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CarvCanada

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I'm getting into longboard carving

it seems that most scenes of longboarders either mainly concentrate on riding really really fast straight down smooth roads, race cones, or concentrate on sitting down and sliding the boards out and ride around in ditches

are there any scenes where people want to aggressively carve pretty wide roads from 90 degrees across the fall line to 90 degrees across the fall line in the other directon... smoothly carving low across the hill like us alpine snowboarders? are all "carving" longboard decks capable of this or does their lingo for "carving" mean riding real fast and sliding around?

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my understanding of carving a skateboard was no lifting. not necessarily all 4 wheels on the surface as that would exclude double axle grinds in a pool.

I cant imagine how you could get anywhere near as low as on an alpine setup, but...sliding isnt carving. ever.:)

my carving experience on a skateboard comes from pools and ditches though, not streets

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I think it's an equipment issue. If you want to see the carves you're talking about, go to the Carveboard website. I have a CarveBoard and it's so much like alpine snowboarding, it's uncanny.

After many hours on the Carveboard, I tried a friend's old school longboard. I tried to a deep, low carve and the damn thing shot out from under me and I landed on my ass. Tried again, gained too much speed and scared the bejesus out of me. Back to my Carveboard.

BTW, I'm in Toronto (Etobicoke). If you want to meet up and give the board a try, lemme know.

Henry

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man...those look awesome!

funny part is...a friend left one of those things at my house last year...I had no idea what the hell it was, and the tires were fckin flat. It got left in the garage and completely forgotten about

now I want one! there are hills around here with perfect pitch, miles long!

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Originally posted by CarvCanada

aggressively carve pretty wide roads from 90 degrees across the fall line to 90 degrees across the fall line in the other directon

That's what I do on my longboard, although the roads are quite narrow here so I'm having to transition my turns very fast.

I can't go as fast or as low as on a snowboard, mainly because of the lack of traction. Even with soft grippy wheels (78a) there's only so much lateral force they can take before they slide out. But the sensations are the same - the "pop" from the flex of the deck giving you that weightless feeling as you switch "edges", and the thrill of carving the downhill "edge".

The carveboard has rubber wheels which I'm sure have a sh1tload more grip, allowing for harder turning, but the wheels would be slow for the flats, and the carveboard is apparently heavy making it difficult to carry up the hill.

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hmm in those videos it looks like the carveboards do quick little rolly 1 meter radius and it doesn't look like they "lock into the carve" like a freecarve board

I'm looking for the feel of a snappy freecarve board that I can get low and snap out of like Baka's talking about. What do you think of the Carve Stick? the long one, 39 inch with urethane wheels?

What do you think of:

Bozi Pintail 46" with Seismic 45 up front with hard shock

Seismic 45 in the rear with light shock

will this be what I want? something like a Prior 181 WRC or a Donek :)

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Originally posted by CarvCanada

Bozi Pintail 46" with Seismic 45 up front with hard shock

Seismic 45 in the rear with light shock

It'd be very turny because of the wedged nose and and the 45 deg trucks. It might work better on the flats than the hills.

I'm currently waiting for an <a href="http://www.insectskateboards.com/boards.html">Insect Dragonfly</a> to arrive, which I'll set up with Seismic 45s (I'll experiment with wedges to get the right sort of turning radius). I'm hoping it'll be perfect for the type of riding we're talking about. The other board with a reputation for this type of riding is the <a href=http://www.loadedboards.com/newsite_v1/vanguard.html">Loaded Vanguard</a>.

And you'd usually want to put the lighter shock on the front, not the back...

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Hi

Longboard, carveboard, slalom board, if it has wheels and a board it is fun to ride!

I’ve read different posts here at bomber from guys who both love and hate the Carveboard. To me it depends on how and where you want to ride.

It seems the guys who like ripping through slalom cones find that the Carveboard turns too slowly (Sluggish). While guys who want to drive hard surf style turns across the fall line more than down it seem to love the Carveboard. (This is a pretty broad generalization of course, please no flames:)

The hill I ride on a regular basis is a 2km long, well lit hill with a consistent 7% grade. The asphalt is very rough. As a result I ride the Carveboard with it’s large air filled wheels, the hill I ride is too rough for skateboard wheels. (My skateboard background is many years of vert riding large radius half pipes.) The carve board makes the rough road feel like perfect cord.

This board can definitely simulate a freeride snowboard, stable turns back and forth over two lanes of traffic at about 22-25 Km an hour are no problem. If flat out speed is your thing, you won’ like the Carveboard, if hard driving turns are what you are after the Carveboard is excellent.

As far as the flats go, air pressure is the answer here: 50-60 psi for pumping the flats, 20-30 psi for hills. It all depends on your weight, the road surface and how fast you want to go. Hills are way more fun in my opinion.

I also think the Carveboard is too heavy to carry up the hill, but it is basically weightless when you tow it behind you, when walking, with a 3 to 4 foot rope (or a Bomber leash in my case).

Jack wrote an article on all the street carving boards.

http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/street_carvers.cfm

I can’t say enough about the Carveboard, I love riding it.

Rob

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Originally posted by Baka Dasai

It'd be very turny because of the wedged nose and and the 45 deg trucks. It might work better on the flats than the hills.

I'm currently waiting for an <a href="http://www.insectskateboards.com/boards.html">Insect Dragonfly</a> to arrive, which I'll set up with Seismic 45s (I'll experiment with wedges to get the right sort of turning radius). I'm hoping it'll be perfect for the type of riding we're talking about. The other board with a reputation for this type of riding is the <a href=http://www.loadedboards.com/newsite_v1/vanguard.html">Loaded Vanguard</a>.

And you'd usually want to put the lighter shock on the front, not the back...

I really like my Loaded Vanguard. The loaded are known for the "loaded camber" which gives you a nice flex and snap out of a carve. I'm going ot try and experiment with bushings (equivalent of springs) for my randal trucks.

I totally do big S-turns, going completely horizontal to the fall line, but I'm a snowboarder cross-training, and just got the board 2 months ago. I think most skateboard don't do it because it's "boring" to them and because you need a particularly wide (single lane is only like 10 feet at might) mellow (sub 20 mph) and empty road (cars=bad) to do it on.

I've borrowed Randy's carveboard and it's fun, but really tippy... like surfing (almost no effort to tip the board over to 45+ degrees) with a freestyle stance and lots of ankle action - it totally doesn't feel like alpine carving to me. However I totally feel like I am when I'm on my Loaded Vanguard - the stance, the body positioning and angulation - you don't quite keep AS low, but you can get pretty low.

I'll try to get some video of myself and post it (for technique help and so you can see what it's like).

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While I was living in Honolulu I spent my carving time either in pools/ramps or a couple of local hills that were serviced my a bus route...think of it as a chair lift. The hills had they nice stair stepped drop offs that allowed me to load and unload the board and near snowboard carving type angles. Soft wheels (78a) kept the board stuck and 101A bushings in my loose Randel RII kept me stable (I've always ridden hard bushings on loose trucks ramp, street, DH and pools) I rode a heavilly rockered Vision Pintail. As for pools/ramps I had a pair of Jay Adams Deathbox boards set up identically except for wheels, 101a's for the pool board, 97a for the ramp. Too much stick in a pool will hurt you...BAD. If you want the low railing turn feeling of alpine riding skate a pool just remember to buy good pads (PD's or Pain Cheaters) if you fall make it to your knees like your praying and wear a helmet

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Carveboard w/pneumatic wheels vs. longboard w/hard wheels is all about how much skin you're willing to lose while you get the hang of it. I'm way, way too old to learn the hard way. Neil is right, it's too difficult to control the speed with urethane wheels.

With the Carveboard, you can vary the tire pressures to vary from granny slow to reasonably fast. Although if you pump it up too much, you will get the speed wobbles.

The board has done wonders for my heelside carves. Since you can't skid the tail out, you have to get low and really drive the hips into the turn.

As for heavy, ya it's frickin heavy and it sucks on the flats.

Having said all that, it's still pavement and about 10% of the fun you have on snow. A poor summer substitute. Come on winter!

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Originally posted by Baka Dasai

I'm currently waiting for an <a href="http://www.insectskateboards.com/boards.html">Insect Dragonfly</a> to arrive, which I'll set up with Seismic 45s (I'll experiment with wedges to get the right sort of turning radius). I'm hoping it'll be perfect for the type of riding we're talking about.

Me too...ordered mine 2 weeks ago. Man, I hate waitin' on toys. :D

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Originally posted by Neil Gendzwill

Maybe I just don't have the technique, but it's pretty tough to keep a conventional longboard's speed under control on a steep hill without sliding. Wheels are just too efficient compared to base/edges dragging through snow.

There is a post on exactly how to control you speed on Silverfish (longboarding website). It is entitled "how slow can you go [on steeps]"

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Rob,

My initial error in riding was I was trying to emulate riding on snow and using two lanes width to make a turn. I was running 20 to 24 psi and going too fast. Try a lower tire psi - say around 15psi and use just one lane, well, less than two. You will be turning slower, lower and tighter turns with a bit more control or at least the ability to stop or bail at any time, safely. You will feel the calves after a few runs. Just another style or method to mix it up a bit.

Pat

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Originally posted by joecarve

Me too...ordered mine 2 weeks ago. Man, I hate waitin' on toys. :D

Well the wind has been blowing at least, so plenty of windsurf. BTW, Where do you longboard? Do you know of any places in Santa Clara/Sunnyvale/Mountain View area? I am looking for a place I can get to quickly from my office near 237/101 for a lunch/dinner time quickie.

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The hill in front of my house is somewhat steep (steep enough to scare me at first anyhow) and I carve it to keep my speed reasonable, crossing the fall line at about 90 degrees most of the time. There's some sliding going on, I can feel it but I doubt is apparent to someone watching. It's a lot like carving on a snowboard, just not as much inclination.

I'm not sure how to estimate steepness so it's hard to make any comparisons here. But it's fun. :)

I've tried a couple setups, currently using a Landyachtz Urban Assault with Seismic 30s (the UA's profile makes them into 45s) and 65mm x 45mm/78a wheels. I want a UA that's an inch wider (maybe 2) and about 6 inches longer. I feel like I need less stance angle (no boot! no binding!)) and I can't get the stance width I want. Still fun though.

If anyone knows of a really steep, wide, smooth, low-traffic hill in the Seattle area I'd like to try something more adventurous. If anyone wants to try a short steep hill in Redmond that gets very little traffic, let me know. With any luck we'll get some dry weather before December....

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is a video I took of myself riding foothill at night. I apologize for the crappy nightvision look, but it was too dark for anything else. Plus I had to start the 10 second timer, sprint up the hill and get back down the hill before the the 15 seconds of video went out (quite a work out). Any tips on carving harder are greatly appreciated.

http://home.comcast.net/~atchang/video/foothill.mpg

I'm riding a Loaded Vanguard R2-180 with 81a Grippins and Khiro Soft (blue) bushings.

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