My feet hurt like a *****

[Arclite]

Plenty of hard plastic wedge risers available. Much more positive control over soft wedges IMO. The flex you want/need should be in your board.

Riser kit:

http://www.sk8kings.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=SKKRO215&Category_Code=WR

Screws for everything - i usually cut down the longest ones a bit:

http://www.sk8kings.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=SKKRO216&Category_Code=HW

well i'd rather pay the $2.50 for my riser pad than $27.95 for the khiro riser kit.

20 bucks for screws?

[KingCrimson]

40 screws and 16 lock nuts for 20 bucks isn't shabby at all!

Bull- Did you pop or cut something and end up with bleeding or was it swelling?

When I bent my radius and ulna 10 degrees upwards (as the swelling picked up, it straightened right up, I was very pleased with that mechanism) there was concern of compartment syndrome because my wrist was stuck and I couldn't move my fingers and didn't resemble popeye despite the obvious mechanical effects of the swelling.

Glad your leg came out okay!

[Dr D]

take out the insoles. any arch support will be uncomfortable skating because your arches are flexing so much

[Bullwings]

KC - lots and lots of swelling. I went into surgery to have them fix the broken leg, and came out with extra hardware, fasciotomy, and a wound vac.

WC, Gecko, and Arclite - I agree that you're better off with the Khiro wedge kit, especially if you're serious about getting into LDP - much more options to tinker around with the perfect setting. It's what i use, along with some 1/8" shock pad risers. However, they're not completely necessary.

The angled shock pad riser is a nice compromise for a fraction of the cost. The 7 or so degrees that you get from it is usually just what you need. Also the shock absorption is really nice.

As for extra fine controls - you don't really need that on an LDP deck. You're not racing through cones and trying to beat the guy next to you at 0.01 of a second. Also, you come across some crappy surfaces on a 10 mile ride - or 40 to 50+ miles like some of the pavedwave guys. You're looking for whatever is kindest to your body. Durability is also more of an issue, which is why Radikals suck for LDP. They're great for pumping and all the extra precision stuff that they give you for slalom, but they don't hold up to LDP - axles snap, bearings bind to the axles, stuff comes loose etc. etc. just ask James Peters.

[Arclite]

I'm making a replica of a vanguard, would that be better than my swallow for LDP?

[Bullwings]

I'm making a replica of a vanguard, would that be better than my swallow for LDP?

Probably a little bit better.

ideally what you're looking for in an LDP board as far as shape is concerned is room to move your feet around. A board that is around 9 to 9.25 inches wide is good, with room to put your foot directly over the front truck so you can really manipulate it and get that tic-tac back and forth motion.

take a look at these boards/shapes:

Check out the Pulse 40 at subsonicskateboards.com

http://www.longboardlarry.com/boards/walkabout.php

http://www.stokedskateboards.com/roroemeldp.html or http://www.roeslalom.com/performance.html and check out the mermaid at the bottom.

Those are overall general shapes of LDP boards. If you can afford one, a decently good off the shelf (so the guys at pavedwave say) board to turn into an LDP board is the sector9 trylam http://www.daddiesboardshop.com/Sector9-carbontrylamlongboard-skateboard-deck-blue.aspx

good shape with the right amount of pop/flex. just keep in mind what you want to do. The vanguard that i have does NOT make a good LDP board. It's pumpable, but it just doesn't work out so well with 180mm wide trucks, you want something around 130mm or narrower for really easy pumping. They're just not as stable though.

Oh yeah, and as i've said, bushings and wedging makes all the difference in the world. I'd say as far as importance for pumping the order goes something like this:

-Bushings/wedging

-Trucks

-Board

-Wheels

[Arclite]

When i was going to make the vanguard i wanted a carving board, and I was going to get some softer bushings and some bigzigz.

i guess both of those would help for LDP?

[Bullwings]

wheels are probably last on the list of importance, but if you're getting some wheels, you can't go wrong with bigzigs.

as for softer bushings. I'd say get a set of Venom blue bushings with 1 cone and 1 barrel or double cone if you want it to be even turnier. You could even probably go with the orange ones - they're a little stiffer than the blues, but will offer more stability at the expense of pumping ease.

Anyway, pavedwave.org for all your pumping needs. In the end though, you'll just have to experiment and play around with stuff.

I've tried out a lot of different trucks, wedging, and bushing combos. The best trucks for me have been in the 125mm - 130mm range (Bennet 5.0s and Randal 125s). Randal 180s and Bennet 6.0s were more stable but required too much effort to pump for miles on end. Bennett 4.3s were to tippy for me, i didn't have any confidence being risered up so high on super tippy trucks.

Just keep in mind what you want to do, you can't have everything in one package. There is no such thing as a downhill, LDP, carving board...

[Arclite]

then maybe I'll make to decks and set them up differently.

Albert, what do you know about carving set ups?

[Gecko]

carving boards, there are two schools of thought symmetrical and pintail I'll start with the second first because it's easier, not all boards that ride like a pintail have a pintail shape but a pintail type shape will have more flex in the rear and will be directional it will have an obvious front and rear. Symetrical carving boards have no nose or tail like the Dervish, Vanguard, Comet FSM Fullbag Speedstyler etc, balanced flex and the ability to ride it either way are a priority with these boards...I'm not a fan of symmetrical boards but then I can't skate switch so to me they are just annoying however I have friends who can exploit then so I don't disagree that the are a useful shape just not to me

[Arclite]

well i'm making a bootleg vanguard so pintail is out of the question...

what about trucks, bushings, wheels, etc?

[Gecko]

Trucks, unless I'm going fast I prefer regular trucks (Indy Tracker etc) to reverse kingpin (randal paris etc). my Downhill board and my dance board are the only boards of my 11 board quiver that aren't on Indy's and I'd put my Dancer on Indy's if I could afford to. To me they feel better at any speed below 35-40mph.

Bushing....I have a tackle box full of them, Khiro Venom Tracker Reflex to name a few....buy try decide what works for you....

Wheels, square lipped and round lipped, square lipped wheels are for traction, generally called slalom wheels, Zigzags, Otangs 4pres, Hotspots, EW Smoker's etc you can slide them but primarily they are for traction. Round lipped wheels are looser for lack of a better word you can drift/slide them easier they are more forgiving of road hazards and generally speaking lighter, lately it's been trendy to call these wheels freeride wheels but in truth the better description would be to call them longboard wheels

[Arclite]

Trucks, unless I'm going fast I prefer regular trucks (Indy Tracker etc) to reverse kingpin (randal paris etc). my Downhill board and my dance board are the only boards of my 11 board quiver that aren't on Indy's and I'd put my Dancer on Indy's if I could afford to. To me they feel better at any speed below 35-40mph.

Bushing....I have a tackle box full of them, Khiro Venom Tracker Reflex to name a few....buy try decide what works for you....

Wheels, square lipped and round lipped, square lipped wheels are for traction, generally called slalom wheels, Zigzags, Otangs 4pres, Hotspots, EW Smoker's etc you can slide them but primarily they are for traction. Round lipped wheels are looser for lack of a better word you can drift/slide them easier they are more forgiving of road hazards and generally speaking lighter, lately it's been trendy to call these wheels freeride wheels but in truth the better description would be to call them longboard wheels

I'm currently riding on round wheels, and as I claimed before, I was going to upgrade to some bigzigs for carving.

Drifting? I've never heard of that, only sliding.

I know I'm going to grab some softer bushings but does the shape matter? (cone vs barrel)

I think my trucks are 178mm, good? bad?

[Gecko]

drifting is controlled sliding at speed just like in a car,

All things being equal Cones are more linear in their compression, barrels more progressive

Linear = as you lean the resistance stays the same

Progressive=the more you lean the harder the bushing feels

I ride round lipped wheels for most things, I like the loose feeling

[Bullwings]

Gecko definitely knows more about skateboards than i do, i've only been skating for about 2 years.

i've only been on a few types of trucks too. As far as "carvy" trucks go, my Bennett 5.0 and 6.0s are way carvier than any randal trucks i've been on. The stock bushings suck, but replace them with some Khiro or Venom bushings, or custom bushings from Sk8kings and you're good to go. Another truck option is one that people either love or hate, no in between are Seismic trucks. Instead of bushings/grommets they use springs that can be swapped out for lighter or heavier compression rates and can be pre-loaded or unloaded by turning some screws. i personally, love them. They're super stable while still being able to turn tight - they're just not that good for pumping as far as front trucks are concerned. For a rear traction stable truck, though, they're awesome - they'll blow tracker RTS trucks out of the water any day. Some people say they even rival some of the precision trucks out there at a fraction of the price. Setup for carving, they can be quite nice too - stable while still turny. They can get squeaky though, and don't ride them through water if you can. We're in SoCal, but if you live in really cold areas, they beat bushings because they're consistent. Bushings change stiffness with the temperature, and if you're in a cold area and go out riding, they'll be stiff at first and will start warming up and get squishier.

Reverse king pin trucks are the in thing right now. As far as stability, i've never been on Indy's but i can tell you that the new Bennetts (not the super old ones from the 70s) are super divey and can make things a big sketchy if you're not used to that kind of thing, but at the same time, that's what makes them so awesome for carving super tight turns.

I only own slalom type wheels, and have hardly ever broken the wheels loose while carving. I did go carving on a day when it was sprinkling outside - hehe, that was fun and scary at the same time. I do however, want to get some freeride/longboard wheels that are a bit more predictable. Last time i ate $hit was when i tried sliding some 85mm speedvents - major major major uncontrolable chatter. I highsided and go bucked off of the board at about 15-20mph - luckily i had gloves and kneepads. Only my elbow and hip got messed up - should have worn the elbow pads.

In generally, while not as grippy, round lip wheels are more predictable and easier to control when you do break them loose, which you'll eventually want to do to control your speed. It's one of the things i plan to take up and get better at when i get back to boarding. I'm thinking some 76mm Flywheels, or i might look at something with a solid core. Any recomendations Gecko? I'm 145 lbs.

[Arclite]

drifting is controlled sliding at speed just like in a car,

All things being equal Cones are more linear in their compression, barrels more progressive

Linear = as you lean the resistance stays the same

Progressive=the more you lean the harder the bushing feels

I ride round lipped wheels for most things, I like the loose feeling

Could you but a cone on top and a barrel on bottom? or reversed?

OT!

Oh yeah, Albert.

I just watched some raw footage from a carving day that i never posted on youtube.

Ditch the tanker, it chatters at too high speeds and doesn't have the edge hold you need.

I saw it right away in the video.

[Bullwings]

Could you but a cone on top and a barrel on bottom? or reversed?

OT!

Oh yeah, Albert.

I just watched some raw footage from a carving day that i never posted on youtube.

Ditch the tanker, it chatters at too high speeds and doesn't have the edge hold you need.

I saw it right away in the video.

Yeah, you can mix it up and put cone/cone, barrel/cone, cone/barrel, barrel/barrel. And even throw in different duros in there for each one - whatever combination you can think of. that's why the Khiro bushing kit is so useful, you can make also sorts of bushings combinations. you can even do things like cone-barrel/cone, or cone-cone/barrel. it all depends on how long your kingpin is and what you can fit in there w/o smashing the bushings.

As for the Tanker, i think that chatter is more a lack of my skills than the board's limitations. In any case, i'm keeping it around for powder days and days when i want a longboard, but i'm still in line for Bruce to make me my ultimate carver/mogul killer. I'm set for a December delivery. haven't talke to him since April though. We'll get into contact when my build date nears.

[Arclite]

Yeah, you can mix it up and put cone/cone, barrel/cone, cone/barrel, barrel/barrel. And even throw in different duros in there for each one - whatever combination you can think of. that's why the Khiro bushing kit is so useful, you can make also sorts of bushings combinations. you can even do things like cone-barrel/cone, or cone-cone/barrel. it all depends on how long your kingpin is and what you can fit in there w/o smashing the bushings.

As for the Tanker, i think that chatter is more a lack of my skills than the board's limitations. In any case, i'm keeping it around for powder days and days when i want a longboard, but i'm still in line for Bruce to make me my ultimate carver/mogul killer. I'm set for a December delivery. haven't talke to him since April though. We'll get into contact when my build date nears.

I just made a wish list.

Sliding gloves

Pair of khiro conical bushings (soft 83a)

Bigzigs 75mm Lime

$107

this is becoming an expensive hobby

Same situation for me and bruce. X2 for me, hbu?

171 x 21 13.2m 6mm (I think?)

[Bullwings]

I just made a wish list.

Sliding gloves

Pair of khiro conical bushings (soft 83a)

Bigzigs 75mm Lime

$107

this is becoming an expensive hobby

Same situation for me and bruce. X2 for me, hbu?

171 x 21 13.2m 6mm (I think?)

I actually prefer Venom bushings to Khiros, but use both. The Khiro bushing pack is nice, but you probably won't be using the black, and purple ones, so they kind of get wasted.

Slide gloves you can actually make for much cheaper with:

-pair of good fitting gardening or bicycle gloves

-velcro

-plastic cutting board material and a saw

Board is going to be a full custom make for Bruce, not really going with any templates out there.

It'll be a shorter board around 160-165cm for use with moguls. It'll also be wider at 23.5cm since i prefer the wider boards, and it'll have a tighter SCR at something around 11.5-12m

so 162 X 23.5 and 11.5m (maybe even variable scr if Bruce tells me he has a good blend for something that length).

[Arclite]

I actually prefer Venom bushings to Khiros, but use both. The Khiro bushing pack is nice, but you probably won't be using the black, and purple ones, so they kind of get wasted.

Slide gloves you can actually make for much cheaper with:

-pair of good fitting gardening or bicycle gloves

-velcro

-plastic cutting board material and a saw

Board is going to be a full custom make for Bruce, not really going with any templates out there.

It'll be a shorter board around 160-165cm for use with moguls. It'll also be wider at 23.5cm since i prefer the wider boards, and it'll have a tighter SCR at something around 11.5-12m

so 162 X 23.5 and 11.5m (maybe even variable scr if Bruce tells me he has a good blend for something that length).

I'm going to end up buying bushings in pairs, so i don't waste money.

I know I wouldn't use all of the bushings in the pack anyway.

I like that home made sliding gloves idea. I might give that a try.

Your board sounds like a short monster.

[Gecko]

slide gloves= if you cruise the fish there are a couple of puck makers selling their wares as well as a number of good tutorials for making gloves, I use Black Velvet pucks but they are by no means the only good makers, I have 2 sets of gloves palm puck only on a set of full fingered MTB style work gloves from home depot. My other set of gloves uses palm and finger pucks on full leather gloves.

[Arclite]

slide gloves= if you cruise the fish there are a couple of puck makers selling their wares as well as a number of good tutorials for making gloves, I use Black Velvet pucks but they are by no means the only good makers, I have 2 sets of gloves palm puck only on a set of full fingered MTB style work gloves from home depot. My other set of gloves uses palm and finger pucks on full leather gloves.

The fish...?

[Bullwings]

http://www.silverfishlongboarding.com/

check out their forums, lots of info to be had there, but lots of junk to sift through too. Lots of kids post there that don't know what they're talking about, but lots of people that do know what they're talking about also post there.

gotta sift through the chaft. overall, a good site and pretty decent forums too. I still frequent the place, i just hardly ever post. most of the info i need i get at pavedwave, but that's more due to the style of riding that i do.

I've gotten pretty rusty though, i had no idea just HOW squirrely LDP decks are. I took a pretty decent long break from skating and went to ride my LDP deck (before surgery) down a hill that i normally do, and i got some speed wobs and got freaked out (yeah, all in my head i know).

[Arclite]

how'd the surgery go albert?

thanks, time to dive into forums....

That freezing your wheels thread turning into a pissing match...very quickly...

[Bullwings]

how'd the surgery go albert?

thanks, time to dive into forums....

That freezing your wheels thread turning into a pissing match...very quickly...

Relatively ok. It was scheduled for 40min, but ended up taking about 2 and a half hours. The doctor had a really hard time extracting the rod from the middle of my tibia. Apparently bone had grown into all the un-used screw holes at both the top and bottom ends of the rod, thereby making extraction very difficult.

On the drive home after surgery, i started bleeding all over the place, and kept bleeding for about the next 4-5 hours. My brother noticed that a 3cm cut had been left unsutured... So, he had to rig up some other way to stop the bleeding (good thing he's a doctor). Anyway, when i went to my post-op appointment, doc took a look at it and said that the suture came loose because of all the pressure.

Everything is all good now, not as much pain anymore. knee is still swollen and super stiff, and the sutures are getting in the way, i can't bend my knee much or it feels like the sutures are tearing. overall, things are good.

Freezing wheels thread? is that at the fish? haven't been there for a while. I just ride now, i have most of the info i need as far as tweaking my board and general riding. I'll probably go back there when i try to learn how to slide.