Skoa Vertex Review

Specs:

• 172mm or 178mm
• 47°/47° or 47°/42°
• Tall and short barrels
• Big Urethane Pivot Cups
• I-Beam design = the greatest weight reduction without sacrificing strength.
• Slight positive rake = +1.5mm positive rake.
• Big Urethane Pivot Cups = More dampening, more support, more durability (90a)

Setup:

• Bustin Shotgun - 26.5in wheelsbase
• Skoa Vertex 172mm 47°/42° with 1/8th shock pad
• 47°: BS tall 93a venom barrel, RS tall 93a venom barrel with amish flat washer
• 42°: BS tall 93a venom barrel, RS standard 97a venom barrel w/ amish flat washer
• Wheels: Powell Peralta Scales (freeride), These Krime or Venom Cannibals (80a) (downhill)

Design:

The first thing you notice when you see Skoa trucks is their design. They are eye catching and beautiful, but it isn’t without purpose, the engineers designed their trucks with the I-beam design to decrease weight and keep structural integrity. [For more information read more at there website]. Thanks to this I-beam design the Vertex weighs less than most cast and precision trucks. Compared to say Rogues, PNL Sids and Don’t Trip Shrooms they felt significantly lighter.

The Vertex are simply your perfected RKP trucks, similar to Aeras, they took what worked and perfected it. The Vertex has a very balanced 1.5mm of rake (less than Rogues, Ronin and Aera) and a very open bushing seat. The bushing seat also has small lips on the side to support bushings like Riptide chubbies or Venom eliminators.

The baseplates are simple, light, and well designed. The baseplate features two sets of mounting options which will allow riders to play with their wheelbase length a little more. This trend seems to becoming very popular amongst precision trucks, because it allows even more customization in your riding experience.

Review of the Geometry:

Like everyone I attempted to dial my trucks in my living room the night before I went to the hill, took me about 20 minutes of playing with bushings to find what felt correct. What surprised me was once I got to the hill the bushings were actually a perfect match. With my Rogues and PNLs it took me about 30 minutes of playing with bushings on the hill before I found what worked best. The Vertex were hands down the easiest truck I’ve ever owned to dial.

The Vertex were just filled with surprises, because they did better than I expected in every field. For the last year I have ridden trucks with big splits like Rogues with 43/30 or 50/30, so I was worried switching to a 47/42 setup would feel either too lively for me or unstable. However, after my first run I couldn’t really feel any difference in stability from my Rogues and they didn’t feel too lively either.

The biggest difference between Rouges and Vertex are the longer pivot, massive pivot cup and smaller amount of rake. I think these three things helped compensate for the smaller split and create stability within the geometry rather than the split. The longer pivot helps create a consistent lean and reduces more slop, while the huge pivot cup works as a suspension for up/down movement. Coming off Rogues you could really feel the difference in the pivot and pivot cup; in fact, while readjusting in a tuck there was less movement on the Vertex which was a result of the massive pivot cup.

The Vertex feature a tall bushings boardside, which allows them to have the super deep lean like Rogues or Ronin. However, they feature a smaller amount of rake than other tall/raked trucks, which creates a more stable feeling. At 1.5mm of rake you get a very unique lean, because it allows a bit more linear dive before it becomes an exponential lean towards the end. Add on a very open bushing seat you get a deep lean, that is consistent but not twitchy at high speeds.

Review the Ride:

Freeriding on these were an absolute dream! Vertex at any speed feel great for freeride, which was something I wasn’t used too. Throwing slides at 15mph or 35mph felt the same as far as the initiation, grip in the slide and the hook up. I also love riding switch too, especially on split trucks. Riding switch on the 47/42 felt fantastic, super consistent even with the difference in the baseplates. Even though the Vertex hangers feature a slightly smaller hanger at 172mm, I don’t think it really affected my freeride experience.

My biggest fear when in switching to the Vertex was the lack of big split in downhill, but like I talked about earlier the Vertex surprised me in their stability and response. I tried the Vertex on a couple different runs: long, fast straight aways, technical downhill runs and a full send mountain pass.

I took my Vertex to one of my favorite local fast runs, where you can hit 40mph without a tuck. To my surprise the run was very comfortable experience, I say that because the Vertex handled speed without any signs of wobbles, shifting in my tuck did not cause any twitching and road vibrations were completely negligible.

Next at the technical run, I hit the runs were we averaged 25 to 30mph with lots of hairpins and winding roads. The Vertex took every corner like a champ. It gripped corners when I wanted to and never washed out; on the other hand, when I wanted to predrift a corner the slides were smooth without washing out or weird hook ups.

Finally at the mountain pass run, I got to experience a combination of the fast straight away and the technical run. The Vertex have no problem going fast, gripping corner or taking the proper lines.

Overall, Skoa created an astounding truck, it’s light, strong, beautiful and fun. It creates confidence in your riding experience, whether it be going faster, taking longer slides or anything you do at fast speeds they’ll be consistent tool.

Pros: Open bushing seat, just enough rake, light, strong, longer pivot, huge pivot cup, consistent lean, fits tall bushings, feel good at all speeds, on the lower end of ride height

Cons: Expensive, due to hanger shape some bushings don’t fit well like Venom Kegs, only have a small split 47/42, 42 plates can’t run double tall