I don't know about "too wide" since I've never gone over. But when it comes to wide trucks in general; hell yeah they are. I recently went from an 8" deck with 8" thunders, to a 9" with 169 Indys and the added stability you get on curbs and ledges is crazy. If you're used to smaller trucks it almost feels like you're cheating or something.
@@brettperry3737 i have these OG gull wings that are wide, high, and raw that would go well on a slappy setup and some tiny wheels that i also happen to have. but tbh, is it really necessary to have a setup dedicated to slappys? might as well have an all around board imo.
In the old days (early 90's) we didn't even care about width. We were constantly broke, and if the deck or even a truck broke too, we happily took everything we could get our hands on (legally and second hand, most of the time). golden memories :)
I have to politely doubt that, as it absolutely rides differently. At no point does it not matter and often the size of a truck doesn't determine much of a difference in cost, with smaller trucks usually being just as cheap.
@@PHeMoX Uhm... I fear you missed the point here. Not so much on the video but more on my original reply. Sure, it makes a difference, but as long you can have a board that you can ride, you won't care the size of trucks fits the deck width...
Uhhh I think that’s more of just not having money than the entire 90s skate scene. Definitely know plenty of folks who were skating back then that were extremely meticulous about their setups.
Thanks Ben, I don't think I'm ever going to ride trucks the same size as my deck again. I actually just purchased Mini Logo trucks and they are the weird size of 8.38 and I'm using them on an 8.25 deck (I love mini logo/bones/powell). It feels really nice, though the difference of only an extra .13 inches is not much. What I love about you specifically as a skate youtuber is that you go into such detail and show us the differences about equipment and how things seemingly unimportant can drastically change certain aspects of how we skate. No other youtuber that I know of does this and you've taught me to really pay attention to what I ride.
Yes. It’s because of him, I’ve realized that I actually skate much better with a mellow kick with a short wheelbase. For years I thought I needed a super steep tail and a medium length wheelbase. So, the takeaway is you may want a certain thing in your setup and not realize it is actually a hindrance to your skating as a whole. I’ve unlearned several things because of Ben. Mini logo trucks are great, btw.
@@freger5387 They do turn well and I did like them but they actually seemed to be making some kind of horrible rattling noise after a while that I couldnt identify...so i ended up going back to my Thunder 149s and keeping my 8.25 mini logo chevron deck.
@josh, I’ve put bones bushings in ml trucks before and they make this ridiculous popping noise when you carve and turn. Tensors do that also with bones bushings. My only issue with ml trucks is their height. I’m just not a low truck guy. Kinda hard to improve going from thunders anyway. I wonder what was rattling on urs...?
@@sadhvacman7238 Yeah tbh I never really figured it out. Ended up going back to my thunders because they dont make that annoying noise and are a tad wider, which I now prefer (I ride am 8.25 board with thunder 149s (8.5"). Also the mini logo trucks are too low for me, i felt like I couldnt get any pop at all, however, i easily fixed that with 1/8 risers, and that took the deck up to pretty standard height and felt similar to my thunders. but i only bought the mini logo trucks just to try something different, I am glad I am back on my thunders.
Sorry for replying late to this question, I seen it a month ago and spaced it off. 169 on a 9.5 for sure unless it's really really tapered off at the tail than maybe 159 but I'd rather have bigger than smaller.
Definitely emphasises the fact that we should just skate and see what works as opposed to over analysing a set up whilst sitting on a phone. As an old guy skater, I definitely got set up madness when I wasn’t on my board as a kid. The less we do, the more we think. Not good.
Built my first 8.5" set up after learning on 8" and didn't like the extra size. Now I just use the Indy 149's with an 8" deck and it honestly feels great. Thanks for this video!
You should do a whole video of bigger smaller and same size trucks compared to the deck size. Say you try 147,148 and a 149 on a 8.25 deck to compare what the truck actually does.😍
The wider the truck the more stable your board will be. Flip tricks will get better as you get used to the set up. When you ride 5.0 trucks with 7.25-7.50 boards (reaching back a little) you’ll have to retrain yourself on some of your tricks if you “go big”! I have a big foot (US 12) and was pleased companies realized we all can’t ride tiny boards and trucks. Love a 8-8.25 board with some 149s, so stable! Great video!
Trucks thinner than your deck! Next video! Go Go Go! Thanks bro! (I need to know about avenue trucks and speed wobble, I like to ride really tight trucks on a typical Street board, because, at 43 I am stopping less at the spots I find whilst I literally live with my board, riding it everywhere, all day, every day, and I am often hill bombing, and riding seriously fast on major roads and streets)
Nathan Boardman does it skate well? I am wanting to get 139 independent trucks for my 8.25 deck and I’m not sure if it will change anything (being slightly skinnier than the deck)
Really good informative channel Ben! All your info is priceless. I've ridden my wheels as wide as possible (but not wider than the deck) for years. I use extra washers behind the wheels to custom space them out. This also means the wheel nut is right at the end, flush with the tip of the axle. So the nut takes all the abuse, saving the axle ends from getting chewed up.
Michael Booth yeah man, I skate more street than Transition and I can still get pretty tech. Flip tricks feel great honesty, so much room to land on, grinds too. Tre flips are a little harder at first but after you get used to it and adjust they feel good too. I’m not a huge guy either, like 5’ 10 and 170, so about average size
i used to ride back when i was 16 (32 now) and my 10 year old just showed some interest in skateboarding. i am super stocked about it and toild him all about my skateboarding days here in PR. got him a set up and took him to a skate park for the first time today. thanks for the info and i am sure ill be back on a board too.
Thank you for mentioning the more realistic example because I just ordered 144mm indies and I have an 8.0 to put them on but I was worried about overhang on my deck but you sealed the deal on that one! Thanks brother.
It’s all preference! I work at a shop and I tell new skaters the general rule of thumb is same width - but up to quarter inch in or out doesn’t matter too much and some people prefer one or the other - they’ll have to try different setups to find what they like
Ive had this set up so many times as a teen cause my friends would hook me up with used decks that are smaller then what I would skate and it really is super good with a lot of control specially with flick
Wow! I just ordered my first setup and I'll be rocking ACE AF1 Hollow 60's on a 8,5" Polar board. I've heard that the new ACE AF1 trucks sizes are a bit off. So a 60 that is for a 8,75" is actually smaller than the 60 on a ACE classic. I'm curious to see how it ends up but I'm also not very worried if it shows a bit of the wheel. It eliminates de hover effect on my mind. :D
I’m a bigger guy, and will be looking at a wider board soon. I might give a setup like this a go. I actually filmed my skatepark session today, first time at a skatepark on a board!!!!! My board was a hand me down, hoping to use it till it dies and try to keep my progression videos on the regular to my channel. Pure motivation and inspiration from you sir. Keep up the good work
Not sure if you'll see this but I just bought my first new deck and then panicked since its smaller than my current one and didn't know if my trucks would be too big. No where online did I find anything saying wider trucks would be fine but this video helped haha.
@@efeozturk6222 I liked 144s on my 8.25 with a medium concave. I recently switched to an 8.25 with a steep concave and the 144s now feel a little small for some reason. I'm gonna try 149s on it and see what happens.
Hey Ben, We lived through the 7.5 129 setup years!!! When I slowed down on skating a bit, I would jump on my board and it felt awful! I couldn’t understand it. I bought an 80’s reissue cruiser set up and would skate super far distances and bomb hills and I couldn’t believe how good it felt! That’s when I realized the whole idea of trying out different size boards and trucks, a little bigger softer wheels. It’s funny that it took me so long to question what I was riding. Great vid!
I like width for stability. I ride a 7.875” girl with 8” ventures, and I love that the wheels line up with the deck. I can’t imagine riding a smaller axel.
I am riding a 7.75 deck (I’m a light and small guy) with an Indy 139 forged hollow. That tip for having a quarter inch greater axle to deck width is great advice so long as you have narrower wheels. I’m rocking spitfire F4 classics, so I barely see the axle nuts hang past the deck. 😂 The hollow truck might have solved the issue with height on tricks, at least for me. Thanks for sharing this Ben! I think you solved my constant setup irritation.
2 years late, but I’m just hear to say that I’ve been skating Baker 8.125 decks with Indy 149s. Soooo good. I don’t understand why more people don’t give it a shot.
This video made me feel better about sizing up my trucks. I normally skate 149 on an 8.5 I recently got indy 159, which i will probably skate on 8.5+ inch decks.
Really appreciate the depth and effort you put into your videos. It’s hard this kind of coherent ethic and dedication in skateboarding tips, reviews, and evaluations. Keep up the good work sir. I’ll be watching.
159s on 8.38 going on 8+ years now from 8.13 and 149 thunders as a starting point for bigger axle/hanger than deck. Indys are great plus i ride 159 from 8.38 all the way to 8.8-9.25 shapes. Youd think weight would be an issue but once you get used to the weight, the way conical full wheels ride and pop bigspins and spins in general with the shape of the conical fulls and the weight of indy standards its a really nice time.
Concerning myself with how a particular trick performs doing flip-out trips is the functional equivalent of worrying about whether they are right for the megaramp - neither are ever going to happen
I remember as a kid buying a new deck and only having trucks that were a good quarter inch wider. It always drove me nuts 😅 not because it messed me up (I was never that good then) but because I thought it looked funny. Now I'm all about checking out the little nuances a little change in your setup can do... It's like fine tuning a recipe
I actually am skating the 159 Forged Titaniums on an 8.25 right now! The only reason I went up to 159’s was a couple years back I went to a 8.75 welcome and needed bigger trucks, but went back down slowly to 8.5, 8.38, and now 8.25. I just liked the lock in for crooks and stability feel a lot, but I am going to try the 144 Forged Titaniums soon!
that’s like mine. 8.5 twintail with super loose 5.2 titanium venture lo’s. it’s really nice, makes the wide board flip faster. & i feel like the wider board makes the smaller trucks extra carvy. i would use 8.5 trucks but venture doesnt make lo’s that big. i do sometimes ride smaller boards. or bigger. ive tried extra wide trucks... honestly didnt like it & also didnt find it to be better for grinds. it was extra bad for flip tricks. but to each their own. i also just got 03 ace lo’s theyre also nice. i really prefer lo’s since i like to use a soft riser pad to make my decks last way longer. i rarely snap decks now & never get pressure cracks. but riding a tall indy with a soft 1/8 riser feels sooooo high. especially since i like to take out the top washer & make the hanger jiggly. sorry for the novel. have a great day 🤙🏽
@@komoonkh I so remember that. I had old school ventures with a newer board. the trucks I used with my old Toybox grosso... poverty. Then, when came the small wheels era, mine were so goddamn small too....
Just yesterday I switched out my hangars after hearing you and Sewa say flip tricks felt weird with wider trucks🤣I guess I'll see how that goes, can always switch back
truth, but missed one key point - easier to skate in straight lines too, as there's less carve. yet, if your indy's are slightly smaller than the board width they carve more and turn faster. watch some slalom - tiny hangers with wider wheels!
My first setup getting back into skating I went with the trends and went 8.5 and Indy 149s, I don’t have the strength to even flip it yet so I picked up an 8.0 and matched with an olllld set of royals I had sitting around from when I quit 15 years ago and they measured 7.75. I threw the 149s on the 8.0 after watching this today and it grinds and slides like a DREAM! Still have to spend more to to see if there’s too much meat to flip it though. Great video idea!
After watching you,and a few others on RU-vid(Braille,etc), I decided to get into skateboarding, again. I'm a beginner at the age of 31. I've been riding a Santa Cruz 8.0 everslick with 149 trucks for a couple months. Honestly, I just cruise except for a few freestyle tricks that I know. I tried, but I can't ollie, yet. My board rides fine, but the only problem that I noticed is with rail stands. They can be done, but that little bit of axle sticking out makes it a tad difficult to keep my balance in the rail stands position.
A video idea might be wheelbase and transition skating. I've gone around in circles on this. More wheelbase seems more calm and relaxed but I think you can't pump as hard.
You are always experimenting for us Ben, thank you for saving us time and cash. Though most of us can't skate as nearly well it's nice to see the pros and cons of so many aspects of skating. The first set up I got when I got back into skating was and 8.25 with 8.5 trucks it felt way to stiff but I might have had too tight of trucks . I got Some 139s and it felt a lot more carvy again I was probably riding looser too having got my sea legs back in the interim . Fast forward to now 4 years later the best skaters I know are skating the 8.25 with the 8.5 trucks and I'm riding a lot looser too. I'm thinking of pairing an 8.25 with some 8.35 Aces for the best of all worlds setup. We'''l see what happens.
Never thought it would work, but becouse of not being able to buy decks I ended up having a polar p9 8.6" at front truck probably 8.3" at back truck with ace 55 (9") trucks and it's the most fun Ive had on a skateboard. Im just saying this to make everybody understand that its not that serious and often in skateboarding what you are told are "big" differences, are actually only a few millimiters away, wich you might not even notice :)
I set up and rode that 8.5” hot chocolate cinema series deck with 169’s a year or so ago. I really liked it despite the extra weight. I prefer to see some wheel or at minimum, the axle nuts sticking out when I look down.
I love 8.25 with 149s it’s my go to. I really want this deck that’s an 8.12 tho which is when it angers me because there’s no way I can take it down anymore.
Hell yeah ben! Totally rad sent you a deck! Good old Saskie homeboys! Keep reping us! I haven’t finished the video at the time of this post. I just get excited when I see Saskatoon companies on the internet!
I ride 149 (for 8.5 decks) Thunder trucks on 8.0 boards. I have no issues. It may not be the matching size but it skates just fine, and I don't have to go out and buy another pair.
my first board were these mission 1 gullwing trucks which were 8.25 axle. they were high, heavy, raw, and classic. i had them on a 7.75. i thought it'd be too wide but so long as the riding surface/treading of the wheel doesn't surpass the width of the deck, its fine.
I've always like my trucks to be the same width or a 1/4 wider than the deck. Always felt like 1/4 wider than the deck was the sweet spot because the wheels line up directly with the edge of the deck.
I think this setup falls apart as soon as you start doing primo tricks. For me primo always feels much better when the trucks are even slightly smaller than the deck width, it sort of locks in better. But I suppose it just depends how often you plan on doing anything primo.
I ordered 151s four days ago. It’s so ironic that you’ve made this video. Kader skates 169s which is like to try, but I believe would be to heavy for my ankles.
hey, you really encouraged me here to not give a damn about those conventions: I ride 8.5 with 159 indies, so 0.25 bigger than deck, which is totally fine, even with my wheels being a bit bigger (54mm slime balls, 36mm wide). the very first setup I rode was a complete with 8.125 trucks on a 8.38 deck. from my limited experience I can say that I totally prefer the trucks to be wider than the deck, and the trucks being more narrow than the deck I kinda hated. of course as a total beginner it doesnt matter that much, but I found that it is actually much less stable and I even got wheelbite easier.
I don't think the skate shops I used to frequent even bothered with matching the proper truck size to your deck when you bought a new complete lol. I remember switching from skating 7.75 to 7.5 in the mid to late 90s, and my wheels always stuck out a bit. It never bothered me much back then; it felt like I was the only one who paid attention to board size. Others would tease me for caring so much about getting the right width.
To each there own, as a 35 year old skate rat with mild OCD I just cant do it...lol Like if my trucks hang out past my board, my brain hurts whenever I look down. Im all about people riding a set up that there comfortable with though, so if it works for yall that's awesome...
im definitely feeling the benefit of a wider truck compared to 129mm. Im never going back to that, and i'll swap some 149mm on a 8" deck right now in fact. Hoping muscle memory will return EDIT: It doesnt seem to be the truck width that makes the difference. 8" deck or 8.5" feels totally different in turning and stability with 149mm trucks. 8.5" is definitely the better of the two for me, can see why people even go to 9 or 10" for sure if that's such a big part of it
Well it's time for me to change up my setup again, so I changed from 9.5 to 8.25. Not the first and won't be the last I change drastic sizes, it's fun to me. Couple months I'll be switching back but I typically go with a smaller truck. I like how it feels. Grinds though when going to a smaller setup is something that feels really different and flipping is way easier. my 8.25 I ride indy 139s, when I go to a deck that is 9 to 10 inches I go with ACE 55s instead of the 66s. I like how it feels.
@@WendyOryen I’d say it depends what you skate. I mainly skate rails and tranny so I like a wider board. I also weigh 210 lbs so the extra width is nice.
