So, my eLofty DD broke down. I really like the TKP trucks so while I’m making my mind about whether to just replace the hanger and give eLofty another chance, I’m trying to find out what better TKP options are there.
What I like about eLofty:
silent
no maintenance (except for occasional hanger replacement )
good maneuverability
stable up to 45 km/h (and I don’t need to go faster than that)
72kV works really well with my TB110 wheels. Delivers just about right amount of speed/power. Enough to be fun but not enough to throw you off the board (which I perceive as a good thing).
reasonable price
Apparently, the reliability has some space for improvement though.
As for more reliable TKP truck alternatives, I believe Surf Rodz Hex TKP are most commonly used. There are also Psychotiler HeXL trucks but IIRC, there have also been some broken hanger issues, so not considering that one. I’m still unsure if Surf Rodz Grinds TKP is an option for esk8. I believe the hanger profile is different from the Hex TKP and no clamps are available so it’s no good.
Also, do we have SR Hex TKP sources in EU? Sickboards have some SR trucks, but in TKP they only have TKP HEX 100mm, which is short. Longer SR TKP trucks they have are Grinds (no good?). surf-rodz.eu don’t have TKP HEX at all.
Take this setup for example, this forces you to mount the drive outward (or inward with super small motors). The hanger is pretty narrow (177mm) so it’s very limiting, you’ll get motorbite on 90% of decks without special risers (gbomb). Possible to run angled degree risers on a MTB/Carver deck but again the hanger is too narrow to mount motors larger than 6364 I think
Belt drive is the way to go unless if you plan on something unique
That’s good info. Thanks a lot. Dual 6355 motors would be just fine for me. I don’t need loads of power. The outward mounting and/or motorbite may be an issue though. Thanks for pointing that out.
The only difference between the tkp grinds and hex is the roadside shape of the hanger.
It’s rounded on the bottom. Probably so you can actually grind with them.
You may not be considering Psychotiller trucks but he does have super solid tkp mounts for belt drive FYI. Waaaay better than the Boardnamics ones.
So many variables, in my personal experience mostly riding casually at under 20mph TKP is vastly superior to every RKP bushing set up I tried. So carvey and smooth. I’m not an expert in any sense of the word but tkp works for me. Try both somehow and find out.
my experience is that for speed you can just slap whatever bushings you like into rkp’s, and they will feel stable - a nobrainer, atleast in combination with a split
with tkp its a whole differend story, after consulting with brad (riptide) i ended up with 3! differend duro’s in my setup to achieve a somewhat similar result, but the overall handling is now infinitely more rewarding
I’ve been riding Caliber II RKP with good Riptide Krank bushings and eLofty TKP with the stock shitty bushings. On my EVO, I like eLofty better, even with the crap bushings. Less stable but much easier to carve with. The deck is also a big factor though. On my Tayto deck, I actually prefer RKP since the shorter deck as well as the higher center of gravity make the board less stable and with TKP it’s already too much on the unstable side whereas RKP is just about right. I still get slightly more maneuverability on Tayto with RKP trucks than on EVO with TKP trucks.