lordmetroland Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I'm planning on packing up the board to keep me occupied at night during a trip to Detroit next week. I'm a little worried though... I'm a little worried about you too, but pot holes may not rise to the top of the reasons list. Skateboarding + Detroit + night = ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted June 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I'm a little worried about you too, but pot holes may not rise to the top of the reasons list. Skateboarding + Detroit + night = ??? When I hit the post button it hit me just how incredibly brain-damaged that sounded! 15 years in a way too safe neighborhood in a way too safe town in a way too safe country has that effect I guess. There is a shopping mall behind my hotel with a gently sloping parking lot and I'm hoping on hitting that in the evening after the parking lot empties... and maybe loading a couple of lead bars in my wrist protectors :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted June 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 The best bet is to get used to pushing the board, then try pumping after watching a shit ton of videos to get you amped up. When you fail, come back and watch more videos with some booze. Pretty sure that I'll get the order of that wrong and try it after geting amped watching some videos and drinking a metric shit-ton of booze. Promise I will make sure I have a gopro available to record the results... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordmetroland Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 When I hit the post button it hit me just how incredibly brain-damaged that sounded! I thought I was pretty hard, skating the mean streets of Golden, CO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 I love Golden and always look forward to going back and visiting some of my best friends there! But yeah, if I valued my life or my wallet I'd much rather be boarding on East Colefax. Golden is way too crazy, gotta keep an eye on the thugs eating outside at Woody's. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordmetroland Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Golden is way too crazy, gotta keep an eye on the thugs eating outside at Woody's. :) Ho, that's the rough part of town. I don't mess with those Woody's boys. Me and my crew rep Sherpa House... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted June 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 YYEEESSSS!!! Tonight I think I was getting consecutive pumps in on a slight downhill. The acceleration was pretty minimal, but my impression was that I was getting a little sumptin outta it. More convincingly it felt like my body's motions were working against resistance on both the right and left pumps. It came down to trying pump #2 on that codepink video. Now that I'm a bit more comfortable on the board, the counter rotation doesn't seem to be as big of an issue and trying that pump #2 almost felt like poling on x-country skis, except the acceleration was lateral. Part of the solution for me was figuring out that my heel-side turns were week because I wasn't committing to throwing my weight over that side, the other part was just finding the right rhythm. Best of all, regardless of how it might look, it actually feels pretty sweet when things sync up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted June 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 I thought I could resist the temptation but I think I am screwed... Slowly but surely I'm starting to get the hang of some aspects of this longboarding. I'm not getting good really, just getting settled in. Tonight it was a little more practice with my x-country style ldp. If I could find some way of incorporating ski poles to the technique, I'm sure I could be hated even more than the roller ski dudes on the bike paths. I was also focusing on getting my CG lower to the board while carving and trying to really hang my weight over the side of the board to get nice deep turns. Hey presto! If I threw good sense to the wind I could get the back wheels to drift a bit. These are the orange In Heat wheels so the result was very reminiscent of the old C-64 floppy-drives (yes I'm that old). So now I'm thinking that maybe this drifting, skidding freestyle stuff could actually be within my meager ability to learn, and that yes, maybe I would give it a try and take the risk of leaving my children fatherless and my wife widowed. Actually after having tried cross-stepping, I think sliding is the safer of the two? So I'm seriously thinking of making some sliding gloves and getting a new set of wheels. The questions have now become: 1) What are a good set of wheels to learn sliding on, 2) How to best safely learn to slide? I want something I can still carve on, that's kind of what got me into longboarding in the first place, but that will start sliding without suddenly dumping me on my derrier. I'm kindof thinking of the purple o-tang Durian or Stimulus. I'm leaning towards the Stimulus since it's a smaller diameter (and hopefully a little slower than the durian)? But honestly I'm about as clueless as a carboard box without a candle stick, rope, lead pipe, knife and a revolver. God help me if I ever want to dink around with the bushings... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breeseomatic Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 I thought I could resist the temptation but I think I am screwed... Slowly but surely I'm starting to get the hang of some aspects of this longboarding. I'm not getting good really, just getting settled in. Tonight it was a little more practice with my x-country style ldp. If I could find some way of incorporating ski poles to the technique, I'm sure I could be hated even more than the roller ski dudes on the bike paths. I was also focusing on getting my CG lower to the board while carving and trying to really hang my weight over the side of the board to get nice deep turns. Hey presto! If I threw good sense to the wind I could get the back wheels to drift a bit. These are the orange In Heat wheels so the result was very reminiscent of the old C-64 floppy-drives (yes I'm that old). So now I'm thinking that maybe this drifting, skidding freestyle stuff could actually be within my meager ability to learn, and that yes, maybe I would give it a try and take the risk of leaving my children fatherless and my wife widowed. Actually after having tried cross-stepping, I think sliding is the safer of the two? So I'm seriously thinking of making some sliding gloves and getting a new set of wheels. The questions have now become: 1) What are a good set of wheels to learn sliding on, 2) How to best safely learn to slide? I want something I can still carve on, that's kind of what got me into longboarding in the first place, but that will start sliding without suddenly dumping me on my derrier. I'm kindof thinking of the purple o-tang Durian or Stimulus. I'm leaning towards the Stimulus since it's a smaller diameter (and hopefully a little slower than the durian)? But honestly I'm about as clueless as a carboard box without a candle stick, rope, lead pipe, knife and a revolver. God help me if I ever want to dink around with the bushings... Look up kahuna stick... There are some pretty cool moves you can do with the stick, it mostly looks to mimic the paddle from a SUP, but probably not as functional since you don't need a second "rudder" on the cement with a long board. Cool looking none-the-less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breeseomatic Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Sliding and Drifting: I used some ABEC 11 70's Flashbacks in 84a. Wheel durometer is tricky since the softer wheels are more comfortable when they slide, take more speed and input to make them slide, however, they break away more linear. Harder wheels are easier to slide, but a little bumpy and choppy when they are sliding and they break away really quick, but at a lower speed. The gods of stand up slides in the skate crew out here use 78a, complete noobs are on 84/86a and the intermediates are on 81A. Generally any offset style, hard as rocks wheels will be good to start, you'll be spending a lot of money on wheels, so keep trying different ones to get the slide that you like. Slide gloves are a must. You can make slide gloves for $20. To learn, you can look up all the tutorials on YouTube for "Pendy slides". Typically heel-side is easier since you can see where you are going and if you catch a wheel, you are going to be moving in the direction that your feet and legs like to run. Toe-side slides risk head and back injury, so try those after you can safely do heel side slides. Gentle slopes with no gravel/debris and wide smooth surfaces are ideal. Sliding/drifting is kind of cool, especially when you have parking garages around and a group of friends all just messing around, but alone or just learning, it's boring as hell. LDP and Paddling will be your best off-season training. Freeriding down some hills can be very expressive and gratifying, the entry to that caliber of skating takes a LOT of time. Sliding and carving are mutually exclusive at your skill level. Right now, you need a long board with high grip wheels and trucks that turn for carving and LDP, and the exact opposite for sliding. Wheelbase has a direct effect on the slide and effort required to break the wheels loose. You want the wheels to be close to your feet since you can un-weight the front or rear by shifting your weight over the other wheels. Try that on an LDP/Paddle board and not enough weight will transfer. A good skater will take every point I type and prove me wrong, as a self proclaimed noob, I think my points are valid as I am speaking from experience as a noob that gave up freeriding and downhill to just enjoy paddling and short LDP session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordmetroland Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 I'm kindof thinking of the purple o-tang Durian or Stimulus. I'm leaning towards the Stimulus since it's a smaller diameter (and hopefully a little slower than the durian)? This whole thread may be a case of the Noobs Leading The Noobs. I'm a fan of the Loaded/Paris/Otang axis. I've had 4Prez, Stimulus and InHeat wheels, multiple sets of the first two, in multiple duros. But I probably won't buy another set of Otang wheels, especially for mild freeride. I may be in the minority, but I just don't like the feel of their wheels for that application. They don't seem to break free that easily and the slides feel a bit choppy. I've got a set of Blood Orange Liam Morgan 65mm that I really like quite a bit, a set of Duval Hurrithane 65mms that are a bit more squirrely and some Cloud Ride Ozone Minis on the way. What you'll probably find is that everybody has different preferences when it comes to wheels, but for learning to slide, you'll probably want rounded lips, stone ground surface, a big core, a narrow profile (less contact to have to overcome) and possibly centerset hubs, somewhere in the 81-86a range. Higher duros can feel icy and put your coccyx in peril. Like carving, sliding is a skill that some people are just better at. Adam Colton busts off some big slides on a 55" Loaded Dancer with 78a InHeats that, to this day, mystify me. I make myself feel better by saying he's little. I don't even know if that's true. But the me feeling better part is definitely true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lafcadio Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 This whole thread may be a case of the Noobs Leading The Noobs. I think you're totally right about the Noobs leading the Noobs in this tread! And here's another noob about to jump in with an answer. My super awesome local skate shop recommended I start with Stimulus 86a (yellow), which is the hardest in the Otang line, to learn how to slide. I totally trust the shop owner who hasn't steered me wrong yet. That said, I've also taken lessons with him so he knows me and my abilities, which perhaps factored into the recommendation. I really do think that hard wheels are the way to go when learning. Grippy wheels are great for speed and distance, but it seems like it would make sliding much more difficult, especially when learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lafcadio Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 I'm kindof thinking of the purple o-tang Durian or Stimulus. I'm leaning towards the Stimulus since it's a smaller diameter (and hopefully a little slower than the durian)? But honestly I'm about as clueless as a carboard box without a candle stick, rope, lead pipe, knife and a revolver. Probably either the Durian or Stimulus would be okay as they're similar, with the Stimulus being smaller diameter. I would stick with either the Purple (83a) or Yellow (86a). When I first tried to slide (Coleman Slide) I had really grippy wheels which was difficult to learn on. I could eventually get the board to slide, but it wasn't pretty. When I tried again with the Purple Stimulus (also different board) I noticed it was a smoother easier slide. The transition from rolling to sliding was more predictable. My local skate shop recommended I try the yellow Stimulus and suggested it would be even easier for me. Good luck and make sure you post an update on progress and what worked! And please don't try any of this without slide gloves! They're a must! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 I have the in heats on my LDP board as recommended by the shop, they are built to grip not slide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted June 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 Probably either the Durian or Stimulus would be okay as they're similar, with the Stimulus being smaller diameter. I would stick with either the Purple (83a) or Yellow (86a). When I first tried to slide (Coleman Slide) I had really grippy wheels which was difficult to learn on. I could eventually get the board to slide, but it wasn't pretty. When I tried again with the Purple Stimulus (also different board) I noticed it was a smoother easier slide. The transition from rolling to sliding was more predictable. My local skate shop recommended I try the yellow Stimulus and suggested it would be even easier for me. Good luck and make sure you post an update on progress and what worked! And please don't try any of this without slide gloves! They're a must! Good video, will definitely make some gloves, get some wheels and try this out when I get to Detroit. I have the in heats on my LDP board as recommended by the shop, they are built to grip not slide. I think at my stage, my biggest enemy is that the more I learn on the board, the more stuff I find that I want to try. I'm hoping to avoid a multi-board skateboard quiver, so a couple sets of wheels (one super grippy and one slidey) and a good wrench are what I'm counting on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordmetroland Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 I'm hoping to avoid a multi-board skateboard quiver, so a couple sets of wheels (one super grippy and one slidey) and a good wrench are what I'm counting on. That's just the Voice Of Reason talking. You should try to ignore it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svr Posted June 8, 2015 Report Share Posted June 8, 2015 I can relate to the wanting more things out of your skate experience and as you can see in my earlier post, I went from a carving/cruising board to three different boards... I have since sold the Landyachtz Osteon and scaled back my expectations for DH as the turn and slide body positioning and weighting is significantly different than snowboarding and even with some guidance and help from the local shop guys, I have still ended up with some very good road rash and bruised ego. From what I have gathered from my friends that DH skate and my own new experiences is that the weighting for sliding at speed is the exact opposite of weighting and turning/slashing on a snowboard and surfboard. Not bad, just different and I understand more now how skaters who have crossed over to snowboarding talk about their learning issues. I also found through both the shop recommendations and riding the different wheels that the harder ones (like the durian's from otang) do work better for noob sliders, but a wheel like the keanu's is actually a better wheel to learn sliding on as the core is thicker than the durian's and this helps for noob's. Not sure if that helps, but this is what I have learned and even with knee/elbow pads, helmet, and sliding gloves I still have taken a few nasty tumbles where I should have probably worn my spine protector as I tried to do a stand-up toe slide and ended up going over backwards at about 25 mph. After a lot of discussion with my skate friends who were there, this was all caused by three things: 1. I put too much weight on my back foot trying to force the slide like I would on a snowboard and surfboard. 2. By shifting my weight backwards, I lost the steering capability of the skateboard and got massive speed wooble. 3. Tackling a slope that was, in hindsight, way beyond my current level of ability. Luckily, no major damage other than some nice strawberry looking road rash,a destroyed t-shirt and pair of shorts from rubbing and sliding across the pavement. Anyways, I digress, but all of the above have been the lessons that I have learned thru my new skate experiences. I love my loaded for cruising and getting some pretty good rides around town and the parks that give me some of the joys of snowboarding, but DH and speed are something that I am evaluating as my 40+ year old body does not recover as quickly as it used to and my priority is still snowboarding and I would hate to have a summer alternative cause me an injury that will impact my winter. cheers, sandy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted June 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Well, I got to Detroit safe and sound and had some yellow stimulus wheels waiting for me. I also found out that my longboard at home didn't fit in my bag, so I stripped the trucks and purchased a clapped out longboard here. So now I'm the proud owner of a quiver with 1.5 boards. My Detroit board is pretty polar opposite from the Vanguard having a dropped deck, dropthrough truck mounts and slidey wheels, about the same length though. I took it to the parking lot of a nearby mall and fiddled around a bit with it. My first impression was that it has a much tighter turn radius, and it feels like a piece of cake to hold my balance on it. Really pleasant and if I tried carving at faster (pushable) speeds, it would drift a little bit, kind of like a freestyle snowboard. Trying some of my neophyte LDP flails was laughable and just made the back slide around a bit. Having binged on all of the Coleman slide videos on youtube I was pretty confidant that I was ready to give that a try. Take on the slide gloves, push the board to a slowish pace, crouch down and rotate my knees to the nose while putting my front hand on the ground and trying drop my but in a kind of sitting position. Aaaannndd.I just continue going forward in a straight line, while my front hand (the one on the ground) slowly keeps sliding farther and farther away from the board until my front hip starts grinding on the pavement. No turn, no slide, just a hole in my shorts. Several further attempts just result in the same. Hmm, back to the drawing board. One thing that I will say about Detroit is that the potholes are MONUMENTAL. Yes they deserve all caps, they are that impressive. And they are everywhere and they will stop my poor skateboard dead in it tracks. Hilarity for all around me I am sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Start turning abrupt first then slide. Not other way round. Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lafcadio Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 Start turning abrupt first then slide. Not other way round. +1 Yes! Not sure if it was in the video I linked, but somewhere I read a tutorial stating start by practicing turns and gradually get the turns tighter and tighter... while getting low on the board and into position. Eventually the wheels will start to slide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted June 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 +1 Yes! Not sure if it was in the video I linked, but somewhere I read a tutorial stating start by practicing turns and gradually get the turns tighter and tighter... while getting low on the board and into position. Eventually the wheels will start to slide. +1 to everyone on this. I've been practicing getting lower and just trying to "super-carve" instead of slide. This way I am able to get the board to skids out and slide to a stop, but it is still just a small slide, but it is repeatable. Can't wait to get back to Norway to practice a bit more. The streets in Detroit are completely bombed out with potholes and cracks that are designed to swallow up skateboard wheels. The entire outside of my left leg/hip is sanded down quite well after three weeks out here. The longboard has started a few interesting conversations at the hotel in Detroit. Met one person from Germany that hard-boots on snowboards and became interested in longboarding for summer cross-training, and a few other people that are now interested in trying longboarding, but more importantly got a bit stoked on hard-boot snowboards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted August 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2015 Sorry to resurrect a dead thread (no I'm not), but I've finally ridden my Detroit board in Norway. I must have learned something dodging potholes and cracks on the Detroit streets since I'm now carving on all kinds of stuff at home that I couldn't before. I'm kind of getting comfortable (in a noob way) with speed-checking via sliding on the yellow stimulus wheels, so I have to say I've neglected my LDP practicing for more down-hillish riding. A total blast! Tonight I've been doing some riding on neighborhood streets that were terrifying to me a couple of months ago and I actually felt that I had a bit of an alpine-snowboard groove going on. My usual alpine check-list was going through my head and the relaxed hand placement, counter rotation avoidance, and committing to the turn (the biggest thing for me) were all factors in keeping a good flow. After having invested a little bit on time on the longboards, I'm pretty surprised to find that there are remarkable similarities between snowboarding and longboarding (including sliding), but a lot of that is strongly influenced by the selection of wheels/bushings. I'm definitely glad I've taken this up and I'm pretty positive that it will have a good effect on my snowboarding this winter! Oh yeah, the best part of my stay in Detroit was being an old dude getting kicked out of a shopping mall. I was approached by a mall-cop that was perhaps half my age. He looked really uncomfortable telling me that I couldn't skate around the shopping mall and had to leave. He was relieved that I was polite about the whole thing. When I asked him where else I could skate he just kind of chuckled and said, "You mean without potholes and cracks in the street? Man, this is Detroit!" Oh yeah, I splurged on a new set of Paris trucks so the quiver of 1.5 boards is a solid 2. Which is good since I have to constantly loan a board out to my oldest daughter now. She's a skier and she got inline skates, but I really think she's a snowboarder at heart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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