Gear madness support thread

[Mbrimson88]

The worst bit was he just started skateboarding after longboarding, still learning to ollie, the madness is 1000% unjustified.

Ha yeah and wow!!!

But for real, this is the sort of thing that having a few "demo boards" really helped with - something they could stand on and roll around, more than just look at and wonder which one might work better for them.  I know it is different for you and carrying round multiple setups without a car would just be a nightmare, but I also wouldn't be too keen having others session my own personal boards a whole lot, especially seeing as the first thing most people do is change the truck tightness,  so I am just taking the board out of their hand and putting a different one out for them to ride now, or I very specifically say "Don't touch the trucks!" before they even get a hand on it.

I also love the helpful friend routine, which I have seen in action a few too many times - one is saying "go wider" and the other is saying "nah, go smaller" so the guy is already losing his mind and helping you to lose yours as well...

[rocklobster]

Expand Quote

The worst bit was he just started skateboarding after longboarding, still learning to ollie, the madness is 1000% unjustified.

[close]

Ha yeah and wow!!!

But for real, this is the sort of thing that having a few "demo boards" really helped with - something they could stand on and roll around, more than just look at and wonder which one might work better for them.  I know it is different for you and carrying round multiple setups without a car would just be a nightmare, but I also wouldn't be too keen having others session my own personal boards a whole lot, especially seeing as the first thing most people do is change the truck tightness,  so I am just taking the board out of their hand and putting a different one out for them to ride now, or I very specifically say "Don't touch the trucks!" before they even get a hand on it.

I also love the helpful friend routine, which I have seen in action a few too many times - one is saying "go wider" and the other is saying "nah, go smaller" so the guy is already losing his mind and helping you to lose yours as well...

I usually very patient with people and especially newer skaters, but this had me close to my limit. I told him after the swap no more swaps afterwards, and it worked because he went about gripping the deck.

The demo boards may not have worked in his case, he may have started removing the trucks to mix up the deck / truck width, even add in slim / classics / conical / conical full wheels.

I wonder how experienced his friends are to recommend him sizing up so drastically, 8.38 & 8.5 had a brief uptick in popularity in 2021-2022, but that's settled and 8.25 is the most popular based on straw polling.

[LebowskisRug]

I mean it depends on what decks his friends ride. My buddy really liked the DLX 8.5 and some of the shorter Hockey/FA decks so when I started back after a hiatus he recommended those shapes, which are fairly short. Naturally I got a Polar with a 14.5 and it fucking sucked and went back to the shop shortly after and got something shorter. Was really happy that the shop employee explained a bit of madness statistics about length and WB to me.

At the same time none of this mattered for where I was at and I certainly didn't care about truck width like this dude. I rode the 149s from the Polar on an 8.1 Krooked I think and couldn't tell. I then got 139s to match that and rode those on an 8.5 later.

[rocklobster]

I mean it depends on what decks his friends ride. My buddy really liked the DLX 8.5 and some of the shorter Hockey/FA decks so when I started back after a hiatus he recommended those shapes, which are fairly short. Naturally I got a Polar with a 14.5 and it fucking sucked and went back to the shop shortly after and got something shorter. Was really happy that the shop employee explained a bit of madness statistics about length and WB to me.

At the same time none of this mattered for where I was at and I certainly didn't care about truck width like this dude. I rode the 149s from the Polar on an 8.1 Krooked I think and couldn't tell. I then got 139s to match that and rode those on an 8.5 later.

One of the local rippers at my park rode Indy 159s with a 7.625 during the COVID shortages, thus proving that skills trumps gear madness

[LebowskisRug]

One of my buddies chose to ride 169s on an 8.5 and now does 148s on 8.75 this further proving your point. And I'm like, going back and forth between decks that are essentially only a few degrees different while gaslighting myself that I don't skate any better on thunders.

[Boog]

Lol reading this thread makes me feel a little better about myself and my choices.

[munchbox]

i probably shouldnt bother riding anything below 9.0 ever again
gained 15 lbs and gotta admit im not average sized at all
nor am i interested in replacing boards every session

my madness isnt that bad but less options = more skating

[Xen]

PSA

Whatever is sitting in your cart(s), whatever you think you need, you can wait till the memorial day sales!

I believe in you!

[IpathCats]

steepness of kicks has become my new madness focus point.

its hard enough to find board with the wheelbase i want.

Now im going to be worried about a dimension/measurement that isnt listed anywhere or that easy to measure myself.

oof.

I'm loving the 8.38 14.81wb palace, but man these kicks are steep.

Had to go down from my preferred 55mm truck height to compensate.

might even go for some smaller wheels.

[sharkin]

I’m in a bit of shoe madness right now. I know this one can get dangerous.

Steered away from my tried and true blazer mids and liked the ave pro but lately that’s been off so I went to try a bruin low which is kind of like the blazer low with less support. I started chilling a pair of 440s but they’re still too tight and stiff to comfortably skate. Crockett highs up next

[camel filters]

Anyone else live with their significant other and as the pile of gear accumulates, they just stop acknowledging it? Like they slowly realize how nuts you are and just found it in themselves to accept it? It's like she makes extra eye contact with me when were around my gear just so she doesn't have to look at the madness.

[IpathCats]

I’m in a bit of shoe madness right now. I know this one can get dangerous.

Steered away from my tried and true blazer mids and liked the ave pro but lately that’s been off so I went to try a bruin low which is kind of like the blazer low with less support. I started chilling a pair of 440s but they’re still too tight and stiff to comfortably skate. Crockett highs up next

man, if you love the blazers/bruins just stick with those.

They're always going to be made/available.

Personally i hated the crocketts, but i know thats an unpopular opinion.

[LebowskisRug]

I hated them too after skating them a month. They had a honeymoon phase for me then got weirdly floppy feeling in the upper, I'd get hotspots, and the sole would delam or wear all the way through where the upper meets it.

But to me a Blazer feels bricky compared to a 440 after break in. Thicker sole.

[Ok]

Anyone else live with their significant other and as the pile of gear accumulates, they just stop acknowledging it? Like they slowly realize how nuts you are and just found it in themselves to accept it? It's like she makes extra eye contact with me when were around my gear just so she doesn't have to look at the madness.

Nah.
My current I don’t live* with, and we are so busy, I just kind of have too many boards, with me in the vehicle.

Previous, lived and moved together several times, would call me out. A lot. Also would roast me directly for slap/online time: ‘why don’t you just go skate…?’
Occasionally she would note that it looked uncomfortable when I was taking apart things and putting them back together in different combinations. Pretty funny.

All to say, you’ve got a winner on your hands

[goodatmeth]

Anyone else live with their significant other and as the pile of gear accumulates, they just stop acknowledging it? Like they slowly realize how nuts you are and just found it in themselves to accept it? It's like she makes extra eye contact with me when were around my gear just so she doesn't have to look at the madness.

I just infected her with the madness and now she's got 3 setups as well

[Ok]

steepness of kicks has become my new madness focus point.

its hard enough to find board with the wheelbase i want.

Now im going to be worried about a dimension/measurement that isnt listed anywhere or that easy to measure myself.

oof.

I'm loving the 8.38 14.81wb palace, but man these kicks are steep.

Had to go down from my preferred 55mm truck height to compensate.

might even go for some smaller wheels.

That board seems really interesting. I for sure wanted one, just as an experiment.
I’m more locked in now, but still try different things, just for variety. I think I’ve kinda fried myself, to the point where it’s hard to just go skate with one board. A gross state of affairs.
Not to add to your situation, but that palace is less than 32” long, ya? All to say, shorter nose/tail. I’ve gone on about the griffin Gass shape being a banger, cuz it is, and I think a big reason I’m so into it is the tail is the same length as the crail 7.75. Shit feels familiar. I do not prefer the big long tails, and tbh prefer shorter noses as well. Shorter than average. 6.5 is plenty for a tail imo, and a nose over 6.75…not needed. I don’t measure noses and tails, but I do notice that decks I like more are shorter in both respects.
I like flat boards. If the crail boards had less pitch to the kicks that’d be good, but it works out fine for me, as I don’t skate wheels bigger than 54, and usually 52, also preferring lo trucks.
I know some smart fools that are into pitch angle, and it works for them. I’m trying to go the other way, where I just pic one dimension and it works. The closest two dimensions for this, for me, are length or width. If a board is 31.3 ish, it’ll be good. Haven’t had a bad one, truefit is trying my patience a bit.

Godspeed

[Richard Skidder]

Expand Quote

Anyone else live with their significant other and as the pile of gear accumulates, they just stop acknowledging it? Like they slowly realize how nuts you are and just found it in themselves to accept it? It's like she makes extra eye contact with me when were around my gear just so she doesn't have to look at the madness.

[close]

I just infected her with the madness and now she's got 3 setups as well

Definitely not the worst kind of infection.

[IpathCats]

Expand Quote

steepness of kicks has become my new madness focus point.

its hard enough to find board with the wheelbase i want.

Now im going to be worried about a dimension/measurement that isnt listed anywhere or that easy to measure myself.

oof.

I'm loving the 8.38 14.81wb palace, but man these kicks are steep.

Had to go down from my preferred 55mm truck height to compensate.

might even go for some smaller wheels.

[close]

That board seems really interesting. I for sure wanted one, just as an experiment.
I’m more locked in now, but still try different things, just for variety. I think I’ve kinda fried myself, to the point where it’s hard to just go skate with one board. A gross state of affairs.
Not to add to your situation, but that palace is less than 32” long, ya? All to say, shorter nose/tail. I’ve gone on about the griffin Gass shape being a banger, cuz it is, and I think a big reason I’m so into it is the tail is the same length as the crail 7.75. Shit feels familiar. I do not prefer the big long tails, and tbh prefer shorter noses as well. Shorter than average. 6.5 is plenty for a tail imo, and a nose over 6.75…not needed. I don’t measure noses and tails, but I do notice that decks I like more are shorter in both respects.
I like flat boards. If the crail boards had less pitch to the kicks that’d be good, but it works out fine for me, as I don’t skate wheels bigger than 54, and usually 52, also preferring lo trucks.
I know some smart fools that are into pitch angle, and it works for them. I’m trying to go the other way, where I just pic one dimension and it works. The closest two dimensions for this, for me, are length or width. If a board is 31.3 ish, it’ll be good. Haven’t had a bad one, truefit is trying my patience a bit.

Godspeed

I think the length was listed under 32. But it's basically the EXACT length of a dlx 8.38 14.5 WB. 32.25 I think?

[Jim and Dan]

Anyone else live with their significant other and as the pile of gear accumulates, they just stop acknowledging it? Like they slowly realize how nuts you are and just found it in themselves to accept it? It's like she makes extra eye contact with me when were around my gear just so she doesn't have to look at the madness.

Yes, yes I do... First it was the shoes, then it was the shirts, now it's the pants. My gear madness is getting out of control at this point, I've already changed shoes 5 times today and probably will do more. I'm literally just sitting at a computer most of the day and occasionally getting up to tour the factory, I've really lost my mind at this point.

[mvdbosch90]

Dudes, I think it’s finally here, my moment of cure.

I’ve been thinking about going back to a single setup for a while now. Today I had a great session on my go-to setup, and I truly feel like I’m done with the madness.

I’ve disassembled all my unnecessary gear and laid it out, ready to take some pictures and put advertisements on my country’s local eBay equivalent.
As I was taking stuff apart, every slight thought of ‘maybe I could keep one additional setup for [pumptrack/curbs/slappies/whatever]’ was immediately overthrown by a strong ‘I can do that with my current setup’.

Tomorrow I’ll be putting up

- 3 decks, only skated a few times
- 6 pairs of trucks, some skated a few months, some only a few days, all still very usable
- 3 pairs of wheels, some cruisers and some street wheels, all not worn a mm of their original size

It actually feels like quite a relief having made this decision

I may put them up here as well; it’s supposed to go in the ‘classifieds’ board right?

[Ok]

Yeah, but if you don’t tell us what your setup is…then no

[rocklobster]

Dudes, I think it’s finally here, my moment of cure.

Lol

[rawbertson.]

I am so torn between ACE AF1 44 and Thunder 148 Team Standard. I have Ace AF1s 60s on my big boi and I really like them but for this board maybe thunder would make more sense. also then i could complete the trifecta of Thunder / Ace / Venture to complete my set...

Seems like Classic 51mm is the wheel i need / can get easily locally... was thinking about a lot of other stuff but that was too mad of a rabbit hole to jump down and F4 99a seems to just work for this anyway but also like a fuck ton of other things...

At first I was thinking I want the very slickest soapiest thing possible cause i just skate this setup at a curb mostly but now I am starting to think why dont i just wax the curb more and get Thunders and have more control over the noseslides?
 
My existing setup: Indy Titanium with Bones STF worn to 47mm. conical full shape i think? pretty wide riding surface, i think they started @ like 56mm. I find this setup is actually too slippery for some spots.

[Xen]

^^ Been riding royals and 99a spits and my board sounds dead; was contemplating swapping to forged ti thunders and bones stf (fuck those knees) to get that tinny/hard feeling....

Then, the madness happened and I was having a dream about swapping in my ACE 44 lows....contemplating following the dream.

Help.

[goodatmeth]

On the topic of the tinny/hard feeling, today I've found out how much shoes can influence this.
I've been riding old reynolds G6 shoes for a while now, the sole is super thick over the whole shoe, no board feel whatsoever.
The shoes apparently made every setup feel like I'm on 97a or even softer wheels. I've been riding F4 99a, stf 99a and 97a, and there wasn't a big difference, just in terms of vibrations of course. Had to go all the way to dragons to notice the extra smoothness really.

Then I switched to thin vulcs in the middle of the session and my 99a wheels suddenly felt like 103a, it felt terrible. Then stepped on my girlfriends board with 97a's and there was a huge difference I couldn't feel before because of the shoes absorbing all vibrations.

It's nice to feel my board again, though.


Also on the topic of madness, I'm back in the wheel madness now due to pollen making the ramps 10 times more slippery.
I thought I've found the solution with wide F4 99a wheels and sold my bones 97s, but pollen ruined it. Now I might have to buy another set of x formula or even dragons. Not sure.
Do wheel shapes actually make a big difference in terms of locking in on coping?
Would probably get bones 97s in either V1 or V5. Dragons might be smarter but I just don't want to be the guy riding dragons in the miniramp, I feel too young for that

[Sedition]

Do wheel shapes actually make a big difference in terms of locking in on coping?

Holy hell, dude. Not to open another gate to hell for you, but they absolutely do. Think about something like a Spitfire Classic. Rounded-off sides. Think of that against, well, round coping. It will "slip" out with ease. Now think about about a more squared-off wheel. Those will "lock" a bit more. That said, it really depends on what your preference is. A few places I notice big differences between the two:

Pivot to fakies / No-handed nose pic to fwd: For these, I like a Classic type wheel better, because they seem to "disengage" with the coping much easier. Some times with a more squared-off wheel, my board seems to have a slight hesitation before breaking with the coping, and I don't like the feel of it (kind of unsettling on those kind of tricks). Can also notice a difference with something like Pivot-to-Tails. With Classics they almost feel like just doing a kickturn. With squared-off, you have to use a little force get from truck to tail.

Feeble to fakies / Smiths / Crooks / Etc: I like Classics better with these, too. The slanted edge of the wheel feels like it makes more contact against coping (but can also slip out a bit more). Feeble to fakie on squared-off wheels feel like I am going up on the tip/pin-point outer edge of wheel when I bring them back in--and it's a little weird.

5-0s / 50-50s / etc.: Def like squared-off more for these. They absolutely lock-in better, esp. when first going into a 5-0 grind.

[Xen]

On the topic of the tinny/hard feeling, today I've found out how much shoes can influence this.
I've been riding old reynolds G6 shoes for a while now, the sole is super thick over the whole shoe, no board feel whatsoever.
The shoes apparently made every setup feel like I'm on 97a or even softer wheels. I've been riding F4 99a, stf 99a and 97a, and there wasn't a big difference, just in terms of vibrations of course. Had to go all the way to dragons to notice the extra smoothness really.

Then I switched to thin vulcs in the middle of the session and my 99a wheels suddenly felt like 103a, it felt terrible. Then stepped on my girlfriends board with 97a's and there was a huge difference I couldn't feel before because of the shoes absorbing all vibrations.

It's nice to feel my board again, though.


Also on the topic of madness, I'm back in the wheel madness now due to pollen making the ramps 10 times more slippery.
I thought I've found the solution with wide F4 99a wheels and sold my bones 97s, but pollen ruined it. Now I might have to buy another set of x formula or even dragons. Not sure.
Do wheel shapes actually make a big difference in terms of locking in on coping?
Would probably get bones 97s in either V1 or V5. Dragons might be smarter but I just don't want to be the guy riding dragons in the miniramp, I feel too young for that

Shoes do dampen board sound feel for sure, in this case just dropping the board (standing on a kick and letting it drop), it just sounds dead...I was riding the truck/wheel combo before my current zero deck and it wasn't this bad....the BBS zero board just might be soggy from the start.

Wheels 100% help or hinder locking in.

V5 / classics are great for rolling on and off coping, since we're talking mini here, I'd opt for the V5 x97s; I prefer sidecut/conical for coping and classics/V1 for all terrain stuff.

[Frank and Fred]

Expand Quote

Do wheel shapes actually make a big difference in terms of locking in on coping?

[close]

Holy hell, dude. Not to open another gate to hell for you, but they absolutely do. Think about something like a Spitfire Classic. Rounded-off sides. Think of that against, well, round coping. It will "slip" out with ease. Now think about about a more squared-off wheel. Those will "lock" a bit more. That said, it really depends on what your preference is. A few places I notice big differences between the two:

Pivot to fakies / No-handed nose pic to fwd: For these, I like a Classic type wheel better, because they seem to "disengage" with the coping much easier. Some times with a more squared-off wheel, my board seems to have a slight hesitation before breaking with the coping, and I don't like the feel of it (kind of unsettling on those kind of tricks). Can also notice a difference with something like Pivot-to-Tails. With Classics they almost feel like just doing a kickturn. With squared-off, you have to use a little force get from truck to tail.

Feeble to fakies / Smiths / Crooks / Etc: I like Classics better with these, too. The slanted edge of the wheel feels like it makes more contact against coping (but can also slip out a bit more). Feeble to fakie on squared-off wheels feel like I am going up on the tip/pin-point outer edge of wheel when I bring them back in--and it's a little weird.

5-0s / 50-50s / etc.: Def like squared-off more for these. They absolutely lock-in better, esp. when first going into a 5-0 grind.

They make a difference but I find it takes very little to adjust to these differences. I wouldn't over-think wheel shape. Contact patch width has more of an impact for me.

[Sedition]

I wouldn't over-think wheel shape.

You do realize this is the madness thread, right? This where people come to over-think everything.

                                                                                                             

[TheCrimsonShroud]

I’ve blown up both of my setups numerous times in the past few days. Finally settled on my cruiser setup at least. Now I have to wait on my f4s and loopholes to arrive so I can concentrate on my trick deck. I’ve tried mini logo 90a, slime balls 97a, shop wheels, and bones 100s on it and I hate them all.