Angled riser pads are an affordable way to change your setup’s riding feel.
This article will cover what they do and how to use them.
Truck Geometry
Before we get into angled riser pads, it’s essential to have a basic understanding of baseplate angles.
When you hear someone refer to a truck as being 43 degrees, 45 degrees, 50 degrees, they’re referring to the angle where the hanger meets the baseplate. This is referred to as the baseplate angle.
You can see a 43° Paris Truck below.
You can manipulate your baseplate angles using angled riser pads, commonly called wedging and dewedging.
Angled riser pads will affect how your trucks turn and lean because they change the angle of your baseplate.
What’s the difference between turn and lean?
Turn vs Lean Example
Say you’re cruising, and you want to make a sharp turn. Well, what do you do? You shift your weight either toeside or heelside. You lean to the edge of your deck.
Lean is when your deck shifts toward the ground.
Turning occurs when you lean. Leaning your weight creates pressure, making your truck hanger turn in the pivot cup.
Usually, lower-degree trucks are used for higher speeds, like downhill or freeride, because they offer more lean and less turn. You’ll have a lower chance of getting speed wobble.
And a higher baseplate angle has more turn and less lean, which is better for carving. You’ll have a higher chance of getting speed wobble.
Wedging vs Dewedging
So, what’s the difference between wedging and dewedging? Which way should they be facing to increase and decrease the angles?
Wedging increases the baseplate angle, and dewedging decreases it.
Wedging adds more responsiveness because it increases the baseplate angle, which allows the truck hanger to pivot (turn) more.
And dewedging adds more stability because it decreases the baseplate angle, which decreases the ability of the truck hanger to pivot (turn).
I highly recommend you check out Longboard Technology’s YouTube video. He goes in-depth on how trucks work, and it was super helpful to visualize everything.
Okay, now I’ll share my riding experience. For the sake of keeping this simple, I tested three variations. Wedged in the front, doubled wedged, and front wedge with the back dewedged.
Front Wedge
The first variation I tried was wedging the 50-degree front truck. The 50s combined with a 7-degree wedge in the front. It turns the front to 57 degrees, and the back stays the same at 50.
So, what does this do, and how does it translate?
Remember how I mentioned before how the higher the degree, the more turn you get?
That’s exactly how it felt – the front felt more carvey. Higher speeds felt okay, and I didn’t feel like it got too sketchy.
Double Wedged
The next setup I tried was wedging both the front and the back. So I wedged both the 50s to 57s.
This setup felt super responsive, but I noticed it was pretty easy to get speed wobbles.
I’d probably only do this if I was doing lowkey, soul carving. Any sort of speed felt sketchy.
Wedge & Dewedge
Then I did a split setup where I wedged the front 50-degree to 57 and used a 43-degree in the back with a normal ¼“ riser. Equivalent to dewedging a 50 in the back.
This setup felt solid for my riding environment. Typically I’ll ride some hills that aren’t too crazy but reach speeds of 15-20ish mph.
And the combination of a responsive front truck and a stable back felt nice. I felt comfortable at higher speeds but was still able to carve.
Summary
I could’ve made this much longer because you can take it further and mess with bushings shapes, durometer, and bushing cups. There is a lot you can do to manipulate your setup.
Hopefully, this helped you get a better understanding of baseplate angles and how you can use angled riser pads.
Wedging and dewedging is an affordable option to get more turn or lean out of your setup, and I think everyone should be aware of this technique.
Especially with surfskate popularity exploding, I think wedging, and dewedging have been overlooked.
