Hi, just posting the link to some Ronin Cast trucks
They are NOT mine!
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For those considering buying, this is the old casted Ronins that have a ridiculous amount of rake (7-8mm of axle offset). The new Ronin Cast Katanas have a much more reasonable 2.5mm of rake and are supposedly better casted.
I would consider 160mm too narrow
160mm is definitely not too narrow. In practical application, you can always stagger your motor mounts if you want to do something like a 6374 setup. Simple fix.
Does that mean that the angle is different then? Don’t know exactly what you mean by rake.
Awesome thx a lot. So these trucks might by a bit nervous at higher speeds and less predictable? Does somebody have them and can tell the difference? Especially compared to Caliber 2?
Basically as follows:
Angle: doesn’t have to be HOW a truck turns, but how much it will actualy react to the lean.
What does that even mean? It means a 50 degree truck doesnt turn more than a 44 degree. BUT with the 50baseplate you will need considerably less lean / force for the same amount of turn.
Rake: Is primarely how much to truck reacts within the lean.
Huh?: So think of the resting point of the truck as position A and the furthers you can lean point B.
Now a high rake truck, will make the first 20% of the “distance” from A to B feel dead, nice side effect super stable though. It gets spicy from around 30% to 100% of the distance since it will feel super divey. Meaning little to no resitance making it fun for carving or 180 shenanigans, but rather tricky to hold a line in a corner.
So the more rake you have the more snappy an divey the trucks feel.
The less rake you have, the turn will be almost linear.
Most common in DH at least, is a modes 2.5mm rake front to allow some dive but just enough “dead space” for complete flat bombs to be stable.
Backside usually 0mm rake or also 2,5mm but thats completely different since its mounted on a 25degree baseplate.
Equally important and influencal as angle but sadly hardly understood.
Hope that helped a bit.
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doesent the support pin of the ronins kinda eliminate the progressive effect of the rake?
I would consider the turn of my cast 180mm trucks (rear 6deg deweged) quite predictable…
They are awesome. Most prominent freeride/downhill trucks for quite a while.
But I don’t think they fit esk8 well. Hardly any esk8 rider wil use the truck what it is made for. The crazy lean and dive. What most esk8 want is a responsive precise truck that allows smooth carving and turning.
Not a bomber truck witch has so much dead space for stability but then crazy lean (also meaning most set ups get wheelbite with 80+mm wheel with ronins)
Heavily recommend the rogue cast. To this day the best truck under 150.- that I ever rode (20+).
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The support Pins function is basically to take away weight of the bottom bushing. Allowing to run the trucks looser while being actually more stable since your weight is shifted into the hanger/baseplate and the bushings only has to do its job of compressing/decompressing to your lean and not your weight.
So you run narrower baseplate Angle for more stability and the truck feels stable while being loose and responsive.
ONLY works if trucks are correctly set up. Allways bushungs that are still the same height and not compressed/old. Nut absolutely flush with the kingpin. If you tighten them down after that point the whole idea and geometry of the truck doesn’t work. Meaning you need harder bushings because you can’t tighten them.
That said. Loved my cast back in the day, the new katanas are just the shit!
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Thanks for explaining rake so then I don’t have to! A lot of people think DH riders prefer Calibers to stay ‘stable’, but the truth of the matter is that I see a lot more raked DH setups rather than rakeless.
“Get Calibers, Paris is unstable for fast riding because of the rake…” 
Just to throw in my 2 cents…I just got a set of cast Ronins thrown onto a single drive 6374 loaded Icarus build I’m working on. Those things are awesome. My only experience is coming from Calibers which almost feel dead (kinda like driving a car). I know everyone has their own riding style/goals but I love my Ronins! They definitely are very divey but seem significantly more stable at speed. Kinda the best of both worlds for me since I was going for a cruising/carving fun build.
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Some truth to that though. Back in the day you had 2 options. Randall or paris. Paris was the “nice” version. Randall cheap and radical.
Around 2010 freeriding became super popular. Thats when caliber joined and took over. Paris didn’t believe in the hype and stayed with their lively trucks. This is where the hybris came into existence that paris is for carving and caliber for freeride. Justified though. Paris trucks were not ideal for fast freeride to say the least.
Caliber did so much for the community that time. They had the sickest crew, crazy ride footage and the first pushing into downhill. Lower angles, first restrictiv bushings seats and super affordable. Live long guarantee
The paris v2 and caliber 2 that were established later on, are very similar. One has rake (paria) the other doesn’t (caliber). Bushings seats are restrictive (caliber) and linear (paris).
Nowadays its up to preference, but still caliber is more affiliated with downhill and paris for dancers, freeriders.
Like it is with all trucks with rake, the bushing selection becomes alot more important to get the most out of the set up.
Still, the predictability and more restrictiv bushing seats make caliber “easier” in a way if that makes sense?!
Exactly yeah. But paris have rake, calibers don’t. So still in the “deadzone” (0-15%) lean paris are less livlier thus more stable and less prone to wobbles (in straights) in a way. But more divey and snappier.
That said, no rake gives you a more linear and predictable turn. Making sweepers and hairpins easier.
Disclaimer: not taking paris savants into it. For a skilled rider, those are fucking sick for a freeride set up if you want to keep your race precisions fresh ;).
Generally though, people would be hella surprised how open we ride our trucks in tue downhill/freeride comunity. Let your buahings live, dont squasch them 
Ps: noone prefers caliber (well over paris for sure). But they are still the cheapest cast trucks on which you can push the limits the furthest concerning speed.
It is a exiting time truck wise. A lot of new inovations. Skillfloor goes up eatch year like crazy. So company focus more on what a truck ALLOWS you to do rather than HELPING the rider. Smaller hanger width for more grip and weight on the wheels, double tall bushings for more play etc.
Also super affordable trucks that are absolute beast came into the market.
Budget: rogue cast (incredible), caliber 2, ronin Midrange: bear kodiaks, savants, sabre Precisions: up to preference
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I think you confused Caliber and Paris because Paris have rake and Caliber don’t 
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Yap. Absolutely I did lol
Ps: fixed it, hope makes sense now
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I’m aware there is some truth to why Calibers are liked over Paris. However I’m specifically drawing attention to the fact that people specifically THINK Paris is inherently unstable because of rake.
The myth stems from the fact that Paris has a very underdefined bushing seat versus Calibers. Somewhere in there, people correlated the following; Paris trucks are sloppy and ‘lively’, Paris trucks have rake, raked trucks must all be sloppy and ‘lively’.
I plug all my setups, so a Paris when plugged makes for an extremely precise turning truck with a ridiculous amount of lean.
On a sidenote: I still don’t get why people describe raked trucks as ‘lively’. Rakeless trucks, by definition, turn more immediately when lean force is applied. My plugged Calibers are the most aggressive turning trucks in my collection.
Edit: Also, Randal R-III trucks are as cheap as Calibers, but have rake. With Delrin plugs, they’re near ideal.
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Thanks @michichopf @PredatorBoards for all the history and color.
Is it crazy to mix, cronin front caliber rear? So you get the liveliness up front and the stability and mount compatibility in the rear?
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Your rear is going to feel very fishtaily because of the rakeless Caliber’s lack of return to center. It’s the exact opposite of what you want for a stable setup. You want a lively truck in the front and a ‘dead’ truck in the rear to eliminate speed wobbles. People accomplish this with a multitude of methods, mismatched trucks, split angles (ex: 35 rear, 45 front), stiffer bushings in the rear, etc.
My suggestion is to just get Cast Rogues and keep things symmetrical.
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Honestly dude dh community works hella different from esk8 community
We get shit, try it. Then go to our favourite spot and send it. If it feels nice and didn’t kill me I take it.
Pretty sure dished or not dished bushing seat, rake or not. Hardly anyone would know what they ride. They just now they can go 90km/h + and not kill themselves when releasing the tuck
After a certain point, style, weight, stance, weight distribution, hands down or hands free etc. Become a big factor. Whatever truck/set up feels the best at your biggest weakness (for me gripping after heelside speedchecks) is what you ride.
Biggest reason for that would be that there is almost no “talk” only showing what you got and we are the oposite of elitists. Whatever you shred is lit, no one cares what it is. You randomly see people racing the fuq out of indi trucks (tkp)etc. Who even cares what color your trucks are or what brand when you are going 90 with 3 dudes next to you about to hit the party corner
Mayby after few hundred kilometers somone would silently grunt :“gotta get me new trucks, their shit. Killed me almost twice today.”
Then you have that one guy in the group who is crazy experienced and knowledgable hands you wheels,trucks or whatever. And suddenly your ride feels so much better.
Ps: I think that a truck doing 50+ on a 12-15kg esk8 with a rider in 90% upright position needs to do stuff completely differently than a truck for a guy going 80+ in a low as possible position with a way different amount of weight distributed to the side. And whatever gives you the most confidence and safety in both scenarios is the stuff you ride.
Still think that the rogues should/could be our new standard truck for esk8. Jack of all trades. Brings everything you would want to the table for a competitive price with a good hanger form for mounts.
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