90's kids got decks with warnings, "Don't over tighten your nuts." You knew someone got a new deck because you'd see them at school with that sticker slapped onto their crotch.
I’ve watched this guy for a few years (helped me tremendously in renovating my home). My son has recently gotten into skateboarding and in looking for videos to help him out i ran into the same person to teach us how to skate! You have motivated me to pick up a skateboard for the first time and begin the learning journey (im in my mid-40s). So great to see you helping so many across disciplines! What else do you do?? Teach us!
I rocked jiggle loose for about 2 months and then tightened up back to normal. Pop is better consistently on medium trucks like you said. But rocking them loose really helped me learn to stay centered the entire time during a trick, and it also strengthened my ankles. 360 flips on loose trucks is so difficult to pop, but when theyre tighter you can boost them hella high. Overall, medium trucks are the best, Loose enough to carve into 180 flip tricks, but tight enough that your pop is consistent
Agreed, I loosened my backup setup, so I can skate that some days as a leg strengthener and to keep myself centered better. I need stronger legs being 44 years old, so that my joints don't get abused. When I go back to my normal setup I skate better. I now see why Ishod has cyborg looking legs with muscles I've never seen in legs before. I want to see Dewon's legs. Probably straight terminator looking legs.
I’ve been a loose truck guy for a long time, but I agree with you 100%. When you can see someone hop on their board and get that little initial wobble, their trucks are too loose. When they start getting any rattle I feel like they really hurt the pop. A lot of the energy that should be transferred into the tail gets dampened by the trucks. But too tight of trucks also suck. I used to crank them down when I was little. Then after learning how to snowboard, they felt gross and I started riding them looser and looser. Turning is way more fun than tic tacking haha. I really enjoy the extra margin of error you get with them. You can land with your board a little under or over rotated and still save the trick. There’s a happy medium. Gotta keep a nice balance of turn and pop. As for current skateboarding trends, I’d like to see one on shaped boards. Seeing you on a 10-9.5 inch heroin egg shaped board with ace 77s would be interesting haha. They have smaller sizes too that wouldn’t feel as weird (I’m on a 8.8 Avi egg that feels like a 8.5), but I feel like the biggest sizes are the most popular.
True there’s those tries where I land on the board maybe even bolts just not completely centered and I step off the board because of the tightness def a happy medium
I'm with you on this. I just started going back to more of a medium tightness after riding on the more looser side for a couple of years. Feels so much better especially with manuals.
I think the loose trucks enjoyers love it for the challenge. Not everyone has absolute performance as their goal. Also loose trucks and narrow boards is the worst combo. 8.5 and above with loose gives you a bigger platform with a lot of wiggle. Wax the wheel wells and youre slipping and sliding :)
Skateboarding is already one of the most challenging things you can do. Most people probably just do it because they think they should. People actually say stuff about how loose or tight people's trucks it's so dumb unless you're actually giving someone helpful advice
@@donovanhays I agree. The looseness is just another aspect of difficulty. It's all about what you want your experience to be at the end of the day. Bang your head flipping in and out of a tech trick on a reliable board or lad a simple trick without wheelbiting on a unpredictable balance beam. It's a create your own adventure type deal.
Loose truck enjoyer for over 20 years here, I think the biggest problem here is that you're using Venture's for the test. I tried a set last year, even with bones soft bushing and the kingpin nut practically hanging off they don't offer the nice carve you'll get with Indys or Ace. They kind of just wiggle around without actually offering a proper turn.
I feel like something else to take into consideration is the type of truck you're skating as well as the speed you skate. As someone who skates loose trucks I prefer to skate ace and I prefer to skate fast. I like trucks like ace because they are taller and harder to wheel bite on, and when I skate faster it feels almost like the trucks correct themselves and I feel like I have better control.
Yes ! You have to skate them on a line or with decent speed. If not it's like doing a track stand on a bike. Speed increase the balance on loose truck.
Was always a mega tight truck kind of guy. Felt as though it provided me with predictability and a more centered pop off the tail. Nyjah skates pretty tight trucks like this, made me feel kind of validated since people always questioned that at the park. Not to say there is only one way either though…
Leave it Ben to give us some much needed truth 😅 so many people getting speed wobbles all over the park these days, trying to match the loose truck trend, not realizing they're fighting the board ...
This trend is probably on its way out, but I never understood how anyone can skate in traditional Chuck Taylors without ripping them in the first 15 minutes
You have to get the ones actually designed for skating dude. The normal canvas ones will get destroyed in like 6 tricks. The skating ones are fairly heavy duty leather.
@@idmhead0160 They must be way different now. I've skated most popular skate shoes since the 90s until now and only recently chucks. Modern skate chucks are quite durable in comparison to all the shoes I've had with the same thickness. Suede shoes made by brands like Emerica and etnies.
@@roastbeefy0weefy well if it tells you anything, I have a pair of canvas ones for going out and a pair of skate ones I interchange them with and no one can tell the difference between the two until they touch them.
Try out dual durometer bushings. Ace bushings, both the Hards and the Stock/Medium are the best in everything. Their Stock tops (conical) are 91a, bottoms are 86a, the Hards are both 94a. They both come in a Low option also. I’m using the Hards in a set of Aces, and the Low Hards in some Ventures. They work great in Indys too. It doesn’t mess with the geometry too much, but if it does for you then you can always use a different combo to change it ; low tops+standard bottoms, hard low tops + standard bottoms, all lows, different washers, flat top washers, sleeved washers etc. A harder conical top bushing with a soft barrel bottom bushing is part of what makes Aces so fun to skate. Try a flat washer on the top bushing of your Ventures. The bones washers work good.
Same trend run through Phx AZ back in the early 90s along with smaller and smaller wheels and super giant pants. Then I started writing "tagging" . Back pack was cumbersome. Great show by the way 🇺🇲
I love the loose trucks. I’ve tried to tighten them up and my style just doesn’t feel right without them. It may make certain tricks harder but it just feels great. Whatever works for us individuals let’s do it
I progressed the most and had the most consistent pop which led to the most consistent tricks, I had the deepest bag of flat ground when I skated medium trucks, and probably the only time in my life I was comfortable on handrails. That being said I'm 33 I could care less about "getting tricks" at this point. Once you are used to skating ridiculously loose it's the most fun thing ever and I can't go back. The act of just riding my board is so much fun even if it is at the cost of "skill". I will say I spend 80% of my time in bowls now, only flip trick I do is treflips, and don't skate ledges over 12 inches tall because my pop is shit because of the loose trucks lol. (Also side note Vert skaters typically ride super tight trucks because of high speeds but bowl skaters do not. You have way more flexibility in a bowl with loose trucks.)
Wheel bite and speed wobbles are why I started tightening up my trucks in the 90s. I cannot imagine some of the fastest hill bombs I've done on loose trucks. I think the fastest I was ever clocked was by Doug at just over 65km/h and no I didn't know he was in the car behind me, and yes I was pulling away and breaking the speed limit.
30 + years ago we used to bomb this little bridge by my house & clocked 40 mph. I always rode super tight Trucks....Not Able To Actually Turn Tight. Speed Wobbles Are A Bitch.
205lbs on 8.75 popsicle with Indy stage11 159's and 55mm wheels. Replaced bushings with Bones Hard. Just loose enough to jiggle a little. Doesn't feel too loose and definitely not "medium tight." Waxed wheel wells forsure. For me this is the funnest way to skate because it does make it more challenging and I believe it makes me stronger and have more balance after 3 years of riding like this.
Great video, I agree with you tons! For years I rode really loose trucks, once I started skating medium tightness I felt a lot more control. At this point I just buy trucks and leave them stock, that small rebound/resistance is my favorite feeling.
I skate street and surf skate so it’s a love hate relationship. Surf skating trucks like Carver C5 and CX are incredibly loose but still stable. The moment I switch back to street on Indys or Thunders, everything feels so uncomfortable at first. Carver trucks in a bowl are so much fun because you can double pump up the curves for more speed. Definitely harder to do with traditional trucks. Great info in the video. Keep it up and stay safe.
@mr.bouchard403 I can relate. Carver's are so much fun!!!!!😜👍👍 I'm 57 years old and I started skating again several years ago. I grew up skating in the 70s and 80's building 1/4 and 1/2 pipes and always rode my trucks pretty tight. I mainly surf and quit skating in my 20's. When I first started skating again, I started back on a Carver skateboard to enhance my surfing and keep my old body functioning. 🤣🤣🤣 I don't do all of the tricks and just love going fast and carving around. I went to a small local skatepark and hated it when I stepped back on a regular skateboard. I couldn't flow and had to tick tack around. It sucked!!! Well, you probably know where I'm going with this. I ride wider shaped boards with Indy 159' and 169's. I even have some 10 inch decks with Indy 215's.😜 And yes, I ride my trucks really loose now. I'm a smaller guy at 150 lbs, so I have been playing around with the medium and soft bones bushings in my Indy's. I guess it's my love of surfing and the carving feeling that makes me need to ride loose trucks. If I did all of the new street tricks maybe it would be different, but that's not going to happen for me.🤣🤣🤣 I'm too old!!!🤣🤣🤣 I'm sticking to the loose trucks for the small skateparks and bowls to keep my flow!!!!!!😜😜😜 I haven't tried the Carver at the park yet as I stick to my regular skateboard for the small bowls!!!! Just keeping the fun alive until it's too late!!!😜 Loose trucks???? Tight trucks???? I guess it just depends on what you are trying to do on the board and what you are comfortable with. Different strokes for different folks as long as we keep rolling!!!👍👍
Great vid Ben! I've been trying looser trucks recently but this has cleared things up a bit in my head. I feel like I have made skateboarding harder for myself for no particular reason. Its all down to personal preference and I'll be going back to what feels 'right' for me after watching this
Dude, I'm always open to changing things for my skateboard, but loosing up my trucks really made me feel more comfortable on my board. A very big issue with loose trucks is that you were not trying with the Thunders. I would recommend thunder trucks for loose skating. Anyway, loved this video and really hyped to see you trying to pop with your board flat.
I commented before the end, and I could also say that you getting used to loose trucks made me stick with it. I bet if you spend a week or two with normal bushings just removing the bottom washer and choosing a thunder pair of trucks you will like it even better. The fact that I'm the one that calibrates the board before popping, helped me to understand how so many tricks work.(been skating for 12years, but with loose truck for 3/4 years.. definitely gonna stick with it for a while longer)
I'm assuming you are not using stock bushings? I have some Thunders, but, don't like them because they aren't loose enough, even with the nut at the end. I prefer Indy, which turn better and are possible to loosen up enough with stock bushings.
For starters, I see a new Ben upload and I watch and enjoy everytime. I started buying hard bushings because they lasted longer and when they exploded it was manageable. Then I've been riding mediums for ages. But as trucks turn got worst (I hated the 90's, skinny boards, bearings condoms and Venture style trucks)... Now after many years of testing I have my favourite. Won't go into details as its my own personal madness. You ride what you like, what you enjoy and ignore silly trends. But I would do whatever is needed for my trucks to turn.😂😂
When I rode super loose trucks I did it with hard bushings. I had a zippy turn but very little wheelbite. I could jiggle my trucks but they had a stopping point.
in the 90's my trucks were rock solid and you can tell in my clips. I feel it made my skating more sketchy, specially my landings. more tic tacking back then. Nowadays, I ride medium tightness trucks and I feel like it has improved my landing 100%. No tic tac and also not much wheel bite. Super loose trucks would drive me insane! PS: the youths at the park still think my trucks are too stiff, hahaha! damn trends!
Love that you made this video! I always skated tighter trucks and typically skate similar stuff to you, lots of flatground and ledges and a couple years ago I got a new pair of trucks and decided to try skating them looser. Since then I've felt like my tricks haven't been working as well but I always attributed it to just getting older and not skating so much! Going to tighten my trucks a bit and see how it goes!
You can have all the advantages of both tight and loose trucks if you loosen them properly by getting the proper duro of bushings. I have "loose" trucks that have just as much stability and rebound as them being tight. Like, Ben said towards the beginning, Just loosening them changes the height and angle but if you buy the correct bushings your turning angle will remain the same. You also won't suffer the rattle.
I am with you ben. I like my trucks medium loose. perhaps a tad more on the looser side but there's a specific point of diminishing returns of loosening the trucks. I started with tight trucks and worked my way to the looser side after years of skating. I am at a point where i am really comfortable and confident with my board. Like you I would argue that for learning it would make more sense to start of with tight trucks. But going looser is a long process. So that's something where I think changing setup drastically to prove a point doesn't make that much sense. As you say you can't do certain things as easily because of a lack of experience. Something that I noticed with looser trucks is that wheel bite is not necessarily your enemy. the board tilts and tosses you which makes it a more controllable fall than if you land badly on your board and it rolls away. If you ride looser trucks you will develop a feeling for when to commit and when to drop and roll. But overall there comes the point where a board is so loose that it's just unnecessarily hard to skate. I Basically just leave thetrucks as it and shorten the top bushing a bit so i can get it loose enough while still getting the nut on flush.
I find tight is easier to do tricks but you have to land them perfect or you tic tac, loose it harder to learn tricks but gives you good balance and can make a sloppy trick look nice😅
I know youre taking the piss out of us saying your style is better cause of the loose but it actually is. Unlocks a feeling spontaneity and unpredictability that is exciting at least to me.
I’ve honestly moved to looser trucks (as a beginner) for a combination of reasons. first and foremost is just that I weigh like 115lbs and have had trouble leveraging my weight well when I need to carve more sharply, but secondly, as I’ve seen other people mention, getting used to a smaller margin of error for stability has really helped me with my balance overall. I may work my way tighter again when the time comes to start really working on flip tricks, but for now I kinda look at it like I’m replaying the tutorial level on harder difficulty so I can be more confident when I move on to the next level haha
If you are only 115 lbs. I would think you would need loose trucks. I'm 170 lbs and skate Indys with the kingpin nut at the end and stock bushings. On 169s with super soft Indy bushings, they seemed maybe not even as loose as I wanted them. Not sure why, but, 159s with stock bushings seem way looser to me. I have several sets and have found that to be the case.
@@idmhead0160 i found this out recently but newer (last year or so) indies bushings and pivots seem to be harder making them less turny.. really struggled to get my new set to turn the way i wanted. tought it was a me problem, but the forums are full of it.
I ride medium back truck and loose front truck. Gives me stability but im still comfortable on my board. The tighter my trucks are the less comfortable i feel on my board and the worse my style gets but it does add stability.
I'm all for loose teucks but the washer thing is just mad to me. I know someone who does this and they go through bushings faster than any other component on his board. Crazy
I've been skating stupidly loose trucks for 6 years, and i honestly see your points in cons. Consistency and wheel bite is hard, and there's definitely a loss in pop, but i love loose trucks so much that i could never tighten them much, if at all. I like being able to swerve and save tricks i wouldn't have landed with tighter trucks. Sometimes, having them loose saves my ass. Good video
Chris cole has an interesting theory on the benefits of tight trucks… less ankle injuries. The tight trucks allow you ankles to be looser. When you body parts are looser they get injured less. Loose trucks force the rider to maintain tighter ankle muscles and tendons to stay balanced - tighter body equals more injuries.
as an older head (35y/o typing here) i got on the loose truck wagon back in the day because of Matt Rodriguez hehe. since then i've been going back and forth from loose to medium to medium loose... and yes: the looser you get the hardest it is for some flatground and setting up comfortably for some stuff but here's "my hack" (or what i used to do while on the loose side): loose trucks + wider wheel (bones v5/spits classic og-conical) improved quite a bit the stability while setting up for tricks on loos trucks. (classic spits and loose trucks are a nightmare imo. at least on 52-53mm) all in all since i don't like to play a lot with my kingping nut or bushings i'm a medium-loose guy mostly depending on the weather since it gets super hot on the summer where i live :). Un saludo!
i started skateboarding after years of snowboarding, and its been about 5 years of riding wiggle loose, anything tighter and it feels like im fighting with the board. i prefer it especially when skating my crusty local. the trucks eat up the uneven ground and crust. might have to try tightening up my trucks one of these days and see if i can magically sw tre..
as a kid i skated my trucks as loose and can be, i mean they were only as tight as my 12 year old hand could tighten them, i remember my friends hating it when they stepped on my board. as i grew up i started to tighten my trucks up and honestly found a perfect middle ground (for me) with enough pressure i can wheel bite but very rarely unless i put a lot of weight on it but i can still turn with fluidity and have enough play with the pressure on my board due to how loose they are
my take is this: as a young kid who liked jumping down stairs and rails, tight trucks hurt my knees, and almost encouraged me to skate *slower. I gradually loosened over the years and my skating vastly improved. loose punishes you for skating slower, which pushed me to skate faster. I started having more fun, and learning to have control under speed is what skating was all about(for me). Additionaly, and this might trigger some people, loose trucks are more manageable(in my experience) for hill bombs. You shouldn’t trust your trucks to keep you from wabbling, you need to learn power slides, and carving, and tight trucks makes this difficult. Tight trucks are training wheels that stifle progression from what I’ve experienced *personally. If you skate really slow and like doing manuals and tech tricks, you might have different experience. *edit: I never have had “jiggly” loose trucks. my defenition of loose isn’t the extreme, more on the looser side if medium. my kingpin bolts aren’t falling off or anything like that.
When I was a kid at the park the kids used to take my board, ride it around and throw it over to the train tracks, so I made my trucks super super jiggly so they wouldn’t fuck with it and so other people couldn’t ride it and I still ride just like that, people still hate riding my board but I rarely ever get wheel bite, one thing that extremely loose trucks really helped with was being light on my feet, people have seen me skate on my setup and they say it doesn’t look like my trucks are that loose but they get surprised when I wiggle my board and they start jiggling. I’ve occasionally tried tightening them a little bit (still way too loose for most people) and I just can’t do it
I’ve always just put on my Indy’s and never done anything to them. I leave them at factory tightness and they work fine for me. Wheelbite sometimes but I contribute that to my 56mm wheels on Indy mids. I may tighten them a little just to be a bit more stable and use less energy balancing and more for skating. Thanks Ben!
@@demon_3x I have 56mm Dragon Wide Cuts on mids and it didn't seem too bad to me. I was afraid it would be worse. Normally, I skate 56mm on Indy 159 forged hollows
Factory tightness to me seems sketchy though. The nylock isn't normally all the way on the kingpin by default. I normally tighten them down so they are flush and the nylock is all the way on
@@idmhead0160 that’s strange, because whenever I buy them it sits flush with the top of the kingpin with each thread in. And no you’re right it isn’t bad having 56mm on Indy mids, people just think you’re a mad man when you say that’s what you ride and I love it 😂 but then again I am on mids. So there is no kingpin nut for me to go off, but they’re doing good since last year. I do a lot of hill bombing so I’m on full conical spits as well, I like how they slide
Loads of comments! You really poked the bear Ben! Rookie here learning and trying to figure out the right tightness. Not going with jiggle loose to start lol
As an ace truck wobbly loose ass lookin truck user, i slowly loosened my trucks gradually over a period of years and now my ankles have been strengthened and I have more control than ever so it can be good but just gotta work into it!
i like my trucks hard... sometimes i also buy hard bushings... been riding hard bushings with my old my trucks for 2 years, now i have ace's 66 and use them kind of tight... i feel it much more stable for downhill and stairs gaps... it was forever very difficult to skate with loose trucks for me, from the very beggining
you cant expect to loosen your truck and feel good right away. it takes weeks before you get used to it fully. I rode jiggly trucks for a while, but doing any kind of flip trick was definitely harder. I tighten them to about medium-loose.
I learned kickflips on floppy trucks in 1988 and was also skating lots of vert and the og combi pool with 66mm wheels. Ever noticed how thunders and ventures have the same kingpin to pivot angle as indys but are canted at a different pitch in relation to the deck? Short lived 80s trend was canted riser pads which pitched either or both of the trucks changing the rate they responded to lean angle. Another was when Natas started running a squatted board with the back truck lower then the front. Much like the act of skateboarding, trends keep trying til they make it and get better through learning what doesnt work.
I dont mess with my bushings but i ride my indes as loose they can get. If you lean far on a trick it works with your body. Really compliments the lean. there is more deviation and in my opinion has more flow to it style wise.
Ive been riding without the bottom bushing washers for years. I'm not even sure why, I guess I just got used to it.. I put them in after watching this video and my kickflips got way more consistent. Thanks haha
My trucks are only as loose as they have to be. When pool skating, I bring a skate tool so I can have the turning radius JUST as loose as it needs to be for whatever tight corner that pool has.
Dan, I ride loose trucks not to look cool. But to learn, like being thrown in the fire. But perhaps I have been throwing myself into the fire too much.
With the wider board trend currently happening, it would only make sense to see TIGHTER trucks, not looser. Basic physics says the further you are from the pivot point, the more leverage you'll produce = more instability. People who use turning as an excuse obviously do not understand the geometry of different truck brands.. eg wheelbiting on a set of tensors still won't turn as hard as 3/4 lock on some aces.
medium trucks are the best. As for other trend that i find crazy is the big decks and to some extend the very big wheels, it is like everyone is going to the mega ramp... it is ok for a cruiser but sucks for flip tricks
If you haven't already, you should try the Tensor Mag Light trucks. A pair of them is 2oz over a pound. Hollow axle, hollow kingpin and magnesium alloy hangers.
One thing about loose trucks is it really gets you focusing on where your weight needs to be with each foot cause if your not stretching the tension on that board like an elastic you veer off in whichever direction
Loosening up my trucks from tight to medium loose unexpectedly helped me learn some tricks (back 50s) and made skating more fun :) Stepping on a board with trucks so loose that it can’t move in a straight line pisses me off though lol.
It is purely preference and what you’re used too, I’ve skated wobbly dummy loose trucks for 10+ years probably. The best skateboarders I know with the nastiest surfy ripper style also have grossly loose trucks. To each their own but I personally cannot watch tick tacky tech skateboarding, I’d rather watch lawn bowling or paint dry
How about you put the shaped board trend to the test? Popsicle sticks are so wonderfully versatile. You could create boards that are horribly specific... infuse your wood skills with the knowledge drop from professor Schmitt and make a series of boards built for specific tricks. Examine the forces at work and mess with the physics to your advantage; asym shapes, offset trucks, super short wheel bases, crooked concave, mismatched trucks and wheels. Like a golfer who needs a different club for every shot, you can have a board caddie tote a stack of boards around the park, each for a different trick.
I'm only 1 month into skateboarding (at the age of 39), and both my globes I bought (a cruiser and this week a normal popsicle), and I prefer loose trucks. Yeah, when tightening them a quarter of a turn, its more stable, no wheelbite, but doesn't feel that good. One thing is probably the more effortless turning, but I also enjoy it more when practicing manuals, or body varials. And I found it to be more forgiving, when I don't land on the board perfectly, since it doesn't "fight" against my feet, so the board is less of an obstacle. I think I'm going to switch back and forth between loose and medium. Medium for new tricks, and loose for practicing. Oh one more benefit: it forces me to have a better body alignment. When the trucks are tighter, I tend to slouch more.
When I ride loose trucks I find that I have to put in extra effort in staying stable which makes my legs tense up. But when I tighten my trucks the stability helps me keep my body more relaxed and my turns more predictable
I was running hard bushings for whole of my life. Super tight truck for ledges and rails or flatland kickflips and on. After years of break, I moved to bow skatebording. All my pool friends recommend me get a new setup like 8.5 with loose trucks. After I get one I found myself unable to ride straight in kickflip foot position. I was alway turning to the sides. Otherwise, I got much better at pool. After a couple of months I used to It. Nowadays I'm absolutely fine with it. I can pop. I can ride staight in any foot possition. I can handle my board and I can turn. If I landed a trick sketchy I can make a steep turn and save it not tick taking or falling down.(I mean I prefer stay on board than lie on the ground) Also the board locks much better on rails on 50-50s, smiths or crookeds but every time I do 5-0 on rail I wish I had tight truck instead. Also where are downsides like wheel bite. Some times doint 50-50 on rails and my shoulders going too much over front foot I could get wheel bite on a rail. Thats terrible scenery. So imo loose trucks will not ruin your stateboarding. You brain will adopt in 2-3 painful months and everything will be fine after. Also its just fun to ride a loose board. So Just take a try! May be loose trucks work perfectly for you.
I’ve been riding loose trucks since the 90’s, a lot of my buddies rode super tight trucks, when it came to trying out their board it always felt so uncomfortable to me. As I’ve gotten older and a bit heavier lol, I’ve come to realize maybe tightening my kingpin just a bit more might be beneficial.
When you’re spending more energy to keep stable when crouching down and coming up, you have less overall energy to jump up, pop, flick etc, so it’s a lot harder to pop higher. I think if given enough time to get used to tighter trucks, you should theoretically be able to pop tricks higher with the same amount of energy. Looser trucks do help with landing bad and still riding away decently tho…..
I rode my truck jiggly-loose for three or four years, mostly transition, then Covid happened. I started skating street because all the parks were closed. Yeah, a couple of good wheel-bitey slams got the tool out. Now I ride everything with medium tight trucks. It's fine. I like it better. I'm not getting any cool-guy points but I'm 50+ hence well beyond cool-guy age 😆
Truck tightness is mainly a preferance thing if we are talking what most of us skate (micro/mini ramp, ledge, flatbars 3-7 stairs) Its big gaps, vert and hillbombing where I find siffer is better. Personally I enjoy looser trucks (“3/10 stiffness”) because they’re more playful and fluid, I often have to skate on/through busy city streets and the sharper turning comes in handy.
I remember Ben mentioned something about this a while back. Fell into the trend of loose trucks w bones medium bushings, after a few months the bushings would die and my pop would disappear until I swapped bushings. I certainly have more consistent pop with tighter trucks
Man I just bought a set of the Tony Hawk Indy's and boy do those things have a tight turning radius. My 35 year old ankles get tired because the bushings aren't stiff enough to keep the board tight. I'm going to switch to the hardest bushing Independent makes to try and solve my dilemma. Love your videos btw.
I've been tightening my trucks a bit every year since I was like 24. they used to be no washers, then id leave the top washer, and now its both washers and about as loose as stock indys get
One of the worst current trends: Kader copy cats. Unnecessarily big and wide wheels on street. Even bigger than you need for rough ground. “Broooo I can’t skate without my 60mm F4 conny fullssss, broooo”
I'm tightening my trucks and if my skating gets worse, I'm coming for you Ben!
😂
So this was Bens last video😂
Jajajaja
90's kids got decks with warnings, "Don't over tighten your nuts." You knew someone got a new deck because you'd see them at school with that sticker slapped onto their crotch.
@@rollypollyguy3976that’s hilarious!!!
I’ve watched this guy for a few years (helped me tremendously in renovating my home). My son has recently gotten into skateboarding and in looking for videos to help him out i ran into the same person to teach us how to skate! You have motivated me to pick up a skateboard for the first time and begin the learning journey (im in my mid-40s). So great to see you helping so many across disciplines! What else do you do?? Teach us!
38 YEARS HERE AND THREE WEEKS IN 🙏
37 here, beginning again this summer ;)
I rocked jiggle loose for about 2 months and then tightened up back to normal. Pop is better consistently on medium trucks like you said. But rocking them loose really helped me learn to stay centered the entire time during a trick, and it also strengthened my ankles. 360 flips on loose trucks is so difficult to pop, but when theyre tighter you can boost them hella high. Overall, medium trucks are the best, Loose enough to carve into 180 flip tricks, but tight enough that your pop is consistent
Exactly!
Agreed, I loosened my backup setup, so I can skate that some days as a leg strengthener and to keep myself centered better. I need stronger legs being 44 years old, so that my joints don't get abused. When I go back to my normal setup I skate better. I now see why Ishod has cyborg looking legs with muscles I've never seen in legs before. I want to see Dewon's legs. Probably straight terminator looking legs.
@@brucebruno842 thats a great idea, I think ill end up doing the same
I only skated with loose trucks with a slight jiggle; that's all i know
Everything is possible with loose trucks once you adjust to it
I’ve been a loose truck guy for a long time, but I agree with you 100%. When you can see someone hop on their board and get that little initial wobble, their trucks are too loose. When they start getting any rattle I feel like they really hurt the pop. A lot of the energy that should be transferred into the tail gets dampened by the trucks.
But too tight of trucks also suck. I used to crank them down when I was little. Then after learning how to snowboard, they felt gross and I started riding them looser and looser. Turning is way more fun than tic tacking haha. I really enjoy the extra margin of error you get with them. You can land with your board a little under or over rotated and still save the trick.
There’s a happy medium. Gotta keep a nice balance of turn and pop.
As for current skateboarding trends, I’d like to see one on shaped boards. Seeing you on a 10-9.5 inch heroin egg shaped board with ace 77s would be interesting haha. They have smaller sizes too that wouldn’t feel as weird (I’m on a 8.8 Avi egg that feels like a 8.5), but I feel like the biggest sizes are the most popular.
True there’s those tries where I land on the board maybe even bolts just not completely centered and I step off the board because of the tightness def a happy medium
I'm with you on this. I just started going back to more of a medium tightness after riding on the more looser side for a couple of years. Feels so much better especially with manuals.
My ankle muscles laugh at yours
I can tell your like 15
@@bendegros Wut?
Thats the weirdest type of response even with sarcasm added bro, get outta here yiikes
@@vyiz1004 poor Fran
"Daewon and Matt Rodriguez ride loose trucks" reminds me of "Hendrix and McCartney never learned to read music"
Jerry had his finger cut off with an axe. Must work!
Most guitarist don’t tbf
I think the loose trucks enjoyers love it for the challenge. Not everyone has absolute performance as their goal. Also loose trucks and narrow boards is the worst combo. 8.5 and above with loose gives you a bigger platform with a lot of wiggle. Wax the wheel wells and youre slipping and sliding :)
Skateboarding is already one of the most challenging things you can do. Most people probably just do it because they think they should. People actually say stuff about how loose or tight people's trucks it's so dumb unless you're actually giving someone helpful advice
Matt Rodriguez rides 7.5 wiggle loose. Not everyone is a matt rodriguez.
@@donovanhays I agree. The looseness is just another aspect of difficulty. It's all about what you want your experience to be at the end of the day. Bang your head flipping in and out of a tech trick on a reliable board or lad a simple trick without wheelbiting on a unpredictable balance beam. It's a create your own adventure type deal.
This is true.
Ah so this is why everyone I see with loose trucks at the local can barely do a flat ground kick flip. For the challenge😂
I definitely agree on this one, never could stand loose trucks, not only does it make skating harder but it makes people look sloppy too.
Loose truck enjoyer for over 20 years here, I think the biggest problem here is that you're using Venture's for the test. I tried a set last year, even with bones soft bushing and the kingpin nut practically hanging off they don't offer the nice carve you'll get with Indys or Ace. They kind of just wiggle around without actually offering a proper turn.
Agree
I feel like something else to take into consideration is the type of truck you're skating as well as the speed you skate. As someone who skates loose trucks I prefer to skate ace and I prefer to skate fast. I like trucks like ace because they are taller and harder to wheel bite on, and when I skate faster it feels almost like the trucks correct themselves and I feel like I have better control.
Yes ! You have to skate them on a line or with decent speed. If not it's like doing a track stand on a bike. Speed increase the balance on loose truck.
Was always a mega tight truck kind of guy. Felt as though it provided me with predictability and a more centered pop off the tail. Nyjah skates pretty tight trucks like this, made me feel kind of validated since people always questioned that at the park. Not to say there is only one way either though…
“Loose trucks save lives” is a fallacy, imo. Moderately loose trucks save lives
Agreed 100% I used to ride medium loose but have gone to medium over the years
Loose front tighter back truck
Leave it Ben to give us some much needed truth 😅 so many people getting speed wobbles all over the park these days, trying to match the loose truck trend, not realizing they're fighting the board ...
There are many of us sitting at the park just shaking our heads in silence these days🤦♂️
This trend is probably on its way out, but I never understood how anyone can skate in traditional Chuck Taylors without ripping them in the first 15 minutes
You have to get the ones actually designed for skating dude. The normal canvas ones will get destroyed in like 6 tricks. The skating ones are fairly heavy duty leather.
I remember doing just that in the 80s. Got a new pair of them and had holes shredded in the sides within an hour or less
@@idmhead0160 They must be way different now. I've skated most popular skate shoes since the 90s until now and only recently chucks. Modern skate chucks are quite durable in comparison to all the shoes I've had with the same thickness. Suede shoes made by brands like Emerica and etnies.
@@shaun8062 I love the Cons line and CTAS, etc, but I swear some of these dudes in Thrasher vids are wearing regular old outlet mall canvas chucks.
@@roastbeefy0weefy well if it tells you anything, I have a pair of canvas ones for going out and a pair of skate ones I interchange them with and no one can tell the difference between the two until they touch them.
Try out dual durometer bushings. Ace bushings, both the Hards and the Stock/Medium are the best in everything. Their Stock tops (conical) are 91a, bottoms are 86a, the Hards are both 94a.
They both come in a Low option also.
I’m using the Hards in a set of Aces, and the Low Hards in some Ventures. They work great in Indys too.
It doesn’t mess with the geometry too much, but if it does for you then you can always use a different combo to change it ; low tops+standard bottoms, hard low tops + standard bottoms, all lows, different washers, flat top washers, sleeved washers etc.
A harder conical top bushing with a soft barrel bottom bushing is part of what makes Aces so fun to skate.
Try a flat washer on the top bushing of your Ventures. The bones washers work good.
Tighten your trucks until the free play is gone. If you find they are too tight, get softer bushings. If they are too loose, get harder bushings.
Or just buy trucks and never adjust them, the way god intended
Same trend run through Phx AZ back in the early 90s along with smaller and smaller wheels and super giant pants. Then I started writing "tagging" . Back pack was cumbersome. Great show by the way 🇺🇲
I love the loose trucks. I’ve tried to tighten them up and my style just doesn’t feel right without them. It may make certain tricks harder but it just feels great. Whatever works for us individuals let’s do it
I progressed the most and had the most consistent pop which led to the most consistent tricks, I had the deepest bag of flat ground when I skated medium trucks, and probably the only time in my life I was comfortable on handrails. That being said I'm 33 I could care less about "getting tricks" at this point. Once you are used to skating ridiculously loose it's the most fun thing ever and I can't go back. The act of just riding my board is so much fun even if it is at the cost of "skill". I will say I spend 80% of my time in bowls now, only flip trick I do is treflips, and don't skate ledges over 12 inches tall because my pop is shit because of the loose trucks lol. (Also side note Vert skaters typically ride super tight trucks because of high speeds but bowl skaters do not. You have way more flexibility in a bowl with loose trucks.)
Wheel bite and speed wobbles are why I started tightening up my trucks in the 90s. I cannot imagine some of the fastest hill bombs I've done on loose trucks. I think the fastest I was ever clocked was by Doug at just over 65km/h and no I didn't know he was in the car behind me, and yes I was pulling away and breaking the speed limit.
30 + years ago we used to bomb this little bridge by my house & clocked 40 mph. I always rode super tight Trucks....Not Able To Actually Turn Tight. Speed Wobbles Are A Bitch.
205lbs on 8.75 popsicle with Indy stage11 159's and 55mm wheels. Replaced bushings with Bones Hard. Just loose enough to jiggle a little. Doesn't feel too loose and definitely not "medium tight." Waxed wheel wells forsure. For me this is the funnest way to skate because it does make it more challenging and I believe it makes me stronger and have more balance after 3 years of riding like this.
8.75 and 159s are king
Great video, I agree with you tons! For years I rode really loose trucks, once I started skating medium tightness I felt a lot more control. At this point I just buy trucks and leave them stock, that small rebound/resistance is my favorite feeling.
I skate street and surf skate so it’s a love hate relationship. Surf skating trucks like Carver C5 and CX are incredibly loose but still stable. The moment I switch back to street on Indys or Thunders, everything feels so uncomfortable at first. Carver trucks in a bowl are so much fun because you can double pump up the curves for more speed. Definitely harder to do with traditional trucks. Great info in the video. Keep it up and stay safe.
@mr.bouchard403 I can relate. Carver's are so much fun!!!!!😜👍👍 I'm 57 years old and I started skating again several years ago. I grew up skating in the 70s and 80's building 1/4 and 1/2 pipes and always rode my trucks pretty tight. I mainly surf and quit skating in my 20's. When I first started skating again, I started back on a Carver skateboard to enhance my surfing and keep my old body functioning. 🤣🤣🤣 I don't do all of the tricks and just love going fast and carving around. I went to a small local skatepark and hated it when I stepped back on a regular skateboard. I couldn't flow and had to tick tack around. It sucked!!! Well, you probably know where I'm going with this. I ride wider shaped boards with Indy 159' and 169's. I even have some 10 inch decks with Indy 215's.😜 And yes, I ride my trucks really loose now. I'm a smaller guy at 150 lbs, so I have been playing around with the medium and soft bones bushings in my Indy's. I guess it's my love of surfing and the carving feeling that makes me need to ride loose trucks. If I did all of the new street tricks maybe it would be different, but that's not going to happen for me.🤣🤣🤣 I'm too old!!!🤣🤣🤣 I'm sticking to the loose trucks for the small skateparks and bowls to keep my flow!!!!!!😜😜😜 I haven't tried the Carver at the park yet as I stick to my regular skateboard for the small bowls!!!! Just keeping the fun alive until it's too late!!!😜 Loose trucks???? Tight trucks???? I guess it just depends on what you are trying to do on the board and what you are comfortable with. Different strokes for different folks as long as we keep rolling!!!👍👍
Truck tightness is totally a personal thing. What is loose for me is super tight for others and vice-versa.
Great vid Ben! I've been trying looser trucks recently but this has cleared things up a bit in my head. I feel like I have made skateboarding harder for myself for no particular reason. Its all down to personal preference and I'll be going back to what feels 'right' for me after watching this
I like stability so I ride my trucks medium to tight. Thanks for doing this Ben. It is appreciated.
Dude, I'm always open to changing things for my skateboard, but loosing up my trucks really made me feel more comfortable on my board. A very big issue with loose trucks is that you were not trying with the Thunders. I would recommend thunder trucks for loose skating. Anyway, loved this video and really hyped to see you trying to pop with your board flat.
I commented before the end, and I could also say that you getting used to loose trucks made me stick with it. I bet if you spend a week or two with normal bushings just removing the bottom washer and choosing a thunder pair of trucks you will like it even better. The fact that I'm the one that calibrates the board before popping, helped me to understand how so many tricks work.(been skating for 12years, but with loose truck for 3/4 years.. definitely gonna stick with it for a while longer)
I'm assuming you are not using stock bushings? I have some Thunders, but, don't like them because they aren't loose enough, even with the nut at the end. I prefer Indy, which turn better and are possible to loosen up enough with stock bushings.
For starters, I see a new Ben upload and I watch and enjoy everytime.
I started buying hard bushings because they lasted longer and when they exploded it was manageable.
Then I've been riding mediums for ages. But as trucks turn got worst (I hated the 90's, skinny boards, bearings condoms and Venture style trucks)...
Now after many years of testing I have my favourite. Won't go into details as its my own personal madness.
You ride what you like, what you enjoy and ignore silly trends.
But I would do whatever is needed for my trucks to turn.😂😂
Changing the geographic of cemetery to turning the wheel on the rail and other spots.
When I rode super loose trucks I did it with hard bushings. I had a zippy turn but very little wheelbite. I could jiggle my trucks but they had a stopping point.
I have extremely loose front trucks with washers removed but medium in the back for my pop. Works extremely well
in the 90's my trucks were rock solid and you can tell in my clips. I feel it made my skating more sketchy, specially my landings. more tic tacking back then. Nowadays, I ride medium tightness trucks and I feel like it has improved my landing 100%. No tic tac and also not much wheel bite. Super loose trucks would drive me insane! PS: the youths at the park still think my trucks are too stiff, hahaha! damn trends!
13:08 that sw fs heel just got the "Automático" certification
Love that you made this video! I always skated tighter trucks and typically skate similar stuff to you, lots of flatground and ledges and a couple years ago I got a new pair of trucks and decided to try skating them looser. Since then I've felt like my tricks haven't been working as well but I always attributed it to just getting older and not skating so much! Going to tighten my trucks a bit and see how it goes!
Ben please please please review slappy trucks your the only reviewer who is detailed and who's opinion I trust
You can have all the advantages of both tight and loose trucks if you loosen them properly by getting the proper duro of bushings. I have "loose" trucks that have just as much stability and rebound as them being tight. Like, Ben said towards the beginning, Just loosening them changes the height and angle but if you buy the correct bushings your turning angle will remain the same. You also won't suffer the rattle.
I know this was 7 months ago, but how do i know what bushings to get?
I am with you ben. I like my trucks medium loose. perhaps a tad more on the looser side but there's a specific point of diminishing returns of loosening the trucks. I started with tight trucks and worked my way to the looser side after years of skating. I am at a point where i am really comfortable and confident with my board. Like you I would argue that for learning it would make more sense to start of with tight trucks.
But going looser is a long process. So that's something where I think changing setup drastically to prove a point doesn't make that much sense. As you say you can't do certain things as easily because of a lack of experience.
Something that I noticed with looser trucks is that wheel bite is not necessarily your enemy. the board tilts and tosses you which makes it a more controllable fall than if you land badly on your board and it rolls away. If you ride looser trucks you will develop a feeling for when to commit and when to drop and roll.
But overall there comes the point where a board is so loose that it's just unnecessarily hard to skate.
I Basically just leave thetrucks as it and shorten the top bushing a bit so i can get it loose enough while still getting the nut on flush.
I find tight is easier to do tricks but you have to land them perfect or you tic tac, loose it harder to learn tricks but gives you good balance and can make a sloppy trick look nice😅
"Some people *can* ride very loose trucks, but you're probably not one of them!" lmao! This made me laugh way harder than it should have.
I like really loose trucks for transition riding. My street setup is medium and much more consistent for locking in grinds and popping/flipping
I know youre taking the piss out of us saying your style is better cause of the loose but it actually is. Unlocks a feeling spontaneity and unpredictability that is exciting at least to me.
I’ve honestly moved to looser trucks (as a beginner) for a combination of reasons. first and foremost is just that I weigh like 115lbs and have had trouble leveraging my weight well when I need to carve more sharply, but secondly, as I’ve seen other people mention, getting used to a smaller margin of error for stability has really helped me with my balance overall. I may work my way tighter again when the time comes to start really working on flip tricks, but for now I kinda look at it like I’m replaying the tutorial level on harder difficulty so I can be more confident when I move on to the next level haha
If you are only 115 lbs. I would think you would need loose trucks. I'm 170 lbs and skate Indys with the kingpin nut at the end and stock bushings. On 169s with super soft Indy bushings, they seemed maybe not even as loose as I wanted them. Not sure why, but, 159s with stock bushings seem way looser to me. I have several sets and have found that to be the case.
@@idmhead0160 i found this out recently but newer (last year or so) indies bushings and pivots seem to be harder making them less turny.. really struggled to get my new set to turn the way i wanted. tought it was a me problem, but the forums are full of it.
I ride medium back truck and loose front truck. Gives me stability but im still comfortable on my board. The tighter my trucks are the less comfortable i feel on my board and the worse my style gets but it does add stability.
Trend idea: 8.5 board or wider, independent standard trucks, conical full wheels (at least 55mm)
I'm all for loose teucks but the washer thing is just mad to me. I know someone who does this and they go through bushings faster than any other component on his board. Crazy
Ben has inspired me to ride rock hard GrindKings and throw varial flips in my jean shorts.
Do it!
I don’t ride em super loose, but you do gotta pair the loose ones with a wider deck, and preferably a shorter wheelbase to make it fun. 8.75 at least
I've been skating stupidly loose trucks for 6 years, and i honestly see your points in cons. Consistency and wheel bite is hard, and there's definitely a loss in pop, but i love loose trucks so much that i could never tighten them much, if at all. I like being able to swerve and save tricks i wouldn't have landed with tighter trucks. Sometimes, having them loose saves my ass. Good video
Ben, egg board trend. New Brad Cromer shape on Krooked for example. Looks nice though. I want to try it.
Chris cole has an interesting theory on the benefits of tight trucks… less ankle injuries. The tight trucks allow you ankles to be looser. When you body parts are looser they get injured less. Loose trucks force the rider to maintain tighter ankle muscles and tendons to stay balanced - tighter body equals more injuries.
as an older head (35y/o typing here) i got on the loose truck wagon back in the day because of Matt Rodriguez hehe.
since then i've been going back and forth from loose to medium to medium loose... and yes: the looser you get the hardest it is for some flatground and setting up comfortably for some stuff but here's "my hack" (or what i used to do while on the loose side):
loose trucks + wider wheel (bones v5/spits classic og-conical) improved quite a bit the stability while setting up for tricks on loos trucks. (classic spits and loose trucks are a nightmare imo. at least on 52-53mm)
all in all since i don't like to play a lot with my kingping nut or bushings i'm a medium-loose guy mostly depending on the weather since it gets super hot on the summer where i live :). Un saludo!
i started skateboarding after years of snowboarding, and its been about 5 years of riding wiggle loose, anything tighter and it feels like im fighting with the board. i prefer it especially when skating my crusty local. the trucks eat up the uneven ground and crust. might have to try tightening up my trucks one of these days and see if i can magically sw tre..
as a kid i skated my trucks as loose and can be, i mean they were only as tight as my 12 year old hand could tighten them, i remember my friends hating it when they stepped on my board. as i grew up i started to tighten my trucks up and honestly found a perfect middle ground (for me) with enough pressure i can wheel bite but very rarely unless i put a lot of weight on it but i can still turn with fluidity and have enough play with the pressure on my board due to how loose they are
my take is this: as a young kid who liked jumping down stairs and rails, tight trucks hurt my knees, and almost encouraged me to skate *slower. I gradually loosened over the years and my skating vastly improved. loose punishes you for skating slower, which pushed me to skate faster. I started having more fun, and learning to have control under speed is what skating was all about(for me). Additionaly, and this might trigger some people, loose trucks are more manageable(in my experience) for hill bombs. You shouldn’t trust your trucks to keep you from wabbling, you need to learn power slides, and carving, and tight trucks makes this difficult. Tight trucks are training wheels that stifle progression from what I’ve experienced *personally. If you skate really slow and like doing manuals and tech tricks, you might have different experience. *edit: I never have had “jiggly” loose trucks. my defenition of loose isn’t the extreme, more on the looser side if medium. my kingpin bolts aren’t falling off or anything like that.
When I was a kid at the park the kids used to take my board, ride it around and throw it over to the train tracks, so I made my trucks super super jiggly so they wouldn’t fuck with it and so other people couldn’t ride it and I still ride just like that, people still hate riding my board but I rarely ever get wheel bite, one thing that extremely loose trucks really helped with was being light on my feet, people have seen me skate on my setup and they say it doesn’t look like my trucks are that loose but they get surprised when I wiggle my board and they start jiggling. I’ve occasionally tried tightening them a little bit (still way too loose for most people) and I just can’t do it
I’ve always just put on my Indy’s and never done anything to them. I leave them at factory tightness and they work fine for me. Wheelbite sometimes but I contribute that to my 56mm wheels on Indy mids. I may tighten them a little just to be a bit more stable and use less energy balancing and more for skating. Thanks Ben!
Dang! 56 on mids. I’m falling down just thinking about that.
@@bendegros I’m from Newfoundland, our streets and spots can get pretty jacked so I got used to bigger wheels
@@demon_3x I have 56mm Dragon Wide Cuts on mids and it didn't seem too bad to me. I was afraid it would be worse. Normally, I skate 56mm on Indy 159 forged hollows
Factory tightness to me seems sketchy though. The nylock isn't normally all the way on the kingpin by default. I normally tighten them down so they are flush and the nylock is all the way on
@@idmhead0160 that’s strange, because whenever I buy them it sits flush with the top of the kingpin with each thread in. And no you’re right it isn’t bad having 56mm on Indy mids, people just think you’re a mad man when you say that’s what you ride and I love it 😂 but then again I am on mids. So there is no kingpin nut for me to go off, but they’re doing good since last year. I do a lot of hill bombing so I’m on full conical spits as well, I like how they slide
12:58 thanks for skating so hard for us, Ben. Also sick visible etnies logo, I know you love that one!!
Loads of comments! You really poked the bear Ben!
Rookie here learning and trying to figure out the right tightness. Not going with jiggle loose to start lol
As an ace truck wobbly loose ass lookin truck user, i slowly loosened my trucks gradually over a period of years and now my ankles have been strengthened and I have more control than ever so it can be good but just gotta work into it!
I dunno, might have to see some clips to verify
I ride my trucks around med lose. They help me with my carving turns. I'm definitely more aware of where my balance is and needs to be.
Absolutely agree. Medium is the way to go, being able to carve + still have decent pop = winning
i like my trucks hard... sometimes i also buy hard bushings... been riding hard bushings with my old my trucks for 2 years, now i have ace's 66 and use them kind of tight... i feel it much more stable for downhill and stairs gaps...
it was forever very difficult to skate with loose trucks for me, from the very beggining
Switch your bushings, not loosen the kingpin. Keeps your geometry and the truck still functions the way its designed to.
Yes I may have ruined my skating - its more about enjoyment for me lately. People talking shit on tight trucks is lame tho.
you cant expect to loosen your truck and feel good right away. it takes weeks before you get used to it fully. I rode jiggly trucks for a while, but doing any kind of flip trick was definitely harder. I tighten them to about medium-loose.
Medium loose is where it's at. Also, I didn't expect to be used to it nor would I ever suffer through those weeks to get used to it.
I learned kickflips on floppy trucks in 1988 and was also skating lots of vert and the og combi pool with 66mm wheels. Ever noticed how thunders and ventures have the same kingpin to pivot angle as indys but are canted at a different pitch in relation to the deck? Short lived 80s trend was canted riser pads which pitched either or both of the trucks changing the rate they responded to lean angle. Another was when Natas started running a squatted board with the back truck lower then the front. Much like the act of skateboarding, trends keep trying til they make it and get better through learning what doesnt work.
thanks ben, glad i was able to catch it live for chat
Hope you enjoyed it!
“…. You’re probably not one of them”….. no sir, I’m definitely not one of them 😂
I dont mess with my bushings but i ride my indes as loose they can get. If you lean far on a trick it works with your body. Really compliments the lean. there is more deviation and in my opinion has more flow to it style wise.
Ive been riding without the bottom bushing washers for years. I'm not even sure why, I guess I just got used to it.. I put them in after watching this video and my kickflips got way more consistent. Thanks haha
My trucks are only as loose as they have to be. When pool skating, I bring a skate tool so I can have the turning radius JUST as loose as it needs to be for whatever tight corner that pool has.
Dan, I ride loose trucks not to look cool. But to learn, like being thrown in the fire. But perhaps I have been throwing myself into the fire too much.
Independent trucks with stock bushings and the nut being flush with the end of the kingpin - that`s where i feel home. :D
With the wider board trend currently happening, it would only make sense to see TIGHTER trucks, not looser. Basic physics says the further you are from the pivot point, the more leverage you'll produce = more instability.
People who use turning as an excuse obviously do not understand the geometry of different truck brands.. eg wheelbiting on a set of tensors still won't turn as hard as 3/4 lock on some aces.
Wider boards really came back around in 2015. Like Welcome skateboards really helped kick that off.
how long before you can paint onto joint compound? ... wups wrong account
medium trucks are the best. As for other trend that i find crazy is the big decks and to some extend the very big wheels, it is like everyone is going to the mega ramp... it is ok for a cruiser but sucks for flip tricks
If you haven't already, you should try the Tensor Mag Light trucks. A pair of them is 2oz over a pound. Hollow axle, hollow kingpin and magnesium alloy hangers.
One thing about loose trucks is it really gets you focusing on where your weight needs to be with each foot cause if your not stretching the tension on that board like an elastic you veer off in whichever direction
Ben, please do a comprehensive breakdown of the rereleased stage 4 Indy’s and their out of the box feel.
Loosening up my trucks from tight to medium loose unexpectedly helped me learn some tricks (back 50s) and made skating more fun :) Stepping on a board with trucks so loose that it can’t move in a straight line pisses me off though lol.
VI personally hate loose trucks, feels like someone forgot to tighten them up 😂
It is purely preference and what you’re used too, I’ve skated wobbly dummy loose trucks for 10+ years probably. The best skateboarders I know with the nastiest surfy ripper style also have grossly loose trucks. To each their own but I personally cannot watch tick tacky tech skateboarding, I’d rather watch lawn bowling or paint dry
How about you put the shaped board trend to the test? Popsicle sticks are so wonderfully versatile. You could create boards that are horribly specific... infuse your wood skills with the knowledge drop from professor Schmitt and make a series of boards built for specific tricks. Examine the forces at work and mess with the physics to your advantage; asym shapes, offset trucks, super short wheel bases, crooked concave, mismatched trucks and wheels. Like a golfer who needs a different club for every shot, you can have a board caddie tote a stack of boards around the park, each for a different trick.
A trend you should try is popping the shields off of bearings. Personally, I like to keep my shields on
Come onn Ben you gotta go full bro!!! Chunky shoes, swaggy baggies, you gotta fall in love with the loose trucks! That's just how it works 🤣
I'm only 1 month into skateboarding (at the age of 39), and both my globes I bought (a cruiser and this week a normal popsicle), and I prefer loose trucks. Yeah, when tightening them a quarter of a turn, its more stable, no wheelbite, but doesn't feel that good. One thing is probably the more effortless turning, but I also enjoy it more when practicing manuals, or body varials. And I found it to be more forgiving, when I don't land on the board perfectly, since it doesn't "fight" against my feet, so the board is less of an obstacle. I think I'm going to switch back and forth between loose and medium. Medium for new tricks, and loose for practicing. Oh one more benefit: it forces me to have a better body alignment. When the trucks are tighter, I tend to slouch more.
tightening up for my progression
When I ride loose trucks I find that I have to put in extra effort in staying stable which makes my legs tense up. But when I tighten my trucks the stability helps me keep my body more relaxed and my turns more predictable
I was running hard bushings for whole of my life. Super tight truck for ledges and rails or flatland kickflips and on. After years of break, I moved to bow skatebording. All my pool friends recommend me get a new setup like 8.5 with loose trucks. After I get one I found myself unable to ride straight in kickflip foot position. I was alway turning to the sides. Otherwise, I got much better at pool. After a couple of months I used to It. Nowadays I'm absolutely fine with it. I can pop. I can ride staight in any foot possition. I can handle my board and I can turn. If I landed a trick sketchy I can make a steep turn and save it not tick taking or falling down.(I mean I prefer stay on board than lie on the ground) Also the board locks much better on rails on 50-50s, smiths or crookeds but every time I do 5-0 on rail I wish I had tight truck instead. Also where are downsides like wheel bite. Some times doint 50-50 on rails and my shoulders going too much over front foot I could get wheel bite on a rail. Thats terrible scenery.
So imo loose trucks will not ruin your stateboarding. You brain will adopt in 2-3 painful months and everything will be fine after. Also its just fun to ride a loose board. So Just take a try! May be loose trucks work perfectly for you.
I’ve been riding loose trucks since the 90’s, a lot of my buddies rode super tight trucks, when it came to trying out their board it always felt so uncomfortable to me. As I’ve gotten older and a bit heavier lol, I’ve come to realize maybe tightening my kingpin just a bit more might be beneficial.
When you’re spending more energy to keep stable when crouching down and coming up, you have less overall energy to jump up, pop, flick etc, so it’s a lot harder to pop higher. I think if given enough time to get used to tighter trucks, you should theoretically be able to pop tricks higher with the same amount of energy.
Looser trucks do help with landing bad and still riding away decently tho…..
I rode my truck jiggly-loose for three or four years, mostly transition, then Covid happened. I started skating street because all the parks were closed. Yeah, a couple of good wheel-bitey slams got the tool out. Now I ride everything with medium tight trucks. It's fine. I like it better. I'm not getting any cool-guy points but I'm 50+ hence well beyond cool-guy age 😆
getting used to super loose trucks means ur stabilization muscles are getting stronger, and this is good. Even for people who likes it tighter.
Truck tightness is mainly a preferance thing if we are talking what most of us skate (micro/mini ramp, ledge, flatbars 3-7 stairs) Its big gaps, vert and hillbombing where I find siffer is better. Personally I enjoy looser trucks (“3/10 stiffness”) because they’re more playful and fluid, I often have to skate on/through busy city streets and the sharper turning comes in handy.
What about the big ass wheel trend? Doesn’t Kader ride like a 60mm or something? Try that!
Never had them wiggle but I like em on the looser side
I remember Ben mentioned something about this a while back. Fell into the trend of loose trucks w bones medium bushings, after a few months the bushings would die and my pop would disappear until I swapped bushings. I certainly have more consistent pop with tighter trucks
Man I just bought a set of the Tony Hawk Indy's and boy do those things have a tight turning radius. My 35 year old ankles get tired because the bushings aren't stiff enough to keep the board tight. I'm going to switch to the hardest bushing Independent makes to try and solve my dilemma. Love your videos btw.
I've been tightening my trucks a bit every year since I was like 24. they used to be no washers, then id leave the top washer, and now its both washers and about as loose as stock indys get
One of the worst current trends: Kader copy cats. Unnecessarily big and wide wheels on street. Even bigger than you need for rough ground. “Broooo I can’t skate without my 60mm F4 conny fullssss, broooo”