Paris trucks are well established in the longboard industry. For years, their cast trucks have been the go-to if you wanted a lively, reliable truck, in an affordable package.
In 2015, they finally introduced the forged Paris Savants. These trucks changed the game for a lot of people and you could finally get a precision truck with all the features you loved in your cast Paris.
But were they any good? Retailing at $150 (£200 or 200Euros in some places) they are quite the investment for most people.
So with that in mind, today’s review will be a break down of these trucks. I’ll explain how they differ from their cast counterparts, if they are worth the investment and whether they are right for you as a skater.
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Specs
- Available baseplate angles – 43* and 50*
- Available widths – 165mm and 180mm
- Construction – Forged
- Ride Height – 43* – 62.5mm and 50* – 65mm
- Rake – 3mm
- Comes with – Precision tophat washers, 96A slop stoppers, pivot cup, 90A urethane bushings and machined speed rings.
Differences from the Cast Paris
- Tighter bushing seat
- Race inspired pivot pin
- Forged construction
- CNC Finish
Paris Savant review
Expectations
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a lot from these trucks. I had ridden the cast Paris 43* in 180mm before and whilst they performed well overall, they just didn’t fit my style.
So yeah, was hesitant and had low expectations going into this. I also wasn’t convinced that the CNC finish wouldn’t make that much of a difference. But yeah, given I had only ridden a handful of trucks (and none of them precisions), I kept an open mind …
First impressions
When I got these trucks, I set them up on my Jet Tomahawk for consistencies sake and to help when comparing with my other trucks.
After a bit of riding, I found that the trucks had a precise turn, smooth slide initiation, and even smoother hook up. They felt solid in a straight line and twitched a lot less than my Calibers over cracks and pebbles in the road. In a nutshell, they felt precise, smooth and already felt like an improvement from their cast Paris counterparts.
The Savants felt good and inspired me with confidence. I didn’t twitch as much coming out of slides, and the transition between sliding and gripping was more defined and controllable.
Because of the above, I found myself doing stand-up slides at faster speeds and even holding the slides out for longer. That for me was just crazy.
I had been struggling to do the same on trucks I had skated for 2 years, and yet here I was, making all these improvements and doing bigger slides in what seemed like no time at all. Needless to say, my mind was kind of blown.
But what makes these trucks work so great? Let’s get into it, a bit more below.
If you want to buy these trucks, you can get them off the Loaded website here.
I’m doing a series of posts covering the gear Loaded & Paris sent me. You can check out the other reviews here:
- Orangatang Kegels Review
- Loaded Truncated Tesseract Review
- Loaded Leather Race Gloves Review
- Loaded Jehu V2 Bearings Review
- Orangatang Durian Wheels Review
Are the Paris Savant’s stable?
The trucks are very stable. I’ve taken them up to 80kph/50mph and they have felt rock solid and comfortable.
The stability can be attributed to the tighter bushing seat, slop stopper, cylindrical pivot, and CNC finish. The CNC finish means that the truck fits precisely with each of its other parts, so there is no slop that could cause twitching (or in severe cases wobbling).
If the truck had any slop, it would have a twitch that would only become more pronounced as you skated faster and faster on them.
This means you would have to work harder to keep the trucks in control and any slip up could lead to you getting wobbles. Simply not ideal if you are going to be skating fast a lot.
Now, it doesn’t mean you can’t get wobbles with these trucks. They are simply more forgiving and make it easier for you to skate fast, which, if you are planning on going 60mph, is exactly what you want from your truck.
The tighter bushing seat, slop stopper and cylindrical pivot also work together to ensure stability. They ensure that the truck works as one solid unit and there is no dead zone or slop between them.
NB: I have them set up on 43/28, but only because I like my bushings really soft. If I run them 43/43 with appropriate bushings, I’m confident my feedback about stability would be the same.
Do they turn well?
Even at 43*, these trucks turn really well. Much better than my 44* Caliber trucks (for comparison).
Their turn is really smooth, consistent, and the truck doesn’t fight you or twitch throughout it.
The trucks also have a responsive ride, but they don’t twitch or suddenly dive too much as you lean.
I think the above attributes are a direct result of the cylindrical pivot and rake, but how do they contribute to this?
How does the rake affect the turn?
Rake is essentially the forward ‘bending’ of a given truck hanger. This ‘bending’ changes the turning and handling characteristics of the truck.
So whilst a rakeless truck will have a 1:1 lean ratio at 45* (it will lean as much as it turns), a raked truck at the same angle, will turn less initially, then turn a lot and then turn less throughout its lean.
What this means is that you will get a ton of turning when you get to a certain degree of lean on a raked truck.
And it makes sense why a lot of people think these trucks are better. You are never going to be fully leaning enough that you will get 100% of the turn out of a truck. It’s better to have most of that turning immediately accessible through rake, rather than struggling with a rakeless truck and having to compensate with high truck angles for a better turn.
But that said, rakeless trucks do have their own advantages. They are on average, considered to be more stable and smoother turning than raked trucks … but that discussion is for another day.
How does the CNC’d pivot affect the turn?
The pivot is what I believe makes these trucks perform as well as they do.
In short, the pivot pin is responsible for how a truck will steer, how smooth it’s turning will be, and how accurate the steering will feel.
The Paris Savant has a ‘race-inspired’ pivot design, which essentially makes the pivot more cylindrical than ‘teardrop’ shaped. Check out the cast and Savant pivot pins lined up against each other below.
In a practical sense, the cylindrical pivot allows for better contact between itself and the pivot cup. This results in a really smooth and consistent turn, allowing you to have more precise control over the truck. Basically, more accuracy when steering.
This theory is also backed up by the folks at Sabre trucks. When making their MK 2 variation of their precision truck, they found that a cylindrical pivot allows for smoother movement throughout the turn. Click the link above to find out more about their process.
But yeah, in comparison, the teardrop pivot pin won’t have as much contact with the pivot cup. Practically, this can cause the truck to twitch and wobble throughout a turn. And whilst this won’t be super apparent when actually using the cast truck, you can kind of feel it from afar and it does not inspire confidence in the ride.
Finally, the cast pivot pin also tends to have a rougher surface, mainly because of the casting process that they undergo. This rougher surface can destroy the feeling of flow and smooth turning you would want and expect from a truck.
In summary, these trucks turn really well and feel smooth when doing so, mainly because of their pivot pin.
How do they feel in the slides?
When sliding, the Savants have a linear feel and are easy to keep in control. They don’t twitch much (if at all) and it’s easy to hold a slide out for a long time. I’ve also found myself feeling more comfortable, throwing slides at faster speeds and not worrying about wobbling on the hookup, high-siding, or even low-siding.
The trucks don’t have an overly grippy feel, but they don’t slide out too easily either. They have a very consistent mild-ground between grip and slip where you can slide them if you want, but they will grip when you need them to.
Finally, the trucks are very forgiving and don’t punish you if make small mistakes. And if you are coming off cast trucks, you will find this to be a refreshing feeling. You don’t need to tense up and worry about each slide you do and you can have a stress free experience when skating.
What type of riding is the Paris Savant best suited for?
Downhill – These trucks are great for downhill. They turn good, are stable, and go into and out of slides smoothly. They are consistent, super reliable, and you can go fast on them without feeling too stressed out. Exactly the type of features you want on a truck that you will be using to hit 40mph/75kph+ speeds.
Freeriding – These trucks initiate slides beautifully and feel stable when holding out big slides. They allow for a ton of control and are very responsive to rider input.
Dancing – These trucks turn quickly and provide a smooth and consistent turn. They are also forged which means they are super strong and this strength means you’ll be able to use these for a really long time, without the worrying about bending them from skating too hard.
Cruising and carving – Whilst a bit expensive to use for cruising alone, these trucks turn on a dime and feel great when doing so. They provide a great riding experience and feel responsive underfoot.
How long should I expect these trucks to last?
Thanks to their forged construction, you can expect these trucks to last a really long time.
In a nutshell, the forged construction is really strong and makes them neigh indestructible, in fact, they are even stronger than most CNC’d precision trucks and as such, will outlast most of them with proper maintenance.
For you as a skater, this simply means they won’t bend easily, even if they get run over by a car.
So yeah, I don’t think it’s obnoxious to say that these could probably last you the duration of the rest of your skate career.
As long as you maintain them and replace the bushing and pivot cup as necessary, these trucks will last you a very long time.
How do I have them set up?
For freeriding, I ride them symmetrically with a 87a Barrel bushing on top and a 87a Barrical bushing on the bottom.
For downhill, I now have them set up on 43/28*. With 85a bushings upfront and 93a bushings in the back, with flat washers all around.
This setup feels stable, turny and slides good. No complaints from me whatsoever.
Just to note, the 28* plate I use is a Randal downhill plate. Yes, the Paris Savant are compatible with Randal baseplates and have a similar geometry.
But when it comes to the pivot cup, you will have to use the Savants one. You will have to scotch around the Savant pivot cup to help them fit in the Randal plates, but they will still work great with minimal slop and a tight fit.
Who do I recommend them for?
If you skate consistently at around 40mph and are looking to go faster, these are the trucks for you. Especially if you still use cast trucks to get up to those speeds.
This is because when you skate that fast consistently, you are pushing the performance of your truck. You want a truck that is built to perform well at those speeds, to keep you safe and skating consistently.
You also want a truck that you can skate without worrying about twitching or wobbling. The Paris Savants are that truck.
Finally, if you are an advanced beginner looking to take your skills to the next level, this truck will work well for you. At this stage in your ‘skate career,’ you’ve probably skated one or two cast trucks and will be able to appreciate the performance difference that the Savants will provide.
The Savants will also make it easier for you to push your limits and try new things safely.
Complete beginners should instead look towards the cast version. They are more affordable and will still provide a pretty good riding experience for your level.
Do you think these trucks are right for you?
Yes, at $150, these trucks are on the costly side of things. But if you are serious about skating and will regularly skate these trucks, they are well worth the investment.
Personally, I didn’t think that I would end up liking these trucks as much as I have and truth be told, I was kind of going into this process with a negative bias.
But at the end of the day, I was blown away by their performance. These trucks performed really well and kind of wormed there way into my heart.
And yeah with the experience I’ve had with them, I can comfortably say that the Paris Savants are the best all-round truck on the market (or atleast that I’ve ever tried).
Given they bridge the gap between Precision and Cast trucks and remain kinda, sorta affordable. These provide a middle ground of cost, with excellent durability and performance.
Paris really outdid themselves on this one and I believe any skater can come to enjoy themselves on these trucks. If you are looking to get yourself a pair, check them out here on the Loaded website.
0 comments on “Paris Savant Review – The best all-round trucks?”
Brano
November 2, 2022 at 2:09 pmHi…is Paris savant or caliber 3 trucks reddit better at the moment? Thanks Cheers
Brano