T- board review

[FTA2R]

hi all,

The model I have is the snowboard specific 41 inch, urethane wheels. i have rubber wheels but have yet to use them. I just came in from my second time on the t-board. My longboard is a Bozi Mad Bomber with very wide 3dm avalon, and quite tight trucks (or so I think)

The T board is a very fun toy and carves effortlessly. 1st time out was more to get aquainted, this time I started really carving it. Ride is VERY smooth, VERY easy to bleed off speed, much easier to carve than my longboard (although tight trucks may have something to do with that). Even with looser trucks, I simply don't see how a regular longboard can have the turning radius of the T- Board.

Now this is a bit of a warning that's likely much more applicable to us hardbooters. The board can feel so much like riding that you, like me, may start to forget it's NOT a snowboard and there IS a limit to how hard you can carve. it is possible to catch an edge on this. GRADUALLY ride with higher edge angles, experiment with leaning your whole body and your ankles. (not sure dealer would recommend the ankle part, but I do) DO NOT try to carve as agressive as (a lot of you) ride - I learned this the hard way- this is especially true for anyone who gets super angulated or inclinated. Sometimes the edge will simply scrape and you will be fine, other times you will be THROWN / EJECTED off the board and depending on yoru speed, hit the ground and get up or get messed up. yes, the board will make you it's bitch if you push it too much. that is really a complement, though, b/c this ride is so smooth there is the possibility of forgetting you're on a board with wheels (and then, like me, you start getting the edge too high) Because of this possibility, I strongly recommend a helmet (of course) and ELBOW PADS espeically, and wrist guards if you have them. In my foolish confidence, decided I just needed a helmet tonight. thankfully it's cool out now and I had an a fleece, it saved me from road / garage rash on my elbow. that being said, you can grab the edge and ride with style, but I recommend looking down every once in a while to see how close you're getting the edge to the ground. i'm sure the pros don't do this but i haven't ridden it enough to go on feel yet

The T board is not particularly fun on flat surfaces, and can actually be more challenging when not on a hill. get a regular skate/long board for that. T board is made for hills, I can't wait to get this thing on something steeper. It was simply insane how easy it was to bleed off speed on this thing.

The T Board is a blast to ride! If you got the loot and want a new type of ride, definitley get one! beatiful graphics on the base, too.

can you imagine what kind of Snowboard Tierney would come up with?

ps MACers, if you wanna test it out b/w now and winter, let me know! or we could all meet for drinks in DC and then give it a go!

[bobble]

video of a t-board in action

yes, it is a fun board but it does not imitate snowboarding. in the footage, all those turns are done at the ankles. its a tippy feeling. every turns bleeds speed. the hill i was on was not steep but that's what happens in minnesota. every 10,000 years a glacier moves in and flattens the place.

i really wish i had the balls to mount plates to an 8-wheeled skateboard . having trucks mounted one edges has got to be as close as it gets.

anyone know if its been done???

[lonerider]

yes, it is a fun board but it does not imitate snowboarding. in the footage, all those turns are done at the ankles. its a tippy feeling.

That was exactly my impression after riding one I bought from... err... someone here on BOL :)

[lonerider]

I really would like to try one of these out someday. They look interesting. Not stable or speed oriented at all but it looks like fun.

Actually these are far more stable than regular skateboards (even some speedboards) because they never get speed wobbles due to the inline two-wheel design. One you get your first downhill skateboard you will learn about speed wobbles. Speed control (at medium speeds at least, I've never ridden them past 30 mph) is also very natural as they will predictable drift into a skid if you turn them hard enough (like breaking a snowboard out of a carve).

[Guest stoked]

cool camera work on that video

gonna go about dusting off my own board for this summer I remember when I took it out for the first time last summer I kept riding and riding up to complete exhaustion and any muscle tone was gone the next day so I shall better get in good shape step by step this summer I seem to always lose good shape after winter :)

[skatha]

every 10,000 years a glacier moves in and flattens the place.

And don't forget the lovely lakes....

Yikes, we're overdue!

[Cindy Kleh]

They can take some getting used to. I've almost died on mine a few times, but if you find some good hills without much traffic, and you have a posse along to drive, T-boarding is a blast. Fortunately, I live out in the country where there are neighborhoods going up with new pavement but no residents yet. Some of these hills are 2 miles long!! My niece lives in Steamboat and rides with some aggressive guys. She can drop anything and make it! We took T-Boards to the Arches in Moab. Wow. What a background for skating! But apparently it's against the rules. We were leaving the park just as cops were flying past us lights flashing to catch those damn skateboarders. SEEYA!

[skatha]

We were leaving the park just as cops were flying past us lights flashing to catch those damn skateboarders. SEEYA!

That's where maturity works for us....

"Officer, I'm 42 years old, do you really think I skateboard?" :rolleyes:

[FTA2R]

I don't agree with your opinion, but whatever, i don't really feel like debating/discussing. out of curiousity though, how much total time do you have on a t-board? took me more than 1 session to really get the feel.. did you see the video being made? (curious how you know all those turns were ankle-initiated turns)

[bobble]

barry

i've owned a t-board for about 3-4 years. the board i have has the old-style trucks that have an elastomer torsion ring that needs to be replaced. i've gone through 3 sets of wheels. i ride rubber rear, thane on front because the hills aren't that great here.

the turns in the video are ankle initiated because i was on the board (i made the video). i was probably going a little faster than i can run, not 30 mph. at low speed you can't really extend your body over the edge of the board. again, its feels like you're tipping the front of the board.

the hills i ride are short. i have a dragonfly board from insectskateboards.com. in comparing the two boards, riding on four wheels is alot faster than riding two. on higher pitched hills i wouldn't dare ride a long board. i would switch to the t-board with rubber wheels front and rear. every turn on a t-board bleeds speed. probably a good thing on hills.

i'd like to see other people with t-boards post videos. c'mon, lets see them!!!

bobble

[FTA2R]

allright, that's fair. you sound quite experienced with the tboard. how did you rig up that cam setup? helmet cam?

[bobble]

its a helmet cam from viosport. i mounted the cam to the top of the board with a piece of sheet metal. i used the hole pattern of the truck to hold it in.

on the bottom of the board i used tie-wraps and adhesive mounts.

i used a sony handycam to do the recording.

the last couple seconds of that video where it crashes into the grass... i was going down a decent hill (in the video it doesn't look like much it but it was). i was picking up speed. i thought there was a car coming from behind. i started to get nervous and realized if i was going to bale then now was the time. i jumped off the board and the cable almost yanked the camera out of my hands. i had to run with the board. when i saw the footage it looked pretty cool.

[lonerider]

I know all about speed wobble and some tricks to counter it.

Right.

Hmmm, I'll believe that when I feel it. Not trying to say you would deceive me but I just don't quite believe it.

I don't understand that statement... :lol: ...skidding?!?

Yea, it's counter-intuitive - the only board I've ever ridden that is *more* stable at say 25 mph than it is at 5 mph (just like a bicycle). BTW, I was using the rubber wheels and they are pretty soft and so if you do a deep fast turn, the back wheel with break traction a little bit and drift. Mike T still rides his where as I sold mine after riding it 2-3 times a week for a month.

It's fun to ride, but I didn't like the tippy nature of it - when I carve, I like getting a lot of power onto the edge and you just can't do that with the T-board. Well you can, but it will just tip all the way over - either carve so tight that you get thrown off, or it hits the side of the deck and skids... and you probably will get thrown off. This probably won't happen because you can feel it happening and immediately flick your ankles back, but I like being able to commit more weight into a turn. You can bomb some steep stuff without fear of speed wobbles though (just make sure nothing gets in your way).

[ak_rider]

I think t-boards mimic carving in softies more than in hardboots. It's super fun on hills( if you're familiar with breck, I like taking mine down ski hill rd). If you're a skater, t-boards are a fun challenge. I'm working on landing kickflips on it-rediculously difficult.

[Cindy Kleh]

How far up do you start? That could be radical from the top! What's the pavement and traffic like? On the hairpins?

[FTA2R]

still running the urethanes but i think one of the board's weaknesses was exposed tonight: uneven pavement. as this is a 2-wheeled device, going over any kind of gap, crevice, etc can get dicey. of course you can just tip the nose up off the ground, but that's not always possible or practical when riding. so my garage session wasn't so great b/c the gaps were messing up my rhythm. for this reason, i would also be very careful about t-boarding at night, but common sense probably tells most of us this is not the safest thing.

[bobble]

I think t-boards mimic carving in softies more than in hardboots. It's super fun on hills( if you're familiar with breck, I like taking mine down ski hill rd). If you're a skater, t-boards are a fun challenge. I'm working on landing kickflips on it-rediculously difficult.

despite the tierney videos of kids doing ollies and such, i don't think the urethane wheels can handle landing kick flips. the hubs can crack. i've cracked one. i felt the wheel knocking. when i inspected the wheel the area around the bearing fell apart.

here's a previous post with a photo of the wheel...

http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showpost.php?p=18374&postcount=12

[Jack M]

email me.

[D-Sub]

I don't agree with your opinion, but whatever, i don't really feel like debating/discussing. out of curiousity though, how much total time do you have on a t-board? took me more than 1 session to really get the feel.. did you see the video being made? (curious how you know all those turns were ankle-initiated turns)

then

allright, that's fair. you sound quite experienced with the tboard. how did you rig up that cam setup? helmet cam?

L.O.farkingL

[ak_rider]

How far up do you start? That could be radical from the top! What's the pavement and traffic like? On the hairpins?

I live about as far up as you can, so I usually start right from the top-peak 8 base area. It only gets scarey after the hairpin-then you start to really pick up speed. Most of may it was good-not too much traffic, tourists are starting to come back now, so I'll probably have to shorten my runs.

[lonerider]

I don't know if anyone has noticed this, but the Tieney Website has an offer to ship you a board for 10 days for just $20 to try out. If you like it, they will sell it to you minus the $20, otherwise you just ship it back to them and that's that! Pretty good deal I think (I wish more companies did it like that).