I speculated before about using a shlong for LDP (without cutouts, of course), because that design has inherent wedging built into the trucks - and for LDP, you built up quite a bit of wedging.
Yet all LDP boards seem to be flat (not counting any camber).
So, I thought that warranted an experimental build.
How about building an LDP shape, with an upturned bend just aft of the front truck for a little inherent wedging (and maybe a more comfy place to put your foot where it's less likely to slide off the nose)? Edit: I nearly forgot to mention the side-benefit of having the front area behind the front trucks dropped lower a bit, making it easier to step off and push when you do need to... or even just to get going.
Since this is an experiment, I didn't want to go through all the expense and hassle of buying good veneers, epoxy, 'bagging supplies, designing and building a press, etc...
So, I started with this, from Eastbilt
It's 48" long, almost 13" wide, and has 29" between the kicknose and kicktail.
Good experiment material for $30 and I can just watch TV until it arrives...
[whistles while I wait]
In all seriousness, it's pretty close to what I would have pressed myself. I probably would have gone for 5 plies rather than 7. I might or might not have done a concave with that 5 ply. I might have gone a touch steeper on the nose. But really, not far off.
I ordered it Friday, it showed up yesterday (Tuesday). Can't ask for much better than that!
Tuesday I spent some time laying out a basic shape that I had been pondering, and the drill patterns.
This evening after work, I made some tweaks to the final shape, added the hourglass, refined the nose, etc.
After about 15 minutes with the jigsaw and maybe another quick 15 on the upright belt sander, this is what I have so far:
As you can see, I gave it a tail for doing manuals. Or... I doubt very much I'll be able to ollie this beast - but if I could ollie up a curb even that would enhance the places I could do some LDP with this thing! Hello, downtown!
It's about 42" long, and 11" wide. I gave it a bit of wheelbase adjustment - two locations in the back, and four up and down the nose. Wheelbase range can be anywhere from about 27" to 29.5", measured from the inside truck mounting holes.
I probably should stain this thing... I'm not going to go crazy, probably not even do much more sanding - this is an experiment after all. If it works, I'll build a "real" version, right?
I'd do a cool color, but where do you get funky colored stain?
Looks pretty innovative, I just think its a bit big for pumping, might've wanted to find a way to cut off some of the extra space on the nose and tail (unless you find it functional).
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I like the shape and the idea. I had a board with an upturned nose that I made into a ldp. It was not as extreme as yours though. I found that to keep the wheels from biting I had to wedge it way up anyway since the board is on a downslope where the wheels come back and up in a turn. In addition with my front foot angled forward I got some serious arch cramps on the transition from flat to nose. On yours though it looks like your whole foot would fit on the nose kick, and with the front truck mounted way forward you may get an effective drop. Interested to hear how it does since you may not have the problems I did!
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it kinda reminds me of it..from the shape..
keep us updated man.
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Looks pretty innovative, I just think its a bit big for pumping, might've wanted to find a way to cut off some of the extra space on the nose and tail (unless you find it functional).
There isn't much extra space on the nose... I wanted to leave a tad up front for maybe doing a nose manual... but then laughed at myself, picturing my loose Bennett with the 73A Khiros in it.
The width up there is because that's where you stand - right over the truck bolts.
And the tail is because I'm one of the many people who pop up on threads and say "...what about [a deck like that] with a kick tail?" In my case, it's because I love to manual, know how to ollie, and know how to ride through and over large obstacles by unweighting my front wheels. So I figure - what's a tail going to hurt?
It is definitely on the massive side - 11" is wide, 10" is probably where I should be with it - but I figure if I start wide, I can always trim... can't do that if you cut it narrow then want it wider though.
11" was actually decided by standing on it and leveraging back and forth with my size 10.5's, feeling where my foot pressed - I do want to maximize leverage.
I may mount it up and figure out where I have wheelbite, then take the grinder to it and cut out wheelwells that come almost all the way through the board.. we'll see!
What is that - fabric dye? Like RIT dye? Get it at a fabric store like JoAnne fabrics I presume?
Hmm... That can't make for an actual seal though, right? What do you do, clearcoat over it?
geole, will be uber interested in how this works out!! I think that flat rear mount is on the right track...
attached are a couple shots of that Afroman I told you about. i drilled a couple sets of holes in both nose and tail and made my own wood wedge for the rear + a single khiro wedge, but basically all it did was slightly dewedge and bring the truck to the same level as the bottom of the deck (keeping everything as low as possible)
i just never got this one to work well but mainly because i moved onto other things at the time, this was about the time Sheldon got his Bustin so I wanted to try something similar, a lowered deck that still pumped well. had a randal 150 on the front and dewedged indy 139 on the rear. wheelbase was 31.5" which was about 2-3" too big, if I dug this one out again I'd drill a wheelbase just before the kicktail on the flat section.
i think your bennett front and either seismic or tracker rear will be better, the rest will just be wedge and bushing tinkering. Will be watching!
geole, will be uber interested in how this works out!! I think that flat rear mount is on the right track...
attached are a couple shots of that Afroman I told you about. i drilled a couple sets of holes in both nose and tail and made my own wood wedge for the rear + a single khiro wedge, but basically all it did was slightly dewedge and bring the truck to the same level as the bottom of the deck (keeping everything as low as possible)
i just never got this one to work well but mainly because i moved onto other things at the time, this was about the time Sheldon got his Bustin so I wanted to try something similar, a lowered deck that still pumped well. had a randal 150 on the front and dewedged indy 139 on the rear. wheelbase was 31.5" which was about 2-3" too big, if I dug this one out again I'd drill a wheelbase just before the kicktail on the flat section.
i think your bennett front and either seismic or tracker rear will be better, the rest will just be wedge and bushing tinkering. Will be watching!
Thanks - I sent you a PM - there's another experimental aspect that I want to do to this...
Might save it for (should save it for, Dr. Scientist says) a round II modification to this deck.
For now, I might paint this and give it a ride.
It's very rigid as-is, as you might expect an 11" wide, concave, 7-ply maple board to be... I'm pondering routering through two plies. between the wheelbase. Thoughts?
Interesting on the big wedge on the back - I can see how that would help drop the whole deck surface. I won't get discouraged that THAT one didn't work out, even in your expert hands.. (oh god! noooo!!!!)
What's your opinion on pumping a board that's rigid like this?
Bear in mind my ONLY point of reference comes from 20 years of riding shortboards in skateparks... and one summer with a Gravity 35" Diamondtail (which seems to have nice flex).
I found an obnoxious lime green color, and then coated it with both gold and silver glitter spray. It should be a paint job worthy of an old-school so cal lowrider impala.
Not that I've done a particularly good job of my painting - in fact I tried to paint it in my basement, despite it raining (not good, humidity)... I did at least prime the board - in fact I used a whole can.
I have an exhaust fan down there, but forgot to open any windows down there...
One whole can of primer, and 2/3 of my can of paint (final coat of paint went on before I came to work, along with two coats of glitter coat ), and my girlfriend called me at about 9pm last night...
"Uh, honey.... I'm feeling a little woozy. Actually, maybe it WOULD be a good idea to get a coffee..."
Respirators aren't any good when you fill the house with fumes and forget to open any windows!
Good thing I don't do drugs... I don't have any extra brain cells to spare.
Good thing I don't smoke - there might have been a mushroom cloud!
Anyway...
I've just got to give the top side it's glitter coats, and it should dry quick enough that I can at least get some pictures up tonight. I've even got some grip tape to get it set up.
What's your opinion on pumping a board that's rigid like this?
Bear in mind my ONLY point of reference comes from 20 years of riding shortboards in skateparks... and one summer with a Gravity 35" Diamondtail (which seems to have nice flex).
It's a really good idea to have a strong, snappy center from nose to tail, whether the board is designed for LDP or for slalom.
In a slalom pumper there's a finer line between "rigid" and "slight flex". 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. Obviously there's a lot of pool influence in this-- the best racers in the world shred the parks as well!
Picking just the right line downhill through the cones and learning to shave speed and time a small "snap" around corners has become just as if not more important than the raw ability to pump, in the more energy-intensive sense. It's quite different from the pump of a flexier / snappier board for generating speed over long distance flats. Not only have pump boards evolved but pump techniques continue to evolve.
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.
LDP experiment
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