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wavechaser

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
selling your Gecko?

Yep - after racing it all summer, I'm still not totally comfortable on it. It's just too damn short - I always want one or two more inches of stance width - and I can't even use the 18 inch wheelbase, feels like I'm standing on a roller skate. I also feel the steep kick puts me in too forward a body position.

The Gecko really shines on flatter courses or courses with flat starts, where acceleration is so important, but on the steeper stuff it is hard to keep the speed in check on technical sections where control is more important - and the more forward angle of my body due to the steep kick is especially disconcerting on steeps. Think how a snowboard with too narrow a stance and too much heel lift/cant on the rear foot feels on steep stuff and you get the picture.

Martin D. is a much smaller guy than I am, and the euros tend to ride flatter courses - so the design is appropriate for those things. In the steep 100-cone challenge in Antrim, even with 62mm wheels, the Gecko would just take off no matter how slowly I started. I never made it further than about 35 cones on the Gecko, but with a 20 inch WB on the Fullbag Red Baron I was able to get about 70 cones before blowing out - and it's not even a TS board. Only three of 64 racers even made it through the 100-cone course; which started at 5 feet, went to 5.5 then 6, then 5.5 back to 5 at the end. Richy's record run was the single most unbelievable thing I saw anyone do on a skateboard all summer - he charged into the course at full speed from about 200 feet above the first cone (nobody else even attempted that) then ran it CLEAN in record time.

I REALLY feel comfortable on Mig's boards - and the Red Baron out-podiumed the Gecko 3 to 1 this summer (almost 4 to 1 - front Bennett got squirrely at 43 mph in the Morro Super-G). I'd keep the Gecko for flatter courses, but I can buy three Fullbag's for what the Gecko costs - so next summer I'm adding the JITT-TS and DOG-GS to the quiver. WOOD is GOOD! After all - Richy rides WOOD!

So...whew...yes, the Gecko is for sale. Would be perfect for someone about 5'8"-5'11" that weighs 180-220 lbs. and rides flatter courses mostly. My favorite glass/foam decks I tried this summer were the PPS Mitchell GS and the Pavel Pirnack TS...go figure! :-)

-RF

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I understand the too short feeling I can't set foot onto a normal popsicle board because the WB is too short and am forever finding my feet falling off the ends of the board. As for Tight Slalom too straight and narrow for me...honest I get spooked at the speed from uber tight sections even when I'm on a board with a WB to support it I really like Wandering Hybrids with lots of offsets, curves and such.

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I really like Wandering Hybrids with lots of offsets, curves and such.

It's the snowboarder in you...when I got second in the A Group Dual GS at Dixie last week - people were heard muttering "snowboarder".

Straight cones remind me of the 20 gate flushes we used to train with for ski racing...boring and painful...still, it was a gas watching Richy rip that 100 at Antrim.

Heal up well my friend!

-RF

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  • 4 weeks later...

Tight Slalom is a strange beast. It's hard to practice for because racing conditions vary. If you set up the TS course to be fluid it can be a lot of fun.

Tony if your up for it next spring, come with us to the Arboretum and we can skate some fun TS. I used to skate out there with JG. The pavement is still fast due to the lack of traffic.

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Tight is fun!

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