Notable Pros and Cons of each truck you have ridden

[Xen]

All these comments on the New Royals and nothing about how great they turn...nestled right in between a thunder and an indy.

[LebowskisRug]

Shit I will quickly admit they turn tooooo good for me. Like, if they had harder bushings I prob woulda kept them on a ton longer. For the record the bushings are not bad, I just need harder. Most people that I know that have tried and moved on ended up having that as the major criticism.

[botefdunn]

pros: venture high 5.8

cons: every other truck

I quit chewing my fingernails as a child and quit smoking cigarettes as an adult, but I fully accept this habit.

[Xen]

Shit I will quickly admit they turn tooooo good for me. Like, if they had harder bushings I prob woulda kept them on a ton longer. For the record the bushings are not bad, I just need harder. Most people that I know that have tried and moved on ended up having that as the major criticism.

I'm running stock ACE classics (Medium/Dual Duro) and they're great; bit more stable and no kingpin threads as the top ACE is a bit taller than the Royal (but not by much); bottom is a bit taller too but the royal bottom has compressed.

[FUBAR]

I skate pretty tight and will be getting hard bushings.

[Ok]

pros: venture high 5.8

cons: every other truck

I quit chewing my fingernails as a child and quit smoking cigarettes as an adult, but I fully accept this habit.

I pretty much only skate 8” boards and I keep a set of brand new 5.8s, just in case I need to setup a wide board.

[munchbox]

pros: venture high 5.8

cons: every other truck

I quit chewing my fingernails as a child and quit smoking cigarettes as an adult, but I fully accept this habit.

me with 6.1s
but i still bite my nails unconsciously
and smoke after a few drinks

[runespliffberg]

I only rode Indy’s for like 10 years, and I’ve been experimenting the last 2 years with different trucks, after a kid called me a nazi at the skatepark because I still had iron crosses on my baseplates (they were the titanium’s so they last forever). Here’s my experience from the last couple years of exploration, riding different trucks for the first time since I was a teenager.

Ace:

Pro’s
Turn really well, shorter wb than current gen indy’s, grind super smooth, super fun to cruise around on when not trying any tricks. I like the checkered flag branding because I’m also into cars but that’s just me. Everyone Lowkey respects you for skating them, they definitely have a cult following.

Cons
I’d fall out of nosegrinds/crookeds a lot until I got a decent groove going. Bad at pinch grinds on these. They’re super heavy. I grinded them almost down to the axle in 6 months, so that soft smooth grind feeling wasn’t just a feeling.

Venture:

Pro’s
My pop felt so good on these. I was catching my tricks higher and landing them bolts most of the time. Also mad street cred for rocking these.

Cons
They turn like shit. I tried switching bushings a few times and nothing really helped. I think it’s just the geo of the truck. They also wore down to the axles in about 6 months. Definitely wanted to like them, because I loved them when I was a teenager before I found Indy’s, but I skated tight trucks back then.

Thunder:

Pro’s
Absolutely the best for pinchy grinds like crooks and feebles/smiths on round rails. They turn super good, which I love. I take the bottom washer out and they feel like they turn sharper like Indy’s. Amazing pop. The pop feel on these are so good. These have been my new go-to truck (currently on team hollow 148’s).

Cons:
I got wheelbite at first quite a bit, but I got used to the height (riding 148 cast baseplates so 52mm tall). Tailslides have been tough some days because of the baseplate being so far in and sliding on the wheels was an adjustment, but it helped me learn proper form and I’ve been sliding them further with thunders so that might actually be a pro.

Independent:

Pros:
Great turn, great grind, basically the gold standard for skateboard trucks.

Cons:
I tried setting them up on my extra board after some time off of them, and it felt super soggy. So I set them up on a fresh deck, the pop feel still felt soggy after riding other trucks (these are the titanium lights with forged baseplates mind you, so they SHOULD feel crisp). I also didn’t like the turn as much as I remembered after riding my thunders with no bottom washer. They also have a shitty image that others above have pointed out.


I’m now a Thunder convert after some kid called me a nazi for riding old Indy’s. Kinda grateful for that in retrospect because it made me try new things and find my new go-to truck.

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

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pros: venture high 5.8

cons: every other truck

I quit chewing my fingernails as a child and quit smoking cigarettes as an adult, but I fully accept this habit.

[close]

me with 6.1s
but i still bite my nails unconsciously
and smoke after a few drinks

Me 5.2’s……

I always carry nail clippers….

Conclusion….Ventures are the best….

[GBLange]

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pros: venture high 5.8

cons: every other truck

I quit chewing my fingernails as a child and quit smoking cigarettes as an adult, but I fully accept this habit.

[close]

me with 6.1s
but i still bite my nails unconsciously
and smoke after a few drinks

[close]

Me 5.2’s……

I always carry nail clippers….

Conclusion….Ventures are the best….

6.1 🔥🤟🔥🤟

[Ourladyoftheflowers]

Wanted to stay on Indy but I cracked two hangers in six months. The second was the warranty replacement pair. After that I tried venture. Once I got used to the turn they’re perfect. I ride them flush and never have a problem turning. Only problem is I usually hit axel fairly quickly (6-8 months) but honestly it was better than the aces I got (axel in about 4 months). Haven’t tried thunders cause I don’t like being that close to the ground

[LebowskisRug]

The extra MM closer is something you can surely perceive

[munchbox]

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pros: venture high 5.8

cons: every other truck

I quit chewing my fingernails as a child and quit smoking cigarettes as an adult, but I fully accept this habit.

[close]

me with 6.1s
but i still bite my nails unconsciously
and smoke after a few drinks

[close]

Me 5.2’s……

I always carry nail clippers….

Conclusion….Ventures are the best….

[close]

6.1 🔥🤟🔥🤟

[rikki]

Wanted to stay on Indy but I cracked two hangers in six months. The second was the warranty replacement pair. After that I tried venture. Once I got used to the turn they’re perfect. I ride them flush and never have a problem turning. Only problem is I usually hit axel fairly quickly (6-8 months) but honestly it was better than the aces I got (axel in about 4 months). Haven’t tried thunders cause I don’t like being that close to the ground

Been thinking of trying Ventures next after being on Indys for a long time with a short stint with Aces in between. You ride the Hi's? 53,5mm sounds perfect to me as I only ride forged Indys. What should I except (apart from a different turn and shorter-lived axle)? Interested in hearing about e.g. pop and stability as I've been skating more and more flat and curbs lately. And will my transition game suffer? I don't ride my Indys very loose, mind you – I like to go fast and push hard and to avoid wheelbite my Indys need to be cranked.

[Pastasash]

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Wanted to stay on Indy but I cracked two hangers in six months. The second was the warranty replacement pair. After that I tried venture. Once I got used to the turn they’re perfect. I ride them flush and never have a problem turning. Only problem is I usually hit axel fairly quickly (6-8 months) but honestly it was better than the aces I got (axel in about 4 months). Haven’t tried thunders cause I don’t like being that close to the ground

[close]

Been thinking of trying Ventures next after being on Indys for a long time with a short stint with Aces in between. You ride the Hi's? 53,5mm sounds perfect to me as I only ride forged Indys. What should I except (apart from a different turn and shorter-lived axle)? Interested in hearing about e.g. pop and stability as I've been skating more and more flat and curbs lately. And will my transition game suffer? I don't ride my Indys very loose, mind you – I like to go fast and push hard and to avoid wheelbite my Indys need to be cranked.

As someone who made the jump to Venture after being on Indys for like 10+ years, I would say transition will be the toughest thing to get adjusted to.

They're great for flatground, ledges, and are really stable as most have mentioned but the turn is for sure more delayed than Indy (but get used to p quick) and imo don't grind as well on coping compared to Indy. I ride 5.6 V-lights for the record.

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

What you will like is the ability to loosen them up….

[Frank and Fred]

Indy Stage 4 reissues

Pros:

-Rad nod to the past. Indy reclaiming some rightful history.
-Amazing turn
-Look cool as shit on a re-issue set up.
-Good stock bushings
-Good grind
-Six hole BP
-Weird sizes
-High wheel clearance

Cons

-Very heavy
-Limited KP clearance
-Weird sizes (Not everyone's cuppa tea)
-Unstable on center (could be due to height)
-More of a nostalgic truck. If you want some of the pros without some of these cons, Ace might be a better option.

[rikki]

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Wanted to stay on Indy but I cracked two hangers in six months. The second was the warranty replacement pair. After that I tried venture. Once I got used to the turn they’re perfect. I ride them flush and never have a problem turning. Only problem is I usually hit axel fairly quickly (6-8 months) but honestly it was better than the aces I got (axel in about 4 months). Haven’t tried thunders cause I don’t like being that close to the ground

[close]

Been thinking of trying Ventures next after being on Indys for a long time with a short stint with Aces in between. You ride the Hi's? 53,5mm sounds perfect to me as I only ride forged Indys. What should I except (apart from a different turn and shorter-lived axle)? Interested in hearing about e.g. pop and stability as I've been skating more and more flat and curbs lately. And will my transition game suffer? I don't ride my Indys very loose, mind you – I like to go fast and push hard and to avoid wheelbite my Indys need to be cranked.

[close]

As someone who made the jump to Venture after being on Indys for like 10+ years, I would say transition will be the toughest thing to get adjusted to.

They're great for flatground, ledges, and are really stable as most have mentioned but the turn is for sure more delayed than Indy (but get used to p quick) and imo don't grind as well on coping compared to Indy. I ride 5.6 V-lights for the record.

Thanks for the input. Actually 5.6 V-lights is exactly the truck I'm looking at. I just might give them a shot. I kinda feel that the turn could be something that I could adjust to. The added wheelbase also raises thoughts, but yeah, why not.

[Pastasash]

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Wanted to stay on Indy but I cracked two hangers in six months. The second was the warranty replacement pair. After that I tried venture. Once I got used to the turn they’re perfect. I ride them flush and never have a problem turning. Only problem is I usually hit axel fairly quickly (6-8 months) but honestly it was better than the aces I got (axel in about 4 months). Haven’t tried thunders cause I don’t like being that close to the ground

[close]

Been thinking of trying Ventures next after being on Indys for a long time with a short stint with Aces in between. You ride the Hi's? 53,5mm sounds perfect to me as I only ride forged Indys. What should I except (apart from a different turn and shorter-lived axle)? Interested in hearing about e.g. pop and stability as I've been skating more and more flat and curbs lately. And will my transition game suffer? I don't ride my Indys very loose, mind you – I like to go fast and push hard and to avoid wheelbite my Indys need to be cranked.

[close]

As someone who made the jump to Venture after being on Indys for like 10+ years, I would say transition will be the toughest thing to get adjusted to.

They're great for flatground, ledges, and are really stable as most have mentioned but the turn is for sure more delayed than Indy (but get used to p quick) and imo don't grind as well on coping compared to Indy. I ride 5.6 V-lights for the record.

[close]

Thanks for the input. Actually 5.6 V-lights is exactly the truck I'm looking at. I just might give them a shot. I kinda feel that the turn could be something that I could adjust to. The added wheelbase also raises thoughts, but yeah, why not.

NP! Yeah I started getting shapes with short WBs to make up for it like 8.25 with 14' or 14.1' its a great set up and have been on that for like 2 years now. Im sure you'll like the change to Venture!

[Fartknocker415]

Dam might have to pick up some
Venture 5.8 this weekend…. Y’all making them sound noice. And I’ve only ever skated independents and now aces so I’d like to try a more stable truck now that I have Old man ankles

[Mbrimson88]

Dam might have to pick up some
Venture 5.8 this weekend…. Y’all making them sound noice. And I’ve only ever skated independents and now aces so I’d like to try a more stable truck now that I have Old man ankles

I think any trucks can work for almost any person, depending on how long you take to adjust, but also how you like your bushings and what you have had before

Although the change is definitely going to be weird at first (from Indy or Ace - the most turny truck to Venture - the least) there are plenty of other benefits of each truck, especially Venture trucks and they do still turn a whole lot if you want them to, as well as stay nice and stable if that is more the need, good kingpin clearance, pretty much all sizes, options in cast or forged baseplate, solid or hollow axles, etc.

[Bold]

Thunder team 14??? 8.25"
Pros
Light pop feel (but that's probably more from the deck geometry)

Cons
Wheel bite a bit.
Mine chew up top bushings. They seem to pinch between the washer and hanger. Never had that problem with Indy or ace.

[LebowskisRug]

Dam might have to pick up some
Venture 5.8 this weekend…. Y’all making them sound noice. And I’ve only ever skated independents and now aces so I’d like to try a more stable truck now that I have Old man ankles

Indy makes firmer bushings that can help a lot of people. I run the blue cylinder bushings myself and know people that rock the black ones and the trucks feel more stable mostly towards the very end of the turn where they might otherwise wheelbite.

[manuduncan]

I was curious and bought the slappy 8.75 trucks, been on them for about 3 months now

Pros:
- I barely get any wheelbite, and i ride 56mm wheels so if you ride smaller wheels than that you will not have any
- Turns very good almost like an ace but stability is more like a venture, when I bend down to pop I don't squirrel out at all
- Grinds good, like its namesake I slappy the curbs and it does its job but not really any noticeably better grind than indy
- I have the standard ones, not inverted kingpin but even the standard slappy trucks have more kingpin clearance than other trucks

Cons:
- The bushings are weak, they cracked/blew out on me in just a few sessions, but I had indy bushings laying around so popped them in and no issues
- Name is kinda dumb

[moonordie]

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Dam might have to pick up some
Venture 5.8 this weekend…. Y’all making them sound noice. And I’ve only ever skated independents and now aces so I’d like to try a more stable truck now that I have Old man ankles

[close]

Indy makes firmer bushings that can help a lot of people. I run the blue cylinder bushings myself and know people that rock the black ones and the trucks feel more stable mostly towards the very end of the turn where they might otherwise wheelbite.

Which indu bushings would you recommend for somebody coming from AF1?

[dirty ivanov]

For the first 5 years of my skateboarding i basically just rode hand-me-down trucks, pair of speed demon piss yellow trucks, some random furys and a pair of royals. Can't say much about those because as a pup I really paid no mind to my trucks.
After that:

Indy stage 11 standard
PROS:
-Responsive, quick turn, fun cruisability
-Smooth grind
-all terrain, works great on street and on transition
-DURABLE+++
CONS:
-pop feels soggy, especially on a more flat board or a skated deck
-pivot cups crumbling to fucking dust
-sometimes the responsiveness/turn can fuck up your set ups/landings, especially if learning new tricks (for me, especially sw flips and sw fs flips when i was learning them)

Indy stage 11 forged hollow:
PROS:
-as mentioned above
CONS:
-as mentioned above
&
-wheelbiting like a bitch

Made the switch to Venture 5.8 a year ago
VENTURE 5.8 HI
PROS:
-high, reliable pop, even on a soggy board
-great kingpin clearance
-exquisite pinch, especially on my favourite grind bs suski
-great stability and control
-not that susceptible to wheelbites, handles impact better when coming down steps/gaps
-good baseplate slides
-aesthetically pleasing

CONS:
-in terms of turning, takes a while to break in to get a comfortable turning range
-feels VOLATILE when riding a steep board
-not as durable, dented the middle of the truck on bs 5-0's and suskis, hit the axle in ~6 months
-a bitch to mount

also had a hard time getting used to ventures after riding indys for about 10 years, ghost pop on 50% of tricks on the first couple sessions. 100% recommending venture though, felt like the right choice straight out the box, felt even more right as I started getting really used to them and breaking them in.

[LebowskisRug]

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Dam might have to pick up some
Venture 5.8 this weekend…. Y’all making them sound noice. And I’ve only ever skated independents and now aces so I’d like to try a more stable truck now that I have Old man ankles

[close]

Indy makes firmer bushings that can help a lot of people. I run the blue cylinder bushings myself and know people that rock the black ones and the trucks feel more stable mostly towards the very end of the turn where they might otherwise wheelbite.

[close]

Which indu bushings would you recommend for somebody coming from AF1?

Independent Blue 92a or maybe the Black 94 (I think that's what they are), Supercush 94a maybe, or you could just get the same Ace bushing you used (hard if you had hard, stock if you had stock). If you ask in the Indy thread people will know what size to get as I don't know what exactly matches Indy height.

Also don't be afraid to tighten them a bit. I've seen some Indy pros with 3 threads showing on the stock bushings. It will make them tighter but they'll still turn well unlike say a tight Thunder or Venture which will get really rigid.

[moonordie]

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Dam might have to pick up some
Venture 5.8 this weekend…. Y’all making them sound noice. And I’ve only ever skated independents and now aces so I’d like to try a more stable truck now that I have Old man ankles

[close]

Indy makes firmer bushings that can help a lot of people. I run the blue cylinder bushings myself and know people that rock the black ones and the trucks feel more stable mostly towards the very end of the turn where they might otherwise wheelbite.

[close]

Which indu bushings would you recommend for somebody coming from AF1?

[close]

Independent Blue 92a or maybe the Black 94 (I think that's what they are), Supercush 94a maybe, or you could just get the same Ace bushing you used (hard if you had hard, stock if you had stock). If you ask in the Indy thread people will know what size to get as I don't know what exactly matches Indy height.

Also don't be afraid to tighten them a bit. I've seen some Indy pros with 3 threads showing on the stock bushings. It will make them tighter but they'll still turn well unlike say a tight Thunder or Venture which will get really rigid.

Got the orange ones, let's see how they work.  Thanks for the reply