It’s been 10 years since I last skated…help me find a set up.

[UnoMas87]

Title says it all. Skated heavy from ‘04-‘08, was the filmer of the group. Got burned out, then came back to it from 2013 to about 2015, then another long break. Now I’m 37 and have gotten the itch to skate again with some homies who have kept it going to some extent the whole time. For some context, the last good board I remember having was a 7.875” Primitive team deck with Royal Jerry Hsu signatures and Bones STF 53mm.

Being out of the loop, you can imagine my paradox of choice seeing all these newfangled shapes for decks, wheels, inverted kingpins, and the whole lot. All I really wanna do is find the setup that feels closest to what I used to ride. But also being out of the loop, I don’t have a clue as far as woodshops, old companies that have gotten better/worse, or new companies to try out/avoid. I’m a natural born gear junkie, always have been with whatever passion I dive into, but I want to find a setup that I can go back to over and over.

[theloniousmonk]

Coming off the old royals, grab some ventures and sub in ace low bushings
Get a deck with a little longer tail, to accommodate the ventures. Girl g027 is nice, but the g052 might be good for you as it skates like an 8”
Primitive and April 8.2ts also have a good long tail for ventures
Bones x99 or spitfire 99

[Paperclip20]

I'd say just go to your local and pick out what you're into. Royals are probably closer to a venture or thunder. Formula four 99's are the gold standard wheel but there's other options too. Bearings are whatever. Primitive is still around so you could still go with them if you like.

I wouldn't worry about bushings or any of that shit. Welcome back to skating.

[myfeetarekillingme]

Sub 8.0 boards are rarer every year but you can still find them if that’s what you’re after. May be easier to just step up to an 8.0 though since it’s not a huge jump and that’ll give you way more options

Royal actually defied the odds and redesigned their trucks to be much better now so if you still have nostalgia for Royal, read up:

https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=131199.0

Wheels are the same mostly, but Spitfire and some others have debuted 93a and 97a options. I haven’t tried any of those, cuz I’m stuck on F4 99s forever probably

[rawbertson.]

8" Shop Deck
Independent Forged Hollows 139
Spitfire F4 Conical Full 53mm, 99a
Bones Reds Bearings

[pantyhero]

go to your local and pick out what you're into

[PAWL]

8" Shop Deck
Independent Forged Hollows 139
Spitfire F4 Conical Full 53mm, 99a
Bones Reds Bearings

this.
but thunder147

[rawbertson.]

It’s almost the same truck! But yes I have actually been riding thunders myself instead of Indy the last few years. I just thought he might be more used to Indy.

Forged Indy:
Wb is same as thunder cast
Weight almost the same
Height is almost the same
lol
main differences are the double barrel bushing style and the baseplate.

[Slave IV]

Agree with most of the responses but also just wanted to add that most of us who skated back then were on under 8" wide boards but I'd recommend stepping it up a bit especially if you are just coming back and might want a little extra stability. When I picked it back up after around 20 years of not really skating, I decided to go to 8.25" and it felt a lot better than my old 8" deck. Then, as I got some groove back, I also skated my old 8" and it felt a lot better again but I still prefer the slightly wider decks now. My current deck I just setup is around 8.37", the widest I've had since the old shaped decks of the 80's and it feels great. I think 8.125-8.3x" is the new sweet range for me.

[BL0B]

what are you trying to skate now and how? board recs. are kinda pointless w/o knowing what you want to do on one.

[rawbertson.]

It’s true if you are trying to do 3 flips , I think you would want the smaller board still personally. I got lazy and started working way more on grinds and less on flip tricks as I got old, so bigger was the way for me after coming back as well. But my first few boards back were 8”. I was actually one of the first people to go to 8” in my area around 2004ish and people were like “wow man boat” 

[munchbox]

what are you trying to skate now and how? board recs. are kinda pointless w/o knowing what you want to do on one.

disappointed that this wasnt the first reply

[UnoMas87]

what are you trying to skate now and how? board recs. are kinda pointless w/o knowing what you want to do on one.

Good call.  I'm pretty sure about 90% of my skating will be ledges and manual pads, with some funky bank/park stuff thrown in from time to time.  My main goals coming back were to at least get somewhat to the level I was before (which won't be hard, the bar is low), and also to learn tre flips.  The latter goal is why I'm hesitant to jump into the 8 and up territory, as in the past, I was never known for having the most flick or being able to pop very high.  Oddly enough in all my years when I was skating, I never used Indys, again with having little to no pop, I got in my head that Indys would be too heavy and prevent me from getting better haha. 

[whale]

Go to r/oldskaters and get a Andy Anderson

[BL0B]

1st i'd run a 8.25"- 8.38", 14"-14.25" wheelbase with 8.25" trucks and some 56mm squarish shaped wheels, radial full or conical fulls. size down to an 8" setup and smaller wheels as basic stuff becomes comfortable and you want to start doing flip tricks other than kickflips..

the larger square wheels should help you feel more comfortable locking in on grinds. an 8.38" on 8.25" trucks is going to flip/rotate easier.

also, an 8"-8.38" board might feel small if you jump on one of those right out of the gate since it's been awhile.


plus, ask the homies for old stuff to try out.

[Too Frank To Fred]

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what are you trying to skate now and how? board recs. are kinda pointless w/o knowing what you want to do on one.

[close]

Good call.  I'm pretty sure about 90% of my skating will be ledges and manual pads, with some funky bank/park stuff thrown in from time to time.  My main goals coming back were to at least get somewhat to the level I was before (which won't be hard, the bar is low), and also to learn tre flips.  The latter goal is why I'm hesitant to jump into the 8 and up territory, as in the past, I was never known for having the most flick or being able to pop very high.  Oddly enough in all my years when I was skating, I never used Indys, again with having little to no pop, I got in my head that Indys would be too heavy and prevent me from getting better haha.

Don't assume tre flips are harder on bigger boards. You might find a bit of real estate assists you in your middle age.

[Gland Dongzig]

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what are you trying to skate now and how? board recs. are kinda pointless w/o knowing what you want to do on one.

[close]

Good call.  I'm pretty sure about 90% of my skating will be ledges and manual pads, with some funky bank/park stuff thrown in from time to time.  My main goals coming back were to at least get somewhat to the level I was before (which won't be hard, the bar is low), and also to learn tre flips.  The latter goal is why I'm hesitant to jump into the 8 and up territory, as in the past, I was never known for having the most flick or being able to pop very high.  Oddly enough in all my years when I was skating, I never used Indys, again with having little to no pop, I got in my head that Indys would be too heavy and prevent me from getting better haha.

[close]

Don't assume tre flips are harder on bigger boards. You might find a bit of real estate assists you in your middle age.

absolute bullseye.

[Bongwater Mojito]

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what are you trying to skate now and how? board recs. are kinda pointless w/o knowing what you want to do on one.

[close]

Good call.  I'm pretty sure about 90% of my skating will be ledges and manual pads, with some funky bank/park stuff thrown in from time to time.  My main goals coming back were to at least get somewhat to the level I was before (which won't be hard, the bar is low), and also to learn tre flips.  The latter goal is why I'm hesitant to jump into the 8 and up territory, as in the past, I was never known for having the most flick or being able to pop very high.  Oddly enough in all my years when I was skating, I never used Indys, again with having little to no pop, I got in my head that Indys would be too heavy and prevent me from getting better haha.

[close]

Don't assume tre flips are harder on bigger boards. You might find a bit of real estate assists you in your middle age.

I think this is true to some extent. However there could be another limiting factor with bigger completes: weight. I did my formative years of skating with under eight inch decks, and been on and off the big board trend bandwagon past few years. Recently sized down again and I have to say 8.1 or 8.25 completes are the ones I can land most flip tricks nowadays. To me that feels like good tradeoff between real estate and nimbleness and lightness of the setup.

For the OP, I'd say pay attention to board length (and wheelbase) too. The 8.125 boards are often bit shorter than 8.25, width wise the difference is irrelevant and you can use same trucks.

[Paco Supreme]

just go to your local
I wouldn't worry about any of that shit.

Welcome back to skating.

[MMongrel]

When I did the jump 7 years ago from 7.75" I got a 8.375" board, Hollow Thunder 149's and Spitfire 53mm Classics and everything just felt a bit more comfortable. I've went up a notch in size of everything since but I'd still be completely content with those.

[back smith]

I was on 7.75-8 for ages, then I bought an 80s fish board I didn't like and figured might as well try a 9 inch popsicle since I already had the trucks. And it was a revelation. It's like you don't need to warm up to get comfortable on it. I would highly recommend a big board for someone who's getting back to it as an adult. Sure it's harder to tre (varial still easy) but...

[Easy Slider]

I would advise to start somewhere in the ball park where you left and take it from there, in your case an 8 or 8.125 bloard should do the trick. You can still go bigger. The last board before my 20 year hiatus was 8.375 and when I got back I skated 8.5 for quite a while but am now riding 8.25.

[dstrytruitt]

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go to your local and pick out what you're into

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