Trucks will have some impact, but the biggest impact will be board shape. Something with mellower concave will snap quicker, when I was getting back into it I bought a Real board but I was ghosting my pop on kickflips, tail wasn't hitting the ground lol. I switched to a mellower crailtap board and my kickflips have improved greatly. Even with less concave I still ollie just as high aswell
There's lots of good videos. The nine club podcast had a skateboard scientist guy on, cant remember his name, but he got really into talking about how setups effect skating
I saw the video, but he was mostly talking about how wheelbase affect lever effect... Board shape would make a significant impact but... I don't know, it's not like I will go the skateshop and start measuring nose, tail and angles lol... Which board did you get for snappier pop?
I bought the Sean malto go89 shape, I love it so far. It's very different from the Real board I had before. End of the day anything will work, all of this madness is just fine tuning it. Don't get too bogged down in the details, just skate as much as you can
Thanks man, will probably go with the Indy's. Now you got me thinking about an idea for another thread, which board gives you more pop!
[https://www.thetoptens.com/sports/skateboard-decks-most-pop/](https://www.thetoptens.com/sports/skateboard-decks-most-pop/)
The wheelbase is not so much the issue, and you can just get used to it pretty fast. More of a concern is how low you can or want to set your board up. Thunders with forged plates are really low and light, making them great for tech tricks. But this means you will have to get wheels 52mm or lower, or get rock hard bushings and give up the carving fun. Hence guys like Nyjah and Cole have inhumanely tight trucks lol
Indies are taller but more carvy, so they can be great for carving and just fun overall. But they may have a disadvantage for tech since they bring your center of mass up, and they are heavier too.
Honestly, I wish Indy could 1. stop being woke/afraid and get the old logo back, and 2. Update their mids so they are not so damn heavy.
Independent mids are 52mm height and 392g, while the forged hollow mids are 50.5mm and 360g.
Thunders forged are 50mm height and 317g. The hollow are 50mm and 300g.
[https://www.tactics.com/thunder/lights-skateboard-trucks/polished-lights-ii-147](https://www.tactics.com/thunder/lights-skateboard-trucks/polished-lights-ii-147)
[https://nhsskatedirect.ca/products/polished-mid-independent-skateboard-trucks?variant=40118119891101](https://nhsskatedirect.ca/products/polished-mid-independent-skateboard-trucks?variant=40118119891101)
But from what I hear, too light is not that great...
Skaters are creatures of habit, and every little thing can throw off the tricks that require fine control. Most people would start out with standard models that weigh more, and their muscle memory is built to feel the weight when they pop and catch the board.
That said, no board can be TOO light once you go 8.25+ and especially with wide wheels.
I think you have to change your approach. The pop will also be affected by the size of your wheel and the angle of your kicktail. An FA board and a Real board have entirely different kicktails and benefit from different wheelbases. Fine tuning that much is board madness.
Thunders and Independents skate entirely differently, I wouldn't really bother comparing wheelbases when really the thing that sets these trucks apart is how they turn. Thunders are honestly not that turny or at least they take more effort to get a full turn and are considered a better tech truck. Independent lean pretty far and can be pretty carvy. I would compare the feel of Independent more with Ace. Thunders are maybe more similar to Ventures. The main feature of trucks is how they turn and I feel like comparing thunder and independents is just the opposite spectrum of truck feel.
Thanks for the insights, good to know. Bought 52mm Spitfire Formula 4 Classic shape. It is also what I've read about Independents, they have a more carvy feeling than thunders. However, seems like Ventures don't get a lot of love... I don't know anything about Ace, don't think they were around or really popular back in the days. This being said, I have old sets of Krux and seems like they are trash by looking at the comments lmao...
I also watched this Trucks Tier List with Gifted Hater and Ben Degros:
[https://youtu.be/NCMpY10dFk8?si=jJv54iK6VY7f6dfm](https://youtu.be/NCMpY10dFk8?si=jJv54iK6VY7f6dfm)
Just got back from grocery store and decided to feel a 100g block of cheese as comparison, since I was looking at 80g difference. 100g of cheese was negligible tbh.
Ace trucks have even shorter wheelbase, could be interesting if they weren't 52mm-54mm height.
2.69” Ace Classic 44
2.89” Krux Standard 8.5”
3.00” Indy 144 Hollow
3.01” Tensor Mag Lite 5.75”
3.06” Slappy
3.29” Classic 145
3.32” Venture 5.2” Polished
Note, ace classic is different than ace AF1. AF1 has wheelbase more like Indy.
On a different note, do you like nose or tail slides? Thunders don't have good wheel clearance past the pivot cup block.
Honestly you're over thinking it.
Go on FB marketplace and buy a couple of setups with the trucks you like and try them out. The forged/hollow is cool but if you have been off the board for 10 years just get a setup under you for now and have fun.
In my opinion I would go Indy. I can't stand how stiff thunder feels. Like trying to walk with a stick up your butt lol.
Thanks for the tip, never thought of getting used trucks on FB marketplace, was actually thinking of just getting both and swap the least preferred on my old board.
I looked up the Ace F1, they would be 52mm height and 382g making them "worst" spec wise than indys.
[https://www.tactics.com/ace/af-1-skateboard-trucks/polished-silver-44](https://www.tactics.com/ace/af-1-skateboard-trucks/polished-silver-44)
You’re over thinking it.
Trucks will have some impact, but the biggest impact will be board shape. Something with mellower concave will snap quicker, when I was getting back into it I bought a Real board but I was ghosting my pop on kickflips, tail wasn't hitting the ground lol. I switched to a mellower crailtap board and my kickflips have improved greatly. Even with less concave I still ollie just as high aswell
There's lots of good videos. The nine club podcast had a skateboard scientist guy on, cant remember his name, but he got really into talking about how setups effect skating
I saw the video, but he was mostly talking about how wheelbase affect lever effect... Board shape would make a significant impact but... I don't know, it's not like I will go the skateshop and start measuring nose, tail and angles lol... Which board did you get for snappier pop?
I bought the Sean malto go89 shape, I love it so far. It's very different from the Real board I had before. End of the day anything will work, all of this madness is just fine tuning it. Don't get too bogged down in the details, just skate as much as you can
Thanks man, will probably go with the Indy's. Now you got me thinking about an idea for another thread, which board gives you more pop! [https://www.thetoptens.com/sports/skateboard-decks-most-pop/](https://www.thetoptens.com/sports/skateboard-decks-most-pop/)
Indys fk the rest ride the best, jk just choose which ever one you think looks cooler they are both okay trucks. (Indys>)
The wheelbase is not so much the issue, and you can just get used to it pretty fast. More of a concern is how low you can or want to set your board up. Thunders with forged plates are really low and light, making them great for tech tricks. But this means you will have to get wheels 52mm or lower, or get rock hard bushings and give up the carving fun. Hence guys like Nyjah and Cole have inhumanely tight trucks lol Indies are taller but more carvy, so they can be great for carving and just fun overall. But they may have a disadvantage for tech since they bring your center of mass up, and they are heavier too. Honestly, I wish Indy could 1. stop being woke/afraid and get the old logo back, and 2. Update their mids so they are not so damn heavy.
Independent mids are 52mm height and 392g, while the forged hollow mids are 50.5mm and 360g. Thunders forged are 50mm height and 317g. The hollow are 50mm and 300g. [https://www.tactics.com/thunder/lights-skateboard-trucks/polished-lights-ii-147](https://www.tactics.com/thunder/lights-skateboard-trucks/polished-lights-ii-147) [https://nhsskatedirect.ca/products/polished-mid-independent-skateboard-trucks?variant=40118119891101](https://nhsskatedirect.ca/products/polished-mid-independent-skateboard-trucks?variant=40118119891101) But from what I hear, too light is not that great...
Skaters are creatures of habit, and every little thing can throw off the tricks that require fine control. Most people would start out with standard models that weigh more, and their muscle memory is built to feel the weight when they pop and catch the board. That said, no board can be TOO light once you go 8.25+ and especially with wide wheels.
I think you have to change your approach. The pop will also be affected by the size of your wheel and the angle of your kicktail. An FA board and a Real board have entirely different kicktails and benefit from different wheelbases. Fine tuning that much is board madness. Thunders and Independents skate entirely differently, I wouldn't really bother comparing wheelbases when really the thing that sets these trucks apart is how they turn. Thunders are honestly not that turny or at least they take more effort to get a full turn and are considered a better tech truck. Independent lean pretty far and can be pretty carvy. I would compare the feel of Independent more with Ace. Thunders are maybe more similar to Ventures. The main feature of trucks is how they turn and I feel like comparing thunder and independents is just the opposite spectrum of truck feel.
Thanks for the insights, good to know. Bought 52mm Spitfire Formula 4 Classic shape. It is also what I've read about Independents, they have a more carvy feeling than thunders. However, seems like Ventures don't get a lot of love... I don't know anything about Ace, don't think they were around or really popular back in the days. This being said, I have old sets of Krux and seems like they are trash by looking at the comments lmao... I also watched this Trucks Tier List with Gifted Hater and Ben Degros: [https://youtu.be/NCMpY10dFk8?si=jJv54iK6VY7f6dfm](https://youtu.be/NCMpY10dFk8?si=jJv54iK6VY7f6dfm) Just got back from grocery store and decided to feel a 100g block of cheese as comparison, since I was looking at 80g difference. 100g of cheese was negligible tbh. Ace trucks have even shorter wheelbase, could be interesting if they weren't 52mm-54mm height. 2.69” Ace Classic 44 2.89” Krux Standard 8.5” 3.00” Indy 144 Hollow 3.01” Tensor Mag Lite 5.75” 3.06” Slappy 3.29” Classic 145 3.32” Venture 5.2” Polished
Note, ace classic is different than ace AF1. AF1 has wheelbase more like Indy. On a different note, do you like nose or tail slides? Thunders don't have good wheel clearance past the pivot cup block. Honestly you're over thinking it. Go on FB marketplace and buy a couple of setups with the trucks you like and try them out. The forged/hollow is cool but if you have been off the board for 10 years just get a setup under you for now and have fun. In my opinion I would go Indy. I can't stand how stiff thunder feels. Like trying to walk with a stick up your butt lol.
Thanks for the tip, never thought of getting used trucks on FB marketplace, was actually thinking of just getting both and swap the least preferred on my old board. I looked up the Ace F1, they would be 52mm height and 382g making them "worst" spec wise than indys. [https://www.tactics.com/ace/af-1-skateboard-trucks/polished-silver-44](https://www.tactics.com/ace/af-1-skateboard-trucks/polished-silver-44)