Wrote this as a comment on someones video where they showed their new rip surf and figured id give this video an update with news on my current favorite ripstik and general caster board setup. Its still the one using the blade or wave or whatever torsion bar but ive cut the metal tubes and everthing to fit with tons more mods described in the following copy and pasted comment from that video..... I love my completely self done custom ripstik/caster board. Running my own custom torsion bar (the center piece that twists) its shorter, had to dremel the protective aluminum tube to fit over it with the plastic spacers that also go over that along with the stronger metal tube under all that i custom cut from another caster board. Threw on a harder after market 89a 80mm rear wheel and a softer 85a 80mm front wheel. Shaved down the front separated studded pieces to the matching v1.5 or v3 ripstik front end and top plate which i grip taped. I shaved the side crescent studded grip pieces flat and grip taped them as well. Then matching the rear to the front to fit the torsion bar since you cant use the v1s or the newest ver ripstiks with this sized torsion bar im using the same ver back plate and just threw out the studded grips as they just get in the way of gripping and the grip tape, did the same to the crescent studded grips (shaved em taped em). Dremel'ed off excessive plastic all over without affecting the rigidity and structural integrity of the ripstiks front and rear pieces. Then i reassembled both casters using brand new balls for the bearing construction and custom high end lube used for a lot of pneumatic applications, and then of course had to upgrade my spacers bearings and downgraded my steel caster wheel mount tops to lighten the setup and because i feel they dont wear as badly oddly enough with the lubed ball bearings or whatever that are for the caster assemblies. Finally to top it all off i tend to slide the back side down onto the plastic deck sorta like if you could board slide but for a ripstik and without needing a rail or curb. The problem with this is it wears down the plastic so badly and quickly it starts to wear down to the nails mounting the grip and i wound up using epoxy before to keep the grips on and it was a giant pain. So i shaved it down till the screws were just about to start scraping on the ground, and then used jb weld and hot glue to fill in the gaps and apply a rectangle i cut out of some delrin(a type of plastic) i had laying around which hardly wears at all if not not at all when compared to the ripstiks plastic material. With that mod done i also get much more sliding with less friction meaning i can get those slides to turn and to stop like i enjoy while having more control and balance and also making it easier to pump off the sliding back end and front end to build up speed going up hill while sliding. Ive never heard of anyone that has learned to do the sliding like i do let alone maneuver and build up speed while sliding, and this mod has just made that ability 20 times easier and smoother to pull off, it also helps having the delrin cut i made so thick so that the board doesnt require so much angle to initiate slides so theres less wear on other parts of the board and it helps significantly with balance like i said. Anyways TLDR you can do tons with all the different versions of the original ripstik up to the G version and the DLX versions, in total i had 5 or 6 different versions to work with as they changed the design over and over by the time that i purchased each one. So each version can easily be modded and have newer wheels thrown on with nicer bearings and immediately take apart the casters and clean the shitty lube off them and relube them often and use tri flow on the bearing inside the caster which you cant remove and your set for near top end quality riding on those things. Very little investment on the cheapest (not including their shitty "brights" "surf" and other shitty lighter variants) ripstik and youve got a caster board able to compete with custom wodden and other material caster boards worth upwards of $300 USD for entry level "high end caster boards" For a mere $130-160 USD if you opt for new bearings and a powell peralta tail bone skid plate instead of cutting a piece of delrin yourself, then just another $16 and you can relube and maintain the thing near indefinitely. My latest top end fully custom board i made has lasted me at least 9 months now and when i started cleaning it and putting it together it was already all using stuff well over 9 years old including the ripstik itself. This things never gonna break on me i love it. Not to mention im 6 foot 3 inches and 240 lbs which is just above the limit these things claim to handle and is usually something us bigger guys just burn through like wheels i used to go through typical wheels in about an hour or two now with the upgraded ones and learning to ride it better my wheels last me at least a week of continuous use. which is the reason for the crazy high durometer rear wheel which is fun to skid out/drift with due to the hardness. Due to the custom setup the torsion bar i installed which i stole from a discont. wave rider board has just as much stiffness as the best ripstik torsion bars but is shorter making the entire wheel base shorter allowing for a more trick oriented board that can accel. much quicker and easier than a normal length torsion bar even though youd think a wider stance/wheelbase for a taller person like myself would be better, its not. Combine that with the bigger wheels which usually require more strength/energy to accelerate with they kind of counteract each other and the bigger wheels make everything but the drop deck sliding trick i do with my mod for it easier to handle(the height of the delrin mod counteracts that problem tho), its better with cracks, curbs, and top speed so to speak, while also lasting longer. For comparison incase you barely touch your rip wave or whatever from razer the following compares the typical go to deck based mode of transportation the long board or even skateboard which im sure uve spent plenty of time riding now or in the past whichever it may be.... So thanks to all my modding making the thing perfect, and the fact that it works by propelling from your momentum you push with each leg this caster board requires much less leg work and allows for more endurance riding or long haul rides that youd be able to physically bear with a long board, without worry of tendinitis whilst giving you more maneuverability and imo is much safer to ride than a skateboard so long as the conditions are too sandy, dirt covered, or wet, then the long board is gonna beat out this and all other caster boards for safety. Now anyone thats gotten through all that reading i would like to thank you and congratulate you on having the patience to read all that text so if you have any questions or would like any advice or anything i can do to help you via texting, uploading videos, pics or anything to do with ripstiks and ripstik modding or even general caster board advice and the like leave a comment and i promise i will do my best to help and respond to whatever your asking or have concerns about or even wanna debate.

Great stuff, thank you! Your video helped me a lot.

Thanks alot man, I was struggling to find which wheels to get. Used to use reds when I skated so I didn't know they use the same bearings. Gotta say though, using this thing was a bit weird at first, but way more enjoyable than skating.

Bro your the best i need to know the size wheel thank u bro and all the rest info u showed me how to this mount and re mount it back 💙

If I understood correctly, you put the Dye Lube under the balls in the truck? I'm trying to find the right/best grease for the truck ball bearings. I have some Bones cream for my wheel bearings but can't seem to find any info regarding truck maintenance.

so are these the same kinds of wheels that rollerblades use? I found KSS outdoor asphaults 89A on Amazon, they look exactly the same as your backwheel. But they're listed as rollerblade wheels, would that still work?

Thanks for this video, great board! The best thing for your wheels is to push just like on a skateboard. It doesn't wear them down like pumping does.

Hey, I used to Ripstik in middle achool and was recently feeling inspired to get back into it. I noticed you added grip tape to yours, something I was looking into. I was thinking of sanding off the wavy ridges to make the top totally flat so I could add grip to the whole thing. I feel it could give it even better traction for tricks that way. What do you think? Do the wavy pieces actually help traction? I feel it would just prevent the shoe from getting the full benefits of the grip..

I’ve been trying to find a set of 68mm durable wheels for my ripstik mini, but all the reviews of the wheels I’ve looked at said they wear down fast. I don’t care about price, what do you suggest?

quick question will the 80mm wheels fit on just a regular rip stick or would I need to get a spacer to lift the caster from the board

Yo how did you get that bushing on the back and what kind you rockin on it

Hello Sparktite. Do you know if the torsion bars are interchangeable between different models? Unfortunately I'm not sure which one I have. I think its the classic.

Hey Sparktite, just wondering where to get the bushings for the trucks, if you could let me know where you got yours that would be great. Also, I was wondering how close the 80mm wheel gets to the truck. I am just a little worried about clearance for those wheels. Please get back to me, thanks.

Mine doesn't have a nut to take the caster trucks apart... it's just a circle. How do I take that kind apart please? Its so weird. Mine is "The Wave" looks pretty much exactly like yours

How does one relube the castors? Aka how does one take them apart. I got a cheap 20$ board which I want to mod, got some 30$ wheels and brearings but its still lacking speed

Where can i get replacement casters? If you know of anywhere reliable

Where can I buy castors such as youre using mine has cheap ones which cant be opened

The only way to make them faster is to make the bearings better.

Don’t mind me watching this in 2023…

What is this where is the video games? pfft I don't do real life. Just kidding nice video man Thanks for the tips.

Yo this is a total long shot and probably wont do anything but.... I totally fucked up and deleted someones comment. If you see this I'm sorry and i still want to reply.

yo are you still here? i got some questions.

Nice video Sparktite, this helped a lot, BTW we are a channel that is about Ripstiks if u want to check it out

I didn't know anyone did anything but OverWatch anymore weird.