In a nutshell, what are the caveats for riding Indy Mids? I've never owned a truck with an inverted kingpin. I've understood some people absolutely hate them – what are the possible reasons for this?
The mids have these different features:
- they are heavier than any other truck on the market (for the standard mids anyway)
- they are 52mm tall, or 50.5 with forged baseplates
- the inverted kingpin comes loose the way any nyloc stops working after a while, some sooner than others, maybe depending on how much you mess with your kingpin over time, but people also say that it loosens off itself, more often if you don't have it tightened right down as far as it can go
- the inverted kingpin catches on grinds for some people, even with whatever clearance it is supposed to have
- the inverted kingpin arrangement can come loose, in that the kingpin can widen out the baseplate hole and move side to side for some people, which makes the turn and feel of the trucks a lot more wobbly feeling
- the inverted kingpin itself only has limited threads, which for some people don't go down far enough into the baseplate
- NHS warranty have a specific category for "Indy mid kingpin / baseplate issue" so it is not a single thing here or there
As far as the truck itself, some people really like them, but others seem to have had nothing but trouble with them, so make of that what you will. The inverted baseplate has been added to standard truck lines now too, even with all the known issues, but it has a lot more kingpin clearance than usual / standard arrangements so some people would like it more for that.
I have had quite a few sets come through my hands, some of which I still have on boards with no issues, but others have been returned for warranty issues, or some people who have had them have just given to others just to get rid of them.
That might sum it up well enough for now anyway.