xxguitarist

50/50 on being able to buy them at a local skate shop. khiro is a brand another option is a blue (soft) bones hardcore bushing. the main part is white on all, but theres a washer type of deal built in that is blue, yellow, or black. if you cant find 'em at a local shop (they're wayyyyy too soft for street skaters) hit up www.milehighskates.com or thelongboardstore.com or similar.

for an 80 lb kid, you'll need some new bushings. his weight wont be able to compress those bushings at all, if they're anything like the bushings on most completes. order some khiro white barrel bushings (2 sets), and put those in. to you, it should feel something like trying to balance on a marble, for him, it should feel good. if you dont mind spending the extra 5 or 10 bucks, buy 2x white, 2xorange, 2x blue. with the blue, it'll feel pretty turny for you, and quite stable for him. orange is between the two, but hard enough that i ride it on some boards, in the front truck, and i weigh about 160. oh.. about the bushings, keep the back a little stiffer than the front, whether that means tightening it a little more or putting harder bushings in. keeps things more stable that way.

hope you enjoy that board:biggthump heres mine: left to right: Gravity Bruce Logan 30'', wedged/dewedged Tracker RTs/x, split duro Seismic Hotspots LDP 35''(4ply 1/8'' baltic birch)- Bennett 5.0 front, Tracker RTs rear, 80a Seismic Hotspots 36'' Slide/park deck, 5.0 core hanger/indy baseplate trucks, 95a Rainskates Tsunami Sector 9 Trylam 38'', Randal 150s, (shown with Gravity wheels, usually has lemon zigzags) Landyachtz Drop Wedge (dropped a little extra) Holey trucks, Seismic 85mm 79a "bigvents" Veneer board-(4ply 1/8'' baltic birch plus ribbon sawn mahogany & walnut), Landyachtz Bear Grizzly 10mm, 76mm78a Abec11 Flywheels Topmount speedboard(5ply 1/8'' baltic birch)-41.5'' Force C7, 77mm78a Abec11 Strikers sixty-four -64''/ 5'4'' boardwaker/ land windsurfer, Original S10 trucks, Abec11 Gumballs 81a

if they can skate, go higher end.. if they looked at longboarding, and were like "hm, thats neat, i'd like to try"...it'd probably be good enough for a couple months, once you do some bushing tuning.

if its completely sealed, its cool. if theres exposed wood (scratches, etc) it could be a problem. just clean out your bearings real well after each ride, and wipe down the trucks.

i want low(split axle) 40 degree reverse pivot trucks! no spherical bushings though, adds cost and makes 'em twitchy!

about 11 bucks for 1/8''x5'x5'

i use 1/8'' baltic birch, and get it from the local well stocked lumberyard:biggthump comes in 5x5 foot sheets. that said, they have to special order it for me. when using 1/8 or 1/4 baltic birch, use all long grains, as the ply has its own cross grains. talk to your local lumberyards, and a cabinet maker.

not to step on toes, but silverfishlongboarding.com theres a CT thread.

bomb hills is a capible topmount raceboard. a little long, actually, but perfectly useable. people can ride them, with randal 180s, in races. takes a bit of skill to ride 50 degree trucks at that speed though, you may wish to look at some force C7s or crail DH trucks, they'll make it easier on ya and not break the bank. by the way, the DH is a bit on the narrow side, and not very maneuverable for tighter corners. best for pointing straight down a hill

a landyachtz drop wedge or evo would do the job for ya. drop wedge is pretty easy to set up, evo has some funky angles that you have to work around. www.milehighskates.com is a great place to order from, and there are nice completes there, though the drop wedge completes are speed-biased, with force C7 35 degree trucks. theres also some topmount options, such as a rayne avenger or similar. pick up some crail trucks for that option. if you let us know what you mean by downhill (you might consider it to be 25 mph or so, others consider it 35+) we/i can help you out some more

dell a920, i upgraded to a laser unit. for sale or trade, you pay shipping by paypal, unless you've got a rather impressive trade offer. extra black ink cartridge included. sorry about the off topic, kill the thread if necessary:D

its not necessary- and actually not a good idea to ride smokeys (or any other pivot bearing truck) if you're not used to very sensative trucks. speedwobbles are your ankles and your overall comfort, sorry. at your weight, yeah, you'll want somewhat harder bushings, khiros would be a good choice. i weigh about 160, and ride their orange bushings, next to softest. black and purple are very hard, and will probably limit your turning a bit- midrange & practice would be better. if you want to upgrade trucks, look at crails first, then consider some bear grizzlys or randal 180s, and if you're into some serious speed, consider the force C7s.

wrist guards, knee and elbow pads, yet no helmet.. hmm.

regardless, tune the trucks with bushings rather than kingpin tightness, and it'll do a lot of for the health of the bushings and the overall performance. if you dont have flat washers handy, just flip over the top cup washer. another option would be khiro inserts or bones hardcore bushings, both have some sort of washer built in.

if your bushings are starting to try to pop out of the cupped washers, upgrade to some harder bushings- you've got em cranked down too hard most likely. ( unless they're just floppy loose, then get some softer ones and tighten down a little bit) +1 on flat washers.

i might have to head up & check this out... i can pretend i have a slalom board and ride my 30'' or 35'' gecko, sorry your board is taking so long- i should be able to get it painted this week & then its just an issue of when the grip comes:biggthump

highly jealous. beautiful bikes, guys. my dream is a triumph thruxton... i love the cafe style.

so, you get your beer, and your penicillin all in one

meanwhile, i'm surfing in a 3/2 wetsuit.

if you were trying to view on both screens at once, that could have been the problem. otherwise, it may require some use of a 3rd party program to get around it.

yep, i'm on silverfish (same username), and have been for several years.. never could figure out the layout on NCDSA..

mmmm sexy foamcoreness. I may have to play with some composites this summer.. even though I already have too much planned between friends, triathlons, work, skating, windsurfing and surfing :D [threadjack] gecko, your wheelwell layers are in the press [/threadjack]

"608" is the standard size.. but you're best off just going to a skate shop or ordering skate bearings online than finding an appropriately sized machine bearing. few posts down the board : http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=15956 just make sure to get spacers if you dont find biltins:biggthump