect it to look like a toy board with the blue trucks but shit they were $15, only raw or polished from now on.

[close]

You can always make them raw with some paint remover.

[close]

Ain't got time for that, I'll just need to find the roughest curbs in my city and slappy the paint off them. First and last time I get coloured trucks.

[close]

Colored trucks can look really good in my opinion, but they have to be on the right deck. Color harmony is key, you can't slap green trucks on a hot pink stain and expect it to look good.


If you change your mind in the future and want to remove the color paint thinner never worked on anodized trucks for me, but you can take some grip scraps and sand em raw. Pretty easily. I'll do it while I'm watching stuff on YouTube or listening to a podcast and it's actually kinda relaxing. You can use a wire brush to get the hard to reach spots and then use steel wool to give them a nice smooth kinda polished look. If you have a dremel with sanding attachments it takes like 5 minutes but I like doing it by hand for some reason.

I'm going to have to give up the Ventures on this board, got a rude awakening to board length.

You know times when you hop onto a board and the first pop feels off? Yeah that was this board. 31.6" length couple with Ventures that extend the WB out too far made the tail feel way too short. I was ghost popping all day, even on my first ollie of the day the guys at the park were saying I was looking so uncomfortable.

Swapped them out to Destructo D2 Mid, add 3.125". Hopefully that works better for me, if not this board is a lost cause.

[maxi-pad]

$lave team board 8.8”
Indy 149’s
OJ Elite 55’s
Bronson RAW’s

[Sativa Lung]

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Darkstar 8.0 - 31.6" length, 14" WB. Got it on discount and wanted to size down my boards both width and length.
Venture 5.2 Lo Hollow Lights - I've got Venture fever at the moment, would prefer them in a Hi but the pinch on the Lo for Crooked grinds is so good. Got them for $15 barely used.
Bones 52mm V1 103a - Skinner wheels FTW, plus the park I usually skate has decent ground
Bone Super Reds - Got an open box for a discount, loving them over my previous discount bearing. They were so smooth they were throwing off my push!
Grizzly Grip - Got it with the board, not a fan of the stuff. Glue feels weak and the damn bear cutout is annoying; plain black grip always
Whatever bolts

Not to happy with the grip job, but I'll live. Didn't expect it to look like a toy board with the blue trucks but shit they were $15, only raw or polished from now on.

[close]

You can always make them raw with some paint remover.

[close]

Ain't got time for that, I'll just need to find the roughest curbs in my city and slappy the paint off them. First and last time I get coloured trucks.

[close]

Colored trucks can look really good in my opinion, but they have to be on the right deck. Color harmony is key, you can't slap green trucks on a hot pink stain and expect it to look good.


If you change your mind in the future and want to remove the color paint thinner never worked on anodized trucks for me, but you can take some grip scraps and sand em raw. Pretty easily. I'll do it while I'm watching stuff on YouTube or listening to a podcast and it's actually kinda relaxing. You can use a wire brush to get the hard to reach spots and then use steel wool to give them a nice smooth kinda polished look. If you have a dremel with sanding attachments it takes like 5 minutes but I like doing it by hand for some reason.

[close]

I'm going to have to give up the Ventures on this board, got a rude awakening to board length.

You know times when you hop onto a board and the first pop feels off? Yeah that was this board. 31.6" length couple with Ventures that extend the WB out too far made the tail feel way too short. I was ghost popping all day, even on my first ollie of the day the guys at the park were saying I was looking so uncomfortable.

Swapped them out to Destructo D2 Mid, add 3.125". Hopefully that works better for me, if not this board is a lost cause.

Well personally I would have said it was a lost cause the moment you bought a darkstar board.... 

But all kidding aside, I had a kinda similar thing with my 5.2 lo hollows a while back - it just felt off for some reason and I couldn't get comfortable. I pretty much wrote them off but then one day I got bored and decided to try putting a 1/8" riser pad and some soft bushings on them and it was like a whole different truck. Really liked the turn (the turning radius was actually still pretty shit but making those shitty turns felt a lot better) and it pretty much fixed my pop and timing issues. Maybe give that a shot?

Also for as much as we like to sit and think "ok short wheelbase deck, I should use ventures" or "deep concave and really steep kicks, so I should use thunders" sometimes just experimenting and trying things brings unexpectedly positive results. This morning I checked the weather and saw it was going to rain so I grabbed a board I've never really liked - an 8.38 Hockey with a 14.1x wheelbase (forget exactly what the x is) - that I put a spare set of ace 44s I had laying around. So a relatively short wheelbase, steep deck with high trucks that keep the axles in snug, but it felt absolutely perfect. First time I've enjoyed that deck and I really, really enjoyed it.

[backinaction]

8" SolSk8s shop deck on South Central wood - 14.25" wheelbase
8" Mini Logo trucks with Bones medium
52mm 99a F4 classics
Zealous bearings
Indy hardware
SolSk8s shop grip

[rocklobster]

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Darkstar 8.0 - 31.6" length, 14" WB. Got it on discount and wanted to size down my boards both width and length.
Venture 5.2 Lo Hollow Lights - I've got Venture fever at the moment, would prefer them in a Hi but the pinch on the Lo for Crooked grinds is so good. Got them for $15 barely used.
Bones 52mm V1 103a - Skinner wheels FTW, plus the park I usually skate has decent ground
Bone Super Reds - Got an open box for a discount, loving them over my previous discount bearing. They were so smooth they were throwing off my push!
Grizzly Grip - Got it with the board, not a fan of the stuff. Glue feels weak and the damn bear cutout is annoying; plain black grip always
Whatever bolts

Not to happy with the grip job, but I'll live. Didn't expect it to look like a toy board with the blue trucks but shit they were $15, only raw or polished from now on.

[close]

You can always make them raw with some paint remover.

[close]

Ain't got time for that, I'll just need to find the roughest curbs in my city and slappy the paint off them. First and last time I get coloured trucks.

[close]

Colored trucks can look really good in my opinion, but they have to be on the right deck. Color harmony is key, you can't slap green trucks on a hot pink stain and expect it to look good.


If you change your mind in the future and want to remove the color paint thinner never worked on anodized trucks for me, but you can take some grip scraps and sand em raw. Pretty easily. I'll do it while I'm watching stuff on YouTube or listening to a podcast and it's actually kinda relaxing. You can use a wire brush to get the hard to reach spots and then use steel wool to give them a nice smooth kinda polished look. If you have a dremel with sanding attachments it takes like 5 minutes but I like doing it by hand for some reason.

[close]

I'm going to have to give up the Ventures on this board, got a rude awakening to board length.

You know times when you hop onto a board and the first pop feels off? Yeah that was this board. 31.6" length couple with Ventures that extend the WB out too far made the tail feel way too short. I was ghost popping all day, even on my first ollie of the day the guys at the park were saying I was looking so uncomfortable.

Swapped them out to Destructo D2 Mid, add 3.125". Hopefully that works better for me, if not this board is a lost cause.

[close]

Well personally I would have said it was a lost cause the moment you bought a darkstar board.... 

But all kidding aside, I had a kinda similar thing with my 5.2 lo hollows a while back - it just felt off for some reason and I couldn't get comfortable. I pretty much wrote them off but then one day I got bored and decided to try putting a 1/8" riser pad and some soft bushings on them and it was like a whole different truck. Really liked the turn (the turning radius was actually still pretty shit but making those shitty turns felt a lot better) and it pretty much fixed my pop and timing issues. Maybe give that a shot?

Also for as much as we like to sit and think "ok short wheelbase deck, I should use ventures" or "deep concave and really steep kicks, so I should use thunders" sometimes just experimenting and trying things brings unexpectedly positive results. This morning I checked the weather and saw it was going to rain so I grabbed a board I've never really liked - an 8.38 Hockey with a 14.1x wheelbase (forget exactly what the x is) - that I put a spare set of ace 44s I had laying around. So a relatively short wheelbase, steep deck with high trucks that keep the axles in snug, but it felt absolutely perfect. First time I've enjoyed that deck and I really, really enjoyed it.

I know - fuck me right and Darkstar! It was on discount so I thought why not. It was the regular price point board, not even the Resin-7 ones because I couldn't bring myself to spend $10 extra for a Greg Lutzka board. I doubt going up in truck height may help and I don't have a pair of risers that fit my Ventures at the moment, the slight gap between trucks and board mocks me.

But yeah I agree with you on trying different combinations yielding positive results. The WB, board length and truck combination is a mixture of art and science. I spent last week messing around on Google sheets pairing my truck and boards to hit the 17.4 to 17.5 axle to axle WB. Yesterdays session threw a huge variable (board length) into the mix that I hadn't considered before - I assumed shorter board = easier to flip.

Not giving up on the board yet, trying them out with Destrucos later this week so hopefully that improves the board. What I find semi-helpful is looking which truck company the team tends to gravitate to. Looks like most of the Darkstar team seem to ride WB shortening trucks (Indy, Destructo), probably to compensate for shorter board lengths and WB. A lot of the Primitive team seem to ride WB lengthening trucks (Venture) since their decks are longer but with a shorter WB to give bigger noses / tails. It's all anecdotal and definitely doesn't help with the madness, but it is fun to think about.

[Xen]

Darkstar and Destructos.....careful....space time continuum could FUCKING SNAP

[Xen]

$lave team board 8.8”
Indy 149’s
OJ Elite 55’s
Bronson RAW’s

How are you digging the OJs?

[rocklobster]

Darkstar and Destructos.....careful....space time continuum could FUCKING SNAP

Going back to the 2000s, all I need are the the neon green bushings to complete the look. I remember shopping online for my first skateboard and I would build a complete with a Darkstar Chet Thomas and Destructo Raws.