Ace trucks

[Bigwheelbite]

Not sure how anyone gets on with ace on 14.25” WB (or below) decks tbh.

They work best and way more stable with 14.3 - 14.5 + WB decks 100%

[Juliet Berto]

There's some very dramatic opinions being bandied about regarding Aces on smaller wheelbases, lol. As a counterpoint to that, my main set-up that I've been doing for a while now that I slowly shifted into is:

Ace 44 Classic (all washers present, loosened from factory to about two nut threads showing, Riptide pivots, stock bushings)
Modus 1/8" riser pad cut down to the Ace baseplate shape
BBS/Deluxe 8.12 x 14 x 31.38 Julien shape, in either a III or IV concave
Spitfire F4 53mm or 54mm, always 99 durometer, but I do play around with shape (I will switch wheels out occasionally depending on the spot, and I do have 80HD Chargers for really rough spots)
Bones Swiss, but that's immaterial to the topic

I'm 5'11.5", but I do have a narrower, lighter frame, which some have maybe correctly hypothesized is more of a factor in wheelbase preference rather than height.

I'm a street skater who never skates parks, and I do flip/spin/rotate my board a fair amount. The wider truck/narrower deck combination gives me a stability that I love (and the "hotrodding" really is very marginal, though I would not go narrower), and for me the risers are a must for wheelbite, pop, and overall feel. I also don't really identify with the issue that many of you have with a taller board feeling "tippy", although that's being off-set by the wider truck; even beyond performance, I dislike how a low-to-the ground board feels. Even way, way back when I rode Ventures, I always preferred the highs. The ultraorthodox, narrow-minded tech skater (think PJ/childoftheghetto/Kevin Bilyeu/etc) fanatical devotion to the low has always been pretty whatever to me; I mean, for what it's worth Gino always rode the highs.

[Frank and Fred]

6' 200lbs here. Ridden Ace on a 14" WB before. The only time it felt too squirrely was when I hit a 9' deep end. Like all of this nonsense, its all personal preference.

[Ok]

There's some very dramatic opinions being bandied about regarding Aces on smaller wheelbases, lol. As a counterpoint to that, my main set-up that I've been doing for a while now that I slowly shifted into is:

Ace 44 Classic (all washers present, loosened from factory to about two nut threads showing, Riptide pivots, stock bushings)
Modus 1/8" riser pad cut down to the Ace baseplate shape
BBS/Deluxe 8.12 x 14 x 31.38 Julien shape, in either a III or IV concave
Spitfire F4 53mm or 54mm, always 99 durometer, but I do play around with shape (I will switch wheels out occasionally depending on the spot, and I do have 80HD Chargers for really rough spots)
Bones Swiss, but that's immaterial to the topic

I'm 5'11.5", but I do have a narrower, lighter frame, which some have maybe correctly hypothesized is more of a factor in wheelbase preference rather than height.

I'm a street skater who never skates parks, and I do flip/spin/rotate my board a fair amount. The wider truck/narrower deck combination gives me a stability that I love (and the "hotrodding" really is very marginal, though I would not go narrower), and for me the risers are a must for wheelbite, pop, and overall feel. I also don't really identify with the issue that many of you have with a taller board feeling "tippy", although that's being off-set by the wider truck; even beyond performance, I dislike how a low-to-the ground board feels. Even way, way back when I rode Ventures, I always preferred the highs. The ultraorthodox, narrow-minded tech skater (think PJ/childoftheghetto/Kevin Bilyeu/etc) fanatical devotion to the low has always been pretty whatever to me; I mean, for what it's worth Gino always rode the highs.

I like a lot of what you are saying in here, and your setup sounds rad. I also have really enjoyed ace classics on 14” wb. For me, when using ace, I get better results with a taller wheel.

Nice cotg reference, that person was amazing. I wonder how they are.

Kevin Bilyeu looks like he uses Indy 129s and venture 5.0s in both hi and lo.

Gino may skate the highs now, but from fairly obsessively staring at his footage, I don’t think that was generally the case. I’ve seen some stuff where he’s skating thunders, but the rest of it looks like 5.2 lo, on a 7.9 ish board (which was ‘big’ compared to many). There is like one clip where Gino is skating indys, seemed infrequent. Anyways, I’m super happy to be wrong about any/all of that, and would be very stoked to hear more about pro setups.

I personally really like lo’s and and lower trucks in general, but ....even though I basically only do a few basic flatground flip tricks, I’ve been enjoying the pop I get from a taller wheel, and the ability to ride thrashed ground.

[FrozenIndustries]

I'm 6'3" and skated 44s on a 13.875" WB and it was fine. I care way more about overall board length. Why? Because...

Like all of this nonsense, its all personal preference.

[palelight]

Whenever I snag an 8.38 Hockey deck (14.18" wb) I use Ace 44's. I'm 6'2," and the Aces make the steep ass Hockey kicks manageable. As mentioned above, being a narrow bastard, smaller wheelbase feels much more natural to me. But also, kick steepness will fuck with my session more than wheelbase ever will. 

[Ok]

I'm 6'3" and skated 44s on a 13.875" WB and it was fine. I care way more about overall board length. Why? Because...

Expand Quote

Like all of this nonsense, its all personal preference.

[close]

Well that, personal preference, and board length is maybe a very underrated measurement

[logjammin]

I'm late to the AF1 party and decided to treat myself to them even though I'm still trying to hit axle on my older Ace's that I just put some inverted kingpins in. I got the 44's because I figured it would still feel like home even though it's a hair shorter than the classic 44's. Here's my dumb ass take:

Might be in my head but they felt a little more stable on center, yet still maintained that insane turn I've always loved. I felt like I was turning a full circle in an even less amount of time, God damn Ace's are like slalom trucks or something they're nuts. Might be the new bushings but even with the 1/8" Ace risers I was hitting wheelbite pretty easily. Using the same risers on my classics damn near eliminated wheelbite.

Quality seems better in some ways, but I still have one axle that is significantly shorter on one side compared to the other and that bugged my OCD. They kinda made the hanger part that goes into the pivot cups too small with this new design, if I threw in Ace aftermarket pivot cups there was a shit load of play back and forth, then the new stock pivot cups were better in comparison but you can still see gaps with the naked eye. My board also had a weird sound to it, never heard trucks like this before. When I roll fast it like really makes the wheels sound loud in a different way it's hard to explain. If I just push out my board in front of me and it's rolling slowly it sounds like I have this "dead" sound. But popping is still crisp. Idk, just strange.

They seem to be kinda picky about surfaces, grinded good on curbs and shit but when I touched metal coping in a bowl it was sticky and new/worn classics or even Indy's never struggled. The pop timing also took getting used to, something felt a little different with that, I def ghost popped quite a few times. But overall I think they're pretty sick. Might have been a liiiitle hyped up but hey, marketing is key. Ace is still king! Shalom

[somedudefromnj]

I'm late to the AF1 party and decided to treat myself to them even though I'm still trying to hit axle on my older Ace's that I just put some inverted kingpins in. I got the 44's because I figured it would still feel like home even though it's a hair shorter than the classic 44's. Here's my dumb ass take:

Might be in my head but they felt a little more stable on center, yet still maintained that insane turn I've always loved. I felt like I was turning a full circle in an even less amount of time, God damn Ace's are like slalom trucks or something they're nuts. Might be the new bushings but even with the 1/8" Ace risers I was hitting wheelbite pretty easily. Using the same risers on my classics damn near eliminated wheelbite.

Quality seems better in some ways, but I still have one axle that is significantly shorter on one side compared to the other and that bugged my OCD. They kinda made the hanger part that goes into the pivot cups too small with this new design, if I threw in Ace aftermarket pivot cups there was a shit load of play back and forth, then the new stock pivot cups were better in comparison but you can still see gaps with the naked eye. My board also had a weird sound to it, never heard trucks like this before. When I roll fast it like really makes the wheels sound loud in a different way it's hard to explain. If I just push out my board in front of me and it's rolling slowly it sounds like I have this "dead" sound. But popping is still crisp. Idk, just strange.

They seem to be kinda picky about surfaces, grinded good on curbs and shit but when I touched metal coping in a bowl it was sticky and new/worn classics or even Indy's never struggled. The pop timing also took getting used to, something felt a little different with that, I def ghost popped quite a few times. But overall I think they're pretty sick. Might have been a liiiitle hyped up but hey, marketing is key. Ace is still king! Shalom

gotta agree with this. Very oddly stable in the best way for a turny truck.

Had to give mine a break as Im getting use to skating again these days and wanted to be comfy again on some classics

[Ok]

Good honest take imo.
Mine: got the af1 44s. And....need more time. My initial take is they are a better, albeit fussier, Indy. I messed up and got the 44s, and probably should have gotten the af1 55s. I’ve been riding a bigger board that I’m dumb stoked on and they felt kinda whatever on this 8.5 I’ve got. I’ve put 4 or 5 other sets of trucks in this same board....(the real marks of shame s/o SFB) and the faves were 55c’s, 5.8s, 44c’s, 148’s, and then the af1s.
I’ve had the loud clacking sound, so I just loosened the trucks until it stopped. The af1s turn so well. The bushings are breaking in nicely and seem to be getting better. The grind is a little less forgiving, I just need to skate faster. Classics seem to handle a larger wheel better, but again that’s first blush.
I bought a different deck, for these af1s and committed the  unforgivable sin of incorrectly measuring the wb. Ps 8.25 with a 14.38 wb, when I’m pretty much 14.25 and down. So everything seems a little/a lot off with pop, but that’s my fault. The pop doesn’t feel as light as classics do for me. Now would be a good time for me to point out that o have NO idea what I’m talking about (I made this obvious when I said I put like 12 pairs of trucks on one deck).
No truck does it all. On the one hand, I pretty much only do kickflips, and thunders maybe work the best for me there. Ventures are the coolest. And my ollie feels the best with 5.8s. 44c/55c’s allow me to use a larger wheel and although the trucks themselves are not light, they feel lighter, for me, due to the geometry.
I think that for me, a slightly shorter board and the af1s will feel pretty decent. Too early to tell, but not worth the price is my initial reaction. Should have gotten the 55s. They should have come out with a 45/50 cal. Or some shit, size, that would’ve been the 8.5, so that they could get that 8.75 in there, imo.

[rob]

I'm late to the AF1 party and decided to treat myself to them even though I'm still trying to hit axle on my older Ace's that I just put some inverted kingpins in. I got the 44's because I figured it would still feel like home even though it's a hair shorter than the classic 44's. Here's my dumb ass take:

Might be in my head but they felt a little more stable on center, yet still maintained that insane turn I've always loved. I felt like I was turning a full circle in an even less amount of time, God damn Ace's are like slalom trucks or something they're nuts. Might be the new bushings but even with the 1/8" Ace risers I was hitting wheelbite pretty easily. Using the same risers on my classics damn near eliminated wheelbite.

Quality seems better in some ways, but I still have one axle that is significantly shorter on one side compared to the other and that bugged my OCD. They kinda made the hanger part that goes into the pivot cups too small with this new design, if I threw in Ace aftermarket pivot cups there was a shit load of play back and forth, then the new stock pivot cups were better in comparison but you can still see gaps with the naked eye. My board also had a weird sound to it, never heard trucks like this before. When I roll fast it like really makes the wheels sound loud in a different way it's hard to explain. If I just push out my board in front of me and it's rolling slowly it sounds like I have this "dead" sound. But popping is still crisp. Idk, just strange.

They seem to be kinda picky about surfaces, grinded good on curbs and shit but when I touched metal coping in a bowl it was sticky and new/worn classics or even Indy's never struggled. The pop timing also took getting used to, something felt a little different with that, I def ghost popped quite a few times. But overall I think they're pretty sick. Might have been a liiiitle hyped up but hey, marketing is key. Ace is still king! Shalom

Cool I’ll grab a set then, been master debating it cause I recently became reborn my youth days and found my size that works for me

[munchbox]

imo Ace only work as a loose truck. venture are the opposite, they only work as a tight truck.

thats just not true. have two sets at a slight rattle and they have the best on center stability of all the trucks ive ran that loose including ace + indy. all it takes is done tinkering, which anyone on this side of slap is doing somewhere anyway

[logjammin]

Man I'm trippin, today has been like 90⁰F all day I skated for a few hours and even in the heat the bushings seemed to firm up. I feel like now maybe they don't turn as good as the classics? What do y'all think about your AF1's turning radius after being on them for awhile? Who would take their classics over AF1's or vice versa? Shalom

[laterskater]

Man I'm trippin, today has been like 90⁰F all day I skated for a few hours and even in the heat the bushings seemed to firm up. I feel like now maybe they don't turn as good as the classics? What do y'all think about your AF1's turning radius after being on them for awhile? Who would take their classics over AF1's or vice versa? Shalom

I agree, I don’t think the AF1s turn as well as the Classics. The AF1’s don’t feel as loose to me and the turning radius isn’t as good for me. I ended up switching back to Classics.

[cucktard]

So someone was asking about classics on a 14-inch wb.

I’ve never ridden Ace before, but the local shop was having an anniversary sale and I snagged some classic 66’s for 20% off. I put them on my cruiser/downhill board, but I really wanted to see how they grind.

So I got an uncut deck with a 14-inch wheelbase and cut out a short, fat twin shovel. I put the Ace on them and everything people have been saying (wait for the bushing to break in, the turn is amazing) has come true.

I love ‘em. They slappy great, I can still kickflip and ollie ok. Has been working fine on the mini, but probably won’t drop in on the 12-foot with it.

The wb is maybe a touch too short. Was on my friend’s Jason Adam’s with a 14.5 wb, and that was a dream. Could pump carve on that. And the radius was perfect.

[radcunt]

As soon as i cop axles on these 169s i'm gonna give these cunts a shot

[logjammin]

Expand Quote

Man I'm trippin, today has been like 90⁰F all day I skated for a few hours and even in the heat the bushings seemed to firm up. I feel like now maybe they don't turn as good as the classics? What do y'all think about your AF1's turning radius after being on them for awhile? Who would take their classics over AF1's or vice versa? Shalom

[close]

I agree, I don’t think the AF1s turn as well as the Classics. The AF1’s don’t feel as loose to me and the turning radius isn’t as good for me. I ended up switching back to Classics.

Shit has me bummed! Shalom

[IpathCats]

really strange to me that they didnt just make titanium axel classics with beefed up pivot cups and bushings, and add 8.25, 8.5, 8.75 sizes for people that wanted them. That would've addressed everyone's concerns, while retaining what they originally liked. Maybe throw in those re threader dies as a nice bonus. People liked the geo and soft grindfeel though, idk why they would change that.

[Ok]

really strange to me that they didnt just make titanium axel classics with beefed up pivot cups and bushings, and add 8.25, 8.5, 8.75 sizes for people that wanted them. That would've addressed everyone's concerns, while retaining what they originally liked. Maybe throw in those re threader dies as a nice bonus. People liked the geo and soft grindfeel though, idk why they would change that.

Agreed

[Firebert]

Man I'm trippin, today has been like 90⁰F all day I skated for a few hours and even in the heat the bushings seemed to firm up. I feel like now maybe they don't turn as good as the classics? What do y'all think about your AF1's turning radius after being on them for awhile? Who would take their classics over AF1's or vice versa? Shalom

I love the new AF1, and would pick them over classics every time due to the stability. Classics feel too unstable for me, its as if it is slightly more difficult to keep a perfectly straight line on em. I also like the look of the AF1 better, the beefier hangar with a slightly more tapered pivot just looks like what I want a truck to look like.

[southphillytapwater]

Expand Quote

Man I'm trippin, today has been like 90⁰F all day I skated for a few hours and even in the heat the bushings seemed to firm up. I feel like now maybe they don't turn as good as the classics? What do y'all think about your AF1's turning radius after being on them for awhile? Who would take their classics over AF1's or vice versa? Shalom

[close]

I agree, I don’t think the AF1s turn as well as the Classics. The AF1’s don’t feel as loose to me and the turning radius isn’t as good for me. I ended up switching back to Classics.

I switched back to classics after about three weeks. I couldn't get used to the pop and the stable center became boring to me. I much prefer the geometry of the classics over the AF1's.

[logjammin]

I did the same last night, used some extra baseplates since my IKP converted ones are trashed, gonna just skate my worn down classics and try not to be OCD about my kingpin slowing down my grinds. Shalom

[manysnakes]

really strange to me that they didnt just make titanium axel classics with beefed up pivot cups and bushings, and add 8.25, 8.5, 8.75 sizes for people that wanted them. That would've addressed everyone's concerns, while retaining what they originally liked. Maybe throw in those re threader dies as a nice bonus. People liked the geo and soft grindfeel though, idk why they would change that.

Yeah, this is my take on it, too. I like the Classic Ace a lot and only wanted to see maybe a hollow kingpin and axle and a few more sizes. I don’t think any Ace riders were clamoring for a redesigned truck, but ultimately time will tell.

I hit axle on my Classics recently, so maybe I’ll try the AF1s (gotta wear through my 144 and 149 Indys before I can justify more trucks) and then I can have an informed opinion.

[big_kev_215]

I’m giving my AF1 55s another shot after switching back to classics 55s on my last couple decks. What’s the consensus on how far into the breaking-in process the weird clicking sound stops? I spent about 3 hours on them today and started to enjoy them. Less ghost popping and the turn is starting to feel more like my classics.  Imo the grind being less buttery than the classics is the biggest downside. By the end of the session I thought we were done with the clicking then they mustered up a couple farewell clicks when I was skating back to my car.  I feel like I’m watching Hereditary…

[palelight]

I’m giving my AF1 55s another shot after switching back to classics 55s on my last couple decks. What’s the consensus on how far into the breaking-in process the weird clicking sound stops? I spent about 3 hours on them today and started to enjoy them. Less ghost popping and the turn is starting to feel more like my classics.  Imo the grind being less buttery than the classics is the biggest downside. By the end of the session I thought we were done with the clicking then they mustered up a couple farewell clicks when I was skating back to my car. I feel like I’m watching Hereditary…

So you're saying AF1's are the preferred truck of Paimon...

[radcunt]

I’m giving my AF1 55s another shot after switching back to classics 55s on my last couple decks. What’s the consensus on how far into the breaking-in process the weird clicking sound stops? I spent about 3 hours on them today and started to enjoy them. Less ghost popping and the turn is starting to feel more like my classics.  Imo the grind being less buttery than the classics is the biggest downside. By the end of the session I thought we were done with the clicking then they mustered up a couple farewell clicks when I was skating back to my car.  I feel like I’m watching Hereditary…

I'm assuming thats from the pivot cups breaking in?  Chuck a speed cream / oil drop in that sucker. 

I’m about to pull the trigger on some 66 AF1s as my first pair of aces, but now this thread has me thinking maybe I should get classics?

[Roisto]

Expand Quote

Man I'm trippin, today has been like 90⁰F all day I skated for a few hours and even in the heat the bushings seemed to firm up. I feel like now maybe they don't turn as good as the classics? What do y'all think about your AF1's turning radius after being on them for awhile? Who would take their classics over AF1's or vice versa? Shalom

[close]

I agree, I don’t think the AF1s turn as well as the Classics. The AF1’s don’t feel as loose to me and the turning radius isn’t as good for me. I ended up switching back to Classics.

I feel the same way. After I grind through these 66 AF1s, I’ll set up some old classics and can maybe compare better but right now with the AF1s I feel like I have to make more of an effort to not have my front foot exactly in the middle of the board when pushing if I want to turn well at the same time. Other than that it hasn’t really bothered me so even if they stopped making the classics I’d be ok.

[Mbrimson88]

I’m about to pull the trigger on some 66 AF1s as my first pair of aces, but now this thread has me thinking maybe I should get classics?

A bit of price difference and a lot of personal preference really, determining what you want.  Size board / width of truck also comes into it some, depending on what size you want.  At least both have smaller sizes (which I don't think about) but both also have even 9.0" but apart from that if you were more a 9.5" truck person, the AF1 77, or a bit less, the Classic 66 in 9.35" width.

OCD has 20% off trucks and wheels right now too, so might be a good chance to get them cheaper, and all relevant sizes in stock too.

[kenjiro]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but the classics skate great for me. Why change a good thing? I go through at least one set of trucks a year. 65-70 dollars for a pair of trucks is crazy to me.

[shpongle]

i wish ace made an 8.75 truck.... 8.5 trucks feel too unstable on transition for me because i suck