Gecko

Nice but y'all need some drifty wheels, those race shaped wheels are fine for going fast but for carving a wheel that slides is soo much nicer

I believe xxguitarist has done it

If you are gonna buy a Loaded look at the Bhangra its the most stable of all their boards good for carving and capable of going fast unlike the Dervish/Vanguard.

yeah I have a Geezerized Indy 109 (now 90mm) on my Fullbag Hybrid slalom. I can't slalom much these days as the action still makes my ankle (and the screws in it) light up with pain but that's slowly lessening so maybe this summer I'll get back to cone dodging

Damn quiver is growing....there is one board that I am vaguely waiting to see if/how Rus builds it but if he does it will be replacing the Dancer/hoodwalker (far right) as I just don't use it enough

While I am by no mean a master at sliding I have been adapting my snowboarding skills to my freeride skateboarding...the differences with a skateboards however lie in not just the wheels (and their varying shapes and durometers) but also the trucks. Before I talk wheels I will discuss trucks in rather simple terms RKP trucks Randals, Paris and the like are more stable and require a lot more input to make them slide than Conventional "Indy" style trucks. This is because RKP trucks turn more the further you lean them. Indy's on the other hand cease to increase theit turning once you pass a certain point and you just get more lean....this give you more leverage to make a slide. This is one reason many people chose to run Indy's on a dedicated freeride boards. All things being equal indy's are easier to slide. Of course rarely are al things equal which brings my to wheels....there are two basic shapes, round lip and hard lip and two basic urethanes, slidy and sticky. Race wheels have hard lips and sticky thane (Retro Zigs, Venom Canibals, Otang Inheats, Earthwing Smokers are examples). these tend to be more expensive and made from higher quality thane. Then there are the Freeride wheels which have slippery thane and rounded lips (Gravity Drifters, Hesher Snowballs, Venom Sidewinders, Abec11 freerides are examples) they are primarily designed for slide life, and tend to be less expensive (though not always) because you are going to destroy them pretty quickly. Next there are wheels that use a grippy shape but a slippery thane, Sometimes used for racing though more commonly used for highspeed freecarving/freeriding (Divine Touch, Abec11 Classic Zigs & Flashbacks, Phat Deans are good examples) they hold well in turns but are easier to slide than race wheels, basically go fast wheels for people who lack the Skills of a Kevin Reimer. Lastly there are the other side of freeride wheels sticky thane and rounded lips (Retro Freerides Metro Motion, Otang Stimulus are good examples) they tend to wear better than regular freeride wheels are usually more expensive. I'm not a fan of the slide as I consider it choppy though I have a set of Retro freerides for slippery garages....One could quite easily have a single board and a couple sets of wheels and get by in a variety of disciplines Now sliding requires that you unweight the board, lots of ways to do it but you have to get your weight off the wheels. Hands down slides are pretty easy transfer your weight to your hand and keep the board moving as you feel it slow down get it under you. For standups I like to initiate a turn and then push. the board breaks loose both heelside and toeside controllably and as I slow down my weight transfers back over the board and I rotate back forward to carve away from the slide. 180s and the like require more mechanics but its still unweighting the wheels. Kevin shows the mechanics quite well in this short clip <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/abrMxdJgqVs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> though James puts on clinic in this <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/22212602?title=0&byline=0&color=9e0000" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href=" ">Raw Run: Gnarbomb</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/skatehousemedia'>http://vimeo.com/skatehousemedia">SkateHouseMedia.com</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Drifting is a different though related thing the difference is in a drift you aren't initiating a slide you are responding to the wheel's loss of traction. How you respond is similar but the setup is completely different and has more to do with line choice than sliding...Brian and Kyle are mostly drifting (with a couple of speedchecks) <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/22382434?title=0&byline=0&color=9e0000" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/22382434">Hey Ma'</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/skatehousemedia'>http://vimeo.com/skatehousemedia">SkateHouseMedia.com</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

up until the "money" jump that course looked like a lot of fun

At the end of every semester I have to go into the Administration building and pay the outstanding change that my GI Bill didn't pay in order to register for class the next semester. This amount has never amounted to more than $1....they were furious when I paid in pennies.

wow I was half way into that great story when the date dawned on me:lol:

damn.....that sucks

I would say its probably the second

I started riding riding a shallow drop board last spring and discovered how much the pockets act like bindings. I can make snowboard like turns at will these days. As much as I loved my dropthrough boards I'm on drop boards now the freedom and control are just too nice

I have a friend who uses Mountain board Bindings on his longboard, the things he does with that setup are amazing but he's doing everything but spins (+360)on his freeride deck anyway. A good DH/freeride board (not a dervish) will give you the same locked in feeling without the having the instant pain should you mess up.

see if Nate still has his Oxxes available

the Sofaking was too big and the Superchili was too small, I needed a better Campus cruiser....living across the state from the Sodafactory can be dangerous, thankfully the board was the only thing I had to purchase Specs Length = 35.75" Width= 9.375" WB = 22.75"/24"/25.25" Rockered flat (no concave)cruiser Trucks= Hybrid Indy 169's, Wheels= 78a/65mm Noschools

thank the gods that board has been haunting me since I saw it last night

my ankle wasn't broken on a snowboard it wasn't twisted and broken, it had a motorcycle dropped on it in a low speed highside (it's an embarrassing crash to describe) and its not a strength issue or even a boot issue because my hard boots feel fine. Its an angle issue, high angles are uncomfortable. this doesn't effect me in any form of skateboarding except Slalom I know exactly when I am turned too far forward I get a stabbing pain in my rear ankle which is nearly identical to the feeling I have on my carving board with a rear binding angle of 45º and 48º (which is 5º-8º less than I used to ride) I guess I could have Sean make me a Hardboot capable Saber or maybe a small Axxes, but I kind of relish the idea of railing on softies

the Saber is a race board the Incline is a directional freeride/style board I think you are probably looking the incline or maybe a Razor

yikes........BTW don't watch this if you are eating or drinking you might get seasick <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/9970489" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href=" ">VCA 2010 RACE RUN</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1803052'>http://vimeo.com/user1803052">changoman</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

I wasn't overly impressed with Nagano, the mountains I rode were unimaginative, the convoluted lift paths to get to the top from the bottom was annoying and the snow reminded me too much of Big Bear. I much preferred Niigata....better layout, better snow not to mention easier to get to.

it comes down to being able to hold the line and whether or not you end up scrubbing speed by doing so....all things being equal the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line but snow isn't equal and holding a line without scrubbing speed is a relative thing. Often a wider line is the limit of the traction a turn has and any attempt to tighten the line will be met with sliding or loss of speed. There was a DH skateboard race in Australia last year where available traction was an issue in the last turn....conventional (modern) tactics are for racers to throw a check slide to scrub speed before the turn and then throw a drifting turn through the apex. However it was noticed by a number of the older racers that it was faster and safer to footbrake before the turn and rail through the outside of the turn. the young guns were mocking the more experienced racers for their chicken hearted approach but not a single drift style turner made it through the turn during race heats. Choice of line has everything to do with the conditions and your ability to hold a line/edge at a given speed, only experimentation and an open mine can provide an answer

I'm really hoping that Jaws kills one of these kooks

I've been reading "the Wave" recently and this stupidity has got to be driving the watermen crazy

there are 2 short and 2 long cant/lift screws in each plate the short ones are usually well below the visible level if the plates are set close to level

1) I have never heard of a properly installed Intec heel failing....as long as the pins are seated they aren't coming out, I can feel when the pins seat properly 2)Fin tecs are all metal and probably more durable 3)you may not, I like having both though I have only made a hip quick release for my rear boot