Which is more benefical? Sticking to a setup or trying new things?

[SupremePizza]

I only got back into skating two years ago so I feel like I'm still trying to figure out what I like best since I was riding 7.75s when I stopped. I feel like as long as I like the shoes I'm skating I can adjust to most boards. So far I've had an Uppercut board I got for free, than Girl, FA, and another Girl. The trucks probably made the biggest difference to me and established that I prefer venture and thunder over Indy. My plan is to try F4s next and see if I notice a difference in wheels

[schralp pal]

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I went from conical fulls to classics probably about a year and a half ago and it improved my skating a lot, so sometimes it pays off to experiment.

[close]

Why are classics better?

This is my experience - but they are more forgiving. They lock in better on ledges and coping because the rounded edges kind of slide you into place. They are also more forgiving when landing tricks as they kind of follow your momentum better where the large riding surface of conicals some time stick in the position they hit the ground. I think It’s also been proven that the classic shape rotates more evenly on flip tricks.

[BurgerCop]

About once a year I'll try a board outside my usual range, or maybe slightly bigger or smaller wheels, or try loosening or tightening my trucks, but never more than one experiment at a time, cause then if it works well (or poorly) I won't know if it's one thing or all of them or what. So far in all my experimenting with different stuff I have made zero permanent changes to my usual loadout.

[SatanicPanic]

Mostly I stick to the same things but I switch stuff up here and there. Sometimes you unlock new tricks that way.

[Pastasash]

I spent the past decade going from 8.125, to 8.25, 8.38 and 8.5, and then going back down from there to 8.38, and finally back on 8.25.

I found that the width really doesn't change my skating but the shape of the nose, tail and WB especially are what really had me going through the madness. Changed trucks once from Indy to Venture, and from Bones to Spitfire and didnt affect me either.

I think what really helps is going to your local skateshop in person (if you have a good local by you) and comparing your board you know you hated, or wanna switch from, to the other decks in the shop, standing on a few different shapes and brands that you're interested in and that should help you make the right decision.

That's what I did with the last board I hated, figured out it was the wheelbase by comparing it to a Palace Jamal Smith board and now that's the shape I've been riding for almost a whole year now!

As for shoes, I've been collecting/wearing kicks long before I started skating so I always have like 4-5 different shoes in my trunk to skate since I like variety, could be skating Blazer GT lows one day, the next day a Lynx OG, then a Dunk High and have no issues lol

[Abyss1]

yeah I try new setups since late 90s...mainly whats trending with board and truck sizes, I always opted for larger 56-58 wheels because of pebbles n shit that trips up tiny wheels.  Wrongboarding looks like fun, but havent gotten one of those or those zumiez banana cruisers

[sluggers]

If you are comfortable in your shoes and familiar with your trucks you can easily get away with experimenting with anything else without a hindrance.

[JRF]

Forgot to add, I skated solely in Reebok workouts mid tops whenever I possibly could, even when I had a shoe sponsor I would still skate in reeboks when I didn’t have to film or shoot photos, even though they. Would wear out quickly they were still my favorite shoe to skate in and nothing else felt as good as those workout mid-tops.

I’m starting to skate again and I ordered some 8.0 wide boards, I don’t plan on doing switch or nollie shit anymore or that often, so I think an 8 inch board and a little bit bigger wheels (compared to the 51mm wheels I use to ride exclusively) might be a bit more practical since I’m not very concerned with doing tech shit ever again really.

[truthislie]

When I didn´t know or care about these things and had no money but a lot of time to skate every day I skated a lot better than now. Maybe if I stuck to the same shit it would have been even better but I still love to try new skate stuff.

[Fasttimes]

Ultimate question! Here's the deal. Your gonna always have a person in the crew that can take any board, any trucks, any size shoe and rip. These are people you wanna be but your not. That dude is not on Slap typically, haha. My real advice would be to stick to trucks, don't constantly buy new set ups. Ride wheels until you hit rocks, buy a new set. Skate trucks until the bushings blow, or hopefully if GOD loves you the axles slip or go to axle. Skateboarding is art. Every board gives a different brush, feeling, etc. I recently saw Dr. ripsaw explaining optimal board mathematics, that is all fine and dandy if you want to spend half the summer doing geometry instead of bombing a hill with your friends. I digress, buy a board from a company that needs the money first! I would rip a Blender anything before I would buy a Stranger Things board at this point.  THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT SKATING IS HAVING FUN. You know when it is fun? When it rains it hurts.  . . Go find that feeling and I bet 100%, no matter what happens, none of the set up will matter that much. now get out there you lil' scamp.

[Orangepulp1000]

Consistency is key for me to keep progressing steadily. Saying that though you can get use to new gear usually within a few days. if I'm finding I'm in a bit of a rut or finding things a bit stale I like to switch it up, keeps it interesting and sometimes you just get stoked on tings

[Easy Slider]

I am slightly torn on this. I like having boards of the same shape so I don‘t have to adjust when setting up a new one. On the other hand I always think I night skate better with a different shape and want to try it. Also I can usually adjust to a new shape within a few sessions. I am not talking about huge differences in shapes tho, as I ride only twins.

I will typically skate trucks and wheels for a very long time because I am a stingy bastard but I also dread change. I don‘t even play with the tightness of the trucks but maybe I should. I’d like to size up on wheels tho to unlock crustier surfaces and maybe higher curbs for slappies (is this true?).

I have been running Busenitzes for a long time now as well because I know they work. I once tried Tyshawns but hated them so no experiments in this department for the foreseeable future, as I still have two pairs of Busemitzes on ice. Other Adidas might work tho, I had the Puigs which were fine except for the stiff tongue. I am also eyeballing those purple Kader shelltoes, should they ever become available. I was skating regular shelltoes in the 90s.

Tl;dr I don‘t experiment as much as I‘d like because I am scared it would affect my skating negatively.

[Cool Ceith]

Lance Mountain had an interview a while ago where he strongly encouraged people to try different shapes and tinker with variations of trucks and wheel hardnesses, etc. I agree with that approach if you can give yourself a little grace, but I always become profoundly discouraged if I can't feel natural right off the bat with a different setup. I tend to give up and go back to what I'm comfortable with pretty quickly, but if you can weather the adjustment period I'm sure it would be super beneficial.

I applaud skaters who can have a "quiver" of different boards in rotation. Instead of a "cruiser" board I basically just switch my wheels from hard to soft and back again.

[sionarancsle]

I'll stick to nike blazers, spitfire F4 and Ace af1 55 trucks, but I won't be able to get the same shaped deck from the local always.. whats up with that? I enjoy polar and magenta boards. Right now I'm on magenta but by the time I need a new deck I don't think they restock magenta so I'll have to go with polar. Hope thats not too much of a difference.

[FrenchSkater]

I've been skating for 15 years, and recently the last 5 years I've been spending my time changing trucks.. damn madness.. "would thunder be better for flatground ? is independent the best brand because everyone says so? Would I skate better with this brand ? »

I FINALLY got out of this hell, by simply staying on what I rode for ten years: Venture ! Forever in my heart !

And having found the perfect board configuration for my morphology (an 8.0 with a fairly short length), I skate at my best level!)

So.. my advice,  never get out of your way if you've been riding something for a long time !