Pumping Uphill

[bobble]

i can pump up slight inclines and maintain speed but not like this...

 

 

are the riders rear trucks loose? htf is that possible? what's the secret here?

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

Well, that's only a 3% grade, so...  When you can pump up a 5%, then you're working for it!  However, this guy's board is 'set-up' well for the pump...He's dropped, so he's got leverage at the outers of Both feet. He's got a long wheelbase, but steeply angled RKP trucks (my guess is 60* Front, 50* Rear), and is on wide, sticky, soft, slalom-type wheels (again, guessing, but look like Zig-Zags) that don't want to slide. I can't see well enough to figure bushings, but they aren't short, nor stiff, so he's got lean and rebound while steering. He also has good timing [Not to start another 'hands' discussion, but..], such that he doesn't use both arms until he's dropped some speed, about mid-way up the rampart. I am sure that Nelson or Curt could, on a V-12, set with a Bennett/TTC combo and Avalons, could toast him uphill, and Vlad wouldn't even need to switch boards...

 

[BlueB]

How under the sun you can tell the grade from a video?  

Anyways, it's perfectly doable on a slalom board, or anything set right. Your technique has to be right too, of course. 

[Neil Gendzwill]

Pavement quality is important.  If you've got smooth asphalt life becomes much easier.  Crumbling concrete with cracks you've got to dodge that break your rhythm, and it's hard to maintain speed even on flat ground.

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

23 hours ago, BlueB said:

How under the sun you can tell the grade from a video?  

Well, I'm an old-school Draftsman, and by taking the level angle of the background, the perpendicularity of the high-rise, then putting an adjustable protractor  to those features, I come up with a gradient 'probality', which is a bastardized range of between 2 and 4-1/2 % gradient. Why 'probable'?; well, screens skew perspectives in photos, so, there's a range of a few degrees,and that 'level' (a roadway, I think) isn't square to the high-rise quite, either.

But, hey, it's also in Minnesota, so, how steep could really be??

[bobble]

5 hours ago, Eric Brammer aka PSR said:

But, hey, it's also in Minnesota, so, how steep could really be??

FTFY... "But, hey, it's also in Minnesota Texas, so, how steep could really be??"

[Neil Gendzwill]

8 hours ago, Eric Brammer aka PSR said:

But, hey, it's also in Minnesota, so, how steep could really be??

Ever been to Duluth?

[bobble]

i was bored. think i found the place in the video

29.768540, -95.646204

paste into google maps

[breeseomatic]

Here's another video to make you want better technique and a different board.

 

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

Whoo-Hoo!, that's sweat, and Sweet!

Consider perhaps buying (from Sk8Kings) their foam wedge kit, that goes under your griptape, to increase the leverage under the rear heel? I see it lifting, then resetting really deep/late in the heelside turn. For rolling downhill, I'd reduce the rear steering a bit (I don't like my rear wheels to slide out when I pump a turn, heading Downhill), but you can see how that rear steering (nice ROV camera view,btw!) becomes a 'tractor gear' as the incline increases. eally cool vid, I like it!  If you'd been doing that at The Gatherings 2+3, you would've beat Kimbel, Chaput, and Dong up the hill in the 'round-about' races! 

Thanks, Great video POV, and great riding, too!

[breeseomatic]

Here's another one...

 

who says pumping looks like a fish out of water?
 

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

LOVE the truck set-up!! That board looks like huge fun on a bunch of places I skate! I find it often interesting to see just how tight an arc a 'lowboy' can make, considering the wheelbase length. It's gotta be a matter of conservation of energy due to angular momentum during the turn. A board that long doesn't have the right to 'loop' in a two lane road (but my ECES 'S-camber' is 42", w 39-1/2" w.b.& does that easily?), yet those are arguably easily within 'G.S.' specs for turns in skateboard racing. Nice stuff!  Again, look into adding that bit of 'heel lift' [for the rear foot] on some boards that're truly directional, but, if it doesn't feel comfy, well, don't.

I'm jealous of your comfort in getting those FAT wheels to slide! I usually get tossed unless I'm really low, and or am on a decent incline. Gotta talk to Coleman again and get that crap sorted out!

[Mig]

Great vids @breeseomatic!!! Hockley Derby Hill is the slalom racing spot for the Texas Outlaws! :)

[breeseomatic]

I want to be clear, these videos are not mine, and I am not the individual skating.  They are just really good examples of not looking like a fish out of water and also that one can pump up a significant hill

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

Breeseomatic, thanks for clearing that up. This rider does have it figured out, though. 

One of my concerns in longboarding has been the wheels recently. Slalom made do with Quad-Skate or vintage Kryptonic wheels for way too long, and finally, JG managed to get his wheel shapes and ideas put into production. They're still out there, as Seismic hasn't yet pulled the plug on 3DM wheels.  But now, there's a change in the urethane, to appease the 'slider' crowd. So compounds have gotten 'slicker' in a bunch of softer durometers, and many companies are making wheels shaped quite similar to my NoSkool design, but in larger-than-65mm sizes, all of which is great IF you want Sliding to be a technique  you use in Downhill. But if you're trying to still grip in a hard turn, you may find that the right wheel is not so easy to find [again]. So, with Abec 11, you'd want to get the "Reflex" formula Zig-Zags, or the Grippen wheel. Or go get Sk8King's 'Turbo' wheel. At this time, Venom doesn't have a truly 'grippy' wheel, and Powell's "These" wheels, while soft, just mush out on hard turns. I hope this doesn't mean a return to the mid-80's-to-late-90's dark days when a decent wheel was impossible to find.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Eric Brammer aka PSR

[Mig]

As far as I am concerned, ZigZags, BigZigs and Centrax, all in the Reflex formula, are still the fastest and grippiest slalom race wheels out there. Absolutely hated the Grippins. They were nicknamed Slippins shortly after they came out for a reason. They deformed way too easily when used in the back in the softer duros, and were super icey up front in the harder duros. Over the years, I have tried pretty much all the main grip shape wheels from Cult, Venom, Hawgs, Turbo, Seismic, and several others. I am always going back to the Reflex thane. Even tried the new BigZigHD and CentraxHD which are Reflex with bigger cores and less aggressive profiles (more slide friendly) and was not convinced they were better for slalom. They might be usefull in my slalom wheel quiver in some situations and with some modifications (trimming), but for now I highly doubt they are going to become my go to wheels, like the others are.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Mig

[BlueB]

+1 on Zigs! 

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

Yeah, Mig, I'd forgotten that I had to shave 1/4" off of the lips on the Grippens (1/8" on each, and cut at 80* ) to make them work, and then only in 78a,81a, and 84a. I don't know why Chaput didn't fix the mold, and/or use the Reflex formulas? 

Seismic's Black Ops formulas are getting scarce, except in the Speed Vent series. Too bad, as the Avila in Ops formula is a very nice Super-G wheel!

Has anyone taken the new 're-issue' Kryptonics through it's paces? I'd love to see a timed comparison against Zigs!

[BlueB]

I also trimmed the lips on Cambrias. 

Kryptonics were slippery from what I remember... 

[Mig]

1 hour ago, Eric Brammer aka PSR said:

Yeah, Mig, I'd forgotten that I had to shave 1/4" off of the lips on the Grippens (1/8" on each, and cut at 80* ) to make them work, and then only in 78a,81a, and 84a. I don't know why Chaput didn't fix the mold, and/or use the Reflex formulas? 

Seismic's Black Ops formulas are getting scarce, except in the Speed Vent series. Too bad, as the Avila in Ops formula is a very nice Super-G wheel!

Has anyone taken the new 're-issue' Kryptonics through it's paces? I'd love to see a timed comparison against Zigs!

I think Chaput did a small run of Grippins in Reflex a few years ago. I remember seeing something about it on Silverfish. I started using trimmed wheels again last fall. Mainly the 70mm 89a Zigs I use in front for tightish Hybrid and Tight. They maintain the roll speed of 70mm but are lighter and quicker than stock. Less mass, less friction in turns, and narrower footprint up front for faster transitions from turn to turn.

Used some trimmed Black Ops Avilas in the rear for GS and bigger Hybrids, back when they came out. Liked them a lot but they ended being slower then BigZigs and Centrax for me. I think I will give them a try again this week but for tighter stuff.

The re-issue Kryptonics seem to have a bit of a following in the Sweden and UK slalom scene because they sponsor a few nostalgic Masters there. I raced Dave Hackett at the Worlds in Kentucky a year ago. If I remember correctly, he was using them on all his setups but they were heavily trimmed, front and back. I haven't tried them myself, but I am not particularly drawned to them. The overall shape is not confidence inspiring for me, as a slalom wheel. No one near me is using them. So not much of a chance to try them for now.