Do High End Boards Require High End Trucks?

[Etienne de Bary]

bushings matter more than anything else i agree, and wedges too. Try big bushing rear, narrow bushings front. Then comes front truck.
spending big money on the deck is a waste

[Pelle Gustafsson]

hi i have both radikals and splitfire and it´s 2 diffrent trucks...but you shuld change bushings.... they are the biggest thing on the truck! bad bushings f#@k you up! trye difftent khiro bushings in diffrent colour to you find what works for you.

pelleplast

[Paul Howard]

I concur with Karl Floitgraf with the addition of I prefer the 8mm axle converted RT-X and a longer kingpin so I can use full height busings top and bottom to get the most turning out of the front end. I own a front Radikal, it is a great truck, but I practice on a sloped concrete riverfront walkway with cracks/joints so prefer not to practice with the Radikal. So far, every "big race" I've entered in T/S was not as tight as where I practice and I had to TIGHTEN my trucks(or put in a firmer bushing set), including the RT-X, and so the RT-X conversion in front was very up to the task and actually I really really like the feel of it. Lately it seems the stock RT-X's are getting sloppy interms of their casting but are still good when converted by PPS, MMW, or any other machinist who knows what to do. Good Luck-Paul

[Karl Floitgraf]

I've found my personal results are best in the middle. Ive found I like the splitfire rear the most for traction and an RTX is very responsive and has great turning in the front.

[Martin Siegrist]

high tec? nice to have! some guys like it, others don't!

[Martin Drayton]

Floyd won the Group B tight in Morro on a Lazer front and stock Indy 101 in back on a Turner Cutaway, mike Stride won the same event the year before with GUS trucks....Hmmmm.

[Vlad Popov]

Another vote for 8mm and tunes vs $$.

[Christopher Bara]

I had Rads on a Turner Fullnose, front and rear....and it was nowhere near as good as it was with old Trackers. For whatever reason, the Rads just didnt work on that board, but they work incredibly well on another.
Does anybody really NEED a high end board?....watching JBH and Wes E ride their homemade wood planks, i'd have to say they dont.
We just buy them because they're cool to have
It's what's underneath that makes the difference....and what works there varies by rider

Speaking of high end crap, i just got my very first PVD, bought it from Troy Smart..(thanks again Troy)...and i have to say, it's a great feeling truck....and a very simply one to understand...I have no idea why everybody says this thing's so complex...there's not anything complicated here once you set the pitch and wheelstops

[Eric Moore]

Obviously there is no substitute for talent. But unfortunately I haven't found an online shop that carries that yet. For anybody to get faster, by far the most important thing is to spend as much time skating as possible. Getting the right gear helps too, but is secondary to practice.

Chris, of course a well-set-up tracker will work better than a radikal with 95a bushings tightened down in front. But by comparing trucks I implicitly assumed both trucks are set up equally well. In my experience I have not been able to find a bushing combo in a tracker or indy that will make it turn as quickly or as true as a front radikal. Also, various bushing combos could not make my rts stick like my splitfire.

I agree about the importance of good wheels.

[Nick Krest]

Look at Luca. 1970's Iron Curtain copies of ACS 500's. Faster than anyone.

[Eric Brammer]

Jim Korten at Morro Bay, on a beat up old, and unfamiliar ICK STICK, cobbled together with some Tracker Rtx/Rts trucks, and nice, fast, sticky Cambrias with good bearings...

[Guest]

Fancy trucks (and fancy equipment for that matter) don't make you faster. Being confident in and understanding your equipment in any situation makes you faster.

However the one truck upgrade that WILL make you faster and improve your riding is putting 8mm axles in whatever trucks you are currently using. That makes a huge difference...

So I'd say that no, you don't need high end trucks for a high end deck, but high end trucks will outperform low end trucks on any deck.

I doubt it. Properly setup trucks. stock or fancy, will out perform any fancy truck.

In my opinion the trucks are more important than the deck, and if I were doing it over again I'd invest in the trucks first and the deck second.

I'll agree on this. However I think wheels are the most important. Good wheels on a crap deck/truck combo will be better than bad wheels/bad deck with great trucks...

Then again but a top rider on a crappy setup and they will outperform any fancy high equipment....

[Eric Moore]

I rode my foam core pocket pistol with stock trackers for about a year and a half before finally upgrading to Radikal front/Splitfire back. Before I got this deck I was riding a Comet slalom deck with the same trackers, and I definitely noticed a difference when I switched to the foam core. Earlier this year when I went for the high end trucks, I noticed an even bigger difference.

So I'd say that no, you don't need high end trucks for a high end deck, but high end trucks will outperform low end trucks on any deck.

In my opinion the trucks are more important than the deck, and if I were doing it over again I'd invest in the trucks first and the deck second.

[Karl Floitgraf]

I am playing around with different setups for my new Wefunk Foamcore S-camber but my question applies to any high end deck. I've borrowed my friends radikal and splitfire, which were really good but now I just riding a basic RTX/RTS set up. I am wondering for any foamcore decks do you need high end trucks do to them justice?

This is my first foamcore deck, any advice would be apprieciated. Thanks