Gear madness support thread

[swongolianbbq]

There's an 8.25 Jacuzzi complete with ventures at a store near me for $40

That'll be fun to mess around on and then give to a kid

I can check out ventures again in a "just for fun" setting lol

[Sandwich Marty]

There's an 8.25 Jacuzzi complete with ventures at a store near me for $40

That'll be fun to mess around on and then give to a kid

I can check out ventures again in a "just for fun" setting lol

That’s how it begins and you know it

Venture is the only (worthwhile) truck I haven’t tried in years because I know they’ll just add to the madness. I know a lot of people swear by them but I’m already in too deep with thunder/indy/ace

[moonordie]

Expand Quote

There's an 8.25 Jacuzzi complete with ventures at a store near me for $40

That'll be fun to mess around on and then give to a kid

I can check out ventures again in a "just for fun" setting lol

[close]

That’s how it begins and you know it

Venture is the only (worthwhile) truck I haven’t tried in years because I know they’ll just add to the madness. I know a lot of people swear by them but I’m already in too deep with thunder/indy/ace

But you could get even deeper with thunder/Indy/ace/venture 😏

[rikki]

Once you try Ventures, they'll be part of your life for good. You'll be noticing them in pro parts and Insta clips. When riding other trucks and struggling with a trick, you'll be occasionally thinking "how would Ventures perform here?" When struggling with wheelbite with other trucks, you'll be thinking of the stability of Ventures. When struggling with pop, you'll think "could I ollie higher with Ventures?".

Eventually you'll buy a Venture t-shirt.

[moykky]

Once you try Ventures, they'll be part of your life for good. You'll be noticing them in pro parts and Insta clips. When riding other trucks and struggling with a trick, you'll be occasionally thinking "how would Ventures perform here?" When struggling with wheelbite with other trucks, you'll be thinking of the stability of Ventures. When struggling with pop, you'll think "could I ollie higher with Ventures?".

Eventually you'll buy a Venture t-shirt.

[Texas_Tone]

I let the truck madness in, got a pair of OG thunders coming in, haven’t skated a pair since I bought the flip neon Apple complete from active ridershop, have been enjoying my T2s but wanted to see if I could skate the originals for some reason, I’ve been skating the DSM EX7 boards so I’m hoping the steep kicks and OG thunders  pair well, will be keeping the T2s in case but I’ll prolly move them to a cruiser setup

[standfast]

Does anyone have any recommendation for light weight trucks that are 52mm hieight or so and for an 8 inch board? I'm normally an indy user but the indy mid's are too heavy but I love how they work when not popping the board.

[GardenSkater77]

Does anyone have any recommendation for light weight trucks that are 52mm hieight or so and for an 8 inch board? I'm normally an indy user but the indy mid's are too heavy but I love how they work when not popping the board.

Ace AF hollow 33 will reduce the weight 40 gram per truck with similar turn.
https://mesaskatesupply.com/products/ace-af1-hollow-skateboard-truck-polished?variant=40769454997563

[Texas_Tone]

Expand Quote

Does anyone have any recommendation for light weight trucks that are 52mm hieight or so and for an 8 inch board? I'm normally an indy user but the indy mid's are too heavy but I love how they work when not popping the board.

[close]

Ace AF hollow 33 will reduce the weight 40 gram per truck with similar turn.
https://mesaskatesupply.com/products/ace-af1-hollow-skateboard-truck-polished?variant=40769454997563

Maybe the Lows??

[swongolianbbq]

Does anyone have any recommendation for light weight trucks that are 52mm hieight or so and for an 8 inch board? I'm normally an indy user but the indy mid's are too heavy but I love how they work when not popping the board.

Thunder makes some super light trucks

The 8.25" ones are ~51mm or 52-point-something  tall depending on if you get forged or cast baseplates and line up nicely on an 8" board as long as you're not using super wide wheels

The 8" ones you could use a riser with to get it to 52-ish mm tall

Different thunder sizes have different heights and the 145 and 147 are lower than 148, 149, and 151, and the forged ones are lower than the cast ones

The more I say "thunder" the more I realize it's a funny-ass word

Maybe Venture v-hollows or forged titanium indys

[DNTRODDEN]

Expand Quote

Does anyone have any recommendation for light weight trucks that are 52mm hieight or so and for an 8 inch board? I'm normally an indy user but the indy mid's are too heavy but I love how they work when not popping the board.

[close]

Thunder makes some super light trucks

The 8.25" ones are ~51mm or 52-point-something  tall depending on if you get forged or cast baseplates and line up nicely on an 8" board as long as you're not using super wide wheels

The 8" ones you could use a riser with to get it to 52-ish mm tall

Different thunder sizes have different heights and the 145 and 147 are lower than 148, 149, and 151, and the forged ones are lower than the cast ones

The more I say "thunder" the more I realize it's a funny-ass word

Maybe Venture v-hollows or forged titanium indys

Beat me too the punch on the Thunder Team light/hollow light editions, or even the TI Light 3s, but I think those are closer to 50mm than 52mm

[Slave IV]

Does anyone have any recommendation for light weight trucks that are 52mm hieight or so and for an 8 inch board? I'm normally an indy user but the indy mid's are too heavy but I love how they work when not popping the board.

I haven't tried them but when I was comparing some options, Royals are 52 mm high and have Ultralight option that I think are the same height and generally around the same weight as comparable Thunders.

[Thebird]

Expand Quote

Does anyone have any recommendation for light weight trucks that are 52mm hieight or so and for an 8 inch board? I'm normally an indy user but the indy mid's are too heavy but I love how they work when not popping the board.

[close]

I haven't tried them but when I was comparing some options, Royals are 52 mm high and have Ultralight option that I think are the same height and generally around the same weight as comparable Thunders.

I second this.  If you like Indy mids but want something lighter, give the Royals a try.  I think you'll adjust really quickly so long as you don't mind loose bushings, but there are alternatives if you check the Royal thread.

[swongolianbbq]

As far as my own madness goes

It's been chill for a while

I went back to dry, shieldless bearings

Even with just a single drop of oil, or straight out of the box, I just didn't like the sound. And I already skate softer wheels most of the time and that changes the sound too

I know it's better for the bearings, 100%, to have the shields on

I just can't do it. I know it's dumb but I need my board to sound dry and rattley

Pretty certain I'm gonna stick with 54mm classics, but 53s are great too, and I'm not against 52s. But I figure for consistency I'll probably just stay with 54s. Maaybe 53s. And not 52s. And no bigheads or anything. Just gonna stick to classics.

Switching from Indy 149s to 144s has been the most impactful and I'm really hyped on it. My board still looks like "my board" and everything. It makes 54mm wheels look bigger though. When they wear down a bit they'll look right.  Also went from hollow standards to standards and I'm loving that too.

I tried a bunch of different bushing shit. I can definitely just skate stock Indy bushings just fine. But I was looking for a certain sound and feeling from my setup and I'm pretty dead-set on just swapping the top bushing to a 96a bones hardcore bushing and leaving everything else stock, same washers and bottom bushing. So far that's working out really great and I like the look of the orange stock bottom bushing, anything other than that looks "off" to me. I liked the medium bones bushings on top too, but they aren't as durable.

I wish I could skate bearings with the shields on, and stock bushings. It's cool to be able to just slap your shit together without a thought.

I used to think all the tinkering was cool though, like some secret knowledge

So I guess I'll meet halfway. I'm not gonna get TOO weird with my board, but the sound, feel, and look of it are important to me

So popping the shields and putting bones top bushings in is pretty easy. It's not like I'm spending tons of money or using power tools. Mixing and matching titanium hangers to standard baseplates, mixing two different kinds of aftermarket bushings, cutting/sanding... Nothing wrong with that and I've tried it all, I just want to keep it as simple as I can. Board feels more alive to me with no shields and those bones top bushings.

I'm gonna stick to this setup. I'll check in on my birthday next year to see if I've made it a year madness-free. It might devolve into shoes or boards but I've never really cared about those as much. My new rules on it are just stick to something like, 8.125 to 8.5, 14.25" wb or less

Edit

The madness strikes back

I realized I could get twice as many bones top bushings by just cutting down the bottom bushings

Couldn't find my hacksaw so I decided to use a cutting wheel on a dremel

Speck of molten bushing hit my in the lip because I started cutting on the side that would fling debris at me like a dumbass

At least I was wearing safety glasses

I stuck it on an old baseplate's kingpin to do this and it worked well. Finished by sanding it in circles on top of an old broken board

[swongolianbbq]

And we're back

Cut down another set of bones bottom bushings into bones top bushings, this time with my hacksaw and it looks a lot cleaner and basically just like new top bushings

Sanded down the first ones I did the other day into a low version to use with my old trucks that have cut-down kingpins and it's great.


The madness things I'm thinking about now are

139 standards with like, 50, 51, or 52mm spitfire classics. Probably gonna do the extra axle washer on the inside trick. Still gonna just use whatever boards. Red ovals, blue ovals, blue eagles, true fits, BBS blanks, baker OGs, flights. 14.25 or less wb, 8" to 8.5" width.

My Indy 144s look just right with 53/54mm wheels, but they start to look super wide when I got 52s on em. Same with when I was running 53/54s on 149s, it made my trucks look massive. 55s, 56s, and 58s look really good on 149s in my eyes. Maybe with indys being so tall and just using spitfire classics affects the way I see it, or I've just completely lost my mind

And I'm gonna try bones bushings again but using both the top and bottom this time and a conical Indy bottom washer, instead of the combo I have been doing. I wanna see how that feels or how long that bottom bushing is actually gonna last. I might try it without a bottom washer as recommended but I hate the way it looks without regular silver cup washers top and bottom

So yeah

Indy 144 or 149 standard with spitfire 53 or 54mm classics is still madness home base if I get lost

 I've already spent a lot of time in the last ten years with 159s, 169s, and 56, 58, and 60mm wheels, even trying conical and radial shapes, and a ton of different board shapes, so I think it makes sense that now I want to explore the other end with 139s and 50-52mm wheels, see what that baker 3 setup is all about again

[Sandwich Marty]

 I cured the truck madness today. Showed up with two setups to the park as I have been the last several months since I can’t choose between ace and thunder. There was a little kid who was at the park, probably 7 or 8 years old with his uncle who was just watching him. The little kid was ripping (for his age) but I noticed his whole setup was like 20 years old. Massively fishtailed on both ends, chipped, with the remaining grip curled around the edges. Spraypainted and rusted out ventures. Crusty old wheels. Looked like it lived in an outdoor shed since 2005. So I approached his uncle and asked if he needed a new board and gave him my whole complete. No more madness. The kid was hyped and took to the board right away. He skated with my kid and got her hyped to try to learn ollies, she usually scoots. Just feels good all around. No more madness.

[Obijuan91]

I cured the truck madness today. Showed up with two setups to the park as I have been the last several months since I can’t choose between ace and thunder. There was a little kid who was at the park, probably 7 or 8 years old with his uncle who was just watching him. The little kid was ripping (for his age) but I noticed his whole setup was like 20 years old. Massively fishtailed on both ends, chipped, with the remaining grip curled around the edges. Spraypainted and rusted out ventures. Crusty old wheels. Looked like it lived in an outdoor shed since 2005. So I approached his uncle and asked if he needed a new board and gave him my whole complete. No more madness. The kid was hyped and took to the board right away. He skated with my kid and got her hyped to try to learn ollies, she usually scoots. Just feels good all around. No more madness.

Which one did you keep o.O

[Sandwich Marty]

Expand Quote

I cured the truck madness today. Showed up with two setups to the park as I have been the last several months since I can’t choose between ace and thunder. There was a little kid who was at the park, probably 7 or 8 years old with his uncle who was just watching him. The little kid was ripping (for his age) but I noticed his whole setup was like 20 years old. Massively fishtailed on both ends, chipped, with the remaining grip curled around the edges. Spraypainted and rusted out ventures. Crusty old wheels. Looked like it lived in an outdoor shed since 2005. So I approached his uncle and asked if he needed a new board and gave him my whole complete. No more madness. The kid was hyped and took to the board right away. He skated with my kid and got her hyped to try to learn ollies, she usually scoots. Just feels good all around. No more madness.

[close]

Which one did you keep o.O

I gave him the thunder setup. As much as I enjoyed them for their stability, I just don’t do as much tech skating anymore. I think that was my hang up to begin with, realizing that the older I get the more I just enjoy doing more basic shit and the feeling of swerving around, popping in and out. When I’d skate thunders I had this voice in the back of my head that said “you still got it, you’re not too old” and that would turn into me battling some shit on a ledge for an hour & a half getting frustrated.

[Obijuan91]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

I cured the truck madness today. Showed up with two setups to the park as I have been the last several months since I can’t choose between ace and thunder. There was a little kid who was at the park, probably 7 or 8 years old with his uncle who was just watching him. The little kid was ripping (for his age) but I noticed his whole setup was like 20 years old. Massively fishtailed on both ends, chipped, with the remaining grip curled around the edges. Spraypainted and rusted out ventures. Crusty old wheels. Looked like it lived in an outdoor shed since 2005. So I approached his uncle and asked if he needed a new board and gave him my whole complete. No more madness. The kid was hyped and took to the board right away. He skated with my kid and got her hyped to try to learn ollies, she usually scoots. Just feels good all around. No more madness.

[close]

Which one did you keep o.O

[close]

I gave him the thunder setup. As much as I enjoyed them for their stability, I just don’t do as much tech skating anymore. I think that was my hang up to begin with, realizing that the older I get the more I just enjoy doing more basic shit and the feeling of swerving around, popping in and out. When I’d skate thunders I had this voice in the back of my head that said “you still got it, you’re not too old” and that would turn into me battling some shit on a ledge for an hour & a half getting frustrated.

I respect it lol I’m on the opposite kick trying to embrace thunders cuz I don’t go hard in transition for the surfy type lol right on tho

[surfjunior]

Ended up switching to an 8" setup and have been skating that size for a month now, I can confidently say that ive found a size that proportionate to my size and stature.

Im def having some truck madness again, I was skating indy forged hollows but I switched to venture 5.2 hi a couple of days ago. I got so sick of how "twitchy" the indys felt when doing anything other than slappies. But I cant shake the feeling that a pleb like me shouldn't be using a tech skater truck.

Anyways thats where im at with my gear madness. Might try messing around with bushing setups next.

[Slave IV]

Ended up switching to an 8" setup and have been skating that size for a month now, I can confidently say that ive found a size that proportionate to my size and stature.

Im def having some truck madness again, I was skating indy forged hollows but I switched to venture 5.2 hi a couple of days ago. I got so sick of how "twitchy" the indys felt when doing anything other than slappies. But I cant shake the feeling that a pleb like me shouldn't be using a tech skater truck.

Anyways thats where im at with my gear madness. Might try messing around with bushing setups next.

Slappys

[GashBandicoot]

And we're back

Cut down another set of bones bottom bushings into bones top bushings, this time with my hacksaw and it looks a lot cleaner and basically just like new top bushings

Sanded down the first ones I did the other day into a low version to use with my old trucks that have cut-down kingpins and it's great.


The madness things I'm thinking about now are

139 standards with like, 50, 51, or 52mm spitfire classics. Probably gonna do the extra axle washer on the inside trick. Still gonna just use whatever boards. Red ovals, blue ovals, blue eagles, true fits, BBS blanks, baker OGs, flights. 14.25 or less wb, 8" to 8.5" width.

My Indy 144s look just right with 53/54mm wheels, but they start to look super wide when I got 52s on em. Same with when I was running 53/54s on 149s, it made my trucks look massive. 55s, 56s, and 58s look really good on 149s in my eyes. Maybe with indys being so tall and just using spitfire classics affects the way I see it, or I've just completely lost my mind

And I'm gonna try bones bushings again but using both the top and bottom this time and a conical Indy bottom washer, instead of the combo I have been doing. I wanna see how that feels or how long that bottom bushing is actually gonna last. I might try it without a bottom washer as recommended but I hate the way it looks without regular silver cup washers top and bottom

So yeah

Indy 144 or 149 standard with spitfire 53 or 54mm classics is still madness home base if I get lost

 I've already spent a lot of time in the last ten years with 159s, 169s, and 56, 58, and 60mm wheels, even trying conical and radial shapes, and a ton of different board shapes, so I think it makes sense that now I want to explore the other end with 139s and 50-52mm wheels, see what that baker 3 setup is all about again

You've been hyping up the 144 standards so much that I've swapped mine back on have been enjoying the hell out of them. Tried to be a venture + little wheel tech guy for a solid year but couldn't cut it so it's time to pass them on to someone who could use them. Undeniably skate better on Indys. Stock bushings and washers with riptide cups. These should last me a good year and some change and then it's 149 standards + big classics on the primary set up 4ever.

[swongolianbbq]

You've been hyping up the 144 standards so much that I've swapped mine back on have been enjoying the hell out of them. Tried to be a venture + little wheel tech guy for a solid year but couldn't cut it so it's time to pass them on to someone who could use them. Undeniably skate better on Indys. Stock bushings and washers with riptide cups. These should last me a good year and some change and then it's 149 standards + big classics on the primary set up 4ever.

Haha hell yeah

I've been really enjoying the 144s. Pretty much 149s but a little lighter and flippier... and I think I'm sworn off hollow trucks for good.

Currently flip-flopping between 139s and 144s, and I like the 144s better, but I like the 139s too. They seem less forgiving though with sloppy landings and stuff.

I'll probably keep like, a real red oval with 139s and 51-52mm classics for games of skate or learning new stuff, or at the end of the day when my legs are super tired.

Switching it up is really fun as long as you're not making things harder for yourself. Me personally I kinda decided 55+ wheels don't work for what I'm usually doing, and I don't really need a board wider than 8.5" under any circumstances

But I still wanna build a Jason Lee video days type setup. Can't decide if I want 55mm tablets, or 55, 56, or 58 OG classics.... Prolly 56 OGs

Now that I've tried so much stuff I have a better idea of what works and what's fun for me, and I'm not gonna judge myself if I have like 3 or 4 different setups. I don't live in my car anymore so I got the space.

Instead of tinkering like mad on my main, "try hard" setup, I'll just leave everything alone and just grab a setup from a different era if I feel stale, and have fun in a different way.

Gotta have that shorter wheelbase though, nothing bigger than 14.25"

[GashBandicoot]

Agreed on the hollows I had a set but ended up selling them. I did like the 149 titaniums a few years ago. Liking the indys on the 8.25 easy rider I'm on with the 14" wheelbase. Nice and carvy but still long enough overall to stand comfortably on since I'm on the taller end of the spectrum. Not super picky on wheelbase, next deck in the stack is a 14.38 which should be fun too

[swongolianbbq]

Agreed on the hollows I had a set but ended up selling them. I did like the 149 titaniums a few years ago. Liking the indys on the 8.25 easy rider I'm on with the 14" wheelbase. Nice and carvy but still long enough overall to stand comfortably on since I'm on the taller end of the spectrum. Not super picky on wheelbase, next deck in the stack is a 14.38 which should be fun too

Word, I had some titanium 144s, 149s, and 159s. I liked the 159s best. They were all too light, especially the 144s. In hindsight I probably would've liked them more with standard baseplates. But they're just way too expensive and standards are great. None of the axles ever broke on me and the 144s I bought in like 2020 are still going strong on my homies board. I don't think I'll ever get them again. I don't like the forged plates or hollow kingpin that much either.

That's a cool board, I think it was designed around venture highs but since indys are a little taller I could see it working well there especially if you're taller. I think I'm like 5'9" but I wouldn't be surprised if I was 5'8". 32" cycling inseam(actual inside of my leg measurement). My legs aren't crazy long, so I try to stick to boards under 32", preferably like ~31.5-31.75. I mean Spanly skates 8.25 x14.25 wb and I think so does Jerry, and I've seen Jerry on the 8.25 eagle before which is like 14.375 wb and 31.875 long, and neither of those dudes is a giant. On the other hand Reynolds is pretty tall and skates a 14.25" wb. Technique comes into play for sure, if you're used to flicking a certain way

I had been struggling with kickflips, frontside flips, hardflips for a year or so and when I switched back to indys (hollow standard 149) from ace (hollow AF1 55), both on baker OG 8.25", both with 54mm classics, they came back so good. Then I got sick of hollows and got the standard 144s and they're better than I thought they would be

[Bongwater Mojito]

Explain me why have this urge to set up a 8.75 complete... again. I already know from previous iteration that I cannot flip it to even the small extent I can flip my 8.25 setup.

[TwisT]

Explain me why have this urge to set up a 8.75 complete... again. I already know from previous iteration that I cannot flip it to even the small extent I can flip my 8.25 setup.

I have a 9in setup. I don’t skate it, but I got it in my minds that It’d be cool to have.

[Sedition]

Explain me why have this urge to set up a 8.75 complete... again. I already know from previous iteration that I cannot flip it to even the small extent I can flip my 8.25 setup.

Because shit feels so good on an 8.75, that's why.

I have two set-ups. 8.75 and an 8.25. This is the way.

[moonordie]

Explain me why have this urge to set up a 8.75 complete... again. I already know from previous iteration that I cannot flip it to even the small extent I can flip my 8.25 setup.

Because Slap.
And speaking of Madness:
I'm currently on Venture V8 after skating T2 for a bit which was proven not to be that fun. V8 seems even less fun lately so the "should I go back to Ace" thought popped in my head. Last time I skated them was like a year before and had like 3 sets in a row.
I have the Spanky ones at home so maybe I'll set them up once putting a new board.

[swongolianbbq]

The 139s and 52mm classics were fun, light, and nostalgic but it didn't open any doors for me or anything. I almost got some 51s or 50s but didn't.

Pretty locked in now as far as my "try hard" setup

• 53mm or 54mm spitfire classics, 99a or 93a
• Bones swiss 6 with no shields
• Indy standard 144s, swap just the top bushings with bones (I'm almost certain there could be more bushing fuckery down the line)

I think the way I can get some kicks and have fun in other ways will be to build up some period-correct setups from different eras. Then I can just grab one of those instead of fucking around with my main "no excuses" board.

The weight and dimensions of the 8.25" indys and 53/54mm wheels seem to be my best middle ground where going smaller doesn't seem to make anything too much easier, but it's less stable and worse for crusty ground, and going bigger seems to tire me out and affect my flip tricks

When I was a spry young lad 149s were my shit, but I'm glad 144s exist. It's like, just enough to help me out.

I like playin around with different boards and shoes and stuff, I think the soul of it is what you're carrying after you break your board. As long as I got the same trucks and wheels I can get used to pretty much anything as long as it isn't super long wb cause I'm a shorter dude.