Gear madness support thread

[Ok]

i don’t know this to be true, but to me it feels like folks are starting to size back down. i feel like i see more 8.25 truck based setups. dunno. 3-4 years ago i was seeing more 8.5 decks on 8.75 trucks.
maybe i’m off.

[rikki]

I've found a fairly madness-free realm for in the DLX 8.5 x 14.25.

Willing to skate other shapes as well, both narrower and wider. It's not like I suffer too much from trying different decks. It's just good to know there's at least one happy place for me I can go back to.

Main giveaways from the deck madness years:

- Decks over 32" in length don't really work for me

- The tail has to be on the shorter side (or at least under 6.75")

- With regards to concave, I'd rather have more than less. Flat decks are terrible for me.

- Indy and Venture will suffice. If the deck wb is less than 14.25, I opt for Venture. Mostly Indy otherwise.

- Wb 14.5 or over? Preferrably not. The goldielocks zone for me seems to be 14.25 to 14.38.

[Sedition]

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@Mbrimson88 and @munchbox

Black Label 8.75/14.5  |  159 Cast  |  53mm Classics

Among all the set-ups I’ve ridden over the last 1.5 years, this was the one I kept coming back to. I’ve basically tried everything from the 9”/15” Orange Eagle down to 8.25”/14”, and I kept returning to that 8.75/14.5 Black Label. Over and over.

[close]

Nice!!!

I always find it funny (in a good way) that you have always stuck with the 53 mm Classics, even with other options and sizes and everything else in different decks, trucks, etc.

The rest of what you said re 8.25 boards is exactly how I feel about the 8.125 black eagles - had so many and rode them for a long, long time on 139s, then 144s, but then in trying other boards, I just moved on and that shape just feels too small now, even though I have a few of my old setups at the shop / indoor park for people to skate.

As to the new setup, I can definitely see how appealing that is, for the board width, shape and wheelbase and a good solid ride - got a few very similar around and have done for a while now (DLX 8.75 with slightly modified back truck, so I bring the Indy standards in to make the wheelbase between 14.4 - 14.5 and have a slightly longer tail).

The one I am currently riding a bit more than anything though is a DLX 8.75 with stock Thunder T-II 151 trucks and 54 mm wheels (Radial Full, now Classic Full) with a small version of that if I want a little more fun, DLX 8.38 with Thunder T-II 149s and 52 - 53 mm wheels (Classics taken down from 55 or so, with more a Classic Full shape too) and both just work so well, it is nice not having to really do anything to the deck or trucks for a change.

Not sure if I had to choose which one I would go with, as they both are really good, but if it was a "retirement board" I think the 8.75 would be it, over the 8.38 size setup.


* I am seeing / selling more 8.75 decks than any other size now I think, so it is crazy how many people are riding bigger boards - all adults, no kids, but still when the board size was 8.0, then 8.25, then 8.38 or even 8.5, having 8.75 as the most common size I am moving, it is a funny thing to consider in the timeline of skateboard evolution.

52mm always just felt too slow to me. I skate a good amount of transition, too, and 52mm just feel gross with/for coping interaction. I actually rode 54mm when I had the DLX 8.75 set up. Something about that deck just wanted a slightly bigger wheel. Overall, the wb on that deck (DLX 8.75) was too long for me. Any time I had to a trick where feet are on both nose and tail at same time, my stance started to feel too wide and unstable. I did like that board best with T-2 and 54mm wheels, though (that might sound familiar to you!). The LBL 8.75 is basically just the DLX 8.75 with a slightly shorter WB and nose. And crazy you are moving more 8.75s!

I do have one other thing on the way, but it's def more of a pure curiosity thing than a madness thing---Slappy utra-low inverted. Hearing too much good things about them, and I do a ton of feeble/smith grinds, so kind of have to give them a try. Will report back after I've given them a solid go.

[Sedition]

The goldielocks zone for me seems to be 14.25 to 14.38.

I wish more 14.38" wb decks were made. It's such a good one.

[Sandwich Marty]

i don’t know this to be true, but to me it feels like folks are starting to size back down. i feel like i see more 8.25 truck based setups. dunno. 3-4 years ago i was seeing more 8.5 decks on 8.75 trucks.
maybe i’m off.

8.75 trucks really lost their appeal to me over the last year. I think I had some lock in fulls on and went to grab my board one day and thought “this looks like a vert board” and ever since then I’ve been kinda turned off. Back on classics and 8.5 trucks

[Sedition]

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i don’t know this to be true, but to me it feels like folks are starting to size back down. i feel like i see more 8.25 truck based setups. dunno. 3-4 years ago i was seeing more 8.5 decks on 8.75 trucks.
maybe i’m off.

[close]

8.75 trucks really lost their appeal to me over the last year. I think I had some lock in fulls on and went to grab my board one day and thought “this looks like a vert board” and ever since then I’ve been kinda turned off. Back on classics and 8.5 trucks

It's not the trucks. It's those snow-tires you have on them.

[bluedohdohs]

Hey i like my lock in fulls haha been about a month with them
I was thinking the wider contact patch feels real good on rougher ground but honestly i kick pushed on my homies board that has 101d classics and i really couldn’t tell the difference at all
I’m too broke rn to buy a freshie so my homie gave me a fresh 8.25 14” WB big ass nose Pennswood board…. I think I’ve decided i miss my lil boat haha idc if it’s razor tailed to shit I might just put it back on. (8.5 Theories BBS/Clutch 14.5 wb)

i do like the short wb but i felt like i couldn’t get my flip tricks high and they just flipped too fast (messed up my kick,heel, and front shuv in a game of skate 😭) but tre flips felt good landed 3 in a row in the middle of the game so that felt sick
I wish i knew what my Theories wood was really enjoying that board. Anyone know if it says on the top? Don’t wanna peel this grip off again lol

Fuck it decided I’m switching back to my old deck tomorrow haha

[Sedition]

...i miss my lil boat haha idc if it’s razor tailed to shit...

Beware the doom! Friend just got 12 stitches in his Achilles from a razor-tailed shark bite!

[bluedohdohs]

Fuck that’s terrifying 😭 might try the wood glue thing Fuck that haha
Need to take a couple weeks off and heal anyways
Hopefully by then i can go buy a freshie lol

[swongolianbbq]

Checked in on the madness and we're still good

I do not regret switching to 144s from 149s

Wheel size and shape doesn't matter as much to me anymore, got it kinda dialed in

52 to 54mm classics, skate them till they're 3mm smaller and pass them on

If I'm running an 8.5" deck with the 144s, I could see myself trying some 54mm radial fulls to even out the magic carpet effect and slightly sharper wheel radius and have a really manageable mini monster truck. I've been thinking about doing my new shit weather cruiser with the same trucks and 56mm g-slides, so I would have some practice on wheels like that already, weighted baseball bat style - slap some 52mm classics on for the skatepark where I don't need big wheels cause it's all nice concrete anyway

With the 144s I can fuck around with more deck shapes available in 14" wb whereas with the 149s a 14" wb after 8.25 is much harder to find in the boards i like

The weight of these standard Indy 144s feels right

The only 144s I tried beforehand were the hollow ones, I think they were forged too and I did not like them at all, but this time with the standards I'm feeling really good about them. Also really digging the blue conical bushings. I feel like all the madness and speculation paid off. Slightly narrower trucks, different bushings, and slightly shorter wheelbase were just what the doctor ordered

I wanna try that 8.38" x 14" wb True Fit board, seems perfect.

[Sandwich Marty]

Almost gave this new board away after two awful back to back sessions. It’s an 8.38 but it’s like 31” long with a 14” WB which is shorter than I’m used to in both regards. Didn’t think it would be a huge deal when I got it and figured I could just run Indy’s on it and be fine… but I was wrong. Couldn’t kickflip, manuals weren’t working and everything just felt squirrelly and out of my control.

In an effort to save the board I said fuck it I’ll try going back to thunders and see if it makes a difference. Went home, swapped em on, went back to the park and had one of the better sessions I’ve had in weeks.

Sometimes I think the madness is all in our heads and that you can adapt to almost any setup and skate fine if you stick with it, but goddamnit those few extra mm from the thunders were the difference between feeling like shit and being absolutely locked in on my board.

[Sedition]

...but goddamnit those few extra mm from..

MMater.

[rikki]

Regarding 8.25 vs. 8.5 trucks – it's funny how for me both 144 and 149 Indys go fine with 8.25 to 8.5 decks – currently enjoying 149s on an 8.5 but could well ride 144s no problem.

Then again on Ventures, 5.6s feel awesome on anything from 8.125 to 8.5 decks, but 5.8s feel just completely strange and too hefty for my taste even on an 8.5 deck.

Main point being that the difference in feel between 5.8 Vents and 149 Indys is huge compared to 5.6 Vents and 144 Indys.

Am I alone with this?

[Schinken]

I've noticed the exact same thing with venture 5.6 vs 5.8.
Some time ago I got myself a set of 5.6 ventures just because they were on sale. I tried them and they were much more manageable than my 5.8s. I even wondered if they have the same geometry. I really liked the 5.6 even on a 14.5 wheelbase

[Ok]

i’ve had an obviously cooked idea that goes something like:

ventures feel like the next size up compared to indy’s. i rode 5.0 lo’s off and on forever. something about the height, wb effects, pop….i dunno, but indy 139s with a 52-54 wheel were an easy scaling up for many. ventures just ‘ride bigger’ or something something.
i have enjoyed 5.8s, but only on smallers/shorter boards. 6.1s the same.

[Slave IV]

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...i miss my lil boat haha idc if it’s razor tailed to shit...

[close]

Beware the doom! Friend just got 12 stitches in his Achilles from a razor-tailed shark bite!

And just like that, you convinced me to retire my razored deck that ironically, I was going to retire but seemed to breathe new life into with the T-IIs I put on it.

Meanwhile, some interesting Venture talk. Never rode  Venture before but I have a set of 5.6 waiting to go on my next setup and I like hearing that they seem to ride a size bigger since I almost went with 5.8. Although, it’s making me wonder if I should have went with 5.2lo. Will madness ensue?

[rikki]

i’ve had an obviously cooked idea that goes something like:

ventures feel like the next size up compared to indy’s. i rode 5.0 lo’s off and on forever. something about the height, wb effects, pop….i dunno, but indy 139s with a 52-54 wheel were an easy scaling up for many. ventures just ‘ride bigger’ or something something.
i have enjoyed 5.8s, but only on smallers/shorter boards. 6.1s the same.

I think you're onto something there. The 5.8s could probably be great with an 8.75 or bigger deck.

[rikki]

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...i miss my lil boat haha idc if it’s razor tailed to shit...

[close]

Beware the doom! Friend just got 12 stitches in his Achilles from a razor-tailed shark bite!

[close]

And just like that, you convinced me to retire my razored deck that ironically, I was going to retire but seemed to breathe new life into with the T-IIs I put on it.

Meanwhile, some interesting Venture talk. Never rode  Venture before but I have a set of 5.6 waiting to go on my next setup and I like hearing that they seem to ride a size bigger since I almost went with 5.8. Although, it’s making me wonder if I should have went with 5.2lo. Will madness ensue?

What's your deck width and wb? Cast 5.6 are one of my fave trucks ever. You'll probably like them a lot.

[Slave IV]

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...i miss my lil boat haha idc if it’s razor tailed to shit...

[close]

Beware the doom! Friend just got 12 stitches in his Achilles from a razor-tailed shark bite!

[close]

And just like that, you convinced me to retire my razored deck that ironically, I was going to retire but seemed to breathe new life into with the T-IIs I put on it.

Meanwhile, some interesting Venture talk. Never rode  Venture before but I have a set of 5.6 waiting to go on my next setup and I like hearing that they seem to ride a size bigger since I almost went with 5.8. Although, it’s making me wonder if I should have went with 5.2lo. Will madness ensue?

[close]

What's your deck width and wb? Cast 5.6 are one of my fave trucks ever. You'll probably like them a lot.

8.125/14.125
It might be a while before I set it up but looking forward to it!

[swongolianbbq]

Interesting, it's like since the weight is further out, it feels different and you can counter it by skating a size down...

[DirtCat]

I keep trying different trucks, but all I really want to skate are Stage 11s.  I keep trying inverted kingpins but they never feel right because I can't set the nut flush and tell myself that's the right amount of loose.  I keep trying different shoes but end up coming back to Vans Skate shoes.

I think all this consumerism and madness helped in the end?

[rikki]

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...i miss my lil boat haha idc if it’s razor tailed to shit...

[close]

Beware the doom! Friend just got 12 stitches in his Achilles from a razor-tailed shark bite!

[close]

And just like that, you convinced me to retire my razored deck that ironically, I was going to retire but seemed to breathe new life into with the T-IIs I put on it.

Meanwhile, some interesting Venture talk. Never rode  Venture before but I have a set of 5.6 waiting to go on my next setup and I like hearing that they seem to ride a size bigger since I almost went with 5.8. Although, it’s making me wonder if I should have went with 5.2lo. Will madness ensue?

[close]

What's your deck width and wb? Cast 5.6 are one of my fave trucks ever. You'll probably like them a lot.

[close]

8.125/14.125
It might be a while before I set it up but looking forward to it!

Should be perfect.

[moykky]

Regarding 8.25 vs. 8.5 trucks – it's funny how for me both 144 and 149 Indys go fine with 8.25 to 8.5 decks – currently enjoying 149s on an 8.5 but could well ride 144s no problem.

Then again on Ventures, 5.6s feel awesome on anything from 8.125 to 8.5 decks, but 5.8s feel just completely strange and too hefty for my taste even on an 8.5 deck.

Main point being that the difference in feel between 5.8 Vents and 149 Indys is huge compared to 5.6 Vents and 144 Indys.

Am I alone with this?

Venture lows (narrow) are one of the most beautiful trucks in my opinion. The proportions of the "wings" are good. Venture Hi's, the proportions change and especially 5.8 upwards they are too hefty and look bad in my opinion. Like they draw a direct line from end of the hanger to pivot cup and with the height and width, it just looks bad and adds weight... 
I'm not qualified to criticize how they skate  

[tzhangdox]

Yeah, venture lows are the best looking truck ever. Unfortunately they're a super niche truck with lots of drawbacks. I'm on 5.8 highs but once in a while I wish I could make the lows work, would feel really sick

[Mbrimson88]

.

Re Venture lows, they have that nice look on 8 or 8.1 type boards, with small wheels and always remind me of the super tech era.

Then the funny thing is on 8.75 or a bit wider, the Venture 6.1 especially on forged baseplates actually look really proportional to me, especially with wider wheels that have worn down some, as everything is very minimally scaled up.

I should take a pic of those two boards side by side, as I have both as completes somewhere.


Maybe for a big skater, the bigger board might look a bit more normal too, compared to the small tech board for a small person.

[Ok]

Yeah, venture lows are the best looking truck ever. Unfortunately they're a super niche truck with lots of drawbacks. I'm on 5.8 highs but once in a while I wish I could make the lows work, would feel really sick

venture lo’s are the best looking truck. the older ones looked even better imo.
the version 1 of ace trucks also looked very cool imo.
5.8s look good to me, 5.2 hi’s look silly ish. something about the height to width looks better, to me, on the wider sizes.

looks aside, venture lo’s are great, particularly the 5.0s. skating a max 7.75 gets kinda beat.
as does skating 50s, kinda harsh.
but. flatground, going slow, talking shit with the group whilst smoking cigarettes are some of the best memories in my life.

[swongolianbbq]

I love the venture low 5.2s so much

Was my first truck

I definitely think there's something to height/width ratio

I figured a range of what height works for what truck and came up with basically some wheel sizes and truck sizes that I think work well for their dimensions

Venture / thunder low 7.625" - 46 to 48mm wheels
Venture / thunder low 8" - 49 to 51mm wheels

Pretty much any mid or high truck ~8.375" - 52 to 54mm wheels

Ace / stg 4 ~8.75" + 1/8" risers - 55 to 57mm wheels
Ace / stg 4 ~9.125" + 1/4" risers - 58 to 60mm wheels

Obviously you can give or take here and there with this, like you can run 57mm wheels without risers on indys just fine, or say 56's on an 8.25" truck for example

But I definitely feel there's a sweet spot with proportions

[Hqjdncm]

I love the venture low 5.2s so much

Was my first truck

I definitely think there's something to height/width ratio

I figured a range of what height works for what truck and came up with basically some wheel sizes and truck sizes that I think work well for their dimensions

Venture / thunder low 7.625" - 46 to 48mm wheels
Venture / thunder low 8" - 49 to 51mm wheels

Pretty much any mid or high truck ~8.375" - 52 to 54mm wheels

Ace / stg 4 ~8.75" + 1/8" risers - 55 to 57mm wheels
Ace / stg 4 ~9.125" + 1/4" risers - 58 to 60mm wheels

Obviously you can give or take here and there with this, like you can run 57mm wheels without risers on indys just fine, or say 56's on an 8.25" truck for example

But I definitely feel there's a sweet spot with proportions

I think 56mm with Indy’s is proportionally good looking and skates well too no need for risers for me. Even as my Indy’s have broken in and feel more loose I still have so much turn before wheel bite

[Rick Trapasso]

Where is the line between just swapping gear or trying something new and indulging in madness?

Is it just the attitude towards it? Like not thinking your current setup is fucked and keeping your from skating to your abilities but instead just having curiosity?

But eventually that can lead to full blown madness if you're just switching everything all the time right?

I'm good with my setup currently, really. No desire to switch from a performance standpoint, I'm under no illusion that different trucks are gonna make me a measurably better skater.

My curiosity is just around shit I haven't tried, never owned Slappy's or T2s. And with decks I'm beginning to want to try something different things just to keep things fresh. No real reason other than that. At least 32" long, at least, 14.38 wb, and somewhere between 8.38-8.6 width. Hell I would even try a shaped deck. Wheels are pretty set between 54-56mm classics maybe radials sometimes?

Again, everything is fine with my current setup, and I'm def not going out and buying anything to hoard in the mean time. I feel like trucks are more of a commitment because they last so long, and I do want to get away from buying things I don't get the full life out of. But being open to the idea of trying other shit made me start to ask these questions.

Edit: after further thought, I feel like just trying someone else's  setup with 8.5 Slappy's/T2s on a similar enough deck size would probably be enough to scratch that itch. Though I don't know anyone with them or I probably would have already. Trucks are definitely a longer commitment and I don't wanna buy something I might not get the use out of. Maybe once my Indys are cooked I would consider trying something different, but I'm not sure I'd really wanna make that big of a change for so long.

And as far as decks go, I feel like switching it up within known good parameters is fine. As long as you are getting most of the life out of them and aren't doing so in some sort of attempt to "solve" something or "fix" a perceived issue with your setup. As long as it's just rooted in keeping things fresh for the sake of it and you're not jumping all over the place in dimensions, you're fine.

[Sedition]

Where is the line between just swapping gear or trying something new and indulging in madness?

Is it just the attitude towards it? Like not thinking your current setup is fucked and keeping your from skating to your abilities but instead just having curiosity?

But eventually that can lead to full blown madness if you're just switching everything all the time right?

I'm good with my setup currently, really. No desire to switch from a performance standpoint, I'm under no illusion that different trucks are gonna make me a measurably better skater.

My curiosity is just around shit I haven't tried, never owned Slappy's or T2s. And with decks I'm beginning to want to try something different things just to keep things fresh. No real reason other than that. At least 32" long, at least, 14.38 wb, and somewhere between 8.38-8.6 width. Hell I would even try a shaped deck. Wheels are pretty set between 54-56mm classics maybe radials sometimes?

Again, everything is fine with my current setup, and I'm def not going out and buying anything to hoard in the mean time. I feel like trucks are more of a commitment because they last so long, and I do want to get away from buying things I don't get the full life out of. But being open to the idea of trying other shit made me start to ask these questions.

Edit: after further thought, I feel like just trying someone else's  setup with 8.5 Slappy's/T2s on a similar enough deck size would probably be enough to scratch that itch. Though I don't know anyone with them or I probably would have already. Trucks are definitely a longer commitment and I don't wanna buy something I might not get the use out of. Maybe once my Indys are cooked I would consider trying something different, but I'm not sure I'd really wanna make that big of a change for so long.

And as far as decks go, I feel like switching it up within known good parameters is fine. As long as you are getting most of the life out of them and aren't doing so in some sort of attempt to "solve" something or "fix" a perceived issue with your setup. As long as it's just rooted in keeping things fresh for the sake of it and you're not jumping all over the place in dimensions, you're fine.

I’m sure we could debate the definition of “gear madness” into, well, madness, but I’d say a working definition of Madness is “chasing nuance in pursuit of perfection.”