Wheelbase Questions

[IUTSM]

been consciously messing around with WB the past few months.

anything between 14.25-14.5 is relatively the same, although i prefer steeper kicks and a 14.5 to a flatter 14.25

once ya hit 14 though, it's a new world. Boards feel shorter period. kinda like it and unlike WB over 14.5, it's been easy to adapt to after a few rolls

[Ok]

been consciously messing around with WB the past few months.

anything between 14.25-14.5 is relatively the same, although i prefer steeper kicks and a 14.5 to a flatter 14.25

once ya hit 14 though, it's a new world. Boards feel shorter period. kinda like it and unlike WB over 14.5, it's been easy to adapt to after a few rolls

and germaine to conversation on transition, julian and cardiel, brent atchley, all long ago mind you, were shredding laaaaaarge bowls on 14” wb’s, 7.5s.
anything is possible.
not trying to convince the person above who has already purchased a 14.75

[logjammin]

14.3 and up sucks. 14.25 barely tolerable. Short wheelbases are where it's at, it needs to become more of a trend across the range of sizes especially wider boards. Much more natural and fun feeling. 14.5 feels like I'm riding a longboard now, blegh.

[Ok]

14.3 and up sucks. 14.25 barely tolerable. Short wheelbases are where it's at, it needs to become more of a trend across the range of sizes especially wider boards. Much more natural and fun feeling. 14.5 feels like I'm riding a longboard now, blegh.

in general, i agree, short wb’s are where it’s at.

but, there are some really fun exceptions.
i’ve had fun on short wb’s on transition, but i stick to the shallows.
bombing hills on a 14.75 felt like cheating, in a nice way

[IUTSM]

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been consciously messing around with WB the past few months.

anything between 14.25-14.5 is relatively the same, although i prefer steeper kicks and a 14.5 to a flatter 14.25

once ya hit 14 though, it's a new world. Boards feel shorter period. kinda like it and unlike WB over 14.5, it's been easy to adapt to after a few rolls

[close]

and germaine to conversation on transition, julian and cardiel, brent atchley, all long ago mind you, were shredding laaaaaarge bowls on 14” wb’s, 7.5s.
anything is possible.
not trying to convince the person above who has already purchased a 14.75

i found a stack of my old boards recently. 1999-2004. measurements were all between 7.5-8, 14WB

i'm curious to take a 14WB into a bowl again. not sure what it will do for me

i guess what i left out of my earlier post is that for me, the stick needs to serve a mix of functions. I don't have much for a bag of tricks, but the bag is a mix of some flat ground, ledge, transition, and pushing and rolling around in the street. I'm older and lazier now, so it's whatever works. When i was skating every day and at peak fitness, I could skate any board and it wouldn't matter or I'd quickly adapt. some boards just had more pop than others- girl, element, and AWS stand out in memory as being those that we all felt had more pop and when looking back, they most likely had shorter WB...

anyways i'm rambling about nothing

[Sedition]

14.3 and up sucks. 14.25 barely tolerable. Short wheelbases are where it's at, it needs to become more of a trend across the range of sizes especially wider boards. Much more natural and fun feeling. 14.5 feels like I'm riding a longboard now, blegh.

14.25 and below sucks unless you are a midget-dwarf with tiny legs. They feel like finger boards.   

[gaunting]

I know it’s splitting hairs, but I would love to see more boards with a 14.1” WB. I know April has one, and greco’s “hammers” boards have it on the 8”, but virtually no other brands do that WB.

[rikki]

been consciously messing around with WB the past few months.

anything between 14.25-14.5 is relatively the same, although i prefer steeper kicks and a 14.5 to a flatter 14.25

once ya hit 14 though, it's a new world. Boards feel shorter period. kinda like it and unlike WB over 14.5, it's been easy to adapt to after a few rolls

This is true, but it's also the trucks that can have a huge effect. I mean, e.g. skating a 14" wb deck with forged plate Ventures results in a 17.35" total wb. And take, let's say, a 14.25" deck with Ace Classics and you have a 17" total wb.

It's not just the deck.

[Sedition]

It's not just the deck.

If don’t switch trucks with every set-up, then it’s just the deck.

[IUTSM]

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It's not just the deck.

[close]

If don’t switch trucks with every set-up, then it’s just the deck.

Yep

[pizzafliptofakie]

After skating mostly 14.25 I tried a 14.3 recently and it was kind of a noticeable difference, but it was also not my preferred width. Then I tried one of those TrueFit boards with the 13.75 and it felt like a Tech Deck. I kinda hate how fussy I've become about this sorta thing lol.

[roba]

i have a cruiser/old school set up with a 14 inch wheelbase and ace classics and i can skate on it pretty well.

my regular is always 14.25 with ventures and i can skate on it pretty well too.

i'll set up a 14.375 and i'll start struggling with some tricks, and that was the case when i skated aces on my regular too.

i have an anti-hero 8.38 with the 14.5 wheelbase that's in good shape, i might try it out for fun but i'll probably hate it.

i'm 6'1" btw

[Thebird]

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It's not just the deck.

[close]

If don’t switch trucks with every set-up, then it’s just the deck.

[close]

Yep

Exactly.  I run Venture high with 52 mm on 8.25 and above, anything 8.125 and below is Venture low and 51 mm.  I find it pretty easy to go from Venture lows to highs and vice versa, but other trucks really mess with certain tricks.  I never mess with the trucks and wheels now.

[logjammin]

Expand Quote

14.3 and up sucks. 14.25 barely tolerable. Short wheelbases are where it's at, it needs to become more of a trend across the range of sizes especially wider boards. Much more natural and fun feeling. 14.5 feels like I'm riding a longboard now, blegh.

[close]

14.25 and below sucks unless you are a midget-dwarf with tiny legs. They feel like finger boards.

5'10" with normal legs here. 14.5+ is like riding a longboard now, for me. It's all subjective. I look down and there's so much board in front of my front foot in the natural way I want to position my feet. They're close but not super close. A shorter wheelbase is just a completely natural look and feel for my senses.

[DarkPools]

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14.3 and up sucks. 14.25 barely tolerable. Short wheelbases are where it's at, it needs to become more of a trend across the range of sizes especially wider boards. Much more natural and fun feeling. 14.5 feels like I'm riding a longboard now, blegh.

[close]

14.25 and below sucks unless you are a midget-dwarf with tiny legs. They feel like finger boards.

[close]

5'10" with normal legs here. 14.5+ is like riding a longboard now, for me. It's all subjective. I look down and there's so much board in front of my front foot in the natural way I want to position my feet. They're close but not super close. A shorter wheelbase is just a completely natural look and feel for my senses.

5'10" with normal to slightly longer legs here. I prefer 14.5, but anything above is too long and anything shorter than 14.25 feels too cramped usually. I'm an 8.5 AH right now that's definitely 14.25 or slightly shorter. It's not bad but something is definitely off for me where it feels a tiny bit short. I'm alo on Indys, so that makes sense

It's odd because I like spinning and flipping my board so smaller than 14.5 should be ideal to do that but I'm so accustomed to medium/long WB decks that I sometimes feel cramped. Definitely resonate with the finger board/tech deck feel under foot hahah

[Mick]

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14.3 and up sucks. 14.25 barely tolerable. Short wheelbases are where it's at, it needs to become more of a trend across the range of sizes especially wider boards. Much more natural and fun feeling. 14.5 feels like I'm riding a longboard now, blegh.

[close]

14.25 and below sucks unless you are a midget-dwarf with tiny legs. They feel like finger boards.

Found the dude that tried 14 WB thinking it would fix his poor tre flip technique

[JugeL]

If 0.25 difference in wheelbase makes you lose tre flips, you're the problem not the board lmao

[Thebird]

If 0.25 difference in wheelbase makes you lose tre flips, you're the problem not the board lmao

I actually think this is more related to length and angle of the tail, how much scoop you have.  I have a 8.125 April, flat longer tail on Venture lows - can't scoop a tre flip for crap.  14.38 wb Quasi with Venture highs, no issues.

[Sedition]

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14.3 and up sucks. 14.25 barely tolerable. Short wheelbases are where it's at, it needs to become more of a trend across the range of sizes especially wider boards. Much more natural and fun feeling. 14.5 feels like I'm riding a longboard now, blegh.

[close]

14.25 and below sucks unless you are a midget-dwarf with tiny legs. They feel like finger boards.

[close]

Found the dude that tried 14 WB thinking it would fix his poor tre flip technique

14" is laughable. Wouldn't even consider trying one of those Penny Boards.

[LebowskisRug]

If king of madness Reynolds can kill it on 14-14.5 then we all need to spend more time adjusting technique.

Also Ben D is killing it on a 14" wb setup that is popular with middle schoolers.

Before I get the "muscle memory" crap, that isn't as finite as we're acting and studies on coordination show it can be altered and improved by simply, and get this, paying attention to how you're performing the thing you're trying to perform.

I thought since I learned tons of flip tricks on 8" and under boards that yah that's what I needed to go back to. Maybe slower flip tricks that were pretty low altitude, but it sure as shit didn't help "being familiar" with some shit I rode 20 years prior.

[DarkPools]

If king of madness Reynolds can kill it on 14-14.5 then we all need to spend more time adjusting technique.

Also Ben D is killing it on a 14" wb setup that is popular with middle schoolers.

Before I get the "muscle memory" crap, that isn't as finite as we're acting and studies on coordination show it can be altered and improved by simply, and get this, paying attention to how you're performing the thing you're trying to perform.

I thought since I learned tons of flip tricks on 8" and under boards that yah that's what I needed to go back to. Maybe slower flip tricks that were pretty low altitude, but it sure as shit didn't help "being familiar" with some shit I rode 20 years prior.

Except the average skater/Slap skater isn't as talented, fine tuned, or athletic (debatable on this one) as Reynolds. The challenge to arbitrarily force yourself to change your technique when you could just keep skating what works in your goldilocks zone instead doesn't seem worth it.
In other words, why stray from what works for you just because others find success in altering their equipment/technique?

My take doesn't mean we shouldn't be optimizing technique or not paying any attention to it at all when we skate, because you're right. We should be able to adjust technique and be more fluid when it comes to potential change. Instead of relegating ourselves to failure whenever we have to skate some deck size or WB that is not "ideal" before we actually give it some time. That said, if you're trained to do tricks on 14" and jump to 14.5" then I don't expect you to do all of your tricks successfully, technique be damned or not. With practice or not, your legs, height, or force you can exert may physically inhibit you from optimizing technique because it physically cannot make X trick happen. If you're 5'5 and have shorter legs with size 8 shoes, it's a miracle to do 360 flips on 8.5/14.5 WB on Thunders, in my eyes.

Technique or not, there's a proportional combo balance to equipment size against physical attributes that should loosely be followed, in my eyes.

[LebowskisRug]

The average American male is 5'9", so 5'5" would put them on the lower end of the bell curve. So of course if someone is shorter then ya, 14" seems logical. The average Slap poster seems to be of average height and heavier build, which might alter their choices.

But if we are talking about overall board size, going from 14.25 to 14.5 if the board isn't longer or within a small margin won't matter all that much if the kicks are the same shape. That's because where you'd flick isn't further away. If you take a squared deck with a 14.25 and lay it over a tapered 14.5 (FA 8.5 and Baker 8.5 for example) you can see that the blunt kick actually has more length that your foot travels on the grip before flicking off. The FA would be shorter, so it can scoop faster, but not every flip trick will inherently feel easier.

We are flipping out way too hard on wheelbase. Tail/nose length, kick angle, how worn a deck is, wheel size, kick shape, etc. matter more. If you're going from 14.25 to 14.38 that is 1/16" per kick and pretty small when a tail on the same deck can vary from 6.5 to 6.75" or the nose from 6.6875 to 7.125.

[Mbrimson88]

.

I would definitely go longer, before I go shorter, on the wheelbase, but I am also taller with longer legs.

Skated the black eagle 8.125 x 32 with 14.25 wb for a long time, but also used to skate the 8.18 x 31.8 with 14.38 wb and the only thing I found different was the shorter tail on the 8.18, more so than the wheelbase change.

Since giving up on smaller boards and going more for the green eagle 8.38 x 32.2 with 14.5 wb or other BBS 8.5 x 32.3 with 14.5 shapes, I find it is just more comfortable on that slightly longer wb.

I also have a number of other boards with 14.6 through 14.75 and even a few 15 wb like the orange eagle, which although is big and a bit slow on the turns, I can still get on with it quite well but I don't skate them any more than a short while otherwise my usual 8.38 and 8.5 boards start to feel too small, in the same way the black eagle with the 14.25 wb now feels too small for me.


Sure you are going to have a fair skate with boards that work better for your height, leg length, but it is also down to adapting to whatever boards, as I know some really small guys who skate some of the biggest boards around and still have more flips, better board control and everything just works for them on those bigger boards than what might be considered more normal for them.  Then on the other hand, some people really excel when they have a more proportionate board for their size, like the tru fit boards are way too small for me, but they work great for a couple of the other smaller people I know too.

I guess the only thing is, some people don't want to or just flat out can't afford to get all manner of different size setups to work out which one is best, or then it can be a bad thing because they might get used to any or all of them given time, so it is just down to what works the best for them in the long run.


If a board size or shape is not working for you, stop skating it and try something else, but board hopping all over the place might not help a whole lot either, like Ben DeGros trying something, loving it (or hating it) and then trying something else slightly different, or changing it up completely with everything, which might change too much.

Trying to change one thing at a time always works best for me, but then I would also not ride trucks that were too narrow or too wide on a completely different setup, so sometimes changing board size drastically also means you have to change other things too.

The madness and the joy of skateboarding...

[dstrytruitt]

.

I would definitely go longer, before I go shorter, on the wheelbase, but I am also taller with longer legs.

Skated the black eagle 8.125 x 32 with 14.25 wb for a long time, but also used to skate the 8.18 x 31.8 with 14.38 wb and the only thing I found different was the shorter tail on the 8.18, more so than the wheelbase change.

Since giving up on smaller boards and going more for the green eagle 8.38 x 32.2 with 14.5 wb or other BBS 8.5 x 32.3 with 14.5 shapes, I find it is just more comfortable on that slightly longer wb.

I also have a number of other boards with 14.6 through 14.75 and even a few 15 wb like the orange eagle, which although is big and a bit slow on the turns, I can still get on with it quite well but I don't skate them any more than a short while otherwise my usual 8.38 and 8.5 boards start to feel too small, in the same way the black eagle with the 14.25 wb now feels too small for me.


Sure you are going to have a fair skate with boards that work better for your height, leg length, but it is also down to adapting to whatever boards, as I know some really small guys who skate some of the biggest boards around and still have more flips, better board control and everything just works for them on those bigger boards than what might be considered more normal for them.  Then on the other hand, some people really excel when they have a more proportionate board for their size, like the tru fit boards are way too small for me, but they work great for a couple of the other smaller people I know too.

I guess the only thing is, some people don't want to or just flat out can't afford to get all manner of different size setups to work out which one is best, or then it can be a bad thing because they might get used to any or all of them given time, so it is just down to what works the best for them in the long run.


If a board size or shape is not working for you, stop skating it and try something else, but board hopping all over the place might not help a whole lot either, like Ben DeGros trying something, loving it (or hating it) and then trying something else slightly different, or changing it up completely with everything, which might change too much.

Trying to change one thing at a time always works best for me, but then I would also not ride trucks that were too narrow or too wide on a completely different setup, so sometimes changing board size drastically also means you have to change other things too.

The madness and the joy of skateboarding...

Well put as usual, sir!


I’ve spent 35ish years skating and tweaking my set-ups and I still occasionally look for something new.different/BETTER but generally just go with what works or feels good for me. Right now, as a “pad daddy” or whatever it was called here recently, I like a 9ish X 33or so X15.25” to hit bigger transitions and go fast and carve grind. That’s what makes me happy right now.

Enjoy the ride while you can, folks. We’re truly all day-to-day.

[rikki]

"Just one last attempt at something different and then I'll stop messing around with my setup."

said no one ever with success 

[dstrytruitt]

"Just one last attempt at something different and then I'll stop messing around with my setup."

said no one ever with success 

[moonordie]

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"Just one last attempt at something different and then I'll stop messing around with my setup."

said no one ever with success 

[close]

Amen brotha 
I know that Aces work the best for me but also Indy worked before (not as good as Ace) and I know that Thunder doesn't.
Obviously I want some Thunders now...

[rikki]

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"Just one last attempt at something different and then I'll stop messing around with my setup."

said no one ever with success 

[close]

[close]

Amen brotha 
I know that Aces work the best for me but also Indy worked before (not as good as Ace) and I know that Thunder doesn't.
Obviously I want some Thunders now...

Man I feel you, been frantically swapping between Ventures and Indys for months now, I KNOW I should settle for just one truck at a time, but y'know how it goes...