You might be thinking: Bushings. They’re just little pieces of urethane. How important can they really be? But those cylindrical little rubber-like cushions that sandwich each side of the truck’s kingpin are crucial to the performance of our trucks.
In general, softer bushings provide superior turnability, while harder bushings provide more stability. And the stability that a hard bushing provides is integral to high performance freestyle skateboarding.
Skate commuters, casual longboarders, and street skaters might want softer bushings to carve and dodge rocks at rough street spots while keeping all four wheels on the ground. Other skaters want harder bushings that provide more stability so they can ride fast and lean into turns without the fear of wheel bite or speed wobbles. Freestylers want responsiveness and stability of a different nature.
When we roll the board over into a rail stand, AKA primo, we want the entire board to roll over. When we’re dancing through footwork lines, we want a firm, stable platform to spin the board. A platform that will move with us, without wobbling and mushing out like a surf board on a wave. When we’re standing on the rail doing coconut wheelies or rail flips, we don’t want trucks flopping around and throwing the board off balance.
Most decisions that we make about our skateboard come down to personal preference. There are freestyers who skate soft bushings and loose trucks. There are street skaters who skate rock hard bushings too. It’s ultimately up to you! But, harder bushings – around 99-101a duro – are the preferred choice of most freestyle skaters, and that’s why we stock EXTRA hard bushings at the Waltz shop!
