Gear madness support thread

[Sandwich Marty]

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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.

[close]

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.

When you say they weren’t very fun, do you mean you’re just not landing your tricks as consistently or they made the overall experience of riding your board not as fun?

[Schinken]

Been sick for almost 3 weeks. While sitting at home, madness tried to creep in....
Currently riding the 8.62 Antihero with the 14.75 WB. I'm down to the last two plies on the tail, so I started to think about replacement.

Currently I have the following decks on ice:
Creature Stump 8.6 14.25 WB
Creature vx everslick 8.6 14.6wb
Zero 8.5 14.5 WB
Antihero 8.38 14.5wb

The vx everslick is heavy like a tombstone, the stump a little short but feels good under my feet, AH 8.38 too small for my 159s, Zero I hate its concave...

Right now I'm really into transition skating, working on ollies in Transition and think more wheelbase is benefical.

What do you think, get another Antihero / Dlx 8.62 or 8.75 , try to get used to a shorter wheelbase in Transition or fuck it and keep riding my razored 8.62 AH?

[Sedition]

Been sick for almost 3 weeks. While sitting at home, madness tried to creep in...

What do you think...

Make no decisions about what the appropriate gear is in your bedroom/house and/or off the board. Only make them while actually skating. This helps prevent madness based on thinking, rather than doing.

Also, hope you feel better.

[Sandwich Marty]

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Been sick for almost 3 weeks. While sitting at home, madness tried to creep in...

What do you think...

[close]

Make no decisions about what the appropriate gear is in your bedroom/house and/or off the board. Only make them while actually skating. This helps prevent madness based on thinking, rather than doing.

Also, hope you feel better.

Kind of an eye opening bit of advice there tbh. I do 95% of my madnessing while driving or sitting at home. I only really bug out while skating if I have another setup in the trunk and start lusting after some hypothetical advantage the trunk board would give me. Thanks for writing that, dude 👊

[nopopnostyle]

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Been sick for almost 3 weeks. While sitting at home, madness tried to creep in...

What do you think...

[close]

Make no decisions about what the appropriate gear is in your bedroom/house and/or off the board. Only make them while actually skating. This helps prevent madness based on thinking, rather than doing.

Also, hope you feel better.

I should get your quote tattooed to my forehead and force myself to look in the mirror all the time when not skating.

But seriously, I think you’re on to something. Maybe Madness is just some way of our brains overcompensating for the lack of hormones it’s used to while skating.

We should do a poll and find out if most madness comes from not skating.

Is there hope for a cure by identifying behavioral patterns and changing them?
 

[moonordie]

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Expand Quote

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.

[close]

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.

[close]

When you say they weren’t very fun, do you mean you’re just not landing your tricks as consistently or they made the overall experience of riding your board not as fun?

Exactly that

[Sedition]

Is there hope for a cure by identifying behavioral patterns and changing them?

“I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes me a long time to get out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

I walk down another street.”

― Portia Nelson


The hole never goes away.
The path, however, changes.

[MMongrel]

Been sick for almost 3 weeks. While sitting at home, madness tried to creep in....
Currently riding the 8.62 Antihero with the 14.75 WB. I'm down to the last two plies on the tail, so I started to think about replacement.

Currently I have the following decks on ice:
Creature Stump 8.6 14.25 WB
Creature vx everslick 8.6 14.6wb
Zero 8.5 14.5 WB
Antihero 8.38 14.5wb

The vx everslick is heavy like a tombstone, the stump a little short but feels good under my feet, AH 8.38 too small for my 159s, Zero I hate its concave...

Right now I'm really into transition skating, working on ollies in Transition and think more wheelbase is benefical.

What do you think, get another Antihero / Dlx 8.62 or 8.75 , try to get used to a shorter wheelbase in Transition or fuck it and keep riding my razored 8.62 AH?

I'd say keep riding the razored AH until it's too bothersome. If you swap after a 3 weeks break you might mix being rusty for the shape not working.

And for what it's worth I've been skating the AH 8.38x14.50 for a couple of weeks and it's been great and I've even learned a few new tricks on both street and transition. It feels super stable on 6.1's and I guess because it's pretty flat it also flips very well even with wide trucks.

[SwitchBenihana]

Been sick for almost 3 weeks. While sitting at home, madness tried to creep in....
Currently riding the 8.62 Antihero with the 14.75 WB. I'm down to the last two plies on the tail, so I started to think about replacement.

Currently I have the following decks on ice:
Creature Stump 8.6 14.25 WB
Creature vx everslick 8.6 14.6wb
Zero 8.5 14.5 WB
Antihero 8.38 14.5wb

The vx everslick is heavy like a tombstone, the stump a little short but feels good under my feet, AH 8.38 too small for my 159s, Zero I hate its concave...

Right now I'm really into transition skating, working on ollies in Transition and think more wheelbase is benefical.

What do you think, get another Antihero / Dlx 8.62 or 8.75 , try to get used to a shorter wheelbase in Transition or fuck it and keep riding my razored 8.62 AH?

The best thing I ever did was get rid of everything I had on ice. It puts you in these situations where you're obligated to ride stuff that's an impulse buy or tell yourself "this is all I can ride..."

You are already listing the cons of all these options without even riding them which is just going to bleed into your experience and likely end up in some sort of negative feelings. That or something feels better on your best day so you order more and then it ends up being average on par and you're perpetuating the back and forth. It's not COVID anymore, there's no gear shortage, and most of us don't "need" sale gear we wouldn't otherwise buy.

[swongolianbbq]

For sure, when I had all these different boards, wheels, trucks layin around I would just build stuff with that cause I already had it... And try to imagine different combinations with just the shit I already had, just playing with toys basically

I like to have a small stack of BBS boards in a size I like and that's pretty much it as far as the "on ice" situation... Keeps it consistent in-between trying random graphic boards

If there's a crazy sale or deal somewhere I might buy an extra set of wheels or trucks in the same size/shape/brand I'm already riding

I will hoard skate shoes though

[DNTRODDEN]

Gear madness put me in an amazing place over the weekend.

Rolled up to the park Friday afternoon for a quick session and there were 2 young kids skating, one had just been gifted an Anti Hero complete and the other was rolling on a cardboard press Walmart special.

Had enough "extra" in the truck to build him a complete from and old but ridden 4 times Mini-Logo some .sml Wheels and a set of trucks, off the top of my head do not remember the brand, I have a few to choose from, lol.

Long story short, we got 2 brothers riding around and legit set-ups and having the time of their life, a dad that was blown away by a stranger's generosity, and me happy all weekend long that I could make some sort of impact

[moonordie]

Gear madness put me in an amazing place over the weekend.

Rolled up to the park Friday afternoon for a quick session and there were 2 young kids skating, one had just been gifted an Anti Hero complete and the other was rolling on a cardboard press Walmart special.

Had enough "extra" in the truck to build him a complete from and old but ridden 4 times Mini-Logo some .sml Wheels and a set of trucks, off the top of my head do not remember the brand, I have a few to choose from, lol.

Long story short, we got 2 brothers riding around and legit set-ups and having the time of their life, a dad that was blown away by a stranger's generosity, and me happy all weekend long that I could make some sort of impact

Kudos man

[SwitchBenihana]

Expand Quote

Gear madness put me in an amazing place over the weekend.

Rolled up to the park Friday afternoon for a quick session and there were 2 young kids skating, one had just been gifted an Anti Hero complete and the other was rolling on a cardboard press Walmart special.

Had enough "extra" in the truck to build him a complete from and old but ridden 4 times Mini-Logo some .sml Wheels and a set of trucks, off the top of my head do not remember the brand, I have a few to choose from, lol.

Long story short, we got 2 brothers riding around and legit set-ups and having the time of their life, a dad that was blown away by a stranger's generosity, and me happy all weekend long that I could make some sort of impact

[close]

Kudos man

Not to one up you but this is how I ended madness. Had a bunch of shit in my trunk and saw some kids out front of a school. Same situation: 5 year old rain warped random completes, wheels that barely turned, no name trucks, etc.

Left them with my Ben D inspired short WB "this is what I skated in 1998" setups and it was instant night and day. I've seen them since and they've probably put hundreds of hours into those boards.

[DNTRODDEN]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Gear madness put me in an amazing place over the weekend.

Rolled up to the park Friday afternoon for a quick session and there were 2 young kids skating, one had just been gifted an Anti Hero complete and the other was rolling on a cardboard press Walmart special.

Had enough "extra" in the truck to build him a complete from and old but ridden 4 times Mini-Logo some .sml Wheels and a set of trucks, off the top of my head do not remember the brand, I have a few to choose from, lol.

Long story short, we got 2 brothers riding around and legit set-ups and having the time of their life, a dad that was blown away by a stranger's generosity, and me happy all weekend long that I could make some sort of impact

[close]

Kudos man

[close]

Not to one up you but this is how I ended madness. Had a bunch of shit in my trunk and saw some kids out front of a school. Same situation: 5 year old rain warped random completes, wheels that barely turned, no name trucks, etc.

Left them with my Ben D inspired short WB "this is what I skated in 1998" setups and it was instant night and day. I've seen them since and they've probably put hundreds of hours into those boards.

One-up me all you want; LOL I love hearing the stories!

[surfjunior]

lil update: Im pretty sure its because im already used to them but I switched back to my indys and all of the issues i was having after swapping to ventures went away. I also swapped to some 50mm spits that i had laying around, but I might just buy a fresh pair of 52s since the ones i have rn are worn down. Somewhat still annoyed about the twitchiness tho, I might try the bones top bushing thing swongolian is doing and hopefully that solves my issues.

Now what to do with the ventures...

[moonordie]

lil update: Im pretty sure its because im already used to them but I switched back to my indys and all of the issues i was having after swapping to ventures went away. I also swapped to some 50mm spits that i had laying around, but I might just buy a fresh pair of 52s since the ones i have rn are worn down. Somewhat still annoyed about the twitchiness tho, I might try the bones top bushing thing swongolian is doing and hopefully that solves my issues.

Now what to do with the ventures...

Just keep them and eventually the time for them will come.
Same just happened to me, went back to Aces and I have some T2 just laying around but yesterday met a friend who's struggling a bit in life and needs new trucks. Told me him I'll hook him up since I know that little gestures like this can be a good morale boost.

[SwitchBenihana]

lil update: Im pretty sure its because im already used to them but I switched back to my indys and all of the issues i was having after swapping to ventures went away. I also swapped to some 50mm spits that i had laying around, but I might just buy a fresh pair of 52s since the ones i have rn are worn down. Somewhat still annoyed about the twitchiness tho, I might try the bones top bushing thing swongolian is doing and hopefully that solves my issues.

Now what to do with the ventures...

Just tighten your trucks a half turn more. People on Slap are really anal about how much kingpin is exposed, but in the real world people do all sorts of shit to get their gear exactly where THEY need it not what others prefer. Go watch Chico's My Indy's video or check out some of the pro setups on YouTube.

[Sedition]

Expand Quote

Been sick for almost 3 weeks. While sitting at home, madness tried to creep in....
Currently riding the 8.62 Antihero with the 14.75 WB. I'm down to the last two plies on the tail, so I started to think about replacement.

Currently I have the following decks on ice:
Creature Stump 8.6 14.25 WB
Creature vx everslick 8.6 14.6wb
Zero 8.5 14.5 WB
Antihero 8.38 14.5wb

The vx everslick is heavy like a tombstone, the stump a little short but feels good under my feet, AH 8.38 too small for my 159s, Zero I hate its concave...

Right now I'm really into transition skating, working on ollies in Transition and think more wheelbase is benefical.

What do you think, get another Antihero / Dlx 8.62 or 8.75 , try to get used to a shorter wheelbase in Transition or fuck it and keep riding my razored 8.62 AH?

[close]

The best thing I ever did was get rid of everything I had on ice. It puts you in these situations where you're obligated to ride stuff that's an impulse buy or tell yourself "this is all I can ride..."

You are already listing the cons of all these options without even riding them which is just going to bleed into your experience and likely end up in some sort of negative feelings. That or something feels better on your best day so you order more and then it ends up being average on par and you're perpetuating the back and forth. It's not COVID anymore, there's no gear shortage, and most of us don't "need" sale gear we wouldn't otherwise buy.

^ That is solid advice to anyone actually trying to rid themselves of Madness.

[SwitchBenihana]

We need to also differentiate between what is and isn't madness.

To me "this gear choice will automatically improve a specific trick or set of tricks and create the optimal possible combination to maximize my skate abilities" is madness. This simply doesn't exist in life. Everything has trade offs even the best feeling setup. There is a lot of inherent anxiety and mental shit going on there that likely has nothing to do with one's skating.

"I like my gear and want to try X to experiment or make my current setup slightly more tailored" isn't madness. There isn't a built in maximization and chasing the dragon. You're just doing micro tweaks with a learning mindset. This can be perfectly healthy and pretty enjoyable.

[swongolianbbq]

lil update: Im pretty sure its because im already used to them but I switched back to my indys and all of the issues i was having after swapping to ventures went away. I also swapped to some 50mm spits that i had laying around, but I might just buy a fresh pair of 52s since the ones i have rn are worn down. Somewhat still annoyed about the twitchiness tho, I might try the bones top bushing thing swongolian is doing and hopefully that solves my issues.

Now what to do with the ventures...

So far so good with the hard ones, been skating flat in the street every day for a couple hours just drilling flip tricks

When I was using the bones mediums they were starting to blow out

I'm like 145 lbs and running them pretty much nut flush, 1 thread showing

With the 96 over 90 duro, it's kinda like a medium-tight version of stock ace bushings, and the plastic insert on the bones gives it zero break-in time and a crispier sound.

Idk why but the sound of my setup is real important to me. Gotta be super dry and rattley and higher pitched or my mind thinks I'm stuck in the mud and have less response and feedback regarding pop

Doesn't hurt to try for like 10 bucks

[Schinken]

Just came back from third session after beeing sick for 3 weeks.
First two sessions were on AH 8.62 since I am used to it. Today I warmed up on my AH 8.62 and changed mid session to the Stump shape. Within 10min I could do my same mediocre skating maneuvers I could always do...
Getting used to your gear > thinking about gear
Still having fun skating / trying different gear

[DirtyHippy666]

I’ve been switching between indies 159/149s with 8.5 boards and ace classics 44 with 8.25 decks for the last 6 years. Idk what it is I go through epitaphs where I skate great with either one, or when aces looseness and turn somehow help me become more acquainted with my board and how to manipulate it and thus I can commit on more stuff, to times where the stability from indies gives me a mental boost to commit on more stuff. I just went back to the ace classics and 8.25, this time it’s feeling superrrr light and easy to flip, I think I can actually Ollie higher now. It doesn’t even feel that much smaller either. Shi is weird.

[Slave IV]

Unless you are only changing one thing, I wouldn’t overthink anything about anything. Changing decks size and truck size and truck type is already way too many factors to come to any conclusions about any one of those items. I look at trucks like which one fits my deck and riding needs. At this moment, the kind of skating I want to do, if I have wheelbase 14.25” and more, I’m going to want my Ace AF1 or T-II, and which one just depends on how wide the deck is. 8.5 and up, T-II since I have 161 151 and anything under, AF1 since I have 44 and 55 hangers. Under 14.25” wb and I’m skating Tensor Maglight ATG, Thunder Standard or Ventures and preferably the Tensors on most decks 8.25 or less. My Thunders are 149 so I’d use those for decks 8.25 or more and I’m looking forward to trying my Ventures on similar decks to the Tensors since they are both 8.25”. That’s all the trucks I have on hand at the moment so those are the scenarios I use them for and don’t need to think about it more than that. Of course, I might do some odd combo here and there just to see. Usually, the lower wheelbase trucks work better for me after a deck gets really worn out.

[Bongwater Mojito]

I think the personal vibe and day to day variance in it have much more significance than gear. Nowadays I just have way too much time to sit at home and think about trucks than before.

There are many cases in distant past where I ended up having a top session with mediocre gear - because the session happened organically unplanned and those shoes and complete were the only ones I had at hand. Adapted to what was doable with that combo and went for it. The right people, the right atmosphere, suddently gear does not matter that much any more.

[Sandwich Marty]

I think the personal vibe and day to day variance in it have much more significance than gear. Nowadays I just have way too much time to sit at home and think about trucks than before.

There are many cases in distant past where I ended up having a top session with mediocre gear - because the session happened organically unplanned and those shoes and complete were the only ones I had at hand. Adapted to what was doable with that combo and went for it. The right people, the right atmosphere, suddently gear does not matter that much any more.

I wonder if there’s any correlation between mostly skating alone & gear madness. Seems like it.

[surfjunior]

Expand Quote

I think the personal vibe and day to day variance in it have much more significance than gear. Nowadays I just have way too much time to sit at home and think about trucks than before.

There are many cases in distant past where I ended up having a top session with mediocre gear - because the session happened organically unplanned and those shoes and complete were the only ones I had at hand. Adapted to what was doable with that combo and went for it. The right people, the right atmosphere, suddently gear does not matter that much any more.

[close]

I wonder if there’s any correlation between mostly skating alone & gear madness. Seems like it.

For me that seems to be the case, mainly skated alone during the past year and would not stop thinking about gear what to try to find the setup. I recently started skating with people more often, and ive noticed that I was not as concerned about my deck being the wrong size or my trucks being the wrong brand during the session.

Maybe it has to do with the skaters expectations and mindset when skating alone vs with others. Im usually focused on getting better at skating when im alone, but just having fun when skating with others. So maybe the madness is just a symptom of the desire to progress, and that the desire to experiment with gear is the same thing as experimenting with different foot positioning, weight transfer, etc, when trying new tricks.

Just a thought

[Mbrimson88]

Expand Quote

I think the personal vibe and day to day variance in it have much more significance than gear. Nowadays I just have way too much time to sit at home and think about trucks than before.

There are many cases in distant past where I ended up having a top session with mediocre gear - because the session happened organically unplanned and those shoes and complete were the only ones I had at hand. Adapted to what was doable with that combo and went for it. The right people, the right atmosphere, suddently gear does not matter that much any more.

[close]

I wonder if there’s any correlation between mostly skating alone & gear madness. Seems like it.

Sure can, unless you skate with equally "challenged" individuals who also really like to mess with their gear a whole lot and then you can feed off each other, as well as learn from some other people, whether they get something right or wrong, which could be a personal opinion any which way too.

Maybe more than anything, before going down a rabbit hole or buying a whole new complete that is very different to whatever you currently have, stop and think about why.  For the most part, just having a second to stop can really help, or even put off getting something for a day and provide reasons for the purchase.  No good reasons?  Don't buy whatever it was.

[SwitchBenihana]

Expand Quote

I think the personal vibe and day to day variance in it have much more significance than gear. Nowadays I just have way too much time to sit at home and think about trucks than before.

There are many cases in distant past where I ended up having a top session with mediocre gear - because the session happened organically unplanned and those shoes and complete were the only ones I had at hand. Adapted to what was doable with that combo and went for it. The right people, the right atmosphere, suddently gear does not matter that much any more.

[close]

I wonder if there’s any correlation between mostly skating alone & gear madness. Seems like it.

Oh for me I see all the random combos people have when I'm out skating and I get IDEAS. So many IDEAS. Then I step on their board and do something super unexpected and it plants seeds. My short friend has a random ass 8.5, I don't know the dimensions, with AF1 and lock in fulls. Somehow I hard flipped on it first try. So now I'm scrambling to figure out wtf shape it is and thinking of why it worked so I can duplicate.

When I'm out solo I'm way more focused and just trying to skate. I often have near zero time while traveling for work so if I have 30-45min to hit a park I am skating non stop just hoping to figure out obstacles and stretch out.

[Obijuan91]

After not skating for a while due to a flare up I almost had a truck madness episode, but then I tightened up my trucks and crisis averted. Thanks for the support slap pals.

[swongolianbbq]

Since I got my main, "try hard" board all sorted out for now, the madness has to go somewhere.

So I've decided to finally do my retro boards.

1978, 1986, and 1991.

Though, the 1991 components would work equally as well on any reissue decks from 1987 through 1990.

Been fun picking away and researching on something completely for fun instead of my main board where I want it to do exact what I need

Probably just gonna use GMN bearings for all of em. SKF was also around in '78, and they even made a rubber-shielded bearing. Bones swiss in '86 still had metal shields. NMB would work for the '91 too.

Anyways here's what I got

'78
• Alva '78 8.5" with stock grip
• Stainless steel, slotted, truss head 1.5" bolts
• 1/2" riser pads
• Either the 4.5" power pivot tail skid, or two of the circular 3" ones side-by-side. Flip makes reproductions under the name Gold Cup.
• Indy 109 hangers on stage 4 baseplates & stage 4 bushings. Might do double red cylinders and flat top washers, gotta cut down some barrels to use as the tops. Might put thicker axle nuts and wider washers on if they fit.
• Sims snakes 66mm, 95a
• GMN bearings

'86
• Powell 10"
• Pizza tape (madrid thumbcutter or powell hardcore)
• Black, phillips, truss head 1.5" bolts
• 3/8" cell block repros by Lil jawns
• Nose bone repro by Lil jawns
• Powell rib bones and tail bone
• Indy stage 4 166
• Powell rat bones, 60mm, 90a
• GMN bearings

'89-91
• Reissue World, New Deal, etc board
• Jessup
• Black, phillips, truss head 1.25" bolts
• 1/4" bed pans repro by Lil jawns
• Rib bones, or no rails
• Indy stage 11 159, black. If I can find some stage 5, 6, or 7 hangers I'll use those, especially the anodized ones.
• Spitfire OG classics 58mm, or Tablets 55mm
• GMN bearings


It's not even cruiser madness

Retro madness

Lol