Trucks to adjust and nuts not to touch, springs that break, bushing that squeak ... if you are thinking of buying a surf skate or if you have just bought one, there are a few things you should definitely know before getting your hands on your own. T-tool to adjust it, if you don't want to risk doing some serious damage to your new skate.
We have now been official dealers of most of the most famous surfskate brands for a long time and in addition to selling them, of course we have to use them ... what an effort!
So we know most of the surf skate and their most common problems well. Very often these are problems caused by poor maintenance or bad adjustments, which is why you should read this guide before using your surfskate.
Attention in this guide we will not talk about feeling. Here you will not find advice on which surfskate to buy ... here we will simply analyze the most common skate problems, how to solve them correctly and we will try to warn you about what should never be done to avoid breaking your new toy !.
Carver C7
Well yes, let's start with him, the surf skate par excellence, the legendary Carver C7. The C7 system has been the benchmark in the surfskate sector for years, a solid system, studied in every detail and made directly in the Californian factory of Carver. The C7 is the leader in compression spring trucks. A system that has been among the most popular for years both for its fluid but not too loose sensation and for the possibility of being customized by adjusting the spring and bushing.
Adjusting the Carver C7 truck: what you need to know
The problem with this truck is actually the other side of the coin of one of its most appreciated and sought after features, that is the possibility of adjusting the spring tension to obtain a more or less soft feeling, also depending on your weight, as well as that of your own style.
The ability to adjust the spring tension inside the C7 truck is one of the most popular aspects of this truck, but alas, it is also potentially its weak point. Because? Because many when they have this type of truck tend to play with it a lot, loosening it, tightening it, loosening it again and again tightening it. And this not just once but very often, even several times during a single session. And the consequence is that after some time the bolt used to adjust the tension of the spring no longer remains in position but loses its tightness starting to slowly unscrew ...
Tips and solutions:
In reality, the bolt problem is less serious than it might seem and statistically it is not even very frequent. To avoid problems it is sufficient not to abuse this setting. If you feel the need to tighten or loosen the spring with respect to the factory setting, do so by proceeding slightly. A quarter turn, half turn is usually sufficient. Loosening the spring completely is useless, on the contrary it prevents the mechanism from working properly. Also, once you have found your swing, leave it alone, work rather on adjusting the bushings and you will hardly have problems, even in the long run. 99% of our customers, following these indications, have never had problems.
The remaining 1% usually manages to solve it with a little bit of fillet lock, as long as you don't touch it anymore. Otherwise it becomes necessary to replace the bolt and in this case you can try to take a tour of your trusted hardware store or buy the spare set that includes the bolt in question.
What not to touch
Above the C7 truck there is a large nut (Pivot Bolt) which must never be touched for any reason. This is not an adjustment. The only reason to unscrew it is to replace a damaged part of the truck. Why shouldn't it be touched? First of all because it does not adjust anything, secondly because by loosening it you risk only losing parts on the road or breaking your truck.
Slide surfskate
Slides are now recognized as quality surfskates at the right price. An immediate feeling for everyone including beginners, a nice range to choose your own much appreciated model and design and we have had few problems over the years with these surfskates which are sturdy, well assembled and well finished. But let's put the praise aside and come to the possible weak points.
Adjusting the truck slide: what you need to know
Even for slides, the problem we encountered lies in the adjustment of the truck.
Slide comes from the factory with the spring well loosened.
Many, when they buy a surfskate have never even stepped on it before having their new purchase under their feet. When you get on it for the first time, even a rather stable surfskate, which slide it is, can be too soft. It is actually a sensation that is overcome in a few minutes of practice, but many, not knowing how to manage this completely new movement, and not knowing what to do, first tighten the spring. And by tightening the slide spring the result is that the spring can break, or rather the spring does not break but usually one of the two arms that hold it in place.
Tips and solutions:
The advice is simply not to tighten the bolt that adjusts the tension of the slide spring, if not very lightly. A quarter turn already makes a noticeable difference and half a turn should be more than enough even for those who are a little heavier.
If, on the other hand, it is too late and you have already caused the break, you just have to replace the spring. The replacement kit for the slide spring fortunately does not cost a lot.
We would like to clarify that slide is still a stable system and if even at the beginning it can confuse you, I assure you that there is hardly the need to make it less mobile. However, if it remains too soft for your tastes, also because you may not be very light, our advice is to evaluate systems with Cx type trucks, perhaps with rigid bushing.
What not to touch
The upper bolt, as for the C7, must never be touched as it is not used in any way to adjust the truck but to hold the parts that compose it together. By loosening it you only risk that it will always tend to slow down and even unscrew.
Problems with clear slide decks
A second note, again per slide, concerns an aesthetic rather than functional problem that we have often encountered. Some slides have a clear deck instead of a black grip.
Sometimes it happens that the surface layer of paint and grip cracks in correspondence with the holes of the trucks.
In all the cases that we have had the opportunity to observe the cracks do not concern the layers of wood, but only the surface layer of graphics and grip which, being of materials other than wood, have a different flexion and often tend to crack in the points subject to stress, then in correspondence of the holes. In any case, this is not a serious problem. None of these decks, even if subjected to stress in the end, ever broke. These small superficial cracks simply appear.
Tips and solutions:
If you think this could be a problem choose the black grip, and you will never have problems!
Smoothstar surfskate
If we talk about surf trainer, the most authoritative name is probably that of Smoothstar. Designed and developed in Sydney, Australia, SmoothStar developed one of the first spring-loaded surfskate trucks and their skates stand out from most other surfskates in both their feel and their commitment to surf training.
But now we come to the problems we found in the smoothstar surfskate
Smoothstar truck adjustment
The smoothstar truck has a spring inside that works by compression, as in the case of the Carver C7. In this case we have no particular problems to report in case of adjustment even if the advice is always to work more on the adjustment of the bushing than on the spring.
What not to touch
The upper bolt, as for the C7, must never be touched as it is not used in any way to adjust the truck but to hold the parts that compose it together. By loosening it you only risk that it will always tend to slow down and even unscrew.
In this case, unlike Carver and Slide, Smoothstar has seen fit to warn that it is not touched by applying a nice fluo yellow sticker that says "Do not Adjust this Nut". If you touch it, you know that the warranty is void.
Truck Carver Cx and various copies
Trucks of the reverse king pin type Cx type, whether they are by Carver or its more or less identical copies, have fewer complications than spring trucks. There aren't many adjustments and nuts or bolts here that you can't touch or touch sparingly. Yet even with this type of truck, there are some things to watch out for.
Adjustment of CX trucks
Trucks of this type can be tightened or loosened by the nut that tightens the bushings. Also in this case you don't need to do many laps. A quarter turn or half turn is already more than enough to feel the difference. If you tighten too much, squeeze the rubber pads which then no longer work. If you loosen too much attention that the nut does not come out of the screw, otherwise it will risk unscrewing.
Advice
If you are very heavy and after a couple of laps you still feel the surfskate too soft, we recommend replacing the bushing with harder rubber pads. Normally with Carver this is only for those who weigh over 90 / 100kg. With other brands it depends on the hardness of the rubbers that are fitted as standard. Before replacing them, however, reflect on the fact that you are using a surfskate ... it must have that movement and that feeling. If you are looking for a more stable truck, you may be looking for a longboard or cruiser.
If, on the other hand, your problem is the opposite, that is, even loosening to the maximum you feel the skate is still too stiff under your feet, I suggest you try with a pin of nautical grease on the bushing and pivot cup ... I assure you that afterwards you will have to tighten it!
If, however, even after having greased the tires it continues to be too hard, because you are really very light or because it is a child who uses it, replace the bushing with softer ones (preferably conical to increase movement).
Squeaks and various noises problem
Squeaks and various noises are quite normal and usually should not cause any concern. Very often it happens to new skates, just discarded. More often in winter, when temperatures drop and tires harden.
Nothing serious as mentioned, but it is annoying. Furthermore, sometimes it could be a sign that the rubber of the bushing is dry and needs to be softened a little ... especially if it happens after a long time that you have not used your surfskate or on the contrary in a period that you have it. used a lot.
What to do in these cases?
A bit of marine grease is your best bet. Just put a little bit between the bushing and the metal and into the pivot cup. Why nautical grease and not other types of grease? because this attracts less dirt and mixes less with dust. It is also not black and therefore does not stain your skate.
Alternatively, many use Marseille soap flakes ... this also works quite well, albeit a little less.
If the noise comes from the wheels, then check that they are tight and clean the bearings if necessary.
BEWARE OF A COMMON ERROR
In this post we have always and only talked about the adjustment of the front truck. If you are thinking that the rear one should not be touched you are very wrong. We just didn't mention him because he doesn't usually cause problems.
We have already said this in other guides, but we will never repeat it enough. The right feeling on a surfskate is not obtained by adjusting only the front truck but it is essential to obtain the right balance so that the front and rear trucks move in sync otherwise you will have a skate that is too front foot oriented or too back foot oriented.
Pubblicato il 06 luglio 2021 | Blog > Equipments: SURFSKATE