Skate boarding

[Johno]

Went out on my skate board last nite was zoomin down a hill picking up speed then i got the wobbles and nearly splatered myself all over the road.

do my trucks need tighting up or does it sound like my ballence is all to cock.

Also how do you drop in on a half pipe with out falling off, any advise tips and tricks would be appreciated

[tomcat360]

Dropping in, you gotta just commit and forget about pain. Just step and lean forward and keep the idea of slamming the front trucks down on the transition. It took me forever because I'm a pansy, but just like dropping in surfing, if you are stepping on the tail you are fleshed

And about speed wobbles, you are going to hate this answer but.....it's all in the head. What happens is the faster you go the more you tense up your ankles, knees, etc. When this happens, and the board moves a bit back and forth (left, right) you subconsciously try to correct it by moving back and forth. And back and forth. And so on and so forth till you are wobbling out of control. Some people claim that bending down and grabbing the board helps, I think this just makes a more spectacular wreck.

I like to just stand up, and chill out. I get out of my tuck, take a couple deep breaths, and chill before it gets out of hand. If it does get out of hand, sometimes you can miraculously work it out, but the times I've done that I didn't know how I did, haha. But the best idea at that time is to find something soft and get ready to get about 3 steps in before you smash your face into the ground. Hopefully its grass

[tomcat360]

Ok and here's another answer you might like a bit more. Softer wheels, you are less likely to start swaying, along with tighter trucks. So unless you can just push them with a finger or two and pivot the trucks they probably aren't too loose.

You skatin a longboard?

[Johno]

That sounds about wright, I rember when I was young and totaly stupid going down hills and not even worrying about falling off,

Am not clued up with board designs, its not a long board thow. Its got a incline both ends (double tail???) and i put my fast supper wheels on it from years ago

How can i over come the self conshesh wobble?

[Luke]

Also how do you drop in on a half pipe with out falling off, any advise tips and tricks would be appreciated

As tomcat said, if you haven't dropped in before, commitment is everything. I know it seems scarey at first, but it is one of those things that once you do it you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

Some tips though:
Lean well over you board as you do this bring you front foot up and stomp your front foot down (but not too hard), so you 'fall' into it, keeping your knees slightly bent for balance....it makes it nice and smooth. This is especially the case for larger mini ramps, where there's steeper transition.

DO NOT stand with your board over the coping for ages while you get pumped to do it...it makes it way more scarey!...also don't keep your front foot over the truck bolts while thinking about dropping on....the chances are that you'll doubt yourself and your weight will be too far back and you'll slam, or your board goes flying and you'll stay put....which makes you look like a ti t. (...like i did )

[gixer]

i see you live in cheshire...hook up with the mas guys and youll get some tips,regular meets at runcorn,stockport,blackpool,manchester..or if your over my way in north wales i can lend a hand good luck...oh and yes,tighten those truck

[tomcat360]

Longboards usually are grouped into longboards due to the truck design (made to turn!) instead of just sliding, grinding, etc. Also the wheels are bigger and softer. If you can see the board in my avatar that's what I race with sometimes, and I have a set of 75mm 72a 3DM Avalon wheels on it which are like riding on doughnuts. So you don't get much vibration out of the road.

[Johno]

Cheers for all the advise, My board isnt a long board it was £10 from JJB, the wheels were shxt so I put some good ones from years ago what make it fly,

Sounds like i need to chill out and relax, when riding were should i have my feet front over the trucks and back on the tail?

Gixer I live near Runcorn were you from in N/W am always flying down the A55 to HM if you ever want to catch a lift

[gixer]

im the other side of colwyn bay.....and i quite litrally have a skatepark at my back door ( look on the mas site under readers ramps/new little project) yeah a hookup would be good..let me know

[tomcat360]

Well when riding a longboard (fast) you want the bulk of your weight over the front foot. Shortboards you only want your foot on the tail before you are gonna do a trick.

I say you get your self a longboard Loads of fun, feel a bit like surfing, fast, use it like a vehicle, turn nice, smooth, etc.

[Johno]

Av been looking into getting a long board, when riding my short board my feet feel to close together, proberly coz am uset to surfing,

Av sin long boards on ebay for around £60 any good?? what should I look out for???

[Johno]

got the following link

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/38-Urban-Blue-Lon ... dZViewItem

Would they be any cheeper in Oz, I go at xmas for a holiday could fit one in me case

[tomcat360]

If you get this in time, this is a great deal.

Good website too.


www.whiskeymilitia.com

it changes items when they sell out, the one I was trying to show you was the Sector 9 for 90 bucks (americans)

[gixer]

got the following link

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/38-Urban-Blue-Lon ... dZViewItem

Would they be any cheeper in Oz, I go at xmas for a holiday could fit one in me case

dont bother,i had one like it,soggy and slow..i noticed that boardrider in abersoch had some canadian maple longboards in for 60 squid,a better bet....but expect to have to change the wheels.....

[Johno]

Thats what i found with my £10 board from JJB, it hardly rolled and was bad bad slowput my old wheels on it (not got a clue what they are) and now it flys

Cheers for the advise

Can you make a long board out of marin ply, av got some 20mm thick stuf at home and some old big trucks??

[tomcat360]

Ooo now we're talkin!

I've built probably 20-30 boards. Sold all the ones I like (of course) except one which is really ugly though. Yeah the one in my avatar I built. It actually has rocker and concave.

But expect some failures, some delams, some breaks, and some that just suck.

The way to really (easily) do it is with a vacuum bag and shape an inverse mold out of insulation foam, then use thin sheets of ply (baltic birch 1/8" is the cheapest good stuff) or hardwood 1/16" maple veneer, but that's pricey. Pressing the blanks is the hard part, cutting, routing, drilling, painting, and gripping is the easy part.