Orangatang Knuckles Longboard Bushings

Orangatang's new "Knuckles" bushings are here!

We've got to admit - Orangatang have really done something different with these bushings. They're not really like much else out there right now.

Poured from the same "Randy" urethane as their Nipples bushings, they're nice and bouncy.

The colours are the same too - Orange for soft, and Purple for Medium. There's no harder Yellow duro available for the Knuckles right now.

Similar to the Nipples, a pack of Knuckle bushings also comes with four bushings and four washers. Enough for your whole skateboard, which makes life easier.

So which should you get - Knuckles, or Nipples?

Let's look at the obvious differences.

Nipples come with Flat Washers - Knuckles come with Cup Washers. This means the Knuckles have more "bounce" - a higher return to centre. Better for carving and cruising around, whilst the Nipples on flat washers might be better for a bit of speed and a "dead" feeling truck.

We have to say though - the cup washers that come with the Knuckles are not a very good fit on the bushing, so there will be a fair bit of slop in your truck.

A pack of Nipples consists of four barrel bushings. They're pretty wide as bushings go - so there's a good bit of stability there.

A pack of Knuckles comes with two barrel bushings with inserts that lock into your truck seats - they go on the boardside. Then for the roadside bushings you get a "Gumdrop" shape - which is a sort of rounded cone. Knuckles bushing are a bit narrower than most, which means more lean and turn.

The insert on the Knuckles helps a bit with the slop, but it also restricts the lean a little bit compared to the flat-topped Nipples. The "Gumdrop" bushing acts much like a regular Cone shape, but with a bit more rebound.

Our recommendation?

For speed - get the Nipples, unless you want a strong return to centre, in which case get something else with cup washers. 

For carving and dancing, get the Knuckles. We would consider swapping out the Knuckles "Insert" bushing with a bottom Nipple though, as you'll get even more lean this way and the Nipple barrel fits better into the Knuckle cup washer.

Orangatang Knuckles are designed to fit with Paris Trucks. You won't really get the benefit of the insert in anything else we've tried - although they will fit.

• Durometers: Soft (Orange, 87a) and Medium (Purple, 90a)
• Diameter: 0.64"� (16.3 mm)
• Height: 0.59"� (15 mm) barrel + 0.075"� (1.91 mm) insert = 0.665"� (16.9 mm) total
• Formula: Randy Thane