LDP experiment

**Everett McCord** · 10-04-2008 09:13 AM

That thing looks sweet, very good idea with the pressed blank, never really thought about that.

**geolemon** · 10-04-2008 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by pavedwave

Just over this decade many have decided on a rock-hard concave slalom board to pump through the cones, with much success, relying on the shape of the board to hold them in place, and increasing gravity with steeper courses year by year.

That is interesting - but they also have shorter wheelbases - I wonder how the two play off each other, if they do?
I never thought about comparing an LDP-type board to a slalom board... but I DO wish there was some slalom activity in this area! I will at some point want to put a real slalom board together and buy some cones - but the idea is more smoke than stoke when I picture running through them all by myself in the street. For now - learning LDP!

Or MDP until I find a longer area, lol.

If you can get even some small degree of flex from the board by standing toward the center, you'll benefit tons more than if you ended up with too much of a noodle/trampoline feel. And as the quiver grows it's always nice to have an extra deck set up for heavier buddies to try out.

True - part of the reason for the width was due to some planned future cutting/surgury - want to make sure I've got enough meat left after that. But even still - I probably don't need to mention again that this thing is 7 ply maple, concave, and 11" wide... even if I removed 2 inches of real or effective width I bet I'd still have quite a rigid board!

I'm right about 170 pounds, so this probably eventually will become a "heavier buddies" board.
Of course I say that before having actually set foot on it myself yet - so who knows?

**geolemon** · 10-04-2008 09:14 PM

Well, I got a test ride in today!

Some of you know, I work as an advisor for a local public skatepark (and an instructor - I teach little kids beginner lessons) as my way of giving back to my skateboard community, and helping new kids along.
I took a kid's shift today, so I worked the skatepark for 6 hours today. Gave me the perfect opportunity to grip this board and set it up. I had to get a little creative with the grip tape since all I had was a sheet for a shortboard...

I set it up basically as it came off my Gravity Diamondtail - stacked Khiro wedges in the front and all.
So right now, it's got a LOT of wedging - meaning it's EASY to accellerate even with almost no speed.
It's a small skatepark, so not a lot of room to really get cruising - but I wonder still if my top speed might be limited because it's SO easy to turn this Bennett lock-to-lock right now. I think I'll replace one Khiro wedge with a stack of 1/8" risers and see how it changes.

As you can see in the pic a little bit, even with my 170 pounds on it, even in 11" width, it has a little bit of flex to it, I was pleased to discover! And you can see, it fits a size 10.5" foot well... next time I might go 10" in width, but it doesn't feel too large. I'm wondering if there's a little flex right at the bend of the nose - might be an illusion due to the unique feel.

And, the angle actually is pretty confortable. I probably wouldn't go any steeper, but if you ride a wide stance, it actually compliments the angles of your legs. And it doesn't penalize you if you move forward to really work that front truck when accellerating.

The park is small, there's not much room to really get going.
Tomorrow's ride on real streets should provide a little more info!
...but it was a ton of fun bringing it to the skatepark. Basically everyone wanted to give it a try - I think 4 or 5 of them actually got pumping too. So maybe THAT is a good sign too.

**dustm** · 10-05-2008 10:07 AM

Damn, sweet paint job! Sounds like you had some fun on it. I have found it to be true that more wedge in the front decreases your top pump speed like you are saying. Its all about finding a balance.

**geolemon** · 10-05-2008 09:43 PM

UGH! I had a BAD BAIL tonight... road rash, bad - had a car stop to ask if I was alright, if they could call for help... :-O

I brought my girlfriend, my board, and her rollerblades to a local scenic bike path for a first test.

Let me back up a sec also:
Last night, I made the decision to take one of the two stacked Khiro soft wedges out, suspecting maybe I had too MUCH wedging up front.
I replaced the wedge with a stack of two 1/8" flat riser pads, and didn't give it a second thought.

Back to today:
I got on my board, and gave it an initial pump across the parking lot to see if I gained any top speed (I didn't want to slow us down on the bike path). Well, suddenly I was lying on the parking lot with a huge tear in my jeans, bleeding from my knee where I used to have skin, and a nice hole in the palm of my hand. I went down so fast I don't remember falling - and I'm a veteran of falling (20+ years of shortboarding!).

Good thing I'm dating a nurse. No, really.

Anyway - cause: Wheelbite.
Wheelbite I didn't have yesterday!

So, I'm going to take a rotary rasp and carve out some deep wheelwells, just some ovals where the marks on the deck are, just for safety's sake.

THEN, round II of testing.

I have another picture to put up, of the assembled board, but I'll get that up next time...

**rodgon** · 10-06-2008 12:59 AM

a little bit of wedging does go a long way at stopping the turniness of the truck. sorry you had to fall man.

**geolemon** · 10-06-2008 11:17 AM

Modifications (hopefully) and pics when I get home this evening.
Also, an FYI about using the glitter spray, if anyone thought about using it on their own DIY:

It does make for a very cool finish. But despite what the can says about the particles being suspended in a "clear coat", that must be a term relative only to those using it to spray styrofoam balls or scrapbook pages - because with a little evening dew on my board, I put it down and had two fingers full of glitter. It's no "clear coat", that's for sure.

I'd definitely recommed an actual automotive clear-coat over the top of the glitter spray coats.

Another thing that might be fun to play with is fiberglass gel-coat - they make the big flakes specially designed for that stuff! If I do my next board as a composite, I might try to figure out how to incorporate that... or, maybe I'll just mix the flakes into the epoxy and pull vacuum in a bag - I wonder how a dry-pull would come out with glitter in the resin?

**geolemon** · 10-13-2008 04:15 PM

OK, not wanting to wheelbite again, I hogged out some really deep wheelwells - they are scooped out so that they eventually leave only the top ply of the board. I used a router for the first passes, and a rotary rasp to sort of smooth them out, but again keeping with the experiment theme opted not to really finish it off (no sanding, no filler, no smoothing, lol).

My how a paintjob goes bad quickly... I primed and painted the new wounds quickly in my garage to seal them off and even had paint runs. I set it up at the skatepark, and there was this permanent marker there...

Well, anyway - I definitely cured it of wheelbite, and I enlongated the wheelwells strategicaly (using touchdown and measurements) to allow me to still play with the wheelbase options without biting.

I'm still lacking a "real" LDP deck to use for comparison - who wants to sell me their Pulse or Mermaid?

**TIMORNE** · 10-13-2008 04:55 PM

Ouch,I feel your pain bro

**Redline** · 10-13-2008 05:10 PM

Your pic don't work...

**Everett McCord** · 10-13-2008 08:20 PM

If you are looking for an excelent ldp of the pulse/mermaid shape then ya should check out a carbonated skates. Just pm dustm and see what he can do for you. I must say that my slippery green pumping machine is one of my favorite boards to ride.

**geolemon** · 10-13-2008 09:24 PM

Pic didn't work before? Works on my screen... Hm.
Here it is again "how a good paint job goes bad" lol... cavernous wheelwells do strange things to the imagination:

If it doesn't work, you can click the little thumbnail below...

**TM_Cruzer** · 10-13-2008 09:27 PM

lol, that is AWESOME!

**geolemon** · 10-14-2008 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by ***TWITCH***

If you are looking for an excelent ldp of the pulse/mermaid shape then ya should check out a carbonated skates. Just pm dustm and see what he can do for you. I must say that my slippery green pumping machine is one of my favorite boards to ride.

Reasonable prices?
I definitely want a nice "reference" LDP - but I'm financially challenged in about 3 ways right now...
time to sell some stuff on Ebay I think!