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Truck tightness for bowl skating

firebird_skaterfirebird_skater
in These Wheels
I’m an aspiring pool newbie, what truck tightness would some more experienced pool skaters reccomend

Comments

  • firebird_skaterfirebird_skater
    ( there were no truck/pool categories so I just put it on a random one
  • brigade_billbrigade_bill
    some skate loose trucks but i think that is a mistake u should definitely keep ur trucks tight so ur style will look good and u wont be all over the place with a sloppy ass style
  • myrenmyren
    edited March 2019
    Make your trucks loose/tight enough so you do not tic tac through the corners. In other words you can lean through the bowl corners without having to lift your front truck off the wall to make it through. That will be the ideal tight/loose for your trucks. *note everyone is different with how they lean through turns so trucks will differ on that. Just find what works for you.
  • WakeInFrightWakeInFright
    Don’t have trucks that loose that when you drop in from axle stall you experience wheel bite and go flying forward off your board!
  • WheelbyteWheelbyte
    edited March 2019
    Make sure your setup has good clearance, and fit risers if your wheel diameter is too big for your truck height. Generally, if your riding 60mm wheels like most bowl setups have, you will probably need risers. For learning, 54-56mm wheels are adequate as more speed is not ideal for beginners, and then you probably wont need risers. Rock hard bushings may need to be replaced with softer ones.
    4min vid on how to pump around a bowl
  • SkaterRickSkaterRick
    I started out with stock Indy bushings and hard 56mm wheels and my comfortable street riding tightness was not loose enough for me to effectively carve. I wound up kick-turning through everything, which is not how to get speed, and if I leaned in harder at that tightness I could get the board to squirrel out from under me. I started loosening them as I practiced carving and eventually went to Bones medium bushings. I then started loosening those as I went along, and nowadays I'm fair at carving and have loosened them about as much as I can. If you start out way loose without being used to it you'll speed wobble on the drop and fall down, or wheel bite like Wake said. I am a light guy (150 lb.) and can go down to the Bones soft durometer, but that tends to be too squirrely for me. I am told by more experienced bowl riders that eventually I'll be near-rattling, but who knows. I have seen some super good, REALLY fast guys in the bowls skating trucks that did literally rattle. I don't know how you get away with that, but these dudes do and they're pulling all the badass stuff I wish I could do.
  • ppk187ppk187
    All feel and personal preference but definitely err on the side of loose not tight. Tic tacs/kick turns in corners is out. Good luck!
  • captaindcaptaind
    like ace says "loose trucks save lives" - I really like the Indy titaniums though, the geometry feels so good... I would really play around with bushings, they make such a difference. Depending on personal preference (I like front trucks looser, usually don't adjust it, back truck maybe a turn or two- there's vert guys who like the exact opposite), a hard or medium bushing on bottom of the more stable truck, and soft or medium on top can help fine tune your set-up. I would say trannies can vary too, flatter or bigger drawn out walls you may want the stability of trucks tightened some, whereas a really gnarly pool or harsh little ankle biters are begging for sloppy trucks to smooth out the rough lines. man, don't even get me started on truck widths for carvin' lol... ;)
  • SkaterRickSkaterRick
    @captaind out of curiosity, have you skated equivalent sized Ace's in bowls to compare to the Indy's you like so much? Also, how do you mix your bushings? This is something I've never thought of doing. Yesterday I spent the day on some Venom 86a's and they were super carvey, but periodically that got away from me and I wished for some more stability.
  • captaindcaptaind
    @SkaterRick I had both 144s & 166 first generational aces when they initially came out - I liked them, but didn't feel like I ever could dial them in like Independents (even though the geometry is supposed to be based on early stage Indys). Part of the reason I got them was by stage 9 & 10 Independent was having issues of its own, baseplates broken, axles slipping, etc... But I think Aces getting positive reactions put them on notice a bit, cause by the time the stage 11s rolled around they really went back to the basics, quality control improved & I felt more familiar with Indys again. I've since tried the "new & improved" aces, and while I think they're a little better than the first batch, they're still not my choice. I kind of describe them as "sloppy", meaning they are nice & loose, but their responsiveness isn't as fine tuned. Don't get me wrong, some people really LOVE them, for carving especially - but I feel like Independents have a more positive "drive", or rebound to them, especially coming OUT of a turn (as opposed to going in). The titanium indys in particular are nice. I used to always swap out the stock bushings for bones ones, and I'd even go so far as to have mediums up front, and 1hard bottom 1 medium top on back truck - while keeping the bottom bushing cap on, instead of taking it off like bones allow. Now,though, I really like the stock indy bushings, with barrel on bottom instead of cone. Only, on my main set up I have stock white in back & stock black in front - here's where Indy live up to its notorious reputation for inaccuracy on its specs : the replacement hardware states that black bushings are hard & white soft - but I swear it's the EXACT OPPOSITE with the stock titanium bushings: mine are soft black & med/hard white. Go figure...??? I haven't tried the venoms, but I know alot of longboarders love them, especially for reverse king pin trucks like paris & caliber. Supposedly the khiro bushings are rad too - but you can't go wrong with bones bushings either, they're definitely quality made & long lasting too imho :)
  • ovaldragonovaldragon
    I think bowl skating is personal preference. I use Indy 159s with Bones hard bushing and 90a rat bones a can pump/carve for days with some slash grinds and 50-50s thrown in for bonus points!
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