The 8.75”. This is the deck that started it again. The Madness.
DLX 8.75”, 14.62” wb, 32.43”
Indy 159s
Spit Classics 54mm
I’ve had this set-up before as a cruiser, that I also did some “trick” skating on. I liked it, but it was a bit clunky on street. Worst aspect of it: I hatred the lateral slop/shifting the trucks did during 50/50s, esp. on transition. Overall though, it felt really stable and solid. As such, it seemed like a good return point for a “bigger transition” set-up…but I knew that somehow, I would have to deal with that lateral truck slop issue.
So, I set-up another 8.75. At first, I took it to my regular park (street and mini ramps) just to get used to it before going to “bigger” ramps. Oddly, I found myself REALLY liking the 8.75 (for some things), even on the smaller ramps and street obstacles. Smith Grinds are a great example. They were so much easier / felt better on this set-up. Tailslides were great, because there was so much tail width to “lock-in’ with. Ollies were certainly required more effort, as did any flip tricks (I wasn’t too concerned about any of this, because this was never intended to be a “street” set-up for). And while I previously hated the lateral truck slop on grinds, I was able to at least deal with it now. All of this surprised me.
After a few days of riding/getting used to it, I finally hit some bigger transition. A 6’tall mini ramp, and a flow/bowl type park. I was expecting the 8.75 (mostly) shine in both places. It didn’t. At all. In either place.
On the 6’ mini, the lateral truck slop was really freaking me out. Last thing I want is my board sliding around in an unpredictable manner when I’m on the edge of the coping, six feet off the ground. I actually stopped skating the ramp because I was so bothered by this issue. Could I get used to it, if I skated smaller ramps a bit more? Probably. But I wasn’t fucking with it at that moment in time. I don’t want to be fighting and/or scared of my equipment—that’s a bad relationship. Two other places where I didn’t like 8.75 was dropping-in (off tail) and rocks to fakie. Dropping-in, it felt like my front trucks were taking waaaay to long to make contact with the ramp. I attributed this feeling to a longer wheelbase. It was a little unsettling. Rock to fakies on the bigger ramp also felt more precarious. It felt like I really had to hold the tail down a lot longer to get front trucks to clear. Rock n Rolls also felt super sluggish to turn (as if rear wheels would slip out before full turn was made). I noticed these issues on smaller ramps, too, but for some reason it was really getting in my head on bigger ramps.
At the flow/bowl park, I had the same experiences as above, plus one additional issue; the 8.75 was more sluggish through bowl corners, and didn’t allow me to take some of the tighter lines I wanted. This one was clearly a wheelbase issue, as it didn’t seem like I could get the board to carve as quickly as I wanted. Going over the bumps (e.g. hips, wedges, etc.) felt very unsettled (can’t figuring out the exact right word for this), as if front trucks were going too far out/down ramp before the board “settled” back in.
I stopped at pump track on the way home, and here, wow, was the turning/wheelbase issue really exacerbated. The 8.75 felt like a tractor trailer trying to move quickly through congested city streets and turns—it just wasn’t happening. I actually fell off my board once because I couldn’t get it to carve a through turn fast/quick enough. I also had a short slappy session on the 8.75, too. I seemed to be getting a lot of wheel bite, so there is that, too.
So, there are few take aways from all this. In no specific order:
-The 8.75 was never intended to be a tight-turning, wildly responsive street deck. It should not be judged on those terms. Ever.
-This board was set-up for the sole purpose of skating larger transition. However, it freaked me out a bit on some larger ramps. This means one of three things, (1) The ramps I skated were not big enough to really tap the 8.75 potential, (2) I just need to spend more time on those ramps to get use to the 8.75, or (3) this is not the set-up for me on bigger ramps. These issues remain to be seen, as I am not done with the 8.75 yet.
-The 8.75 was surprisingly good/felt great, for some street stuff, and I really liked it in that regard. So…I liked this bigger “ramp’ board more on street than I did on ramp? Huh? What’s that about? Should I be riding a slightly bigger street board now?
A few days later I skated my trusty 8.25/14.38 usual set-up again. First time on it in about 10-14 days. It suddenly seemed so incredibly small to me. Impossibly small. I was having trouble with some basic tricks, and it now seemed like I need to be so unbelievably precise/delicate. I could no longer do Smith Grinds on it—at all. It was during this very session that I knew the Madness was gathering strength, and would soon manifest. I feared what was coming. I found myself thinking, “Would something in the middle (say, an 8.5” with 149s) be a perfect blend for both bigger ramps and street? Should I swap out 144s for 149s on my 8.25 deck?? With those simple questions, I knew The Madness floodgates had blown wide open…and there was no turning back.
I don’t think I am going to get out of this current Madness episode without at least two completes: One for bigger ramps, and one for “street.” The real questions are, (1) Will I make any changes to my “standard” set-up, and, (2) Will there be a 3rd “all purpose” complete?
8.75” Pros • Smith Grinds • Tail Slides • Nollie Lip Slides • F/S 5-0s on ramps • Stability on ramps • Feels like riding a sofa/comfy chair
8.75” Cons • Clunky • Axle slop on grinds • Hard to get airborne/ollies • Sluggish through tight turns • Feels scary slow on rock n rolls • Tricks to fakie (on ramp) feel…precarious. • Drop-ins on smaller ramps (e.g. not vert ramps) • Flip tricks
