Steve, Excellent video and written review on your blog! I have been undecided for months about the SpiceSkate Okto. It was a tremendous help now that you have done in-depth reviews of both the Okto and Thruster D. I went with the Thruster D on the Filipe Toledo 32.5” based on your reviews. Also I appreciate that you travelled to San Diego for the opinion of a surfer, AceHypnotika. I also own the Thruster 1 and look forward to comparing both, plus experimenting with different decks like the Soulboardiy and WhiteTail TigerShark. I’m always in search of the perfect ride. Aloha from Maui. Keep up the great work and thank you!

Hello. Thank you for all the information and the very detailed instructions! In addition to the practical and objective contribution that Ace tells us, this is very important compared to other brands!

Boys. BOYS. great job covering the thruster D! Gotta agree with the weirdness of the c7 and Swelltech. And gotta try getting on a smoothstar again to see how it feels, never really gave it a chance.

Fantastic review Steve, all the knowledge that you have acquired to elaborate the surfskate selector is shining through. In regards to the Thruster D, I have the impression that they followed a similar path than the Yow Meraki with their older system: less offset and a one piece truck-system. Looking forward on seeing more great content from your channel. Cheers from Spain!

Well Steve you just messed up my order of things as really do not want to buy another board, but Ace just planted a seed of doubt in me, especially hearing that he puts it above thruster 1 and swelly which are two favorite systems. I’m not playing to upgrade now but we will see for how long I will hold on. Great work guys 👍🏻

You have the best surfskate reviews! Keep up the good work.

Very nice recap. Thank you very much for your exertion 🤙🏻

Great review Steve. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. One thing that I really like are the new decks. Maybe Smooth Star has seen your videos. Now almost all of their decks have a wide rectangular tail 🤩. I can't wait to pick up my new Manta Ray tomorow from the post office 😁.

Great video thanks. This totally helps me .

Thanks Steve and Ace for this video. For me it makes a lot of sense to prefer a system that allow à wider stance. It's good for security, versatility and makes the ride closer than real surfing because you know you can eventually move a little your front foot during the ride, as we do in real surfing. I don't talk about Smoothstar i've never tried, exacly because their old system shorten too much the stance. I use CX as first, Slide as second and i did not kept Meraki clone because of too much reducing stance, even if the ride where cool. In my opinion, the pushback water Ace talks makes than considering the looser system as the pure surf trainer does not catch my experience of water surfing (longboard + sup), but i appreciate the huge work of Steve and understand his approach on this point.

I waited for that the whole timeeeee 💥

Good info in this video. The old Thruster is definitely not obsolete though for certain applications, and could still be preferable for those who like to ride londer boards. I like to see and feel more board under my feet. There is a segment of Surfskaters who ride 40" and longer boards, and the original Thrusters offset is a huge benefit in this application to shorten up the wheelbase for someone wanting a long board but shorter more nimble wheelbase.

Saludos desde España, buenos vídeos 🤙🏻🇪🇦

Hey Steve thanks for this video, i really like your approach to the surfskates you really my guide through this, i just wanted to ask if we can can have a deep review of the Thruster D truck i mean if you can open that system and explain more cause is still dificult to find a video. I got one Smoothstar Toledo 32.5 Thruster D and i have opened it and lubrificated the system but i think i have a problem with the Tension Arm, if you could explain something deeper about this system id appreciate that. Thanks and keep giving us your amazing videos about the surfskates

Hey Steve, nice informative video. I hope that you and Ace will get a chance to test the new Long Island Mossel surfskate with the Lean Genesis trucks. Shane Lai just put out a nice review. I asked him if he had heard about the Mossel and before I new it, he had purchased one and had made an instructional video using it. Then I asked him about a review and shortly afterwards he came out with one. They are selling really fast here in Europe. I would like to hear Aces thoughts as a surfer as this is why I got started. Also his and your thoughts in the bowl and on transitions. This is where I do most of my riding. Thanks. Regards, Hayward

Muy buen análisis. Saludos desde España

You should really try a streetboard, or specifically a Dragan board, I have the Cruiser with toe hooks and the Classic freestyle model with full strap bindings. Both are super fun, I love all my surfskates: Carver CX, Smoothstar, Swelltech, Hamboard, & Waterborne adapters. But I have the most fun on my Dragan boards. They are not the best for transportation but they’re great for having fun in a small area. Fun in the house or a driveway, can even turn circles in small sidewalk square. You can lean hard into turns and not have the wheels slip out. With practice you can ride a skatepark with the freestyle model with straps and air out of vert or do slides or grinds.

Just got my smoothstar and absolutely love it. Such a nice ride! More surf like than my Carver. I think I’ll keep my carver for the park and smoothstar for street

Great informative vids! Could you please do a review on the new Globe Zuma surfskate with slant magnesium surf skate trucks? 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 I haven’t seen any vids on that yet! I’m very curious to see how you rank it and how it compares to some of your favorites…Thanks!!!

Solo un apunte: la parte alta con la percha del Meraki sobre la base del V4 S5 (usan el mismo muelle) permite ampliar la distancia entre ejes una pulgada y media. Saludos.

Hello. Thank you for all the information and instructions you provide. Can you tell me the skate park with the bowl in this video? Is it in San Diego? I live in Del Mar and I’m looking for an easier, more open, bowl to learn and practice. The bowl in this video looks more approachable for someone my level. Thank you!!

Just to inform. The new thruster D is stiffer & less responsive. My new 32.5 Conner O'leary is way less maneuverable than my 34 Toledo 77. I'm guessing smoothstar chose stability over maneuverability. Would love to hear other people's opinion. I REALLY wanted to like these trucks. After riding my new board daily for over a month now, i much prefer the originals. 😢

hi! tell me please: truster d and C7 has same spring mechanism?

Yup, I just got the 32.5 #77. Delicious to ride … although I did change the wheels for my conditions. The lager and smaller wheel set up is a little unusual for me

Great review! It seems to me that Ace is riding the 34″ Connor O'Leary THD ! Is that true? Thanks, paolo

Bought my Smoothstar 3 weeks before they announced the new 'D'. Can't justify getting another board straight away. Luckily I love my Smoothstar Johanne Defay

I have an old Manta Ray and it’s almost exclusively the only board I ride these days. I really like the looseness of the board. I have the tension spring completely open. I’m intrigued by the new Thruster D, but honestly I don’t see a way of ever using it. At 190cm, I prefer a wide stance. I use all the real estate on my Manta Ray, front foot past the axle. The new Manta Ray THD is shorter, so not going to like that. I could buy the new Dolphin THD and switch the trusters. But because the new Dolphin is also shorter, I would end up with 2 boards with very similar axle distance. Of course Smoothstar doesn’t sell the new THD separately. The mind blowing idea of picking your board and thruster separately is beyond their comprehension.

I’m mostly skating bowls and preferably Smoothstar over the YOW. Never liked the offset on the Original thruster but way more stable than the YOW C4 I’m 80 kgs borrowed my little boys setup, yes crazy loose. Drop in is easier on the Smooth than on the YOW too, can’t be bothered to always hold a little back on the YOW. That said I’m a Carver fanboy especially the C5 on short wheelbase 14.25, turns almost as tight as above mentioned trucks. On the C5 you can really pump and compress extend and go much faster but you get tired quicker but then again if you change the wheelbase to 17 and above then you can just keep going. Would be nice if they sold the new version truck only. One thing more, if you are thinking of taking up surfskating 🏄‍♂️ in bowls C5 CX no bad habits learning. The other system works but they tend to loose some forward momentum when going from flat to a long transition especially on your backhand. Wiggle trucks are good for repeat repeats over and over again between cones. I learned to improve my maneuvers, especially my roundhouse cutback by repetition on my Smoothstar and definitely welcome the new truck fixing the offset 👌. For flat ground training I’m on a Curfboard now and sometimes take it in the bowl. I like the riding height , but this truck system I can’t recommended for the casual user, it’s absolutely sucks in giving any returns whatsoever on flat ground, but work I think better for a pure surf trainer, just feel a bit more like surfing again coming back to not take any bad habits back to the water. The casual user I think is better off with YOW. You can buy the truck separately and buy a soulboardiy or a deck with some more useful concave and stay away from a swallow tail, it only have a functional purposes in the 💦 🌊

I always enjoy watching your channel. What are your thoughts on Thruster 2 and Thruster 3? This is a question from Japan. Thank you very much.

Have you tried Qwiktruks yet Steve? It doesn't look like you could do qwiktruks very well with the thruster d, would be way too high. Can barely do it with meraki.

Thanks for you informative surfskate videos I just put a waterbourne on my 30inch cruiserboard....man what a work out ...very glad I watched before I tried I'm loving it ...

I see some of your boards has black protection at the nose. What is that?

If you're an experienced surfer, riding performance shortboards, then swelltech is the only option. None of these will replace getting actual wave time.

Me, i prefer Smoothstar than yow. I love the new thruster D and I think it’s between original and yow. I find the D more stable than the old ans more player than the yow meraki. Love it !

Such a shame that they don’t sell their thrusters separately like every other major brand. Their completes are not worth the money, Smoothstar decks are by far the lowest quality in surfskates.

That 'shark head' is really form over function and pointlessly added more weight - the thruster could have been lighter.

Had a Smoothstar for years now and i wonder when will they make a nice looking board.. these decks have always been butt-ugly, got a beautiful deck from Canada and now it's "Complete" lol. I love my Smoothstar

Looking like C7 and same mehaniks