Apex Boards Air eMTB Truck

The Apex Air truck is an interesting new development in mountainboarding and has taken a different direction compared to the current channel or skate style trucks we have all know. It shares some design style with the nosno trucks being a double parallel kingpin without a fixed pivot point but it's lighter and simpler and fits standard skateboard bushes so allows a million bushing setups!  

Sold as a single Air truck with hardware

Apex Air differences to standard mbs, trampa or other channel trucks in use:

• Wider axle - to give more room for gearboxes and motors the overall axle is wider by 24mm or about an inch from matrix2.
• Mid axle point, just like matrix2 trucks this reduces your wheel base based on truck bolt holes.
• No fixed pivot point - much smoother on rough ground and stable at speed
• Bushing compatibility - fits almost all skate and longboard bushings so huge customisation options
• Grinding - beware not as smooth underneath as most mountainboard trucks for 50-50 grinds!
• Mounting motor gear boxes - this is 22mm x 22mm axle shape which is not compatible with Trampa pro CNC mounts (19.5mm x 19.5mm). Many other brands use this size so there are a lot of alternative drive systems out there for these trucks.

At ATBShop we stock these Apex Air trucks with the "medium" bushings setup because we found it to be a true all rounder, these are our recommended bushings for most riders of average ability. Suitable for off road riding with bindings.

• 2 x Riptide™ Krank® 84a Fatcones
• 2 x Riptide™ Krank® 90a cones
• 2 x large flat washer
• 2 x small cup washer

The Apex Air trucks are a different feel underfoot than most "current channel trucks" and you may love that or not so much depending on what you ride and your preference. But there are some big advantages especially in off road freeriding where the noSno used to excel. So if that is your preference and you found channel trucks twitchy or bumpy then the Apex Air might be your new best friend!

Questions about the Apex Air Trucks? Hopefully these will answer the common FAQ's we have been asked:

So why has this truck come about? Mostly from electric riding where there was a requirement to change from stiff to soft quickly and to remove the hard pivot point and kingpin bushing nightmares coming from channel trucks with the added weight of motors and gearboxes. 

Why is it so expensive? The Apex Air truck is CNC machined from a big block of aerospace 7075 T6 Aluminium rather than most other trucks are cast, forged or welded to get the shape quicker and cheaper.  This makes the trucks much more accurate in build and give them "precision" but there is a downside of the time and cost it takes to make them!

Why PKP (Parellel Kingpin) Layout? This style has many advantages as seen on noSno boards in the past this style of truck loves rough terrain and also is inherently stable with less twitches or wobbles. You can switch out bushings in minutes with just one tool or just adjusting the kingpin nuts tightness makes a massive difference to the stiffness of the trucks and response. 

Any downsides to this truck style? compared to channel trucks then the truck is a little less directly responsive on input. What we mean by that is it takes a bit more initial input to start the turn and then it is not a straight linear turn rate. Many riders have been using an extra 5 degree wedge riser to increase the turn rate on shallower 30 degree decks. But you can still turn on a dime and bomb rough hills with a looser setup than with channels and there is less kick back from rough ground to create wobbles so not all down sides!

Riptide Bushings? You can use any skate or longboard bushings in the trucks but under the testing time the Apex riders went though a huge number of bushing styles and makes. The Riptide Krank came out the favourite due to it's high rebound and how much it stiffens under compression so it makes it super easy and quick to adjust and even 1/2 a turn on a nut makes a big difference. But you can put in anything you feel like?

Apex Air eMTB Truck Specifications:

• Total weight = 820g per truck (including bushings, spacers and all hardware)
• Length - inner wheel bearing to inner wheel bearing = 300mm
• Length - Axle end to Axle end = 434mm
• Mounting Profile = 22mm Square with 6mm radius corners
• Sold as each truck with mounting hardware

A 5 degree wedge riser is recommended for use on 30 degree tip angle decks such as the Haero bro and some MBS mountainboards.  If you own a 3d printer, feel free to download the file yourself from Apex here and print your own! If you don't have a printer then we can print them for you at a cost of £12 for a pair but this does take a couple of days to print before shipping.