Gear madness support thread

[TheCrimsonShroud]

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I promised myself I’d never get to this point but I think I’m a wheelbase guy now

[close]

Most important dimension on a deck.

Easily. My madness line in the sand is bushings. When I start sanding aftermarket shit is when I kook off into the sunset.

[Bongwater Mojito]

I'm afraid I'm still trying to replicate my best setup of the decade so far, by first going over to bigger boards and trucks and then retreating back to safe space of 8.25ish.

Magenta 8.125
Independent 144 Titanium with Film bushings (only cons: they're noisy and stiffen in cold)
52mm Spitfire Classics 99D

I want that with me when it's time to check back out into the unconscious part of the carbon cycle.

[Ok]

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I promised myself I’d never get to this point but I think I’m a wheelbase guy now

[close]

Most important dimension on a deck.

is it?
i think im on some bullshit where the wheelbase is just the leftovers.

[SwitchBenihana]

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I promised myself I’d never get to this point but I think I’m a wheelbase guy now

[close]

Most important dimension on a deck.

[close]

is it?
i think im on some bullshit where the wheelbase is just the leftovers.

I agree. You can take 2 decks of the same exact shape like a DLX I and IV, lay them on top of one another and see the steepness, and realize they won't skate the same. To me how long the nose/tail are and how steep they are matters most. I've mix and matched trucks and wheelbases at times and I've found too many weird combos that defy math to rely on it.

[Ok]

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I promised myself I’d never get to this point but I think I’m a wheelbase guy now

[close]

Most important dimension on a deck.

[close]

is it?
i think im on some bullshit where the wheelbase is just the leftovers.

[close]

I agree. You can take 2 decks of the same exact shape like a DLX I and IV, lay them on top of one another and see the steepness, and realize they won't skate the same. To me how long the nose/tail are and how steep they are matters most. I've mix and matched trucks and wheelbases at times and I've found too many weird combos that defy math to rely on it.

samesies
and i’m not ready to measure tails.
i think, for me, tail length/steepness, followed by overall board length. those are the most important. i think.

[back smith]

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I promised myself I’d never get to this point but I think I’m a wheelbase guy now

[close]

Most important dimension on a deck.

[close]

is it?
i think im on some bullshit where the wheelbase is just the leftovers.

[close]

I agree. You can take 2 decks of the same exact shape like a DLX I and IV, lay them on top of one another and see the steepness, and realize they won't skate the same. To me how long the nose/tail are and how steep they are matters most. I've mix and matched trucks and wheelbases at times and I've found too many weird combos that defy math to rely on it.

[close]

samesies
and i’m not ready to measure tails.
i think, for me, tail length/steepness, followed by overall board length. those are the most important. i think.

From tail length and overall board length you're only nose length away from wheelbase..

[Bongwater Mojito]

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I promised myself I’d never get to this point but I think I’m a wheelbase guy now

[close]

Most important dimension on a deck.

[close]

is it?
i think im on some bullshit where the wheelbase is just the leftovers.

[close]

I agree. You can take 2 decks of the same exact shape like a DLX I and IV, lay them on top of one another and see the steepness, and realize they won't skate the same. To me how long the nose/tail are and how steep they are matters most. I've mix and matched trucks and wheelbases at times and I've found too many weird combos that defy math to rely on it.

Yes. This is the root cause for my seemingly neverending chase of the aforementioned best setup. Found some good other setups on the way though.

[moonordie]

Does anyone happen to know what truck is closest to a tensor mag light low in terms of height and wheelbase?
After years of trying to find the perfect set up, a friend recommended I try tensors and promised that I’d like them and gosh dang it was he right. Mag light lows with a riser pad ended up being the perfect goldilocks set up for me, but with tensor now out of business I feel like I either have to try to buy up all the dead stock I can or try my best to find something similar

Indy

[tuesday]

@Mule Tensor mag lights are on sale for half the price at
https://www.skatedeluxe.com/de/c/skateboards/skateboard-achsen?brand_id=238

[rocklobster]

@Mule Tensor mag lights are on sale for half the price at
https://www.skatedeluxe.com/de/c/skateboards/skateboard-achsen?brand_id=238

Price is per truck, sign up for the mailing list for 10% off.

[roba]

Expand Quote

Does anyone happen to know what truck is closest to a tensor mag light low in terms of height and wheelbase?
After years of trying to find the perfect set up, a friend recommended I try tensors and promised that I’d like them and gosh dang it was he right. Mag light lows with a riser pad ended up being the perfect goldilocks set up for me, but with tensor now out of business I feel like I either have to try to buy up all the dead stock I can or try my best to find something similar

[close]

Indy

mag light lows are 46mm tall, the lowest indy is 52mm

[rocklobster]

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Does anyone happen to know what truck is closest to a tensor mag light low in terms of height and wheelbase?
After years of trying to find the perfect set up, a friend recommended I try tensors and promised that I’d like them and gosh dang it was he right. Mag light lows with a riser pad ended up being the perfect goldilocks set up for me, but with tensor now out of business I feel like I either have to try to buy up all the dead stock I can or try my best to find something similar

[close]

Indy

[close]

mag light lows are 46mm tall, the lowest indy is 52mm

Indys go 50.5mm with Mid Hollow Forged

https://nhsskatedirect.com/products/forged-hollow-mid-independent-skateboard-trucks?variant=41990083772573

[moonordie]

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@Mule Tensor mag lights are on sale for half the price at
https://www.skatedeluxe.com/de/c/skateboards/skateboard-achsen?brand_id=238

[close]

Price is per truck, sign up for the mailing list for 10% off.

In SkateDeluxe usually yes but in their case is for the pair, there's even a note about it.

[Mbrimson88]

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@Mule Tensor mag lights are on sale for half the price at
https://www.skatedeluxe.com/de/c/skateboards/skateboard-achsen?brand_id=238

[close]

Price is per truck, sign up for the mailing list for 10% off.

[close]

In SkateDeluxe usually yes but in their case is for the pair, there's even a note about it.

Re Tensor trucks:

When a few places I know got them in, they were the only "SET" of trucks, came in their own special box and everything, but people at my old work used to always take them out and price them individually, which took some explaining to get it sorted every time I saw them like that.

Sometimes, I think trucks are better being sold as a set, but on the other hand, I have also bought a good number of single trucks for parts over the years from places that do sell them individually too, so I guess it can work well / not so well depending on who, what and where.


* I can't even remember the number of sets that were actually mismatched, including another set I got just recently from a shop - a 149 and a 139 - which you would think someone surely would have noticed, but no, seems like it happened all too often.

[moonordie]

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@Mule Tensor mag lights are on sale for half the price at
https://www.skatedeluxe.com/de/c/skateboards/skateboard-achsen?brand_id=238

[close]

Price is per truck, sign up for the mailing list for 10% off.

[close]

In SkateDeluxe usually yes but in their case is for the pair, there's even a note about it.

[close]

Re Tensor trucks:

When a few places I know got them in, they were the only "SET" of trucks, came in their own special box and everything, but people at my old work used to always take them out and price them individually, which took some explaining to get it sorted every time I saw them like that.

Sometimes, I think trucks are better being sold as a set, but on the other hand, I have also bought a good number of single trucks for parts over the years from places that do sell them individually too, so I guess it can work well / not so well depending on who, what and where.


* I can't even remember the number of sets that were actually mismatched, including another set I got just recently from a shop - a 149 and a 139 - which you would think someone surely would have noticed, but no, seems like it happened all too often.

The Mag light from SkateDeluxe come wrapped in plastic as a pair. No cool fancy looking box anymore. But 43€ for the set is a good price if you're curious about them and want to experience first hand how incredibly crappy the bushings are.

[Mbrimson88]

The Mag light from SkateDeluxe come wrapped in plastic as a pair. No cool fancy looking box anymore. But 43€ for the set is a good price if you're curious about them and want to experience first hand how incredibly crappy the bushings are.

Yeah it has been a while - more than a decade anyway, but I guess that is one thing I didn't really follow a whole lot.

Also not sure when they changed from hi tech to simple and more affordable, but they also seemed like they were more so the brand that mass produced all the trucks on their completes, as well as a lot of other completes, so I never really had much to do with them, apart from fixing boards for people.

Bushings seemed to work well enough for kids, but then again they also could have been different bushings specifically for that market - 90 duro bushings and 95 duro wheels were pretty common on completes that have come through my hands.


Were you meaning their bushings were too soft?

[moonordie]

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The Mag light from SkateDeluxe come wrapped in plastic as a pair. No cool fancy looking box anymore. But 43€ for the set is a good price if you're curious about them and want to experience first hand how incredibly crappy the bushings are.

[close]

Yeah it has been a while - more than a decade anyway, but I guess that is one thing I didn't really follow a whole lot.

Also not sure when they changed from hi tech to simple and more affordable, but they also seemed like they were more so the brand that mass produced all the trucks on their completes, as well as a lot of other completes, so I never really had much to do with them, apart from fixing boards for people.

Bushings seemed to work well enough for kids, but then again they also could have been different bushings specifically for that market - 90 duro bushings and 95 duro wheels were pretty common on completes that have come through my hands.


Were you meaning their bushings were too soft?

Too soft and quality is horrible. When you touch it feels like very slick plastic.

[back smith]

My first set of Tensor Mag Lights had this weird issue where the bushings would stick to one side. I wasn't feeling it so put in the Bones... But someone said the stock bushings would break in if you give them a chance so second time around I did and they did. They are soft but stable at the center, great manual balance. The "plasticky" haptic and visual experience is similar to Ace bushings for example, kind of unimportant to me but that's just me.

[Mule]

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The Mag light from SkateDeluxe come wrapped in plastic as a pair. No cool fancy looking box anymore. But 43€ for the set is a good price if you're curious about them and want to experience first hand how incredibly crappy the bushings are.

[close]

Yeah it has been a while - more than a decade anyway, but I guess that is one thing I didn't really follow a whole lot.

Also not sure when they changed from hi tech to simple and more affordable, but they also seemed like they were more so the brand that mass produced all the trucks on their completes, as well as a lot of other completes, so I never really had much to do with them, apart from fixing boards for people.

Bushings seemed to work well enough for kids, but then again they also could have been different bushings specifically for that market - 90 duro bushings and 95 duro wheels were pretty common on completes that have come through my hands.


Were you meaning their bushings were too soft?

[close]

Too soft and quality is horrible. When you touch it feels like very slick plastic.

Yeah the white bushings that came with the regular height tensors were pretty awful, I tried sticking it out for over a month to break them in they never felt much better so I just ended up swapping them for some doh dohs from an old set of trucks.
I will say though that the black bushings that come with the tensor lows feel better and actually broke in fairly quickly, I'm not sure if the bushing quality is actually all that different, or if its the geometry of the lows making crappy bushings feel better than they are, but either way I'm pretty happy with how they feel.

[swongolianbbq]

The gear madness is slowing down

I picked out an "anti-madness" setup:

- 8.25 BBS/baker 14.25wb
- Indy hollow standard 149s
- 54mm spitfire f4 classics

And tweaked it from there:

- Tried 159's again with risers, didn't like it
- Started skating 58 and 60mm wheels without risers on the 149s, didn't like that either
- Ended up deciding I only wanted to skate classics or radials and that I didn't like conicals or og classics
- Had sort of a wheel quiver going of different sizes and duros

Here's where I'm at right now:

8.5 Real 14.25 wb
Indy hollow standard 149s
54mm 99d classics

Here's where I wanna be:

Still with same decks, 8.5 x 14.25 wb BBS, I think that's it for me and kinda always has been.

Indy 149 still, same deal, it's what I'm used to. But I want to go back to the solid axle/kingpin standards

Still f4 classics, but 56mm instead of 54 or 58 or whatever.

I think I'm gonna try to stick to the 8.5 short BBS decks, standard/solid Indy 149s, 56mm F4 99d classics, and bones swiss. I think I can pretty much do whatever I need to on that. Blue eagle+blue spitfires+indys.

God forbid I relapse and fucking, buy lurpivs and radial fulls

Kinda just want the most generic thing that works for me, like if setups from 1991 and 1994 had a baby

[TheCrimsonShroud]

- Had sort of a wheel quiver going of different sizes and duros

I still do. I’m that asshole at the park who goes over to his car to smoke and change his fucking wheels because “they don’t sound/feel right” every half hour

[swongolianbbq]

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- Had sort of a wheel quiver going of different sizes and duros

[close]

I still do. I’m that asshole at the park who goes over to his car to smoke and change his fucking wheels because “they don’t sound/feel right” every half hour

That's dope though

I didn't want to get my nuts all spinny from changing wheels all the time so I was even thinking about building another identical setup except with a different wheel size/shape/durometer

I still wanna have an identical backup board though, I used to when I was skating way heavier when I was in my teens/20's. It's awesome to just grab another board and keep trying vs having to stop and set up a new one

Only wheels I haven't tried that I'm curious about are radial fulls in the smaller sizes like 54-56, but I don't think I'm going to give in, cause the classic shape wears down the best/gets the most full usage from me

My 93d radials seemed to be sticking a lot the other day on crooked grinds so I put my 54mm 99's back on and they kinda feel like rocks hahah but I used to love them so I have a fresher set of 56 classics I just got for ten bucks I'm gonna put on

I put all my wheels on eBay the other day

I've sold some Sapphires and some Reynolds 93s so far. My friend that was borrowing my 54mm radials 93's hasn't given them back yet and I'm kinda pissed

Cause I wanna sell them

[moonordie]

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- Had sort of a wheel quiver going of different sizes and duros

[close]

I still do. I’m that asshole at the park who goes over to his car to smoke and change his fucking wheels because “they don’t sound/feel right” every half hour

In a very little time I got Lock in classics, Classics 93, Conical full and yesterday radial full. I was happy for months with OG classics and then madness kicked in.

[TheCrimsonShroud]

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- Had sort of a wheel quiver going of different sizes and duros

[close]

I still do. I’m that asshole at the park who goes over to his car to smoke and change his fucking wheels because “they don’t sound/feel right” every half hour

[close]

In a very little time I got Lock in classics, Classics 93, Conical full and yesterday radial full. I was happy for months with OG classics and then madness kicked in.

I had F4 lock-ins on the deck I had stolen and I fucking love them. Every spit I’ve ever ridden I love, so you’d think I’d stop dicking around with other brands

[swongolianbbq]

when I started skiing winter 21/22, I got really into different aftermarket footbeds, and getting my shoes as snug as I could

Blazers in 8.5 and chucks in 8 would make my feet numb until I broke them in a couple sessions, my wide foot would spill over the soles in adidas superstars..

A couple weeks ago I was skating harder than I have in a while, skating like a five stair and stuff and having fun but the shoes became obvious really quick and I decided to switch back to 9's in everything.

So I got some sz 9 Jordan 1 mids from Burlington, some sz 9 blazer mids off eBay, and I pulled some chuck Taylors out of the closet that I hadn't worn because they were "too big" (sz 8.5) lol. I regret selling my sweet beets in a 9 😕

I'm now shooting for shoes marked 27cm cause it seems like the EUR and US measurements can be all over the place for different brands, but I'm prolly just sticking with Nike and Converse from here on out, everything in a 9 except chucks in 8.5.

i like that converse is owned by Nike and uses the same stuff for the shoes

When I was younger i would only skate emerica and eS

now I just like the look of retro basketball shoes cause they go with everything else I wear pretty well. That and chucks and blazers are consistently available, I can get them lightly used a lot of the time, blazers pop up at Burlington and stuff for 40 bucks from time to time. I wish they had basic colorways of sb dunk highs consistently available... That would be dope.

 I'm gonna try skating the non-sb versions and see what's up, I really like the way these Jordans mids skate. I put em on and immediately did a fat nollie flip, I was shocked and instantly knew these were gonna work for me for sure, stoked on em

Anyways, I sized up a half size for all my skate shoes. My feet haven't changed much if at all in the last 20 years, they still measure like 26.1-26.4 in the morning, and a little more after a long day. I know they can pack out as you get older or after a thru hike or something tho. My altras have always been 9.5's, they fit like a 10 - wide

Confused myself into swapping footbeds out and skating 8.5's for 3 years. I also switched to Ace trucks for those three years as well. Back to 9's, comfy feet, and Indy standards 🤷‍♀️

Only thing that has genuinely changed about my setup in 20 years is that my wheels got 3mm bigger. Everything else has been more or less the same. Except for the ~5 years I wore kr3w, Altamont, Levi's, Rvca, all the slimmy slim slim jeans hahah

If I had to choose one setup, one shoe and one pants forever it would be

Blue eagle
Blue spitfire classics
Indy 149 standards
Bones swiss

Blazer mids

Dickies 874s

[Hqjdncm]

I just posted in the gear ur contemplating buying, but I think the madness has hit me. Way too many late nights of YouTube and online shopping has caught up to me (as u can see by the time stamp). For the past 4+ years I’ve skated 9.0 popsicles with ace 55 classics and either 58 or 60mm spitfire f4 conical fulls, og classics, radial fulls, or lock in fulls (I love wide wheels) but I skated mainly skateparks and transition. But I just moved to Long Beach last November and haven’t skated any transition at all. And have only skated street parks like cherry or the one downtown and even that’s rare. I’ve been die hard street skating and my old 9 inch boards felt too big. And so I bought an 8.75 sci fi (14.75 wb) and some 6.1 ventures. So far I like ventures as it’s my first time riding them, but now my wheels feel way too big. I feel like I’m progressing well but that my wheels and wheel base might be holding me back. I’m looking for a new deck and wheels but just don’t know what to get. I’m looking a lot at the sml wheels 55mm vcut grocery bags, and either a genesis video (bbs) 8.75 (wheelbase I couldn’t find which worries me) or prime wood la is having a sale on 2 for 1 decks. And those are 14.625 wheel base. But idk, the last prime I had was 6 years ago and broke after a day. I loved my sci fi so I kinda wanna stick with bbs, but just wanna know some opinions on prime and if their quality got better. Also with sml if anyone tried them and how they liked them. I was also looking at dial tone 55mm aaron Herrington wheels. If not I might just buy spits again but lowkey wanna try classics (I’ve never tried them cause I don’t really like how they look) plz guys i need help the madness has me in its grasp.

[moonordie]

I just posted in the gear ur contemplating buying, but I think the madness has hit me. Way too many late nights of YouTube and online shopping has caught up to me (as u can see by the time stamp). For the past 4+ years I’ve skated 9.0 popsicles with ace 55 classics and either 58 or 60mm spitfire f4 conical fulls, og classics, radial fulls, or lock in fulls (I love wide wheels) but I skated mainly skateparks and transition. But I just moved to Long Beach last November and haven’t skated any transition at all. And have only skated street parks like cherry or the one downtown and even that’s rare. I’ve been die hard street skating and my old 9 inch boards felt too big. And so I bought an 8.75 sci fi (14.75 wb) and some 6.1 ventures. So far I like ventures as it’s my first time riding them, but now my wheels feel way too big. I feel like I’m progressing well but that my wheels and wheel base might be holding me back. I’m looking for a new deck and wheels but just don’t know what to get. I’m looking a lot at the sml wheels 55mm vcut grocery bags, and either a genesis video (bbs) 8.75 (wheelbase I couldn’t find which worries me) or prime wood la is having a sale on 2 for 1 decks. And those are 14.625 wheel base. But idk, the last prime I had was 6 years ago and broke after a day. I loved my sci fi so I kinda wanna stick with bbs, but just wanna know some opinions on prime and if their quality got better. Also with sml if anyone tried them and how they liked them. I was also looking at dial tone 55mm aaron Herrington wheels. If not I might just buy spits again but lowkey wanna try classics (I’ve never tried them cause I don’t really like how they look) plz guys i need help the madness has me in its grasp.

Go for Radial full 54mm

[Sedition]

I just posted in the gear ur contemplating buying, but I think the madness has hit me. Way too many late nights of YouTube and online shopping has caught up to me (as u can see by the time stamp). For the past 4+ years I’ve skated 9.0 popsicles with ace 55 classics and either 58 or 60mm spitfire f4 conical fulls, og classics, radial fulls, or lock in fulls (I love wide wheels) but I skated mainly skateparks and transition. But I just moved to Long Beach last November and haven’t skated any transition at all. And have only skated street parks like cherry or the one downtown and even that’s rare. I’ve been die hard street skating and my old 9 inch boards felt too big. And so I bought an 8.75 sci fi (14.75 wb) and some 6.1 ventures. So far I like ventures as it’s my first time riding them, but now my wheels feel way too big. I feel like I’m progressing well but that my wheels and wheel base might be holding me back. I’m looking for a new deck and wheels but just don’t know what to get. I’m looking a lot at the sml wheels 55mm vcut grocery bags, and either a genesis video (bbs) 8.75 (wheelbase I couldn’t find which worries me) or prime wood la is having a sale on 2 for 1 decks. And those are 14.625 wheel base. But idk, the last prime I had was 6 years ago and broke after a day. I loved my sci fi so I kinda wanna stick with bbs, but just wanna know some opinions on prime and if their quality got better. Also with sml if anyone tried them and how they liked them. I was also looking at dial tone 55mm aaron Herrington wheels. If not I might just buy spits again but lowkey wanna try classics (I’ve never tried them cause I don’t really like how they look) plz guys i need help the madness has me in its grasp.

Decks:
-The White Eagle from anti-hero. 8.75/14.62
-The “standard cut” 8.75/14.5 deck from Black Label
(Both BBS)


Wheels:
54mm Radials (IMHO, the regular ones, not the Fulls)

[Slave IV]

@moonordie
You mentioned you had Tensor Maglights and hated them. The ones you got are the exact ones I want (8.5" ATG). You still have 'em and interested in selling?
They may be the end of my truck madness, lol!

[FatGuy92]

@moonordie
You mentioned you had Tensor Maglights and hated them. The ones you got are the exact ones I want (8.5" ATG). You still have 'em and interested in selling?
They may be the end of my truck madness, lol!

My 2c. Tbh I wouldn’t go for them. I skated four sets and while I liked how effortlessly they grind, the cons outweigh the pros imo

- They wear down wayyyy too fast
- That buttery grind works well for curbs or street ledges, but there isn’t much difference at skate parks
- Axles bent on every set I had and I don’t do any high impact skating
- They’re too light.. can be hard to control and good luck if it’s windy lol
- I heard people that ordered from Thank You Supply never received their trucks. Tbh idk what’s up with Tensor rn I haven’t seen anything new from them and whatever is available online seems to be NOS
- Once you get used to them it’s hard to go back to a heavier truck
- If you’re skating on any type of rough ground the vibrations are crazy like you can really feel it in your legs
- Stock bushings kinda suck (though the interlocking bushings are a good concept)

Shit I could go on lol. They’re an improvement over the previous model and I wouldn’t say they’re bad trucks, but imo not worth getting into