magic carpet vs. hot rod

[dublak2]

Ideally your truck axle width matches your board width. However there is much more variability and tweener widths in decks than trucks. So as long as the mismatch is not obscene what are you rockin, a hot rod (trucks wider than deck) or a magic carpet (deck is wider than trucks)?

I'll go: I have a 8.375" deck on 8.25" trucks for a street board and a 8.625" deck on 8.5" trucks on a park board, both being slight magic carpets. I suppose I have no real reasoning except attempting to gain stability without increasing the extra truck mass.

Your turn.

[brownjenkin]

This is a serious source of madness for me. I actually don't like when my axles match my board width. Something about being able to land perfectly primo doesn't sit well with me.

I'd always been a magic carpet guy. Back in the day when axle slip was a big problem, I wanted to keep my axles tucked inside my board. I've grown an appreciation for a reasonable hot rod with time though. I go back and forth between 139s and 144s. I'm comfortable skating 8.0 to 8.25 width decks.

I think 8.125 with 144s is a really nice combo but the magic carpet usually pulls me back in and go I with 139s on 8.25 or 8.125.

Although if I am being honest with myself, I would probably skate at my best if I just shrunk my whole setup down and went with 8.0 or even 7.875 with 139s. All my best skating was done on 7.5-8.0.

I say all this knowing my versions of magic carpet and hot rod are super tame. We're talking 1/16" or 1/8" per side.

Here's some true hot rod inspo. Alexis Ramirez on Indy 169s and an 8.5:

[IpathCats]

as a huge ishod stan i thought for the longest time that magic carpet was the only way (or possibly flush)

but after continuing to experiment with my setup over the years i've found that i prefer a truck around the 8.5 range and my preferred board width is 8.38

thus.... leaving me in the slightest amount of hot rod territory

im sorry ishod, i hope you understand

Its not you, its me

[TastyBurrito]

I ride more park/transition, so a bit of hotrodding for me is preferred. Feel more stable when I'm carving and slashing.

[Tom Pearl]

im way too ocd to do either, mine have to be same size as my board

[Xen]

No poll?

/focus

If truck size lines up with deck size it's a go. If the board is between sizes, I size down.

8.125" w/139/147"
8.25" w/144/148
8.3x" w/144/148/ML/ACE C
8.5"/8.6 w/149
etc.

Personally, I hate the way extreme hotrods or majik carpets look when filmed or shot head on. Gun to head to choose? Majik carpet for the extra bit of leverage.

[fulfillthedream]

i skate 8.38 width with 8.25 trucks

[GardenSkater77]

[spacial_profiling]

I think the wheels matter a bit too. Classics are going to let you tuck your wheels better on a hot rod. Also, how many speed rings you runnin and where?

[Xen]

I think the wheels matter a bit too. Classics are going to let you tuck your wheels better on a hot rod. Also, how many speed rings you runnin and where?

Depends on the wheels and axle tbh, whatever gets deeznutz flush. No speedring nut side tho, nut does fine.

[overwaxed]

I've always been into slight hot rod, but not quite a 1/4 of an inch - my timeline is as follows:
96' - first board 8" with 8" trucks - I was 11 with a size 7 shoe, could have gone smaller for sure
96'-99' - down to a 7.75" with my same 8" trucks, I was poor and legit skated my first set of indy's for 3 years (prob 4 decks, I remember having a new deal and a powell blank)
99'-00' - got on the 7.62" train with 7.75" trucks - thunders, and won some royals in a context - skated a lot of girls and AWS's - I learned a lot of flip tricks on this setup, I remember getting a wenning board in the first habitat drop and learned 360 flips, frontside flips, switch kickflips, and half cab kickflips in one weekend
00'-05' - got a shop sponsor and some distributor flow and landed on the setup that lasted through my best era of skating - 7.88" (almost always aws, habitat, girl, chocolate) on 8" destructos ... I know they get mad hate but at the time the mid height and crazy king pin clearance was perfect for me

became a full time touring musician around late 2005 and stopped skating as much

06'-2022' - randomly bought a board here and there and tried to skate but never got comfy - usually 8"-8.25"
2022 - 2023 - tried 8.5"s and 8.75"s, did okay on a 8.25" quasi proto for a min, but finally landed on 8.38" with 8.5" trucks, which is the same feel as my golden 7.88" with 8" trucks setup but half and inch bigger. Lots of tricks are coming back on this, I really need the slightly wider trucks to feel grounded I think. I'm 6'1" with size 11 shoes btw

[spacial_profiling]

Expand Quote

I think the wheels matter a bit too. Classics are going to let you tuck your wheels better on a hot rod. Also, how many speed rings you runnin and where?

[close]

No speedring nut side tho, nut does fine.

Same. Double rings inside for me.

[brownjenkin]

Also, how many speed rings you runnin and where?

Three rings. If I'm hot rodding or trucks match the board, one speed ring inside and two outside. If I'm on magic carpet, two inside and one outside.

[sharkin]

DLX 8.38 with Indy 159s is a pretty sick combo shout out Peter Hewitt

[tuesday]

I got awefully self-conscious when a buddy of mine told me that my 8.5 axle trucks look too narrow for my 8.5 deck. Ever since I rock 8.75 axle trucks on 8.5 decks and 8.5 axles on 8.3 decks. I don't see axle nuts sticking out when I stand on my board and have more hanger to grind.

[Mean salto]

Almost always magic carpet (or hoverboard as I prefer to call it). Sometimes even go crazy with a 9+ board with 7.6 trucks. Don't even have a reason it just feels right. Technically flips do go faster, my setups lighter and even slappys seem easier but not enough that I can do things I can't with flush board and axles

[Frank and Fred]

I used to go back and fore on this. Hot rod for transition, magic carpet for street...

Then I realized I really like 8.75" trucks. The truck size is more important than the deck size to me. So I'll ride an 8.75" truck on everything from an 8.5 popsicle to a 9.25" egg...

[notinternetfamous]

Running size 8 decks with 8.25 trucks. feels very solid to me and the hot rod isn't that bad since i usually run the F4 classics shape. I mainly skate ledges so I like the wider trucks and it hasn't been an issue with flip tricks.

magic carpet feels nice though for 360 flips. 8.25 on Thunder 147's did wonders for my 360 flip consistency

[boneless900]

This is a serious source of madness for me. I actually don't like when my axles match my board width. Something about being able to land perfectly primo doesn't sit well with me.

I'd always been a magic carpet guy. Back in the day when axle slip was a big problem, I wanted to keep my axles tucked inside my board. I've grown an appreciation for a reasonable hot rod with time though. I go back and forth between 139s and 144s. I'm comfortable skating 8.0 to 8.25 width decks.

I think 8.125 with 144s is a really nice combo but the magic carpet usually pulls me back in and go I with 139s on 8.25 or 8.125.

Although if I am being honest with myself, I would probably skate at my best if I just shrunk my whole setup down and went with 8.0 or even 7.875 with 139s. All my best skating was done on 7.5-8.0.

I say all this knowing my versions of magic carpet and hot rod are super tame. We're talking 1/16" or 1/8" per side.

Here's some true hot rod inspo. Alexis Ramirez on Indy 169s and an 8.5:

I think I'll try my AF-1 66s on an 8.5 since I don't have any other size truck. Hopefully I can find one lying around or trade with a homie.

I haven't tried a hot dog style board setup before but if I think I can manage, I'd probably wanna try the G096 Twin tip with af1 66's. The axles are stupid long on the aces so I guess I'd so 2 or 3 washers nutside would my choice

[roll_dog]

Would an 8.75 on 169s be stoopid?

[IpathCats]

Would an 8.75 on 169s be stoopid?

thats totally within reason

[overwaxed]

Would an 8.75 on 169s be stoopid?

Anything 1/4" or so seems reasonable - I have some 151's I'll likely throw on an 8.5"

[boneless900]

Expand Quote

Would an 8.75 on 169s be stoopid?

[close]

Anything 1/4" or so seems reasonable - I have some 151's I'll likely throw on an 8.5"

Is 1/2" beyond reason? Or is ±1/4" the most you'd wanna go as an axle to board size difference?

[Dong Hanglo]

Expand Quote

Would an 8.75 on 169s be stoopid?

[close]

Anything 1/4" or so seems reasonable - I have some 151's I'll likely throw on an 8.5"

That’s been my preferred sizes for the last decade. 8.6-8.88 on Indy 169s. Now that 9 inch trucks are available from other brands I’ve tried Ace classic 55 and Thunder 161. A little axle pokes out but the side of the wheel is parallel to the board. It just looks and feels right to me. Currently on Thunders. Currently love them.

[art hellman]

skated 149s on 8.25 and loved it, and still skating 149s on 8.5 (and still love it).  go figure.

[mynameisnotjeff]

I used to ride 8 with 139s.
Then I moved to 8.125/139 or 147
I got a used board from a shop and rode 8.25 with 139s and it was nice. But then I got 149s and I’ve been running them with 8.25 and 8.38.

Hit a weird period when I rode shaped boards and got away with 169s.

[IpathCats]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Would an 8.75 on 169s be stoopid?

[close]

Anything 1/4" or so seems reasonable - I have some 151's I'll likely throw on an 8.5"

[close]

Is 1/2" beyond reason? Or is ±1/4" the most you'd wanna go as an axle to board size difference?

Me personally, on a regular board that I want to do all types of tricks on, 1/4 is the biggest difference I'd want.

Really comes down to preference. Ellington and Reynolds have been known to have some pretty serious magic carpets at different points. And Alexis in the video above has no problem going the other way.

I used to ride 8 with 139s.
Then I moved to 8.125/139 or 147
I got a used board from a shop and rode 8.25 with 139s and it was nice. But then I got 149s and I’ve been running them with 8.25 and 8.38.

Hit a weird period when I rode shaped boards and got away with 169s.

This is my preferred setup.

[Easy Slider]

Magic carpet better for flips. Team 8.38/144

[Steely Daniel]

as a huge ishod stan i thought for the longest time that magic carpet was the only way (or possibly flush)

but after continuing to experiment with my setup over the years i've found that i prefer a truck around the 8.5 range and my preferred board width is 8.38

thus.... leaving me in the slightest amount of hot rod territory

im sorry ishod, i hope you understand

Its not you, its me

Yeah I'm on this program. 8.38 and 149 Indy's. I got 56 conical fulls (probably 54 mm by now) and 2 washers inside 1 outside so might be a little more hotroddish with that configuration.

[IpathCats]

Expand Quote

as a huge ishod stan i thought for the longest time that magic carpet was the only way (or possibly flush)

but after continuing to experiment with my setup over the years i've found that i prefer a truck around the 8.5 range and my preferred board width is 8.38

thus.... leaving me in the slightest amount of hot rod territory

im sorry ishod, i hope you understand

Its not you, its me

[close]

Yeah I'm on this program. 8.38 and 149 Indy's. I got 56 conical fulls (probably 54 mm by now) and 2 washers inside 1 outside so might be a little more hotroddish with that configuration.

Ayyy! I run the same washer setup and 56mm wheels.

Classics though 99a f4