The "Carve"

The key to skateboard “set-up” or design is an intuitive geometry or feng shui among its components. In the Old School control turning predicates a ratio between axle length, wheels width, and board width. The efficiency to turn the board via torquing the truck on its bushings is achieved by this magic ratio. The variables can be very different. Any combination of short vs. wide can used as long as logic is applied to the size the components. A narrow width board could demand a wider truck to create stability. A wide board could demand a narrower truck to create a tighter turning radius. Three elements fully must cooperate in the conceiving of a functionally operating skateboard. 1) The width of the board. 2) The width of the hanger and/or axle, 2) the width of the wheel. There are some proponents insisting the wheels cannot extend beyond the edges of the board, but how is one to visually see his “balance beam” without seeing the total extension of the wheels and axle? The ability to “carve” the board is what is created with the magic ratio. Carving is a stylized turn created by weighting and un-weighting on a pivot axis rather than merely tilting the board forward or backward over the front and back trucks. Carving is what demands perfect symmetry in the cooperation of these three components.