Split Angle Longboards
Split Angle Longboards
"Split Angle" longboard setups are a huge step on compared to regular longboards - here's a quick introduction!
What is a split angle truck setup, and why would I want one?
A split angle truck setup on a longboard is where you have a very turny (steeper geometry) truck on the front of your board, and a very leany (slacker geometry) truck on the tail.
Usually, you also need softer bushings on the front truck for more trun, and harder bushings on the back to help prevent wheelbite.
The whole point is that your board steers from the front - like a car - rather than all four wheels simultaneously.
This is not a new concept - it's been around on slalom, downhill and long distance pumping for decades.
However, it's finally making its way onto more general, casual use longboard setups - and we reckon it's about time!!
A split angle truck combo offers a number of benefits that any skater can enjoy over most terrains. They make your board:
- More stable at higher speed
- More agile at lower speed
- Easier to pump (propel yourself without pushing)
- Lean more into carves, which closer emulates the feeling of surfing or snowboarding
How do you make a split angle longboard?
At first glance this can seem complicated - all these angles and bushing durometers!
We've made it super simple though - in this collection you can find split angle truck sets by the world's finest longboard truck brands to convert your board into the carving and pumping beast that you need.
Also in here are all the completes we do in the shop that feature split angles. We'll be rolling this out across more and more boards as time goes on - stop in and take a look!
If you want to try to DIY your own though, you need:
- A steeper (48-50degree) truck on the front with some softer bushings - under 88A is a good start, preferably cone shaped. You need your front truck to be ridiculously turny!
- A slacker rear truck - at least 20 degrees slacker than the front is a good place to start. Less than this and you won;t really get the benefits in quite the same way. We also recommend going up to 93A bushings on the back, or even harder if you want to create a super-solid plaform to pump and carve from.
- More risers. The trucks are way more active on a split angle setup, so if you want to keep the same size wheels and you are close to wheelbite already, you will probably want to run at least 5mm more riser than you currently have to avoid wheelbite. The other option is to go for a smaller wheel of course!
- Longer bolts - if you're putting more risers on, then you might need to go up to 1.25 or even 1.5" bolts.
What about rider weight and wheelbite?
If you're browsing around our shop for completes, you'll notice that we offer the possibility of changing the bushings to suit your weight for quite a few of them.
We're finding that split angle setups are a bit less sensitive to rider weights than regular longboard setups.
Generally, you want to front truck to turn as much as you can, and the rear truck to turn a lot less.
Where we have the compatible bushings to hand for certain truck brands, we'll offer the option for you to tell us your weight to get your setup rolling sweet straight out of the box. Hopefully we'll see more truck brands supporting their trucks with bushing options in the future!
Split Angle trucks vs Surfskates
If you've ever stepped on a surfskate, you may be thinking... isn't a split angle longboard a similar idea?
On the face of it, you're absolutely right. The reason a surfskate feels the way it does is becuase the front truck does the turning, and the rear truck does the leaning. It's much the same concept - but a surfskate is much more extreme than a split angle longboard.
We find that the real limitation of a surfskate is the extremely low speed range. A surfskate is so unstable that a lot of skaters find them difficult to control at speeds much over jogging pace. This realy rules them out for getting around town on, or even getting up to speed in a pumptrack.
As a Split Angle Longboard uses a reverse kingpin truck on the rear, it feels much more "leany" than a surfskate. It's less turny than a surfskate, but there's almost no top speed limit to a well set up split angle longboard. This means that they are much more versitile than surfskates - suitable to pumping, downhill, cruising and carving.
Another way of thinking about this is a split angle longboards doesn't replace a surfskate - it just brings a "surfskate feel" to more usable speeds for every day skating. A longboard that is both more agile and more stable than before is quite a step up - once you go split angle, you won't want to go back!
