[Golden Ears]

Quote:

I've done a 85km/h ride once, on a downhill board. One of the most intense emotion I've ever felt. You feel naked, exposed to the elements. You try to get as low on the board as possible, trying to grab that last moment, to make it last. I was breathless when I got off the board, a few miles down. What an amazing souvenir...
 
That video sums it well :
 

 
It's sad about those power boards, they look like an awful lot of fun...

In 1981-1982 , Jimmy Rodrugen of Motoboard made me some custom Motoboards (compression braking, gas powered two wheel shaft driven with centrifugal clutch...bored and stroked them got nearly 3 horse power out of them Tanaka weed eater motors.. They would do 55mph when totally tuned for speed. I tossed the motoboard deck and rode a Madrid 36" with concave and Kryptonics 70mm  78a wheels (the rare wide slicks) .. Downside..only about 5 mm of axle clearance.. He made 3 of these boards- I bought two of them. Sketchy when you were going 50+  and you had to off throttle quick as it could destabilize the board- so you had the Christ air brake to drop the speed fast.
 
The boards  had too much torque and I would chew through the transmissions.. but they could climb the crap out of steep grades at speed.

 

[Podster]

Quote:

I've done a 85km/h ride once, on a downhill board. One of the most intense emotion I've ever felt. You feel naked, exposed to the elements. You try to get as low on the board as possible, trying to grab that last moment, to make it last. I was breathless when I got off the board, a few miles down. What an amazing souvenir...
 
That video sums it well :
 

 
It's sad about those power boards, they look like an awful lot of fun...

Nice Customcoco, this is a very peaceful clip

 I enjoyed your Tim Tam clip a few post up as well

 

[customcoco]

Quote:

Nice Customcoco, this is a very peaceful clip

 I enjoyed your Tim Tam clip a few post up as well

Thanks a lot !
 
It seems like we share some interest in sports (I'm also a poster in the bicycle fi thread...)
 
I'm not fan of Loaded's boards (they make some nice wheels though) but they certainly know how to make videos. They make youtube's player's suckitude bearable

---

Here are some other videos also made by Loaded or the great Steve Griggs :
 
Steve Griggs part 1:

 
Part 2 :
 

 
Another one :
 

 
And now some videos by Loaded (mostly old ones) :
 

 

 

 

 
Just tell me if you want more

 

[Podster]

Nice, I like the one where they are picking phat wheels like apples from the tree

 

[FluxMaven]

As a kid I always wanted a skateboard, but living on a gravel road and going to school in a small town with brick streets and degraded sidewalks, it never made sense to buy one. I recently met a girl that had just gotten a long board and it didn't take much convincing to talk me into buying one. I just picked up a Sector 9 complete and went skating with her. The first time we were just cruising around in a parking lot... Then we decided to go down a hill. It was a big ass hill. she was the first to wipe out. She managed to slide off into the grass. I kept going trying to ride it out until it flattened out at the bottom. I got a speed wobble and got real close and personal with the asphalt. Cut open my eyebrow, chin, elbow, knee, ripped open my shorts, shirt, and had a nice goose egg on my head. got up dusted off, found my board and glasses, and continued skating for a few minutes until we went to Taco Bell all bloody and dirty. Somehow it was one of the best weekends I have had this year. 

 

[customcoco]

What kind of board did you buy? Flexy, short long?

Did you have any kind of protection? Gloves, helmet etc....

I don't know if you have heard of freebords, but the kind of falls you can get from these is absolutely frightening...

 

[FluxMaven]

Quote:

What kind of board did you buy? Flexy, short long?

Did you have any kind of protection? Gloves, helmet etc....

I don't know if you have heard of freebords, but the kind of falls you can get from these is absolutely frightening...

Uhhh I don't know anything about skateboarding other than playing Tony Hawk pro skater for PS1 and I think mine is 40" long... It is pretty flexible and turns wide.
 
Protection... Ha I live in Kansas I dunt kno nuthin bout that... But really I need to pick up a set of longboarding gloves 
 
The fall I had was sketchy enough... I currently still live way out in the sticks so I only ride when I go into the "big city" lol 

 

[customcoco]

Quote:

Uhhh I don't know anything about skateboarding other than playing Tony Hawk pro skater for PS1 and I think mine is 40" long... It is pretty flexible and turns wide.
 
Protection... Ha I live in Kansas I dunt kno nuthin bout that... But really I need to pick up a set of longboarding gloves 
 
The fall I had was sketchy enough... I currently still live way out in the sticks so I only ride when I go into the "big city" lol 

Flexuble board aren't a very safe bet when it comes to go downhill without much experience (no offense to you). It takes a lot of skill to take them to a high speed while still being reasonably in control.
 
Oh and go pick some gloves (sliding or freeriding) and a helmet.

 

[Podster]

Flux, as a newbie I'll go one step further and suggest elbow/knee guards as well. As you and your lady friend have learned down hill is no joke, one can be hurt badly if not familiar with or protected with the proper gear! I second Customcoco on the flexy board it takes skillz and practice to master the art of the ride and fall should that come about, like learning to stop and turn on snow ski's so is the art of the proper body position for a fall from a board or bike even. Stiffer boards with stiffer springs is where I would start

 

[SageTheWizard]

Gonna be picking up a longboard for 30-40 bucks from a friend since he has a new one and never uses it... Abec 5's I think (looking to get some abec 7's) ... Awful wheels though, gonna need to order some better ones.

 

[customcoco]

Quote:

Abec 5's I think (looking to get some abec 7's) ... Awful wheels though, gonna need to order some better ones.

Abec bearing rating means nothing. Absolutely nothing about real world performance. Get some bones. Reds or super reds.

 

[customcoco]

Quote:

Flux, as a newbie I'll go one step further and suggest elbow/knee guards as well. As you and your lady friend have learned down hill is no joke, one can be hurt badly if not familiar with or protected with the proper gear! I second Customcoco on the flexy board it takes skillz and practice to master the art of the ride and fall should that come about, like learning to stop and turn on snow ski's so is the art of the proper body position for a fall from a board or bike even. Stiffer boards with stiffer springs is where I would start

I guess that you mean bushings? Springs are only on powerboards and some specialty trucks

 
And again, Downhill is an art. It takes skills, talent and a quite a bit of lunacy to get very fast on a skateboard. 
 
It also takes a very special set of gear. Very stiff dropped boards, larger trucks (with stiffer springs

) different wheels etc... And I'm not talking about audiophile splitting hairs kind of difference here, it would be more like comparing a range rover to an f1 car

.

 

[Podster]

Quote:

I guess that you mean bushings? Springs are only on powerboards and some specialty trucks

 
And again, Downhill is an art. It takes skills, talent and a quite a bit of lunacy to get very fast on a skateboard. 
 
It also takes a very special set of gear. Very stiff dropped boards, larger trucks (with stiffer springs

) different wheels etc... And I'm not talking about audiophile splitting hairs kind of difference here, it would be more like comparing a range rover to an f1 car

.

Yes custom, bad phrasing on my part! I meant bushings but was thinking of my Dirt Surfer which is springs when I was typing (hang him from the yard arm and give him 30 lashes)

 30 years ago my buds and I would take small boards and catamaran down wicked hills in full gear at the time and way before they had street gloves

 I don't even know if the youngsters today do this, we used to sit on our boards facing each other and put out feet on each others decks and control our boards with out hands out on the ends as we careened down these hills never separating until we finished the ride. When we hit the bottom and both boards were power sliding we would lean in and literally have our heads on each others shoulders through the slide but man what a rush having this much weight power sliding on two small boards. Good times

 

[SageTheWizard]

Hmm They're pretty cheap too... I might purchase them ... once I get new wheels.

 

[customcoco]

Quote:

Hmm They're pretty cheap too... I might purchase them ... once I get new wheels.

What are you looking for?