Sup guys it's your favorite skateboarding conservative here. Been considering royals for years, been glorifying them since childhood because of Jerry. Always too low for my taste however over the past couple years I've adjusted to thunders. With that said I've been reading this thread for a couple days and I found a pair of 149s at a vans mall store, serendipitously so.
Been skating them all day, and I must say it's been a great joy. Same height as thunders. Similar wheelbase, albeit slightly shorter resulting in a nice pop feel. Upon turning, very responsive Ala thunder, yet with more pocket. A very happy medium between thunder and ace. On some 56s necked down to 53s I dealt with very little wheel bite. The bushings are very soft, resulting in a creamy turn. That's right. Creamy. Truck still retains an element of responsiveness and springyness upon pop out in spite of this ( perhaps due to geometry ). Baseplate sticks outwards Ala venture, yet the nuts to hanger relationship is comparable to indy. Wheels are a couple cm away from ledge contact during slides ( if locked against baseplate on a smooth ledge ). Very light. Grind is somewhat comparable to venture, I do believe the metal is somewhat "tin-y" however they grind very well and considering the shape of the hangar is quite similar to thunder I'd place my comparison there. I believe that's everything I felt like sharing about my purely anecdotal experience in this subjective reality we all suffer in.
Oh yeah I cracked two noses today on the Royals, strange coincidence perhaps.
I tried to attach a photo of my 2 setups. 8.3 football ( 14 wb ) w/ Royal 149s, spitfire 51mm and 8.75 polar ( 14.3 wb ) w/ thunder 151 risered, 56mm radial fulls.