Caliber clones from china reliable?

And those powerswitchees lolol, 10euro for all the parts, 50 retail price :roll_eyes:

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For some people paying a bit more Is fine, But when others ask you how much your Diy build cost it brings a seance of shame :joy:

Edit: Whoa we have a lot in common that explains the flooding of your topic I got a server message recommending PM good idea I think :wink:

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Thaha yes :stuck_out_tongue: 1500euroā€™s for a build is not an exeption but itā€™s mucchhh :smile:

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those trucks look like crapā€¦a clone of a barely good enough truck results in a not good enough truckā€¦trucks are too important to the ride and feeling and performance of any skateboardā€¦I never skimp on trucksā€¦or wheels or decks for that matterā€¦

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@squishy654 What makes you say Calibers are ā€œbarely good enoughā€?

Caliber IIā€™s are not ā€˜Greatā€™ trucks. The tolerances are low, to the degree there can be as much as 2mm difference between to trucks (hangers and/or base plates).

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Caliber IIā€™s are pretty good, but alot of the clones are pretty crap

Loose pivots, lopsided kingpin holes(hangar), loose kingpins, axles not straight. etc etc. Makes for a pretty sloppy truck.

as @squishy654 said, trucks, wheels, and deck are the heart of a board.

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Thatā€™s just a problem with cast trucks. Until someone makes mounts for cast Rogues, Calibers are probably still the best cast trucks for speed imo.

Caliberā€™s yes. clones no.

Most clones have lopsided kingpin holes, meaning you canā€™t turn the same ammount in both directions, lol

Agreed, but Iā€™m talking about the implication that Calibers arenā€™t good trucks:

Calibers are a sloppy truck, low tolerances, no rake and a simple cast truckā€¦there is nothing to write home aboutā€¦do they work? Yup, they work fineā€¦for what they areā€¦a downhiill truckā€¦I personally prefer tall bushings, and some rake in my trucksā€¦like Arsenals, Bolzen, Donā€™t Trip or suspension like Avenueā€¦after you have tried a good precision truck, and understand what all the numbers mean to tune it to yourself, you would understandā€¦Itā€™s like going wine tasting, if you havenā€™t done it and say you hate wine, then you just donā€™t knowā€¦but thereā€™s a wine for everyone, just gotta find itā€¦calibers about as drab and generic and safe in all respects (a crappy white wine for beginners), a stable no rake wide downhill truckā€¦letā€™s say itā€™s the perfect entry level, and understand that thereā€™s tons of better optionsā€¦the only reason the eskate world uses them is because the hanger shape lends well to a secure motor mount configuration. obviously a square hanger is best for mounts, but the rest of the truck is sort of a joke, itā€™s not regarded highly in the downhill world eitherā€¦they are known as the trucks that come on complete boardsā€¦I actually spoke to Bustin once about their completes and how they wished they could use better trucks, but the naive beginners wanted Caliber and they are like forced to use them because they sell, when in reality everyone who has ridden better trucks, knows betterā€¦but hey, they come in colors right? lol I use them myself because itā€™s easy to get mounts for them and the Hobbyking mount slaps right on securely. Do I wish they had a better feel? sure do, and I replace all the pivot cups and bushings with Riptide in all of them to make them more acceptableā€¦but on my downhill setups, I use Arsenal due to the abundant rake, non linear feel and tall bushings which carve a lot further, not to mention I wanted 165mm which calibers donā€™t make in castā€¦A narrower truck will give a lot more traction and transition in the turns faster while a wide truck is good for sliding and stabilityā€¦the caliber is a decent freeride or beginner downhill truck, thatā€™s about it, once the skater gets better or they feel some rake, good bushing seats and tall bushings, they will want itā€¦and then they will realize that calibers are just thatā€¦barely good enoughā€¦

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Yaā€™ll gotta stop making me laugh out loud at work, everyone is looking at me funny :slight_smile:.

Preach!

I love my Surf Rodz TKPā€™s, not because they are a great downhill truck but because they are not. They are the perfect cruising truck, stable at low and high speeds, while carving or just straight lining it, rough surfaces or not. They are essentially above average at almost everything, hence my liking them.

I havenā€™t measured 10k sets of trucks, but every Caliber II truck Iā€™ve measured has had a measurable difference in at least one facet of the hanger from side to side and typically a much larger difference from hanger to hanger. Frankly, I donā€™t use them anymore. If I need an inexpensive truck I go to TB 218ā€™s as the tolerances are tighter and you can always trim the hanger and axle and re-thread if you need it shorter.

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I love my TKP surf rodz too, I made them work in the bowl at santa cruz once, was hella funā€¦

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50 Cals and 44 Cals are okay trucks. I donā€™t get peopleā€™s affinity for rakeless trucks (Calibers) when raked trucks are more stable for holding straightlines. Being rakeless means Calibers are extremely responsive the moment you apply any lean pressure. Unlike raked trucks, they have zero-return to center. This means you will end up on the ground if you donā€™t know how to properly ride. Garbage in, garbage out.

Want to know why I designed the Banshee to use Paris/Randal clones instead of Calibers? Because I know unskilled riders will be riding the board.

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Rich Nelson (rip Nelson Longboards) did a write-up of tolerances between cast trucks here. Most cast trucks have relatively low tolerances given that theyā€™re cast and not precision/forged, and Caliber performs at the top of the trucks tested. Is the sample size low? Yes, but the tolerances measured still arenā€™t low enough to impact your ride. One degree of axle bend wonā€™t drastically cone your wheels. Precisions are better, but theyā€™re prohibitively expensive for many people.

As for the deviations in the hanger itself, thatā€™s a moot point. Youā€™re going to clamp down on it either way. It doesnā€™t affect the ride quality in any way.

Given the top speeds that we can reach, I would still rather err on the side of stability. TKPs are inherently less stable than RKPs at speed because the centerpoint gets smaller the faster you go. Rake and hanger width are another question, but those are based on subjective notions of ā€œfeelā€.

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Preach. Cast trucks have come a long way, and I do think it silly to consider them unfit for fast riding, Calibers especially. Lots of riders will beg to argue about how Calibers are ā€œbarely goodā€. My favorite push and hard carve setup is Plugged 50 Cals put on my Dervish.

With DIYot Plugs, it doesnā€™t really get any more precise than this. Gives precision trucks a run for the moneyā€¦

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Donā€™t Trip Poppies (for LDP)

Cast Arsenal, 4mm of rake, tall bushings top and bottom, riptide cups, riptide tall fat cones. Parking Garage hybrid

Avenue Protos Precision 175mm suspension trucks with queen pins

Carvers are an honorable mention for being so damn functional and doing what they promiseā€¦

I really love a nice 1970ā€™s style snake run and some Surfrodz, but Avenue TKP suspension pumps even faster in such bowls so I swiched over and I have a Deckcrafters old school getting glassed right now for them.

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