Gear madness support thread

[Rick Trapasso]

Anyone ever just use a flanged 3/8 24 nut instead of a kingpin nut & washer

I feel like that might come loose on its own in a kingpin setting.

[swongolianbbq]

If that were the case, wouldn't the stock kingpin nuts come loose as well

Considering its the same thing

When you're standing on your board the pressure is going on the bottom bushing and the top one is chilling

I could see how it might though? Cause if the washer gets all ground down from feebles and shit, if it did the same on this flange nut, it might be able to spin it easier

That's pretty far down the road of annihilation tho

I figured it would grind better than the bones style flat washers for feebles and stuff cause it's not as sharp and loose, I think this might be cool for the flat top washer folks (of which I was one for a while)

[Rick Trapasso]

If that were the case, wouldn't the stock kingpin nuts come loose as well

Considering its the same thing

When you're standing on your board the pressure is going on the bottom bushing and the top one is chilling

I could see how it might though? Cause if the washer gets all ground down from feebles and shit, if it did the same on this flange nut, it might be able to spin it easier

That's pretty far down the road of annihilation tho

I figured it would grind better than the bones style flat washers for feebles and stuff cause it's not as sharp and loose, I think this might be cool for the flat top washer folks (of which I was one for a while)

The physical separation between the nut and washer would allow for one to rotate while the other stayed in place. Especially when the nut has nylock and the washer doesn't.

[swongolianbbq]

Expand Quote

If that were the case, wouldn't the stock kingpin nuts come loose as well

Considering its the same thing

When you're standing on your board the pressure is going on the bottom bushing and the top one is chilling

I could see how it might though? Cause if the washer gets all ground down from feebles and shit, if it did the same on this flange nut, it might be able to spin it easier

That's pretty far down the road of annihilation tho

I figured it would grind better than the bones style flat washers for feebles and stuff cause it's not as sharp and loose, I think this might be cool for the flat top washer folks (of which I was one for a while)

[close]

The physical separation between the nut and washer would allow for one to rotate while the other stayed in place. Especially when the nut has nylock and the washer doesn't.

Definitely

That's how you get that Seattle rattle

But really though the flange isn't much bigger than a regular nut, and it's angled downward too (the flange is conical)

I don't think it would have any problems loosening

I guess now I have to try it

[Mbrimson88]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

If that were the case, wouldn't the stock kingpin nuts come loose as well

Considering its the same thing

When you're standing on your board the pressure is going on the bottom bushing and the top one is chilling

I could see how it might though? Cause if the washer gets all ground down from feebles and shit, if it did the same on this flange nut, it might be able to spin it easier

That's pretty far down the road of annihilation tho

I figured it would grind better than the bones style flat washers for feebles and stuff cause it's not as sharp and loose, I think this might be cool for the flat top washer folks (of which I was one for a while)

[close]

The physical separation between the nut and washer would allow for one to rotate while the other stayed in place. Especially when the nut has nylock and the washer doesn't.

[close]

Definitely

That's how you get that Seattle rattle

But really though the flange isn't much bigger than a regular nut, and it's angled downward too (the flange is conical)

I don't think it would have any problems loosening

I guess now I have to try it

Some big old inverted kingpins had their own dome / no washer required.

I wonder how that would affect things.


Now I remember it too, a small number of people had glued their top washer to the nut, just to avoid any issues with clicking - saw that somewhere on here, but I can't find it - but that seemed to work well enough for them.

As long as the nyloc was holding the nut, the thing would not move.  If the nyloc was starting to go, even regular kingpin nuts will loosen off on a normal truck with a normal washer, in the same way inverted kingpins and similar things loosen off, about a quarter turn a session, from what I was seeing.  I had to test that theory as well, with some kingpin nuts that I could finger tighten down the kingpin, marked one edge of the hex with a dot and watched them move as I skated.

The joys of messing around with stuff just to see what happens...


** Any which way I welcome any opinions and am happy to test things if anyone has something they don't have or might not want to try themselves.  It is kind of fun for the most part, sometimes a bit silly, some of the things I have done, but other times it is interesting to see and work something out, modifying or tinkering with it, just to see how it goes.

[swongolianbbq]

I've used some titanium seat bolts from Ti64 as kingpins, with sleeved flat washers from Array, and tensor top bushings/ace low bottom bushings during peak madness in 2021

I definitely coulda used that kingpin without a top washer ala kreper and others

I've definitely put a black dot on my nuts with sharpie before when I was running them as loose as I was comfortable with, and ended up hitting em with another turn. They haven't moved all year so far

[Slimeone]

Just a random idea that popped into my head. Say you take a regular truck like a standard Indy. Get a hard or super hard top bushing, trim it down 50% in height, then file/angle grind the kingpin down by the same amount. Then you will effectively increase your kingpin clearance by a good few millimetres which is actually quite a lot for a truck. Hopefully the harder top bushing will offset the reduction in size somewhat equivalently. I may try this.

[Mbrimson88]

Just a random idea that popped into my head. Say you take a regular truck like a standard Indy. Get a hard or super hard top bushing, trim it down 50% in height, then file/angle grind the kingpin down by the same amount. Then you will effectively increase your kingpin clearance by a good few millimetres which is actually quite a lot for a truck. Hopefully the harder top bushing will offset the reduction in size somewhat equivalently. I may try this.

It definitely works.

Any bushings, not just hard tops, with the top sanded / cut / machined down however you like it, adjusted to where you want it and then angle grinding the kingpin head down to match is something that I have been doing to my Indy trucks for a while now.  I "cheated" and got a load of old stock, the Indy low bushings, in 92 duro (red) which work great for me, but I have used them to reshape other normal bushings too, or just free handed it with tools to get the tops down a bit more than they are.

In looking through posts, it was hard to find one that was clear enough, but this pic taken from this post (from 2021) should cover it nicely for you, or maybe give you a little inspiration to give it a go.


https://www.instagram.com/mbrimson88/p/COSXfL8ln0N/





Things to note:

When angle grinding, especially if everything is still together, shield the wheel and bearing from the spray and don't go too heavy or hard, as it will heat up the kingpin so much that it can cook off the nyloc nut and melt the bushings.

Try to round off the kingpin head just a little too, which will make getting the nut off and back on so much easier.

Don't take off too much kingpin, just in case you have to adjust it or loosen it off a touch.  I usually take down a couple of threads at the back and one thread at the front, or three at the back and two at the front, for really low top bushings.

Lastly, the lower bushing can cause the top washer to catch on the hanger, so a lower profile washer, or even a flat washer will work way better on there, as well as give the truck a little more turn, so you can get it down a touch more as well.


Good luck!!!

[Slimeone]

Expand Quote

Just a random idea that popped into my head. Say you take a regular truck like a standard Indy. Get a hard or super hard top bushing, trim it down 50% in height, then file/angle grind the kingpin down by the same amount. Then you will effectively increase your kingpin clearance by a good few millimetres which is actually quite a lot for a truck. Hopefully the harder top bushing will offset the reduction in size somewhat equivalently. I may try this.

[close]

It definitely works.

Any bushings, not just hard tops, with the top sanded / cut / machined down however you like it, adjusted to where you want it and then angle grinding the kingpin head down to match is something that I have been doing to my Indy trucks for a while now.  I "cheated" and got a load of old stock, the Indy low bushings, in 92 duro (red) which work great for me, but I have used them to reshape other normal bushings too, or just free handed it with tools to get the tops down a bit more than they are.

In looking through posts, it was hard to find one that was clear enough, but this pic taken from this post (from 2021) should cover it nicely for you, or maybe give you a little inspiration to give it a go.


https://www.instagram.com/mbrimson88/p/COSXfL8ln0N/





Things to note:

When angle grinding, especially if everything is still together, shield the wheel and bearing from the spray and don't go too heavy or hard, as it will heat up the kingpin so much that it can cook off the nyloc nut and melt the bushings.

Try to round off the kingpin head just a little too, which will make getting the nut off and back on so much easier.

Don't take off too much kingpin, just in case you have to adjust it or loosen it off a touch.  I usually take down a couple of threads at the back and one thread at the front, or three at the back and two at the front, for really low top bushings.

Lastly, the lower bushing can cause the top washer to catch on the hanger, so a lower profile washer, or even a flat washer will work way better on there, as well as give the truck a little more turn, so you can get it down a touch more as well.


Good luck!!!

Brilliant! Thanks for the detailed reply and picture. Looks noticeable lower!

[codswallop]

When you're standing on your board the pressure is going on the bottom bushing and the top one is chilling

I like to imagine that after pressure is released off the bottom bushing, the top one helps recenter the trucks. And the harder and/or bigger the top bushing the faster or more responsive the recentering is. Madness??

[Slimeone]

Expand Quote

When you're standing on your board the pressure is going on the bottom bushing and the top one is chilling

[close]

I like to imagine that after pressure is released off the bottom bushing, the top one helps recenter the trucks. And the harder and/or bigger the top bushing the faster or more responsive the recentering is. Madness??

As far as I can tell both bushings receive equal amounts of pressure whenever the truck is pushed one way or the other. How can it be any different? This may be somewhat affirmed by some information I read on the Riptide bsuhing site which states that mixing top and bottom bushing hardness is pointless because it essentially equals halfway between the two bushing durometers (not technically pointless but no different from running a full set of whatever the halfway durometer equals).

[DarkPools]

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When you're standing on your board the pressure is going on the bottom bushing and the top one is chilling

[close]

I like to imagine that after pressure is released off the bottom bushing, the top one helps recenter the trucks. And the harder and/or bigger the top bushing the faster or more responsive the recentering is. Madness??

[close]

As far as I can tell both bushings receive equal amounts of pressure whenever the truck is pushed one way or the other. How can it be any different? This may be somewhat affirmed by some information I read on the Riptide bsuhing site which states that mixing top and bottom bushing hardness is pointless because it essentially equals halfway between the two bushing durometers (not technically pointless but no different from running a full set of whatever the halfway durometer equals).

Pretty sure mixing duros in top and bottom gives people different feels. Specifically, a hard soft top or bottom could initiate a turn quicker/slower, but still be stable and snap back to center, as an example. Whether they receive equal amounts of pressure or not doesn't mean they don't behave differently. What would be the point in durometer if they all behaved the same with the same pressure exerted on them?

[Slave IV]

Whatever was on that riptide website sounds like some nonsense. I haven’t been to the site myself to read but what they say is already negated since most top and bottom bushings are not the same size or shape. The overall damping force would make sense to be somewhere in between but that’s about it.

[MMongrel]

Wouldn't it be safer to take the hanger and nut off before machining the kingpin down? Just marking the number of threads before grinding it down.

Don't know if I should try this as I've done lots of slappy smiths and feebles lately and my kingpin nut is like 30% gone and almost at the start of kingpin on the board side. I've had a hard time finding the sweet spot on DLX bushings so I wouldn't want to go through that headache again though. Maybe just go through the trucks as is and when I either axle the front or mess up the back kingpin and then I could try High V-Lights next. 

[Mbrimson88]

Wouldn't it be safer to take the hanger and nut off before machining the kingpin down? Just marking the number of threads before grinding it down.

Don't know if I should try this as I've done lots of slappy smiths and feebles lately and my kingpin nut is like 30% gone and almost at the start of kingpin on the board side. I've had a hard time finding the sweet spot on DLX bushings so I wouldn't want to go through that headache again though. Maybe just go through the trucks as is and when I either axle the front or mess up the back kingpin and then I could try High V-Lights next. 

Usually I know where to take a kingpin down to, mainly from lots of experience messing with way too many sets of trucks, but for some people or with different bushings, it can be a pain, not to mention at least one set I did take the kingpin down a bit too far, so more often than not I get the bushings just right and everything feels good, then gently take the kingpin down, even just the front edge as the back of the kingpin closest to the axle never gets touched.  Sure if the kingpin gets taken down too far, just sand down the bushings to match, which I did, but then the turn was very limited on almost half height top bushings, so I used those baseplates with a very old and almost dead set of hangers instead.

It can also depend on how well used the trucks are, so for axled or close to axled trucks, taking the kingpin down evenly is a must on a few of my boards.  On most, I just don't skate anywhere near hard enough now, so I just take the kingpin down as needed, then put things on the usual way I have them and almost never touch the kingpin nut again for the life of the trucks.

Guessing some people I know end up through the axle and then eat the kingpin and kingpin nut to oblivion with slappy grinds and solid use, but usually by then everything needs replacing anyway, so it doesn't matter what has been done to it.

Once I stopped being afraid of messing something up to the point where I couldn't use it, it was a lot easier to experiment with all sorts of options, but I have the luxury of lots of spare parts too, most of which can all be used to make more boards, if or when needed anyway, but it was pretty cool to see screen shots or videos online of pro guys doing those sort of things too, some better than others. 

Tools I have found essential to have on hand:

Angle grinder
Heavy duty kingpin rethreader (not just the basic ones that come with skate tools as they just don't hold up long term)

Optional but very beneficial at times:

Metal file
Wire brush

[moykky]

In the case of grinding down the kingpin and sanding the top bushing, it migh probably work if bottom bushing is changed to softer and top bushing harder - to prevent top bushing "bottoming out" so easily. Move the compression to bottom bushing

[skateboarder4life]

Losing flip tricks on a shorter wheelbase???

i usually skate the bbs g90 shape 9x33 15wb, it's actually like 33.25 inches but a lot of sites list it was 33. Same deck as the antihero orange. I recently set up one of those shorter length shorter wheelbase 9" decks that's like half an inch shorter and the wheelbase is like 14.63 or something.

i'm having a heck of a time with flip tricks especially kickflips which i do a lot of. I was thinking if anything they'd be a bit easier but i'm like having trouble getting them to flip all the way around and they rocket like heck which i'd expect the longer deck to be more inclined to rocketing.

I'll also say i'm 6'4 and i don't take to change very well so it could definitely be a muscle memory thing but the other weird thing is that I also have an 8.5 with probably a 14.25wb that i ride extremely rarely like a few times a year for a few minutes only and i can kickflip that way more consistently than the shorter 9" even though i pretty much never ride the 8.5. i still kickflip the long 9x33 better than the 8.5 because that's my standard. But i'd think the 14.63 would be feeling somewhere in between the long wb 9 and the 8.5 but it's like i just can't do anything on this thing. 

[munchbox]

Losing flip tricks on a shorter wheelbase???

i usually skate the bbs g90 shape 9x33 15wb, it's actually like 33.25 inches but a lot of sites list it was 33. Same deck as the antihero orange. I recently set up one of those shorter length shorter wheelbase 9" decks that's like half an inch shorter and the wheelbase is like 14.63 or something.

i'm having a heck of a time with flip tricks especially kickflips which i do a lot of. I was thinking if anything they'd be a bit easier but i'm like having trouble getting them to flip all the way around and they rocket like heck which i'd expect the longer deck to be more inclined to rocketing.

I'll also say i'm 6'4 and i don't take to change very well so it could definitely be a muscle memory thing but the other weird thing is that I also have an 8.5 with probably a 14.25wb that i ride extremely rarely like a few times a year for a few minutes only and i can kickflip that way more consistently than the shorter 9" even though i pretty much never ride the 8.5. i still kickflip the long 9x33 better than the 8.5 because that's my standard. But i'd think the 14.63 would be feeling somewhere in between the long wb 9 and the 8.5 but it's like i just can't do anything on this thing.

probably has less to do with wheelbase
more to do with muscle memory

if you struggle to adapt to change
i wouldnt suggest deviating from what works

[Sedition]

Expand Quote

Losing flip tricks on a shorter wheelbase???

i usually skate the bbs g90 shape 9x33 15wb, it's actually like 33.25 inches but a lot of sites list it was 33. Same deck as the antihero orange. I recently set up one of those shorter length shorter wheelbase 9" decks that's like half an inch shorter and the wheelbase is like 14.63 or something.

i'm having a heck of a time with flip tricks especially kickflips which i do a lot of. I was thinking if anything they'd be a bit easier but i'm like having trouble getting them to flip all the way around and they rocket like heck which i'd expect the longer deck to be more inclined to rocketing.

I'll also say i'm 6'4 and i don't take to change very well so it could definitely be a muscle memory thing but the other weird thing is that I also have an 8.5 with probably a 14.25wb that i ride extremely rarely like a few times a year for a few minutes only and i can kickflip that way more consistently than the shorter 9" even though i pretty much never ride the 8.5. i still kickflip the long 9x33 better than the 8.5 because that's my standard. But i'd think the 14.63 would be feeling somewhere in between the long wb 9 and the 8.5 but it's like i just can't do anything on this thing.

[close]

probably has less to do with wheelbase
more to do with muscle memory

if you struggle to adapt to change
i wouldnt suggest deviating from what works

I’ll echo this.

It you have a set-up with an even shorter WB that you •can• kickflip, then clearly it seems to be a you/muscle memory issue.

[Slave IV]

Might also have to do with the shape and steepness of the kicks and concave.

[JimmyFive]

Anyone ever just use a flanged 3/8 24 nut instead of a kingpin nut & washer

Hmm good thinking, I'm a flat top washer guy and this could well work if the flanged part is smoothed off and beveled on the underside where it contacts the top of the bushing. It might allow for a lower KP by reducing the overall height of top washer/KP nut. Please let us know the results of your experimenting!

[swongolianbbq]

Came up with kind of an arbitrary baseline of setups to try that even out the proportions and stuff

Like a jump off point for tweaking it slightly


- 8" trucks, lows with wider wb(Venture low 5.2s)
- 7.75" to 8" deck, 14" wb
- 50mm wheels

- 8.5" trucks, Indy standard 149s
- 8.25" to 8.5" deck, 14.25" wb
- 52 to 54mm wheels

- 9" trucks, with 1/8" risers and shorter wb(stage 4 mfw)
- 9" deck, 14.5" wb
- 60mm wheels

Then you could tweak it like, Aces with 1/4" risers instead of stage 4s and 1/8" risers, or thunder 147s instead of venture lo 5.2s, bigger/smaller wheels, stuff like that

Trying to keep similar pop angles and stability while trying different stuff

Really though I was just curious to try a 14" wb and venture lows again for the first time in over 20 years

And I'm trying to figure out the dimensions for my next cruiser/rain/dirt board and find a balance where it feels similar to my regular board, last a long time with minimal maintenance and I can still do tricks on it

I was just thinking about how if your running bigger wheels the pop angle increases, so you could get a truck like aces to even it back out, and then if it turns to quick now, you can get a board with a longer wheelbase to even out the stability

Or like how a 7.75" with Indy standards might feel too tippy, so a lower truck makes sense. But then the pop angle is different, so the wheelbase needs to be wider on the trucks to get it back to normal. Then it might turn to sluggish for you so the 14" wheelbase brings it back in to even it out.

The thing though is that someone that's like 5'4" skating street might not like a 14.5 wb, but a bowl skater of the same height might like it just fine.

Or a 6'3" dude might not dig a 14" wb, so they get a longer board, but if it doesn't turn quick enough anymore they could slap some aces or stage 4s on it

It's funny how you can kinda make sense of it to get like, a standardized pop angle

Then there's the option to just lean in to whatever end of the spectrum, like say, ace lows for a lower pop angle, or venture highs for a steeper one, based on what you think you need

I dunno

[Sedition]

Well…I had a whole other door-to-Madness open up on me this afternoon that I never saw coming…

First, some quick background.

My long-standing DLX 8.25/14.38 been feeling real small to me, and my set-ups have been getting bigger. Been real happy with the LBL 8.75/14.5 for quite a while now.

Badly broke leg/ankle a while back. Two surgeries and hardware. Since then only been skating in Vans SK8-HI, because high-tops help cover-up (e.g. protect) the scar/hardware area on my ankle from direct board hits (BRUTAL when board hits me in the internal hardware area). 

So, back to this afternoon. Board was in car. Had no intention of skating today. Ended up with a little spare time, so took board out to tool-around on a curb for a bit. I did not have my SK8-HIs with me, but I was wearing low-top Old-Schools. And that’s when things started getting really, really weird.

SK8-HIs seem a bit “wider” than Old-Schools…and suddenly my board (the 8.75) seemed impossibly huge with these “tiny slippers” of Vans I was wearing. Was I really stressing over a shoe/board combo? Pre-ankle break, all I skated in was old-schools on the 8.25, which only started to feel small…once I started wearing SK8-HIs???

Has some of my board-size madness actually been a component of shoe madness that I never realized???

The world is on fire…and now this? ? ? ? 

[Mbrimson88]

Well…I had a whole other door-to-Madness open up on me this afternoon that I never saw coming…

The pairing of shoes and board is something that is often overlooked, but I think it does deserve a bit of consideration.

I used to always wear skate shoes in size 11 to skate in, then a mix of 11 and 12 for work (all still skate shoes, mostly Vans but some others too over the years) until I developed ingrown toenails, especially my right / back foot big toe nail, so then would wear 11.5 when I could get them but gave up and have pretty much just gone for 12 now.

At first they were way too big, some more than others, but then my board also started to feel small when I was in anything other than 11s, so I ended up going up a board size too - now around 8.5, or DLX 8.38, but also branched out to have 8.75 and others on the go too.  Maybe my foot shape has molded more to the bigger shoes, because they don't feel half as big as they used to, or maybe I am just more used to them, but flips are almost non existent in bigger shoes.

Some shoes will work way better on some width boards, some shoes just don't seem to work as well, so as I still have a lot of 11 and some 11.5 shoes, I skated in those today, in thin socks and everything on any board just felt so easy, balanced and the shoes felt thin enough to get a lot closer to the board.

Those same boards had felt almost awkward yesterday in some 12s of a different style, but both were still the regular Vans vulc soles, so there shouldn't have been much in it.


Long story short, yes different shoes will make a board feel way better, or not so good, maybe more so for some people, or even for what you want to skate, eg having a flat ground session in thicker shoes might be easier, having a transition session in thinner shoes might also be easier, but thin shoes when I am trying to do too much at a skatepark or street type stuff is just a bad combination usually.

I also wonder if the current state of the shoes makes much difference, eg newer shoes work better for more rolling around and not doing a whole lot of tech stuff, just nicely broken in shoes are best for the tech stuff, maybe a little more worn in for transition, but also sometimes well worn shoes with new grip on transition is good, but old shoes on street just hurts, unless I am only rolling round a carpark trying to break in new bushings or something similar.


* For you Sk8 Hi on bigger boards, Old Skools on smaller boards, might be the winning combination there, until the thinner shoes start causing too much pain to your old injury...  Who knows though!?!

[skateboarder4life]

Well…I had a whole other door-to-Madness open up on me this afternoon that I never saw coming…

First, some quick background.

My long-standing DLX 8.25/14.38 been feeling real small to me, and my set-ups have been getting bigger. Been real happy with the LBL 8.75/14.5 for quite a while now.

Badly broke leg/ankle a while back. Two surgeries and hardware. Since then only been skating in Vans SK8-HI, because high-tops help cover-up (e.g. protect) the scar/hardware area on my ankle from direct board hits (BRUTAL when board hits me in the internal hardware area). 

So, back to this afternoon. Board was in car. Had no intention of skating today. Ended up with a little spare time, so took board out to tool-around on a curb for a bit. I did not have my SK8-HIs with me, but I was wearing low-top Old-Schools. And that’s when things started getting really, really weird.

SK8-HIs seem a bit “wider” than Old-Schools…and suddenly my board (the 8.75) seemed impossibly huge with these “tiny slippers” of Vans I was wearing. Was I really stressing over a shoe/board combo? Pre-ankle break, all I skated in was old-schools on the 8.25, which only started to feel small…once I started wearing SK8-HIs???

Has some of my board-size madness actually been a component of shoe madness that I never realized???

The world is on fire…and now this? ? ? ?

i know you weren't really asking about this but every so often if my shins get real f'd up i protect them so they can heal better without worrying about opening up the scabs n crap. I use these deadlifting shin guards that really help. You can wear them low on your leg so you'd have protection even in low tops if you wanted to only wear lows. I like them better than soccer shin guards because they're more comfortable and they protect all the way around. it's just 5mm thick neoprene. you could even cut them to size if you don't need the full length of protection like if you just need to protect a little bit around your ankle.

[codswallop]

Expand Quote

Well…I had a whole other door-to-Madness open up on me this afternoon that I never saw coming…

[close]

The pairing of shoes and board is something that is often overlooked, but I think it does deserve a bit of consideration.

I used to always wear skate shoes in size 11 to skate in, then a mix of 11 and 12 for work (all still skate shoes, mostly Vans but some others too over the years) until I developed ingrown toenails, especially my right / back foot big toe nail, so then would wear 11.5 when I could get them but gave up and have pretty much just gone for 12 now.

At first they were way too big, some more than others, but then my board also started to feel small when I was in anything other than 11s, so I ended up going up a board size too - now around 8.5, or DLX 8.38, but also branched out to have 8.75 and others on the go too.  Maybe my foot shape has molded more to the bigger shoes, because they don't feel half as big as they used to, or maybe I am just more used to them, but flips are almost non existent in bigger shoes.

Some shoes will work way better on some width boards, some shoes just don't seem to work as well, so as I still have a lot of 11 and some 11.5 shoes, I skated in those today, in thin socks and everything on any board just felt so easy, balanced and the shoes felt thin enough to get a lot closer to the board.

Those same boards had felt almost awkward yesterday in some 12s of a different style, but both were still the regular Vans vulc soles, so there shouldn't have been much in it.


Long story short, yes different shoes will make a board feel way better, or not so good, maybe more so for some people, or even for what you want to skate, eg having a flat ground session in thicker shoes might be easier, having a transition session in thinner shoes might also be easier, but thin shoes when I am trying to do too much at a skatepark or street type stuff is just a bad combination usually.

I also wonder if the current state of the shoes makes much difference, eg newer shoes work better for more rolling around and not doing a whole lot of tech stuff, just nicely broken in shoes are best for the tech stuff, maybe a little more worn in for transition, but also sometimes well worn shoes with new grip on transition is good, but old shoes on street just hurts, unless I am only rolling round a carpark trying to break in new bushings or something similar.


* For you Sk8 Hi on bigger boards, Old Skools on smaller boards, might be the winning combination there, until the thinner shoes start causing too much pain to your old injury...  Who knows though!?!

...When I was fiddling with board sizes I was watching interviews of my fav pros describing their setup and I always wished (upon a star) they mentioned their shoe size. I gave up on finding that info and it felt weird trying to find it anyway lol

[camel filters]

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Well…I had a whole other door-to-Madness open up on me this afternoon that I never saw coming…

[close]

The pairing of shoes and board is something that is often overlooked, but I think it does deserve a bit of consideration.

I used to always wear skate shoes in size 11 to skate in, then a mix of 11 and 12 for work (all still skate shoes, mostly Vans but some others too over the years) until I developed ingrown toenails, especially my right / back foot big toe nail, so then would wear 11.5 when I could get them but gave up and have pretty much just gone for 12 now.

At first they were way too big, some more than others, but then my board also started to feel small when I was in anything other than 11s, so I ended up going up a board size too - now around 8.5, or DLX 8.38, but also branched out to have 8.75 and others on the go too.  Maybe my foot shape has molded more to the bigger shoes, because they don't feel half as big as they used to, or maybe I am just more used to them, but flips are almost non existent in bigger shoes.

Some shoes will work way better on some width boards, some shoes just don't seem to work as well, so as I still have a lot of 11 and some 11.5 shoes, I skated in those today, in thin socks and everything on any board just felt so easy, balanced and the shoes felt thin enough to get a lot closer to the board.

Those same boards had felt almost awkward yesterday in some 12s of a different style, but both were still the regular Vans vulc soles, so there shouldn't have been much in it.


Long story short, yes different shoes will make a board feel way better, or not so good, maybe more so for some people, or even for what you want to skate, eg having a flat ground session in thicker shoes might be easier, having a transition session in thinner shoes might also be easier, but thin shoes when I am trying to do too much at a skatepark or street type stuff is just a bad combination usually.

I also wonder if the current state of the shoes makes much difference, eg newer shoes work better for more rolling around and not doing a whole lot of tech stuff, just nicely broken in shoes are best for the tech stuff, maybe a little more worn in for transition, but also sometimes well worn shoes with new grip on transition is good, but old shoes on street just hurts, unless I am only rolling round a carpark trying to break in new bushings or something similar.


* For you Sk8 Hi on bigger boards, Old Skools on smaller boards, might be the winning combination there, until the thinner shoes start causing too much pain to your old injury...  Who knows though!?!

[close]

...When I was fiddling with board sizes I was watching interviews of my fav pros describing their setup and I always wished (upon a star) they mentioned their shoe size. I gave up on finding that info and it felt weird trying to find it anyway lol

I'll one up you and say I wished they gave their inseam length so I can correlate leg length along with shoe size to triangulate the ideal width and wheelbase.

[Jort250]

Generalization but I like smaller boards (7.75-8) with cupsoles and larger (to me) boards like 8.1-8.38 with vulcs/thinner shoes

[Boog]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Well…I had a whole other door-to-Madness open up on me this afternoon that I never saw coming…

[close]

The pairing of shoes and board is something that is often overlooked, but I think it does deserve a bit of consideration.

I used to always wear skate shoes in size 11 to skate in, then a mix of 11 and 12 for work (all still skate shoes, mostly Vans but some others too over the years) until I developed ingrown toenails, especially my right / back foot big toe nail, so then would wear 11.5 when I could get them but gave up and have pretty much just gone for 12 now.

At first they were way too big, some more than others, but then my board also started to feel small when I was in anything other than 11s, so I ended up going up a board size too - now around 8.5, or DLX 8.38, but also branched out to have 8.75 and others on the go too.  Maybe my foot shape has molded more to the bigger shoes, because they don't feel half as big as they used to, or maybe I am just more used to them, but flips are almost non existent in bigger shoes.

Some shoes will work way better on some width boards, some shoes just don't seem to work as well, so as I still have a lot of 11 and some 11.5 shoes, I skated in those today, in thin socks and everything on any board just felt so easy, balanced and the shoes felt thin enough to get a lot closer to the board.

Those same boards had felt almost awkward yesterday in some 12s of a different style, but both were still the regular Vans vulc soles, so there shouldn't have been much in it.


Long story short, yes different shoes will make a board feel way better, or not so good, maybe more so for some people, or even for what you want to skate, eg having a flat ground session in thicker shoes might be easier, having a transition session in thinner shoes might also be easier, but thin shoes when I am trying to do too much at a skatepark or street type stuff is just a bad combination usually.

I also wonder if the current state of the shoes makes much difference, eg newer shoes work better for more rolling around and not doing a whole lot of tech stuff, just nicely broken in shoes are best for the tech stuff, maybe a little more worn in for transition, but also sometimes well worn shoes with new grip on transition is good, but old shoes on street just hurts, unless I am only rolling round a carpark trying to break in new bushings or something similar.


* For you Sk8 Hi on bigger boards, Old Skools on smaller boards, might be the winning combination there, until the thinner shoes start causing too much pain to your old injury...  Who knows though!?!

[close]

...When I was fiddling with board sizes I was watching interviews of my fav pros describing their setup and I always wished (upon a star) they mentioned their shoe size. I gave up on finding that info and it felt weird trying to find it anyway lol

[close]

I'll one up you and say I wished they gave their inseam length so I can correlate leg length along with shoe size to triangulate the ideal width and wheelbase.

You can't even triangulate the ideal width and wheelbase for yourself. I don't think another person's inseam is gonna help you lol

[Richard Skidder]

@Sedition keep in mind that this could just be a one off situation and don’t go chasing waterfalls. Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used too.