What is your favorite deck size and wheelbase for overall performance, stability, turning radius, etc.? I just completed my first build using my old 46” Gravity kicktail longboard with a 30" wheelbase on Caliber trucks, and really like the stability and speed, but obviously, the turning radius and maneuverability leave a lot to be desired. I really liked how wide I could make my stance and how comfortable it was to cruise, but it turned too much like a boat.
For science, I swapped all the components over to an old (~1986) Santa Cruz 30” kicktail with a 21" wheelbase, which was quite a bit more nimble, but a lot more sketchy at higher speed (of course), and posed much more of a threat of dumping me on me arse, if I grabbed too much throttle too fast. To me, it felt like I couldn’t get my stance wide enough to feel comfortable accelerating hard or going too fast, but the low speed carving was awesome.
So, what is your favorite deck size and wheelbase that gives the best mix of maneuverability, stability, and overall comfort/ease of riding while still being fun to carve? Obviously, if there are different applications/riding situations that you prefer different specs for, I’d be interested in that too, e.g., shorter board specs for low speed carving, squeezing through traffic vs. long range fast commuter/speed board. Also, if there is anything special that you do to do make different sized decks perform better/differently, e.g., wedge trucks for better turning, bushing combinations, etc., please mention that as well. Thanks!
@Mobutusan I like my 39.50" deck with a 28" wheelbase. It’s stable at the speeds I ride at (18.5 mph max, average speed is between 10-14mph). Speeds are based on GPS-based speedometer. I use paris 195mm trucks with venom 81a bushings; a barrel boardside and a cone roadside. This gives me a lot of “carvyness” but completely stable at these speeds. We had a thread about speed wobble you might like a while back that might interest you if you’re looking for advice on stability.
Thanks for the responses. Sounds like the 40" deck with a 27-28" wheelbase might be the sweet spot. Feel free to recommend any specific deck brand/model that works for you. I prefer a kicktail style, but am open to other types that might work as well.
@lowGuido, how is the turning and manueverability on that board? It looks like you’re using conventional trucks, no? Did you do anything special to the truck mounts/bushings on your setup?
@treenutter, thanks for the detailed response. I did read the speed wobble thread, and it was helpful, but didn’t seem to get into the optimal deck size specifics that I am curious about, mainly wheelbase related.
@barajabali, do you know the wheelbase of that deck?
turning is quite good, I can carve quite tightly, and make 90 degree foot path turns at relatively low speeds. also the kicktail helps for those ultra tight turns that you couldn’t make otherwise.
I have experimented with a few different bushings but the setup remains mostly stock.
I’m a first time builder and I recently got my deck in the mail. I’m nervous after having measured the wheel base. It’s a 36 inch board with only about a 17.5 inch wheel base. I also opted for double motor for some speed. Time to exchange decks for something longer? Or think it could work?
Used to ride a cantellated tesseract before I got into esk8. That deck is in a river now LOL. But hands down my favourite deck. Wheelbase, single kick, concave would’ve been perfect for esk8.
More speed might be what you think you want before you have an esk8 but what you find out you actually want might be different later than you think it is now.
Like {range, speed, cost} might turn into {tail, weight, reliability}
All my longboards are 36 inches or close to give or take…
and set up 25-28 inches from inside truck bolt to inside truck bolt…
gravity decks are running 164mm-184mm wide trucks…
All topmounts & truck angles from 50 degrees to 25.
I have a old bouncy 42 inch pintail that is a wall hanger and a double drop Rayne Reaper V3 I need to get off my ass and sell (27-28 inch wheel base, 36 inches long, anyone else see a pattern )