Gear madness support thread

[Xen]

Stuck in truck madness limbo again.
Rotating:
Indy 149
Thunder 149
Venture 5.6
All standard.

My pop sucks on the Indy but the turning feels great.
The Thunder turn is mad finicky on this set for some reason but pop is fine. No trouble with nose and tail slides.
Venture pop is amazing as always. The Venture turn is great at the start of the turn but limited towards the end.

Riding the 8.5 Eagle. Measures 8.4 at the front truck, just under 8.3 at the rear.

Most common trucks on a very common deck so lots of common responses are to be expected here. The problem is I’m so in my own head at this point I can’t find a way to settle.
Any advice appreciated. I just want to put this thing together, stop overthinking, and enjoy skateboarding.

M
5’10”
US size 11
No banana for scale

Royal 149s standards (which measure just a hair under 8.5 total width btw) or ultralights (hollows) with ACE hard bushings - they come close to offering all the things that each of those trucks offer in one package...just not as deep a turn as indy (it's faster tho, turn way better than venture), not as stable as venture but close, waaaay less wheelbite than thunder and pinch / grind great. Pop is akin to venture/thunder. Standards are as light as an Indy ti; ultralights are around Thunder team hollow weight if not the same. Pulls the wheelbase in like an ACE/Indy.

It is THE truck if you have madness across those brands. YMMY.

[Sedition]

it's not like I really care about looking cool for other people with my truck choice or anything. Indy is just kind of corny and I want to be hyped on my setup

Be hyped for how it functions, not because it's not cool enough for you. Big Head logo is corny as fuck. It's like a half-step better than Flameboy. But Spits are the best wheels out there, so...

[tzhangdox]

Expand Quote

it's not like I really care about looking cool for other people with my truck choice or anything. Indy is just kind of corny and I want to be hyped on my setup

[close]

Be hyped for how it functions, not because it's not cool enough for you. Big Head logo is corny as fuck. It's like a half-step better than Flameboy. But Spits are the best wheels out there, so...

Nah spits are sick and indys aren’t. Despite them being a good truck

[munchbox]

nothing out of nhs is remotely cool
and i mean nothing

Cool-Guys are one of the worst things in skateboarding.

i get the desire to defend ones favorite truck
but this is your worst take, probably ever
that and the following response read like Xen posts
crazy plot twist

[Sedition]

nothing out of nhs is remotely cool
and i mean nothing

Expand Quote

Cool-Guys are one of the worst things in skateboarding.

[close]

i get the desire to defend ones favorite truck
but this is your worst take, probably ever
that and the following response read like Xen posts
crazy plot twist

Please cite, specifically, any defense of Indy (hint: there was none). Don’t conflate defense and critique; they are dissimilar.

[munchbox]

Expand Quote

nothing out of nhs is remotely cool
and i mean nothing

Expand Quote

Cool-Guys are one of the worst things in skateboarding.

[close]

i get the desire to defend ones favorite truck
but this is your worst take, probably ever
that and the following response read like Xen posts
crazy plot twist

[close]

Please cite, specifically, any defense of Indy (hint: there was none). Don’t conflate defense and critique; they are dissimilar.

please excuse my desperate attempt
to give you the benefit of the doubt

so that was just your worst take, probably ever

[Sedition]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

nothing out of nhs is remotely cool
and i mean nothing

Expand Quote

Cool-Guys are one of the worst things in skateboarding.

[close]

i get the desire to defend ones favorite truck
but this is your worst take, probably ever
that and the following response read like Xen posts
crazy plot twist

[close]

Please cite, specifically, any defense of Indy (hint: there was none). Don’t conflate defense and critique; they are dissimilar.

[close]

please excuse my desperate attempt
to give you the benefit of the doubt

so that was just your worst take, probably ever

I’m honored to sink to such depths. Hopefully I can go ever lower in the future. The bottom of the barrel, however, is refusing to try something because you’re too cool for it.

[Too Frank To Fred]

I'll never try Tracker Trucks again. That's how cool I am. I have an eternally irrational bias against everything about them... except Neil Blender.

[Ok]

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it's not like I really care about looking cool for other people with my truck choice or anything. Indy is just kind of corny and I want to be hyped on my setup

[close]

Be hyped for how it functions, not because it's not cool enough for you. Big Head logo is corny as fuck. It's like a half-step better than Flameboy. But Spits are the best wheels out there, so...

i apologize if i’ve been too hard on you with this stuff.
functions. the function of my skateboard is to try and chill out, de-stress, have fun, not think of my impending doom.
i’ve skated setups based off of performance hopes: tensors, lib techs, p2s, impact lites, whatever the fuck. for me, what i’ve found is that if i like the way the shit looks, it helps me feel better. i need to wade thru what feels like a lot of obstacles before i can go skate, and so i need a little extra juice.
there’s always been skaters that made it look cooler than others, and i wanted to buy their shit. the industry.
if it was solely about performance (aka functions), i don’t think id skate. i’m old, i don’t have much energy, i am not ‘good’ according to me. seeing my cool looking skateboard gets me excited. a little.

fucking indy has always been kinda….sus. i’ve for sure skated them, enjoyed them, like them now at times. 159s are great. but i totally get why people don’t want to go out of their way to buy some cornball shit from nhs.

this function over form stuff, even if it was only about skateboard performance, is almost always bullshit: none of us are out here wearing skin suits, optimizing are drag coefficients, blah blah blah. that shit is for figure skating, or pick an olympic sport. there’s not a lot of us posting here that are ‘good’. tzhangdox and i don’t know who else, 144p holds it down too. the amount of gear talk is mostly just vibes, no?

i think im just blabbing on, going in circles here. my basic point is: the function of a skateboard, for me, is to have fun. and for me, that means trying to look cool (i mean with all of the obvious caveats being that i am old and dusty, absolutely the antithesis of the ‘cool-guy’ skateboard youth that i now look up to).

[neonbrown]

How on earth can you conflate wearing a skinsuit skateboarding with using a popular brand of trucks? Baffling

[Ok]

How on earth can you conflate wearing a skinsuit skateboarding with using a popular brand of trucks? Baffling

i like that you used the words conflate and baffling, and that you are easily confused.

 

[neonbrown]

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How on earth can you conflate wearing a skinsuit skateboarding with using a popular brand of trucks? Baffling

[close]

i like that you used the words conflate and baffling, and that you are easily confused.

And I appreciate your deep insecurity about being seen possessing the incorrect product.

[Ok]

Expand Quote

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How on earth can you conflate wearing a skinsuit skateboarding with using a popular brand of trucks? Baffling

[close]

i like that you used the words conflate and baffling, and that you are easily confused.

[close]

And I appreciate your deep insecurity about being seen possessing the incorrect product.

do you mean the product i don’t like?
i think it is cute, in the condescending way, that you and some think you are keeping it real. so brave. 
i certainly have insecurities, im an old man riding a child’s toy, in a world that has passed me by.
for me, indy’s image and advertising, have sucked, in forever. independent had a moment when they were making maybe the best trucks, but they haven’t been something i’ve been into, on the regular, since stage 10s, and even then….
back on track here: it isn’t weird to have some level of care, for what is cool. what is weird, is lying about that, in this mostly anonymous way on the internet.

[doorpanel]

nothing out of nhs is remotely cool
and i mean nothing

Expand Quote

Cool-Guys are one of the worst things in skateboarding.

[close]

i get the desire to defend ones favorite truck
but this is your worst take, probably ever
that and the following response read like Xen posts

hahaha yeah ain’t nothing worse than a Xen post

[Dwyck]

xens got a bigger bag of tricks than most he can post how he likes

[Ok]

xen catching strays

[munchbox]

all love, he is a necessary member of the community
dont get it twisted
just strikes me as the sort of pal
who would agree with the anti cool guy sentiment

we all come with our own foolishness
none above a ribbing

[Ok]

all love, he is a necessary member of the community
dont get it twisted
just strikes me as the sort of pal
who would agree with the anti cool guy sentiment

we all come with our own foolishness
none above a ribbing

i am a big fan of this
it’s well put. wouldn’t be interesting if we all were in lock step

[Rick Trapasso]

No one posting the the gear madness thread on slap is about to try and tell me what is/isn't cool.

[neonbrown]

i think it is cute, in the condescending way, that you and some think you are keeping it real.

Keeping what real? I don't even skate Indys; I was just amused at the flimsy analogy you drew.

[Ok]

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i think it is cute, in the condescending way, that you and some think you are keeping it real.

[close]

Keeping what real? I don't even skate Indys; I was just amused at the flimsy analogy you drew.

eh. the analogy wouldn’t have been that indy’s equals skinsuit. the point i was attempting to make with sedition, was that i don’t believe sedition based all his gear choices, on optimizing performance.
i was also trying to point out that the function, in italics, of my board is to make me happy, and that can have lots of influences, performance being a part of it. supporting stuff i like being another (and being cool goddamnit).
but you know all of that.
you made a reduction, and then were bemused and amused, and perplexed, confounded, scornful. a jerk off.

[Sedition]

..the point i was attempting to make with sedition, was that i don’t believe sedition based all his gear choices, on optimizing performance.

i was also trying to point out that the function, in italics, of my board is to make me happy, and that can have lots of influences, performance being a part of it. supporting stuff i like being another (and being cool goddamnit).

100% all of this. Every word. Everyone wants to be happy with their equipment, no question. And how/what constitutes that happiness is totally subjective. That said, refusing to try what is widely known to be among the best products made in skateboarding (be it F4 wheels, BBS wood, or any of the "Big 4" trucks, etc.) because it's not cool enough is, IMHO, really lame. But if that's how you roll the dice...have at it, and enjoy (and hopefully you're not missing out on something that might actually rock your world).

[Ok]

Expand Quote

..the point i was attempting to make with sedition, was that i don’t believe sedition based all his gear choices, on optimizing performance.

i was also trying to point out that the function, in italics, of my board is to make me happy, and that can have lots of influences, performance being a part of it. supporting stuff i like being another (and being cool goddamnit).

[close]

100% all of this. Every word. Everyone wants to be happy with their equipment, no question. And how/what constitutes that happiness is totally subjective. That said, refusing to try what is widely known to be among the best products made in skateboarding (be it F4 wheels, BBS wood, or any of the "Big 4" trucks, etc.) because it's not cool enough is, IMHO, really lame. But if that's how you roll the dice...have at it, and enjoy (and hopefully you're not missing out on something that might actually rock your world).

well that just sounds entirely reasonable.
i’m trying to stay mad in the madness thread. 

[Sedition]

i’m trying to stay mad in the madness thread.

LOL. Stated that way, I full support this. Rage on.

[BeachChicken]

Eh fuck it I don't want to ride Slappys because I don't want a 1mm shorter Indy that doesn't offer me benefits and has a corny name with a weird brand strategy. If I wanted a lower option they seem fun, but I don't. My pop goes to shit on anything lower than cast thunder, but with those I get stability and a few characteristics I really like. I've got enough madness that I don't need 5 brands tempting me- 2 is enough.

I also wanna be stoked on my board. I'm not about to ride a brand or graphic that I don't back. Board sales may not be much profit for a brand but I'd rather any of my money go to a brand that produces content or has team riders whose content I consume.

[Richard Skidder]

Hopping back in to thank you folks for the advice on my truck madness on the previous page.
I had an old backup board I threw together and happened to keep grabbing it while teaching a skate camp for spring break.
I went with the run what you brung mentality and it really worked for me.
After spending time on my basics through the art of teaching I came to the realization that the purity of just enjoying the act of skating (something I learned by proxy from my students) was the ultimate cure to my own madness. Kinda made it all seem a bit silly.
Ride whatever, just have fun.

[doorpanel]

Eh fuck it I don't want to ride Slappys because the name is embarrassing

[Rick Trapasso]

I'm tight as fuck and I have the coolest skateboard, pants, shoes, and underwear.

[Osage]

Hopping back in to thank you folks for the advice on my truck madness on the previous page.
I had an old backup board I threw together and happened to keep grabbing it while teaching a skate camp for spring break.
I went with the run what you brung mentality and it really worked for me.
After spending time on my basics through the art of teaching I came to the realization that the purity of just enjoying the act of skating (something I learned by proxy from my students) was the ultimate cure to my own madness. Kinda made it all seem a bit silly.
Ride whatever, just have fun.

  I need to get this post tattooed on my arm. Been going through madness and none of it has made me a have more fun or made me a better skater. My Son, who's way better than me, has ridden Indys basically from the get go. I bought some Ventures for myself the other day and the store had a scratch and dent set of 8.25 Thunders for $20. I bought them for the kid and he put them on before we went to the skatepark. I was all fussy and worrying about my new Ventures and he was just shredding. At one point I asked him how he liked the trucks and all he said was they they were a little looser than he was used to but he liked it. He went out skating this morning and when he got back I asked him again and he said he forgot he had different trucks than usual. I need to get back to that headspace and just skate. I wasn't loving the Ventures yesterday but I'll leave them on for a while and just skate and have fun. Hopefully.

[Barack Hussein]

Yo -- am I trippin??

Everybody talks about how Ace trucks are too turny and loose, and that Indys are more stable and neutral.

I feel like I've just straight up had the opposite experience recently. Indys have been feeling just absolutely divey into turns with almost no center point of stability. It's like I gotta be constantly balancing or somethin. Even with harder bushings. I only 170 too.

The Aces on the other hand feel like there is plenty of stability to cruise in a straight line without any sorta wobbly feeling. They have a more round circular turn I guess, but it feels like the resistance and snap back to center is more stable and reliable. Stock bushings yo

I'm just confused because I've had some Indys and Aces for a couple years now, and I just feel like I'm having the opposite experience of what everyone is sayin they're like.

Whussup withit