Written by: Danielle Holgate
Urban longboarding means whizzing past cars, weaving in and out of traffic, bombing hills, and dodging tourists. Maneuverability is key to not ending up in the emergency room when I’m flying down the street and stopping isn’t an option. My lifesaver? The Revenge Truck Alpha I 8.75”.
The Revenge Truck Alpha I 8.75” allows for a longboard to preform turns much like a surf or snowboard. The Revenge Truck is better for cruising than normal torsion skateboard trucks because it lessens the effort necessary for a shorter turn radius. With these trucks attached to a long enough deck I can do a full circle in less than 8 feet.
Revenge Alpha I
-Axle Width: 8.75”
-Height: 3.375”
-Hole Pattern: Standard
-Surface: Polished Aluminum
-Bushing: 93a High Impact Polyurethane
The Revenge Truck has 3 working parts unlike the usual torsion truck which has 11. It has a single pivot 45 degree torsion truck made out of 8oC12 recycle-based aluminum. The tightest turns can be obtained by the patented external locking mechanism, there is no wheel bite, and I don’t need riser pads as long as my wheels are 73mm or less.
My experience: The first longboard I attached revenge trucks to was a 46” Pin Arbor Board. It definitely took some time to adjust to the range of motion the board now had, and finding that sweet spot to keep the board stable while going downhill fast, was a challenge. From talking to friends I learned to adjust the back trucks tighter than the front, resulting in good stability and maneuverability. When bombing hills the sweet spot was easier to find, and the board wouldn’t get a bad case of the shakes. Overall on the arbor board the Revenge Truck Alpha I 8.75” were great for cruising and I could get out of the way of obstacles quickly.
Then I switched the Revenge Trucks to a shorter board, the 35.75” Hackett deck. On the day I switched it, I bombed a hill and it was a disaster. The stability was awful, the board was shaking badly, and I knew I wasn’t going to be stable enough to turn out of the way. I ended up jumping off the board to avoid t-boning into a car, resulting in a messed up elbow and a nice scar on my side.
So here’s the good and the bad:
Good: Awesome maneuverability, good cruising, stable for fast descents on a deck of 46” or more, no need for riser pads with wheels up to 73mm, full circle on a 47” in less than 8 feet.
Bad: They take a lot of getting used to initially, on a shorter board even if they’re tightened as far as they’ll go, the board will still be unstable with speed, have to keep an eye on the interlocking pieces because if they break, you’ll turn too far and get wheel bite.
The Revenge Alpha I has a brother whose name is the Revenge Alpha II. The only real difference being that the axle width is 9.5” my guess to pair better with a wider deck. While the Revenge Alpha I 8.75” is $22.50 per truck from the manufacturer’s website, the Revenge Alpha 9.5” are a buck more a piece.
I think a pair of Revenge Truck Alpha 8.75” are totally worth it and make longboarding in a city a lot more enjoyable with the ease of getting out of the way of things faster, and with less effort.