What wheels/deck/trucks/bushings/bearings should I get for #insert discipline#?!?

[AfroRider21]

Actually I was lookin at some Randal 180s too, so I guess I'll go with them. The 50 degree baseplate sounds pretty good 8) And the 4Prez are 70mm but I was lookin at some Abec 11 ZigZag 70's too. I like really soft wheels lol the ones that are on there now say "20 mph MAX" on them xD

haha yeah, i bought my bombhills @ zumiez as my first board and they came with books and rules saying never to go past 20mph...... now i say **** that shiit

[R-Dubya]

haha yeah, i bought my bombhills @ zumiez as my first board and they came with books and rules saying never to go past 20mph...... now i say **** that shiit

Dude! 15 years old and in S.E. PA? Dude I'm right there with ya haha. Concidential encounters ftw!

[AfroRider21]

Dude! 15 years old and in S.E. PA? Dude I'm right there with ya haha. Concidential encounters ftw!

haha sweet man! where you from? im in Collegeville/Schwenksville area

[dozerdoggie]

Swapping bushings all day is good for you. I have often engaged in it along with using he exact number and thickness of washers so that the hanger face meets the bushing prfectly straight on! Certainly when setting up a new board (and it's a lot faster than swapping out all the different wedges and risers that I do as part of the process too!)

When Khiros first cane out I thought they were a godsend. That was back in the day of the old solid yellow Randals which would crack and disintegrate on their first serious session (and yes I knew about using flat washers.) Tracker Stimulators were out of production and the stock Trackers and Indys were rock hard and/or pretty unresponsive along with most other shortboard bushings.

I used tall Bones Hardcores bottom bushings for just about everything and at $20 for four of then they were pretty expensive. I was always in need of a decent bottom barrel so I used lathed green and green/blue Stimulators but they were hard to come by. I actually liked the big red Force bottom barrels and used them on my Grizzlies.

At any rate blue and red Khiros were OK enough when they came out so I started using them because they came around just about the time that the last Stimulators were completely drying up. (I still kick myself for not buying tons of Eric Wallgren's stock when he was liquidating his entire stash of lathed Stims for cheap.)

The Khiro inserts have always been inferior to Bones.

Venoms were great and comparable to the old Stims so I use them now in combination with a tall Bones top. I've got some Venom Eliminators I'm going to try out on my poor mans zero degree 215's as soon as I get around to putting it together which might be as soon as later on today.

My son (a died in the wool Randal fan and a much better skater than I) finds the recent third gen stock Randal bushings just fine and he pretty much considers the inmates of Silverfish (or at least me) to be a collection of psychotic OCD gear whores.

So yeah, I find Khiros pretty bland and unresponsive (although the orange barrels aren't too bad if you're looking for a way soft bushing.)

PS - I've got a drawerful of unused Bones top bushings in all three duros (even going back to the colored urethane) if any one is interested.

OCD gear whore sums it up in a nutshell

[robomango]

I bought venom bushings for my s9 pipeline. I bought two yellow cones (85a I believe) and two red barrels. How do you think I should set this up? I'm planning on putting the yellow cones on top (near the board) and red barrels on bottom (roadside). Thanks for any feedback.

[gavmck]

With barrels and cones you should generally have the barrel on bottom (nearest to the board) and cone on top (furthest from the board). But feel free to experiment and see what you like!

PS. You had top and bottom mixed up. they are said as if you have the board upside down and are about to change the bushings.

[robomango]

With barrels and cones you should generally have the barrel on bottom (nearest to the board) and cone on top (furthest from the board). But feel free to experiment and see what you like!

PS. You had top and bottom mixed up. they are said as if you have the board upside down and are about to change the bushings.

Thanks for the info! In your opinion which setup for bushings will give me the best turnability and carvability?

[gavmck]

The softest one! hahaha

Have a play and see what you like. Cone shapes are the turnyest.

[R-Dubya]

haha sweet man! where you from? im in Collegeville/Schwenksville area

Dude sick! I'm about ten minutes away from collegeville in Royersford :P

[thumper07]

I got my new board in last week. I had it built with 83mm Flywheels.

I spent all weekend breaking it in.

Horrible horrible wheels. No rebound and very bumpy. Bumpy to the point where I can hardly hold a straight line going over expansion joints. No traction whatsoever. Horrible for anything but drifting and sliding.

I replaced them with O'Tang In Heats. I'll never buy Flywheels again. What a waste of money.

[8ftbed]

huh? I've thought the flywheels were, uh, pretty fly. That's too bad they've treated you wrong. They're not the cheapest thing on the market. What duro did you get? Mine are all 75's or 78's.

[thumper07]

81.

I got them in 81 because I like all me wheels in the 80s. But, these are chattery and rock hard. No give at all and no rebound.

I had 3 bad crashes in the parking garage yesterday. I couldn't even bomb straight down. The wheels could not hold the g-forces of my weight around the corner and slid out super fast and uncontrollable.

I bombed a local steep bridge, that I bomb all the time, and every time I hit an expansion joint the whole board would slide sideways violently.

Everyone is different though and these things scare the crapola out of me. I want something that sticks like glue every time, all the time. The Flys certainly aren't 'confidence inspiring'. At least to me, anyway.

[8ftbed]

So you did get the harder ones. I go for the softer duros. I figure when want to check for loose fillings I bust out the Slide A's and chatter down the street.

[thumper07]

It's not really the duro that was the problem. I just installed 83a duro O'Tangs and these things are smooth as glass and roll forever. Best wheel I've ever used so far for pumping.

The Flywheels are 81s. But that's no harder than any other wheel I have. It's not really the thane, it's the whole structure. It's just a hard wheel with a larde plastic hub.

Anyway, I'm really happy with the Tangs. Whatever it is about the Flys, I just don't care for them. I just don't like the way they ride.

want to buy them?

[Shavarsh]

disclaimer:I have been doing research ion freeride wheels for about 2 months, and none of this advise is mine


The reason they felt too bumpy was the thane thickness. The core is very large in the flys specifically for speed and drift. They ride hard because that is the type of riding they were meant for.

not trying to insult you, just telling you what I've learned.

(just picked up a set of Durians myself)

[Brute379]

It's not really the duro that was the problem. It's not really the thane, it's the whole structure. It's just a hard wheel with a larde plastic hub.

Your right, core size/urethane depth play a large part in how a wheel feels.

[8ftbed]

Size (as in depth of thane) really does matter. For instance, trying to get a softer ride of little wheels. Sure the '56 Cadillacs and the 62m Purple Skunk smokes are 78a, but they're still little wheels with 200lbs of, uh, stuff riding on 'em. They're probably pretty nice for the 90lb waifs.


Thumper - kind of tempting but I've got a lot of green on the shelf. If they don't sell, maybe we'll sidebar for a swap.

[gavmck]

I had some 83mm 81a flywheels and skated them 150+ miles round the coast of the UK in 4 days. They worked really really well for that. Kept a good roll time over crap surfaces, even skated on gravel for a bit. When you needed to do a pendy to slow down, they had a lovely slide. All depends what you like though.

[Krolg]

Hey - bit of a newbie here just bought my first board (sigh) newbz board, the S9 Scarab, got the 9" Gullwing chargers for it, but I'm looking to slap some wheels on it that are good for all-around boarding that won't have me getting wheel-bite. I'd like to slide a bit, do some small bombs, and cruise around town most of all. What's the best for this? Thanks!

[gavmck]

Hey - bit of a newbie here just bought my first board (sigh) newbz board, the S9 Scarab, got the 9" Gullwing chargers for it, but I'm looking to slap some wheels on it that are good for all-around boarding that won't have me getting wheel-bite. I'd like to slide a bit, do some small bombs, and cruise around town most of all. What's the best for this? Thanks!

I hope that's a "(sigh)" of happiness at having a board!
9" Gullwings sound like a good choice.
For the wheels, it sounds like you need a 65-70mm round lipped wheel.
The larger wheel is probably gonna be better for letting you rip around town and bomb hills, while the smaller one will let you have looser trucks with no wheelbite. As I've never seen this board in real life, I can't say how easily you'll get it.

Lets go with a 70mm wheel because I like that size on pretty much all soft wheeled boards. If you DO get wheelbite, you can always add a bit of riser or some of them eliminator bushings to limit your turn depth.

So... 70mm round lipped, offset or sideset wheels I recommend to you are:

- The Otang fat free or stimulus freeride wheels
- Gravity drifters

Ummm that's all I can think of right now. Good wheels though. Enjoy!