It's all in the Trucks, Bushings and Wheels **FOR NOOBS BY A NOOB**

[killdozer]

I have learned a lot over the last month since I have been a member here. The thing I learned that helped the most is about setting up your board properly. I bought my first longboard because it looked cool. I decided I needed a new hobby and that longboarding was the way to go. Thanks to Google and about 5 minutes of my time I was able to find plenty of online establishments to help me spend my money! I hadn't been on a board in about 12 years, and that was a short board, so I could see there were some things I had to learn about the differences between the two types of boards but I was anxious to buy one and didn't wanna take the time to really read up. Now for people with a disposable income this could be a great thing. But for the rest of us who are not rich, or don't skate for a living it's hard to just keep spending and spending. Well, let me re-phrase. It's easy to spend and spend, but it's harder to justify it, especially if you are married like I am.

OK so I found Landyachtz(insert your favorite brand here), as many do, and immediately fell in love with their designs. I read the description of the deck I wanted, which made it sound like I was just gonna jump on this board and fly to the end of the earth, sliding and carving my way to longboarding heaven. I got it with the Mini Monster option because the wheels looked cool and.... Well, I like monsters. Yeah I am a sucker for good advertising. I didn't know what the hell Mini Monsters were but I wanted them. Got some Bear 852 trucks, because they were part of the setup as a complete and I didn't wanna spend a little more for another brand that I didn't know about.

So like 4 days later my new deck arrived. I was super psyched. Incidentally, about 2 days before I got it I found Silverfish and joined up and started to read. OK lemme stop boring you with my life story here and get to the point of the story. I wanted to get a deck that was more fun for cruising around, sliding and carving. Maybe a small hill here or there. I did pick a great deck. Let's face it though. Most of the decks by reputable companies are great decks. Yeah some are built to do certain things better than others, but they are ALL capable of general cruising and sliding. Sliding..... The word that brings this whole boring story to its culmination. If you can't get a good carve going and can't break your wheels loose, you are NOT going to slide. Yeah, there are a lot of really experienced dudes on here with great advice, and many of them could slide a deck with tight trucks and wet bubble gum for wheels, but those of us who are noobs need a little reassurance that we can slide our boards safely and confidently without going mach 5 and committing to what will either be a super hard slide or a one way trip to the emergency room. My deck was not properly set up and with the wheels I was running it was just aggravating trying to learn to slide properly. I did seek help here, but that only helped so much.

I took a trip to Switchback Longboards yesterday to get some help and set up by board properly. What I learned is that trucks, weather loose or tight can be slid but it's all in the bushings. A trucks performance GREATLY relies on the bushings you are riding for the type of riding you are doing. I ended up buying a complete new set of trucks but that is only because I have 2 decks and only had one set, so I was starting from scratch with this deck. I decided to go with some Paris 180mm trucks with red Venom bushings. I rode a demo board at the shop with these trucks/bushings and felt the difference instantly. Not that Paris trucks were night and day better overall than the Bear 852s I already had, but they were better for the type of riding I wanted to do and the Venom bushings were COMPLETELY different than the orange pumpkins that I had on the Bears. The Paris trucks came with the Venoms so I decided to just get those, plus these trucks were more controllable for deep carves with better rebound than the Bears were for my riding style.

Next was the wheels. There were a bunch to choose from, but I didn't wanna go to crazy money wise. I did however need the best wheel to take care of the specific type of riding I wanted to do. I wanted them to grip when I needed, drift expectantly and slide without too much effort. I tried a demo set of Orangatang Stimulus with the Paris 180mm and was able to slide on flat land better than I could on a hill going 2X as fast. THIS was what I needed to be able to learn how to slide. That and these wheels are very high quality so they are likely to last a long time. These were nothing like the Mini Monsters I was trying to learn on. They actually helped to bring back my confidence.

So lets fast forward to today. I rode up to the school parking lot about 1/4 mile from my house. They have a nice hill in their parking lot and lots of room to practice. Right off the bat I was able to start sliding without much effort. The new trucks/bushing setup and wheels reversed about a month of aggravation and despair. Luckily my other set of trucks/wheels are on my other deck, which is more suited for carving and Downhill riding, so my money wasn't a total waste.

Anyhow, in conclusion, one NOOB to a bunch of other NOOBS. If you can, try before you buy. Ask the guys at the shop to let you ride a demo and see what fits you best. If you don't have that ability and must buy online, see if you can ride a friend's board locally or talk to some skaters and see what they use. Whatever you do, don't buy a deck complete or build a deck up without doing your research. If you do get your deck and it is giving you a hard time learning to slide, DON'T put it in the closet. Switch out your bushings first. Try a softer set, or get a few different duro (hardness) of bushings to see how they effect your ride. I will recommend Venom since they come so highly recommended and I have seen the difference first hand. They don't cost too much and will change your ride/turning ability immediately. You will be able to carve harder and confidently which may be all you need to break those wheels free at lower speeds to induce a slide. If the bushings aren't enough, meaning you get the carve but your wheels are still sticking like a slot car on rails, try harder wheels. I went from an 80a, really wide contact patch, square lipped wheel (the Mini Monsters), to a 83a, narrower 43mm contact patch, rounded lip wheel. Also the wheel I changed to comes pre-scrubbed to aid in the break in process. They were a little more money but made a big difference. I was sliding them right out of the box. If you get a harder wheel with a shiney new contact patch, go ride them for a while and carve them hard till the shiny part is worn off. Doing these few things will make all the difference in the world for your riding experience and bring back your excitement. OK NOOB rant OFF. Thanks for reading!

[Nodnarb]

wall o' text

not worth the read for my old eyes

[killdozer]

Originally Posted by Nodnarb

wall o' text

not worth the read for my old eyes

LOL There I fixed it. I have a few years on you and can read it just fine. lol But I am a noob

[Nodnarb]

being new myself - that was actually a good read now that its spaced out

[Bloodstain]

I think its good to learn from other peoples experiences with anything haha I did manage to read your big wall of text I am always trying out the boards from Grip (my local skate shop) I think its good to try lots of diffrent boards, even if you found one you like just to experience the diffrence of styles, designs and brands.

Congratz to finding a better set up you like aswell

[mrspyke]

awesome, i think im gonna try to get new bushings as soon as i can to help aid me in learning to slide, since i dont have money
and i JUST started to longboard
bought a landyachtz board, with bear 852's, and hawgs, with the rounded lip
so i guess if i get new bushings it would help me a bit more :P

[killdozer]

Originally Posted by mrspyke

awesome, i think im gonna try to get new bushings as soon as i can to help aid me in learning to slide, since i dont have money
and i JUST started to longboard
bought a landyachtz board, with bear 852's, and hawgs, with the rounded lip
so i guess if i get new bushings it would help me a bit more :P

Yeah man, different bushings can completely change the ride and make a much more enjoyable experience. If your 852s came with the orange pumpkin bushings, they are crap. Or at least I think so. Try some Venom bushings or some Khiro bushings.

[mrspyke]

there black bushings, so i guess there black pumpkins lmfao
make sense to me =\

[killdozer]

Originally Posted by mrspyke

there black bushings, so i guess there black pumpkins lmfao
make sense to me =

The black ones are the newer ones. The old ones were orange. Either way, if you are not happy with the ride quality, then the bushings should be the first thing you try to change since they are the cheapest option and can make the biggest difference.

[ghettolongsk8er]

ya, i got my board last month at switchback(by phone). so i didn't have the chance to try out the demo boards. props to whoever told me to get pairs 180 with my loaded dervish at switchback. it rides like heaven!

[Griff223]

Thanks for making this thread! This is a very important concept to grasp in longboarding and few do. I try to explain this to many people, but it is a lot of information to take in at a time. I will definitely show this thread to anyone who is starting out. Though I learned quickly, I wish I had known this when I bought my first.

[enemy combatant]

90% of your improved sliding performance came from switching the wheels from super grippy slalom wheels to one of the best sliding wheels out there. The other 10% came from the better bushings on the Paris trucks. Bear trucks actually can turn really deep but you are right about pumpkins being crap. You could have saved $50 on the Parises just by getting Venoms for the Bears.

[William Richards]

Originally Posted by killdozer

The black ones are the newer ones. The old ones were orange. Either way, if you are not happy with the ride quality, then the bushings should be the first thing you try to change since they are the cheapest option and can make the biggest difference.

Dude what I tell ya. I don't like the pumpkins either. But venom,kiro or doh doh's work well on bear trucks. However I have thought about leaving the pumpkin bushings on the back truck on one of my DH set ups just to see how it works out. They are stiffff!
Also nice thread I'd rep ya' again for bein' such a smart noob. Long winded too. Lol.

[Cann0n]

Good guide. You should link Randals Guide section.

Randal Skateboard Trucks - Downhill, Longboard, Slalom, Luge

A ton of info in there. Basically, everything you said and more is in that link.

I was in an argument yesterday about the importance of bushings... I think your trucks (including wheels and bushings) matter more as far as performance than the flex and shape (talking about symmetrical drop thru 'dervish' style boards, not DH).

Who ever that was should check this post out. Good job. I'd just leave out the word noob a bit more...

[Bloodstain]

I changed my bushings from Randall yellow to Khiro Yellow the other day, the diffrence it made! I used to cut corners, I'd just crank up my trucks till they were bursting, now i just change the bushings

[killdozer]

Originally Posted by Cann0n

Good guide. You should link Randals Guide section.

Randal Skateboard Trucks - Downhill, Longboard, Slalom, Luge

A ton of info in there. Basically, everything you said and more is in that link.

I was in an argument yesterday about the importance of bushings... I think your trucks (including wheels and bushings) matter more as far as performance than the flex and shape (talking about symmetrical drop thru 'dervish' style boards, not DH).

Who ever that was should check this post out. Good job. I'd just leave out the word noob a bit more...

Thanks man, I just put Noob due to my post count thought lol

[elvk-]

ya bro, i straight up went out and bought a sandwedge and didn't discover how bad of a board it was for me until i continuously kept hitting what i felt was at a threshold speed on those sidewinders (going downhill). went on the internet to figure out what i was doing wrong. the internet learned me much.


bought a set of rII w/ venom barrels and threw them on my sandwedge, carved out wheel wells, and now i am bombing hills that used to challenge me in my sleep. i have slid two sets grippy of 69mm slalom wheels into the ground, figured out that my wheels aren't great for sliding. got some 70mm 80a s9 rf on the way, we'll see how much of a difference those make. so far, for sliding or downhill, the rII have been a dramatic improvement over the sidewinders, coleman style slides are easier to intiate and much more crisp and clean.


anyway, if you're just getting into the scene... you CAN progress at a similar rate in the beginning on anything, and honestly the worse you learn on the easier the upgraded boards will be. Once you want to start doing something that will turn heads and get you laid, get gear for the task. Til then just skate what you got.