First day back

[Bullwings]

So, I went skating for the first time today since having my hardware removed, (well, second - the first time was only for 5 minutes so that doesn't count) and it was great. I skated for about an hour, wow, my leg needs some work and getting used to again.

I tried out some Indy 215s and I think I might have found my new favorite truck. They feel a lot more stable than my Bennetts, are still easily pumpable (I was using some stiffer bushings too), and are more willing turn compared to my Randal RII with 50 degree plates while still retaining stability.

The new Retro Freerides i was on too are probably almost broken in. The shiny film on the surface in contact with the pavement is gone (it's still on the sides of the wheels, though). I like them too, although they definitely transfer more of the road feel to my leg compared to my EW superballs.

It was nice carving around for a bit and getting back into the groove of skating again. Probably my biggest complaint is that my left leg is kind of sensitive to road vibrations. I'm using a 1/8" shock pad between my solid risers and the board, so that helps a little bit. Anyway it was fun, my goal is to work on sliding a little bit before the snow starts falling in December (plenty of time). My board might be a little bit short for it, but I think i can make it work (it's 38 inches). I'll post some shots of my setup in a bit.

[Bullwings]

Riser pad up against the board for visual reference of height/drop

Rear truck - Randal RII 180mm on 35 degree baseplate dewedged another 7-8 degrees.

Front truck - Indy 215 dewedged 12 degrees. As you can see, the natural wedging on the board is pretty aggressive (great for pumping, but a little too twitchy and active). This is a good combo of turny and pretty pumpable while decently stable.

Top view - front wheel cutouts done by me (you can tell).

Bottom view.

I'm still messing around with bushing combos, but it's feeling pretty good right now - stable, carvy, and pumpable. I had to chop up a venom barrel bushing since the kingpin on the Indys are pretty short.

[Arclite]

Great to hear you're riding again!

I love the look of the subsonic. (thats what it is right?)

Got to step on a subsonic something.

It was a drop down deck like yours but the angles weren't so dramatic.

Felt kinda crappy.

On the subject of sliding though.....

My only advice would be:

1) Heel side slides seemed easier to start then toe side

2) Any wheel WILL slide, and to me, its hard to tell the difference between sliding my 83a Orangatang In Heats, and sliding my dads 72a 3DM Avila's.

3) Smooth cement and parking structures dominate over anything

4) It seemed that having a board where the wheel base is equal to roughly the length of your leg was a good sliding board.

But then again, what do I know?

Just giving my 2 cents.

[Gecko]

To improve your experience with an Indy truck Contact Mile High Skateboards to buy "one" of his Core hybrid baseplates that will give you a lot more options for bushings

[Bullwings]

Went out and rode for about an hour or so today. I'm really liking the setup. I chopped up a Venom DH bushing for the Indy, and it worked quite well. I ordered one Core Hybrid base plate (even though I have two trucks), and some Bones bushings as well - they're only being used as front trucks, my rears as in the picture are a Randal and a Seismic stable turn. They should be here by the time I get back from my trip a little over a week from now.

Arclite, Yeah, the board is a Subsonic Century 38. The board you stepped on was probably a Swift or a Reflex, it's one of their more common decks. I can't comment on the crappy feeling part - I like mine. My loaded, which is supposed to be a great board, never gets ridden at all anymore. It's listed at the fish, I don't think it's gonna sell - I'll probably put it up on Ebay next when i get some time.

As for the tips, well, you're sliding, and I'm not... So, points taken. hehe Although i'm pretty surprised that you can slide 72a Avilas and NOT feel a difference with your 83a Orangatangs. If you're in a parking garage, that might explain it a little bit, especially the smooth ones.

As for the setup and ride today, as I said, it felt good. The overall ride is pretty confidence inspiring. I forgot how much nicer and less twitchy it is to ride a carving/semi-DH setup versus a full on pumping setup. Each time down my very very mellow hill, I was pushing it a little bit more and picking up speed and carving harder. Eventually I got to the point where I could feel a tiny bit of drift in the rear. I wasn't trying to slide or do any Coleman maneuvers yet, but the little bit of drift felt very predictable. I think the wheels are starting to break in quite nicely.

[Arclite]

Well when i slid his 72a Avila's it was on asphalt, in the parking lot at my school.

AND WHAT DO THEY PAVE PARKING STRUCTURES WITH?!?!?!?

It most certainly isnt cement...

I have noticed that (this is definitely a bad habit, i think) using your right hand to pull on your front truck to make the rear truck fish tail around to stop is very helpful.

(If you're doing a heel side slide and you're regular, which i believe you are)

I'm waiting for someone to SKOOL me on why that's probably a bad thing.

Once you can stop with it, it becomes very natural to control it and to drift, however, you need a lot of speed to drift, as most gets burned off.

A little OT (with some thread-jacking on the side) :

Tryed the Sashimi with the R-II 180 50*

Holy Bejezus, pumpable, carvable, turny, amazing!

Can't wait to get some Paris 150's on it.

[KingCrimson]

I'm a self proclaimed concrete nerd. I love the stuff.

Fun trivia time: concrete and cement aren't the same.

Cement is sort of the "flour" in a concrete mix.

So, all the pale surfaces (sidewalks, driveways, garages) have cement, along with whatever added aggregate (sand, rocks, old concrete etc) the builder decided to mix in to make concrete.

Concrete can be rough and road rashing like sidewalks when it's either got a high coarse aggregate (mostly rocks) or wasn't smoothed well. Alternately, it can be smooth and relatively slick if it's mostly fine aggregate (sand) and it was polished well with a wet grinder afterwards.

I don't know why parking garages are so smooth, maybe it's so water beads up instead of soaking in and stinking since it won't dry up very well.

So if it's white, it's probably concrete. More fun facts, you can roughly date concrete by its color if you're in southern California. Some old concrete had a relatively high content of ground up recycled bricks (bad material to use near an active fault, go figure) so it was sort of salmon colored. You can see lots of examples of this in Baldy's lift towers.