Does Wheelbase Actually Matter?

[Sandwich Marty]

Hi all, I’ve given it a lot of thought. It’s not the wheelbase alone. The wb indirectly influences the length and steepness of the kicks for a deck with the same length. Shorter wb can have longer kicks. To compensate for the longer kicks you would need to increase the kick angles if you want to have the same pop angle with a given setup. But even then they will not pop and feel the same. Thats probably one reason why people think wb makes a big difference. It’s not just the wb, it’s the dependency of the wb to other properties as well.

I was gifted a stack of the 14.5 wb boards below while riding the 14.25 model and the difference is very noticeable. The kicks are nearly identical. The .25 extra length doesn’t even register when I’m standing on it. Luckily I got a buddy with one of those WB adjuster tools because I absolutely hate the 14.5

[Ok]

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Hi all, I’ve given it a lot of thought. It’s not the wheelbase alone. The wb indirectly influences the length and steepness of the kicks for a deck with the same length. Shorter wb can have longer kicks. To compensate for the longer kicks you would need to increase the kick angles if you want to have the same pop angle with a given setup. But even then they will not pop and feel the same. Thats probably one reason why people think wb makes a big difference. It’s not just the wb, it’s the dependency of the wb to other properties as well.

[close]

I was gifted a stack of the 14.5 wb boards below while riding the 14.25 model and the difference is very noticeable. The kicks are nearly identical. The .25 extra length doesn’t even register when I’m standing on it. Luckily I got a buddy with one of those WB adjuster tools because I absolutely hate the 14.5

i was a 14” wb poster.
than i became a ‘wb doesn’t matter’ truther.


i haven’t been skating much, im old fat and tired. always tired. and always more fat.
i went on a trip and bought a deck just to skate some flatground with a friend of a friend. i bought the board because i liked the brand and it is supposedly the one  bobby dk rides.
it wasn’t like i was good, but i landed way more than i had any right to expect. 14” wb. well well well.
what i really wish is that there was a narrower version of the G053.

so im back to not knowing

[Mbrimson88]

Expand Quote

Hi all, I’ve given it a lot of thought. It’s not the wheelbase alone. The wb indirectly influences the length and steepness of the kicks for a deck with the same length. Shorter wb can have longer kicks. To compensate for the longer kicks you would need to increase the kick angles if you want to have the same pop angle with a given setup. But even then they will not pop and feel the same. Thats probably one reason why people think wb makes a big difference. It’s not just the wb, it’s the dependency of the wb to other properties as well.

[close]

I was gifted a stack of the 14.5 wb boards below while riding the 14.25 model and the difference is very noticeable. The kicks are nearly identical. The .25 extra length doesn’t even register when I’m standing on it. Luckily I got a buddy with one of those WB adjuster tools because I absolutely hate the 14.5

I am curious with those two boards - are the molds the same, or is the shorter one made on a shorter mold?

When I first saw they were doing shorter wb and board length, I kept wanting to ask someone about it, or better still get at least one of each, but I have no access to any stock here in AU, or at least not easy access.

There are a good number of brands that do have boards through BBS that I ride, most of which have very specific molds, smaller / shorter molds for shorter boards, longer molds for bigger or longer wb boards.

Even with all this, there are some boards that are made that I have skated - more specific shapes - that just don't work as well as some of the regular shapes, mainly because the wheelbase is either too long, or in some cases, actually a little too short.

To get around this, I have tried a good number of options with regard to changing the wheelbases of the various boards including wheelbase mod tools / drilling out the decks, but I think the most simple solution I have now is that I have double drilled or even changed the hole position slightly on the baseplates of some of my trucks to be able to move them in on the tail, or for some other boards, bringing in both ends just a bit, or enough that everything feels normal to me.

Anyway, back to those boards, how different are they, if at all, in the molds, or is it just where the boards are drilled?



* @ok Funny you should say the 14" wheelbase works, but I have been experimenting with shorter wheelbases and they definitely work way better than I had first thought for smaller stuff / street skating.

[Sedition]

Funny you should say the 14" wheelbase works, but I have been experimenting with shorter wheelbases and they definitely work way better than I had first thought for smaller stuff / street skating.

@Mbrimson88 say more...what you been riding? What were first thoughts, and now current ones? What worked better for you, etc.

[Ok]

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Funny you should say the 14" wheelbase works, but I have been experimenting with shorter wheelbases and they definitely work way better than I had first thought for smaller stuff / street skating.

[close]

@Mbrimson88 say more...what you been riding? What were first thoughts, and now current ones? What worked better for you, etc.

also interested in hearing brimmer’s take.

because my ‘skating’ now looks like: nollie flip, nollie heel, switch flip, kickflip, tre flip, attempts…an 8.25 14 wb, less than 32, with thunder 148s and 53 ish wheels, ‘works’.
i don’t skate transition. there is kinda only big big ones near me.
i always trip out thinking about how some of the really early 2000 burnside bros, and julian/cardiel, were skating sub 8, 14 wb, with indy’s, and then ace. definitely turn faster/tighter.
start going fast tho and it has to feel fucked. i skate slow as shit and going even slightly fast is scary.

[Mbrimson88]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Funny you should say the 14" wheelbase works, but I have been experimenting with shorter wheelbases and they definitely work way better than I had first thought for smaller stuff / street skating.

[close]

@Mbrimson88 say more...what you been riding? What were first thoughts, and now current ones? What worked better for you, etc.

[close]

also interested in hearing brimmer’s take.

because my ‘skating’ now looks like: nollie flip, nollie heel, switch flip, kickflip, tre flip, attempts…an 8.25 14 wb, less than 32, with thunder 148s and 53 ish wheels, ‘works’.
i don’t skate transition. there is kinda only big big ones near me.
i always trip out thinking about how some of the really early 2000 burnside bros, and julian/cardiel, were skating sub 8, 14 wb, with indy’s, and then ace. definitely turn faster/tighter.
start going fast tho and it has to feel fucked. i skate slow as shit and going even slightly fast is scary.

Well, I don't think it is quite as groundbreaking or amazing as it might seem, but just going through the back catalog with sale boards from mostly (but not limited to) DLX brands, in particular the shorter and smaller boards, like the 8.25 with the 14 wb and the 8.28 shapes, usually set up on trade in Thunder and Venture 8.25 size trucks, as a couple of guys go through them quite quickly, also with smaller worn down wheels I have been rounding off to make them little fat Classic shapes.

Then I also have the 8.38 regular board I have drilled in both ends so the 14.5 wb is now about 14.1 or so, on a steeper version that just didn't skate so well for me when I had it set up before, this one on 149 Thunders so I get the easier feel with a better turn without having to drive over the deck - surprisingly, it works great, eg steeper kicks with shorter wheelbases are definitely something that I hadn't really thought would be a good thing for me, but I am not having issues with it.

I have also put DIY double drilled trucks - Indy and Venture - on a few boards that felt too long or too steep which has helped too, but I need to bring in both trucks about the same for them to work well, more so than just bringing in the tail.  The ideal measurement is about 5 mm for Ventures, but only about 2 to 3 mm for Indy, which I have ways of doing, but the distances now mean I have a slightly longer tail, slightly shorter wheelbase, still pops nicely, tail not too long as per a full V8 distance in and works for small stuff pretty well.

Maybe this was all brought on by the two fold happenings of DLX China boards having a shorter mold so they really only work well on the smaller boards or with shorter wheelbases, but I have also been experimenting with various things due to having access to a lot of cheap decks or free used parts too, which I might not have been doing otherwise.

My usual boards are still very comfortable, but it is fun trying out all this other stuff, just to see what works and what doesn't work, as well as letting people try these boards and give their version of what is good or not so good too.


One of the main really interesting things is creating an oval or elongated set of holes in baseplates, then using grip tape under them, or a bike tube as a pad to stop them moving when tightened down, so I can adjust them anywhere from usual stock to 1, 2, 3 or 4 mm further in.  At first I thought the trucks would definitely move, but so far they have stayed nicely stuck down with the ways I have done things, which means I can make a wheelbase come in to whatever I want from 14.5 through 14.25 to 14.0 if needed, without having to redrill the deck or change anything else on it.

People give me funny looks when I explain it to them, but I don't ever mean this to be a mainstream thing, just more my fun experiment and see what really makes things work the best for me on Indy, Thunder, or Venture trucks I have to play with.