Unpopular Gear Opinion Thread 2025

[neonbrown]

Everyone is WAAAYYYY too bent out of shape about New Balance.

[DeanMaple]

Every wheel kinda slide on the ground when you go fast enough.

But "just go faster" is a stupid saying.

All shoes should have some kind of lace proctection for the first holes.

But complainging about ripped laces are strange.

Vans still look cool and forever will.
Buy the puffy ones suck.

[munchbox]

99% of new balance wearers cant pull them off

tacking on to the unpopular opinion
i hold a similar belief
but i completely overlooked the entire genre
of intentionally dressing like a dork

not my steez at all
but people pay good money to achieve this look
especially outside of skating
and in a world where words no longer mean anything
have the nerve to call it “drip” or anything adjacent

i have lost the will to tell them otherwise
but i recall a time when wedgies and swirlies existed
these types would be recipients solely for being lame
almost brotherly compared to the modern day
because now its just racism, classism, fascism, etc

which is either deeply ironic or perfectly in line
looking at new balance campaign donations

i own a pair of 480s, shamefully will again
hands down the least dorky shoe they make
however, it feels like buying hugo boss. just wrong

[steve]

It's pretty trite to just say "DLX is so great" because they flow shit to ams and pros. That doesn't impact any of us one bit. They can be difficult for shops to order from and often do not provide many options or consistent orders. A few local shops find them a difficult distro to work with, which means there is less for me to buy from my local. Their constant focus on one off shapes gives us inconsistent availability of gear we want (see also Radial Slims, Full SE decks, Venture cast hollow). DLX has way more novelty colorways than Indy. Their bearings blow.

Jumping on the DLX bandwagon is kinda like middle aged virtue signaling. I still love DLX, but they get shielded from rightful criticism.

where is your rug, sir?

[Sisig]

Spitfire tablets are one of the best wheel shapes

[Pavement Diver]

Indestructible boot laces will fix all your lace ripping troubles. Downside is they aren't pretty.

(Put this in the unpopular facts bucket.)

[noxiousPond]

the swoosh, especially the chubby one on blazers is just as ugly if not worse than the N on nb's. generally, shoes without big logo's always look better to me.

Opposite unpopular take: plain skate shoes like last resort or whatever new “core” skate shoes almost always look like shit to me because they are so basic and generic in their design. The swoosh and N make the shoes stand out and interesting as well as the companies actually putting some effort into their design.

[JM]

Expand Quote

-Middle age men need more than just Antihero to over-identify with. (I'm very guilty of this).

[close]

What happened to all the gold chain and Tommy Hilfiger fresh/tech skaters from the 90s'?
Did most of them quit or did they convert to being Anti-Hero/hesh type guys when they got older?

As an older guy, I'm still definitely in the former crowd, or at least closer to it than I am to Anti-Hero.
To be clear, I'm in no way trying to throw shade at Anti-Hero, they're legendary.

I’m gonna please need a pic of this skater-type you speak of.

Then we can figure out where have they all gone.

[Unkle Fleak]

The harder the wheel the bigger it has to be. Unless you only skate from the train to the plaza

[skateboarder4life]

Most skaters probably have deformed feet from basically practicing foot binding for years by stuffing their feet into shoes that aren't shaped like feet. And pointy shoes do not in anyway help your flick or anything else. In fact every aspect of your skating could be improved by wearing a shoe that's actually shaped like a foot and allows your toes to splay and thus allowing you to utilize your foot to its full potential.

[skateboarder4life]

Wheelbase and board width should GENERALLY scale with skater height and shoe size. And truck height, wheel size, etc S should also scale with board size, everything else being equal.

Like an average height skater weighing 150 pounds on an 8.25 deck with 52mm wheels 14.25 or whatever wb is equal to a 6'4 210 skater on a 10x33 or 34 inch deck with 58mm wheels and 15 wb. And each of the boards should feel the same to both of them. The bigger guys additional muscle mass should require him the same effort to flip that board as the smaller guy on the smaller board

[JoseCansnake0]

Most skaters probably have deformed feet from basically practicing foot binding for years by stuffing their feet into shoes that aren't shaped like feet. And pointy shoes do not in anyway help your flick or anything else. In fact every aspect of your skating could be improved by wearing a shoe that's actually shaped like a foot and allows your toes to splay and thus allowing you to utilize your foot to its full potential.

I've got a bunions on both feet.

Left foot: On top of my first big toe knuckle, just behind my toe nail

Right foot: Second knuckle, big toe as well. This is a big one. Breaking in new shoes isn't fun

So far, aside from some weird foot cramping if I tweak my toes weird (trying to pick shit up lol), they're relatively painless when walking, running or skating. Bless up

[steve]

Most skaters probably have deformed feet from basically practicing foot binding for years by stuffing their feet into shoes that aren't shaped like feet. And pointy shoes do not in anyway help your flick or anything else. In fact every aspect of your skating could be improved by wearing a shoe that's actually shaped like a foot and allows your toes to splay and thus allowing you to utilize your foot to its full potential.

what's @Xen got to say about this?

[Sedition]

-Middle age men need more than just Antihero to over-identify with. (I'm very guilty of this).

As long as Anti-Hero is run by a middle-aged punk guy (Julien), and they keep making references to 80s/90s punk/skate culture in their marketing...middle aged men will flock like...pigeons.

[manuduncan]

i think ventures are the best looking truck brand new because the big V shape is cool but once they start getting grind marks and grooves then looks bad, indys look the best chewed up

also i think bones 97x formula are the best of the whole "softer wheels for crusty ground that also slide" genre of wheels

[BeachChicken]

Rob Welsh wears flannels, Dickies, AH hats, and skates mostly transition. Should answer "what happened to fresh types" well

[neonbrown]

Most skaters probably have deformed feet from basically practicing foot binding for years by stuffing their feet into shoes that aren't shaped like feet. And pointy shoes do not in anyway help your flick or anything else. In fact every aspect of your skating could be improved by wearing a shoe that's actually shaped like a foot and allows your toes to splay and thus allowing you to utilize your foot to its full potential.

I was talking about this and everyone got mad and my rep dropped by twenty points, but seeking insoles to solve foot problems related to skating is putting the cart before the horse. The problem is that skaters’ feet are fucked up from the act of skating and the foot binding shoes, and you’ll have to strengthen your feet if you want to avoid injury.

[Southernmost]

I’ve only skated stock bushings. Is there really a noticeable difference or benefit in changing them?

[TwisT]

Black grizzly is better than mob and jessup

[Xen]

Expand Quote

Most skaters probably have deformed feet from basically practicing foot binding for years by stuffing their feet into shoes that aren't shaped like feet. And pointy shoes do not in anyway help your flick or anything else. In fact every aspect of your skating could be improved by wearing a shoe that's actually shaped like a foot and allows your toes to splay and thus allowing you to utilize your foot to its full potential.

[close]

what's @Xen got to say about this?

Expand Quote

Most skaters probably have deformed feet from basically practicing foot binding for years by stuffing their feet into shoes that aren't shaped like feet. And pointy shoes do not in anyway help your flick or anything else. In fact every aspect of your skating could be improved by wearing a shoe that's actually shaped like a foot and allows your toes to splay and thus allowing you to utilize your foot to its full potential.

[close]

what's @Xen got to say about this?

We wear pointing shoes because of the wealthy folks in Medieval times; it showcased wealth (you couldn't work in them) and were seen as phallic.

Barefoot shoes would work for 99% of the population in 99% of their application (not so much for rockclimbers, F1 drivers...). The benefit of narrow/pointy shoes in some sports applications is there is very little wiggle room so your foot isn't sliding around when you are say...playing footbol or basketball (with lots of lateral movement).

Only time I'm wearing non-wide/barefoot shit is: Skating, going out or meetings where a more office friendly/biz casual attire is needed. Duck shoes the rest of the time. Was going to get the strk mvmnt shoes but opt'd to support The Boss instead.

[Obijuan91]

Most skaters probably have deformed feet from basically practicing foot binding for years by stuffing their feet into shoes that aren't shaped like feet. And pointy shoes do not in anyway help your flick or anything else. In fact every aspect of your skating could be improved by wearing a shoe that's actually shaped like a foot and allows your toes to splay and thus allowing you to utilize your foot to its full potential.

Unpopular on top of unpopular, that’s why I’m trying NB 600
Wider toe box. Don’t wear em for style rather function

[Sila]

Expand Quote

the swoosh, especially the chubby one on blazers is just as ugly if not worse than the N on nb's. generally, shoes without big logo's always look better to me.

[close]

Opposite unpopular take: plain skate shoes like last resort or whatever new “core” skate shoes almost always look like shit to me because they are so basic and generic in their design. The swoosh and N make the shoes stand out and interesting as well as the companies actually putting some effort into their design.

Lol at needing a mega corps logo on a shoe to make it "interesting"

[Jacorpes]

I feel like the New Balance being for dorks stigma is exclusive to the US. In the UK I'd say they're pretty much seen in exactly the same way as Nike, maybe even more popular. It wouldn't even cross my mind that I'm skating in ugly dad shoes.

[rocklobster]

Spitfire tablets are one of the best wheel shapes

2 bolts instead of 4 is bad news for your baseplate, too much movement between the bolts and baseplate will cause uneven wear on the mounting hole and you'll never be able to get them secure

[Hyliannightmare]

Warsaw, hours, all those brands with tiny minimal branding remind me of generic skate shoes from payless and Walmart or nba 2k generics when you first start and are a brokie

[Mbrimson88]

I’ve only skated stock bushings. Is there really a noticeable difference or benefit in changing them?

Seeing as it is the unpopular gear opinion thread, I am going to go ahead and say that modifying bushings to suit your needs is mandatory - for me anyway.

Of course a lot of people just skate everything exactly as is, which is fine and nothing wrong with that, but when I know what I want, I will do whatever I can to get that.

Replacing stock Indy cylinder bushings of 90 duro with aftermarket 92 duro low head conical bushings, I can then get the kingpin nut down further, so I can angle grind off the top of the kingpin, so I get the exact feel of the firm but still loose truck with more kingpin clearance and these bushings just last for ever too.

I have modified other stock and aftermarket bushings as well, just to see how they go, or to help others too, so it is not just Indy bushings - Thunder, Ace, Venture, Krux and I don't know how many more bushing brands, but for the most part, bushings and pivot cups are the key factors to having things work very well, or having things just work well enough to get by.

Maybe it took me 50 years to get here, but I guess now at least I can say that is where I am at with things.


Pic of the difference between regular tops and low tops, for reference, conical bottoms in the front, cylinders in the background:

[rikki]

Expand Quote

I’ve only skated stock bushings. Is there really a noticeable difference or benefit in changing them?

[close]

Seeing as it is the unpopular gear opinion thread, I am going to go ahead and say that modifying bushings to suit your needs is mandatory - for me anyway.

Short answer: no it's not – for the majority of people.

Longer answer: it's totally dependent of the skater and the trucks. Most people do just fine without any mods.

Subjective input: I don't modify my bushings on Ventures at all. With Indy, the only "mod" I make is that I sometimes swap in harder bushings.

All the filing / cutting / yada yada is usually just extreme tedious measures and yes, can serve some people, but they are mostly in the small minority. I've NEVER had to sand down a bushing or cut it smaller.

[WoodRat]

Anyone who rides an egg shaped board, must buy and skate a Rick and Morty Primitive shaped board as their next setup.

[scab]

We can talk about dimensions, durometer and durability all day long, but it all boils down to this: If you care less about gear than I do you're a casual, and if you care more about gear than I do you're a nerd.

[GnarAlarm]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

-Middle age men need more than just Antihero to over-identify with. (I'm very guilty of this).

[close]

What happened to all the gold chain and Tommy Hilfiger fresh/tech skaters from the 90s'?
Did most of them quit or did they convert to being Anti-Hero/hesh type guys when they got older?

As an older guy, I'm still definitely in the former crowd, or at least closer to it than I am to Anti-Hero.
To be clear, I'm in no way trying to throw shade at Anti-Hero, they're legendary.

[close]

I’m gonna please need a pic of this skater-type you speak of.

Then we can figure out where have they all gone.

Like almost everyone in Fulfill the Dream, young Tom Penny, old Tom Penny, etc

Black grizzly is better than mob and jessup

What's it like? I've skated jessup forever because I like a slightly less sticky griptape.
If grizzly is in between mob and jessup for stickiness I might give it a try next time.