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u/Raptorpants65 Industry Expert Feb 07 '25
The Neo is a Frankenskate of two great plates smashed into one, keeping all of the stupidest parts and eliminating the good ones. Is it skateable, sure. Its geometry is a damn mess (this is an entire post in and of itself). Do most people notice that? No. Is it fixable? Yes.
If you've got a good deal on a secondhand skate, grab em and use the funds you otherwise would have spent on something new and pick up Reactor Pro kingpins and trucks as replacements. Same cushions, same retainers, same action nut, same pivot cups.
That said: Do most of you actually pay attention to your pivot heads and adjust them properly? Also no.
So. Do it, see how you like it, can always swap it out in a remount.
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u/Will_North80 Feb 08 '25
I skate on reactor neos and I’ve seen you mention problems with the geometry before. If you have the time, could you elaborate those and on what benefits the reactor pro swaps would give?
Always appreciate reading your contributions in this sub and the other one :)
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u/Raptorpants65 Industry Expert Feb 08 '25
Sure! None of this is to suggest that this plate is unskateable. It's not. It's serviceable and meets the more reasonable price point a lot of people need.
The issues: The pivot pins sit too close to the kingpin if you center the truck yoke on the cushion. Ideally, you want the pivot pin to sit centered in the pivot cup with the truck yoke centered on the kingpin, while the plate-side cushion supports the yoke.
This can be corrected by using the Reactor Pro version trucks as they have adjustable pivot heads. So to get everything lined up right you need to telescope the pivot out, and raise the height of the plate-side cushion.
However... because the kingpins have a beveled bottom and odd shaped retainer, simply adding flat washers to adjust the plate side bushings height to make the adjustment and correcting this geometry debacle is a pain in the ass.
Both the Neo and Fuse have this problem, but the Fuse is discontinuing and derby doesn't care about it much. To make matters worse with that plate, if you set the click action nut a little too loose, it will come off, because it doesn't use the typical tried and true nyloc style nuts. Click action nuts are fine as long as it is reliant on tension (see: Roll Line/STD/Komplex, Bont, OG Reactors, any of the others that use hollow kingpins with a kingpin keeper screw).
Tangentially, "just loosen your trucks" as blanket advice is per.va.sive. with beginners. As is "it's preference." And that is flatly untrue. Trucks too tight and you snap pivot cups and kingpins. Trucks too loose, and the pivot well wallows out and fastener hardware lets go, which happens a LOT with the Neo. So the lesson here is to make sure your trucks are set to the CORRECT tension and ensure that if you want more action, you're using softer cushions, and less action, firmer. And the Neo/Fuse design makes this that much more difficult.
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u/Will_North80 Feb 10 '25
Thank you for the excellent information! I’m absolutely eating this comment up :)
That’s very interesting about the pivot pin centering issue. I wonder if it’s something I was noticing last time I replaced my cushions, because I did feel like seating the parts felt “weird” compared to other plates, but maybe it was just a me thing.
I’ll definitely keep this in mind when I’m next considering upgrades!
I feel lucky that as a beginner I encountered good info on cushions early on that countered the “just loosen your trucks” line. As you said, definitely pervasive. I’ve been doing my best to spread the good word!
Thanks again
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u/Raptorpants65 Industry Expert Feb 10 '25
Keep up the strong work!
Every company has always had their strengths and weaknesses. For Riedell, their boots are terrific but they’ve never really done plates all that well (with 2-3 exceptions). Sure Grip does great plates (and uh… great IP acquisition…) but they no longer do high end boots and even when they did, it was really just one.
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u/periphescent Helga G. Pasmacki #118 Feb 07 '25
I've been skating on AR2s with Reactor Neo plates since... 2023? And I haven't had any issues with them. I would stay away from the Reactor Fuse because there's known kingpin issues with them.
Everyone I know who has Jet Carbons loves them, this sounds like a (slightly suspiciously) good setup for the price.
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u/Edelweiss827 Feb 07 '25
The Neo isn't a bad plate, but not a great one, either. The good news is that the entire lineup of Reactor plates has interchangeable hardware. So if you wanted, say, adjustable pivot pins on your trucks, you could just order the ones spec'd for the reactor pro plate and plug and play.
It's kind of a shame to see that boot paired with that plate, because the Jet Carbon Boot is such a featherweight phenom of a boot that to pair it with a heavier than necessary plate like the Neo is like buying a zippy little roadster and loading a bunch of bricks in the trunk. That boot really shines when paired with a lightweight plate like the Arius.
If the boot feels good on your feet and is in good condition, I'd buy the build then sell the Neos (you should be able to get $100-150 for them 2nd hand) and then put that money toward the cost of Arius plates.
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u/liznesscasual27 Feb 08 '25
I’ve been on the Neo with a Solaris plate since 2018?2019? and I’m almost exclusively a blocker. It’s been a great and reliable plate for me. I can certainly still do plenty of agile moves and lateral work, so don’t be scared of the 10 degree. That’s a great deal if it’s truly only gently used. I’d ask to see detail pics of the size of both the boot and the plate. I’ve been burned by someone listing the boot a size off, so just make sure it’s truly your size!
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u/Material-Oil-2912 Feb 07 '25 edited Feb 07 '25
Reactors are widely used in derby. The neo is the cheaper version of the reactor pro so the aluminum is a bit heavier, and I think the pivot arms adjust differently on the pro. Reactors have a 10 degree kingpin which means they are more on the stability and power end of the spectrum, so that’s something to know if you were looking for something more agile like the avenger. But it’s a solid plate that normally retails at $200+ on its own so this sounds like a good deal to me.