Grombiz c2 Trucks Review

[tuckerfoolio]

The Grombiz c2 has been around for a while and they interested me, so i decided to pick some up. There are many good things about the trucks, but unfortunately, some not so good things too.

First off my set-up:
c2 deck
c2 trucks
Bones black swiss bearings
Orangatang In-Heats 75mm 83a

When I first recieved my board, I was ecstatic because of the wait I endured due to a preorder. I immediately took it out to try and experiment with the different settings. I found that 40*/40* was perfect for cruising/carving and could change the degrees up for the faster stuff. I had read that there may be some problems with the bushings, which I had not noticed until my back truck went all wobbly and crazy. I then realized what had happened. One of the bushings was cracked right in half, between the white and the green parts. I put it back into the truck, and tried to carve my road again, but of course, it popped right back out. Fortunately I had ordered an extra set of 4 bushings because the website said that the trucks could fit 4 on each truck, so I replaced the broken bushing with a fresh one. The trucks were amazing and I was the envy of my friends thereafter. I could carve beautiful lines and have a super stable downhilling truck as well, any time I needed to change, it took mere seconds, until one day. One of the trucks became stuck. It is stuck at the 40* setting, which is not bad because it is the ideal setting for carving/cruising/a front truck for my DH, but it was still dissappointing to lose that aspect of the truck. Once again the trucks behaved beautifully. I learned how to pump and how to stand-up slide, so the trucks were drastically improving my riding abilities. I didn't notice that my trucks were becoming more and more twitchy until I stepped on my friend's new drop speed with bear 8/52's. I took a look at my trucks and noticed that all 4 of my bushings had split horizontally, so that the top of the bushing hung over the bushing seat when I turned. I didn't mind very much, because I was performing extremely tight turns and pumping extraordinarily well; that was, until my friends and I hit a technical semi-fast dh run today (23-28 mph). The broken bushings ended up on my back truck because my other truck was still stuck at 40* but it was no deal, I just set my back truck to 15* and hit it. However, the trucks were too twitchy for my taste, and I had to replace them all. I never caught speed wobbles, I just wasn't comfortable with the fact that my trucks didnt return to center with any snap. With the bushing issue aside, I love these trucks. They really are the most diverse and skill/confidence improving trucks. I havent tried them on any others boards other than the stock c2 deck, which is actually quite good and snappy for my 130 lbs, but I do plan on putting them on a speedboard and trying that out. I wish I had more money to buy loads and loads of bushings so I could ride these trucks to their full potential. If there are any tips or tricks to prevent the bushings from rupturing like this, and un-sticking my truck degree pointer, please tell me. I appreciate everything.

Here is the Grombiz website if you want to check out their stuff: Grom Biz USA

An Overview:
I love these trucks and this is how they perform at different disciplines.

Cruising
Beautiful. At the right setting (I use 40*/40*) you can pedestrian slalom, and the trucks are quite low, even topmounted, so pushing is a breeze.

Carving
Better than any other carver I have ever tried. Carvier than my brother's Dervish. Can be used for carving off speed or gaining momentum. Once again 40*/40* is my favorite setting for carving, because it is symmetrical, so feel free to throw down a stand-up slide.

Downhill
After replacing the bushings, downhill was very comfortable and easy. Even with the increased steering in the front due to the degree pointer being stuck at 40*, the back truck was fine-tuned to perfection for stability and movement, without ever catching wobbles. The fastest I have taken the trucks are 32 mph, but there are videos that show them up to 60mph. Here is a link:

YouTube - Grom Biz Team Rider AJ Hits 62mph On...

Pumping
Even with the 200mm width, the trucks were very easy to pump and fast with acceleration. As usual, my settings were 40*/40*-25*. I pumped 1.30 miles without putting my foot down once, but by no means is it a long distance pumper board or truck.

Commuting
The flex of the board is very comfortable, in combination with a 40*/40*-30* set-up, commuting is easy and efficient. Every day coming home from school is a 3.5 mile trek across a 2.0 mile flat/fun sidewalk experience and a 1.5 mile straight DH zone with three 20-30mph hills. Riding this run everyday is very easy and fun, and never becomes un-exciting.

Sliding
Once I broke in my P'Otangs, stand-ups were so easy, able to be thrown almost anytime, even at rather slow speeds. At faster speed I can bust out pendies and colemans easily and with confidence. The width of the hangars does wonders for shut-downs, but is surpassable in order to achieve a buttery corner drift or any other slide you can try, but most likely not the crazy techinical slides (which I can't do anyway )

If there is anything you would like to know more about, feel free to ask. Also, if I've missed a certain discipline, I'll do my best to expand on my review. Good job Grombiz! I love the trucks, but I miss hanging out with my friends and family (there is no more time for them!)

Fingers crossed for a bushing solution,
-Paul

[Bombsquad_Manny]

There are new bushings. softer stay inside and have rebound!
omg their the #### dude.

pm me and i'll get you the info for Ben to send you some.

[Crosscurrent]

I've been interested in these trucks for awhile now, but have waited to buy them until more people have ridden them. I'm assuming Ben has solved the bushing issues? Will the "stuck" truck loosen up with a bit of lubrication--PB Blaster, Dry Lube, etc? If these problems have been or can be addressed, the C2s seem to be exactly what I'm looking for. Nice review, BTW!

[tuckerfoolio]

I've been interested in these trucks for awhile now, but have waited to buy them until more people have ridden them. I'm assuming Ben has solved the bushing issues? Will the "stuck" truck loosen up with a bit of lubrication--PB Blaster, Dry Lube, etc? If these problems have been or can be addressed, the C2s seem to be exactly what I'm looking for. Nice review, BTW!

Thanks! ^_^

Apparently, the bushing issue is fixed, but I may not find out until later. I wrap a bit of duct tape around my bushings to make sure that they dont pop out. I have been experimenting with lubricants to unstick the truck: I tried super oil I found in my garage yesterday, to no avail; and today, I will try wd-40, hopefully this will work. I think that there is a way to detach the hangar, but the trucks are put together far to well for me to try and dissassemble.

I would definitely recommend the trucks to you, but keep in mind that the deck doesn't have a "sturdy" reputation, so have an extra deck in case of an accident (remember, you can only top/flushmount these trucks). I would buy an extra set of bushings as well, in case a bushing is lost or broken.

I hope this helped,
-Paul

[Bombsquad_Manny]

Just pull the pin and bang it with something.
Also if it's really cold they like to stick in the same spot as well, breath on em haha

[tuckerfoolio]

Just pull the pin and bang it with something.
Also if it's really cold they like to stick in the same spot as well, breath on em haha

OPAH!!! It worked perfectly, I breathed on it a little, then smacked it with my 9/16 socket wrench and once it moved a little, shot it up with my wd-40! Good as new! Now to wash my hands...

[tuckerfoolio]

Ok, I've seen some questions and I've also changed a few things with my set up, So I have some updates.

At the moment I am in France on a foreign exchange, however I will definitely use the trucks and try to get a hold of those new bushings when I get back in July.

I do still ride my GromBiz(es?) but I only ride 1 right now, seeing as I only had 2 entire bushings left, and 2 not completely demolished bushings, so I threw the not completely demolished ones on the truck with the whole ones, put the bushing tightness where I liked it, at a good middle ground and just wrapped those suckers up with duct tape. This added some stability and kept my bushings where I wanted them. Also I've seen that wrapping them up has conserved my whole bushings, not allowing them to break in half like the others. This truck with 4 bushings I use for the back of my homemade topmount deck, because I can switch it for freeride and for downhill.

IMO the different feeling of the trucks was really easy to overcome. I actually really like it, the precision feels really good I think. I also love how the hangars are changable, because when I buy new bushings, I'd like to use my unused truck for an LDP setup.

The board has been given some bad reviews about snapping and cracking and what not, so I built an other. However, I do still use the board with Bears. The board has held up really well, although I do only weigh 130lbs (60ish kgs) It held up to the sliding I did on it for the 3 months I was using it. The flex felt good for me, and I really liked the concave, although I do have really tiny feet, like size 8 1/2 or 9, and I didn't have to move my feet to put leverage on the rails. I was coming from the FlexDex Fat Daddy, so I felt this change to be a very nice one. Even my brother who is about 200 lbs (91 kgs) rode it for a while, and everything was quite alright. Now that it is on the shorter wheelbase of the bears, it holds up even better. I have no complaints, but it's up to the rider if they wanna change or not.

I'll be happy to answer any questions that you have, just ask them here ^_^
Thanks for reading!