freebord as a longboard

[todd1]

has any tried to use the freebord as just a longboard. I tried raising the center wheel but itwont raise high enough. I dont want to take the whole center part out, but i'm curious how it would ride with such huge long trucks. Any one have any ideas.

[d.max.atx]

It seems to me that it would be a very immobile ride...the trucks are probably too wide and ungainly to allow for good carving. The whole system operates around the extra degree of freedom that the middle wheels provide, leading me to think that without them, it would be a very stiff, straight ride. I read on the forum somewhere that somebody was buying freebord decks for low prices and turning them into longboards, but they were using conventional trucks. That may ride okay, but I don't think that cruising the freebord trucks alone without the center wheels would be much fun.

[Anonymous]

I cruise fb as a longboard if my friend is riding my longboard or something. Its really stable on a mellow cruise and you can get some pretty deep carves in with the leverage of skyhooks. I can take out the center wheels and usually not not scrape the casters -it will work better with large edge wheels. I've never really gone over 20 mph in longboard mode.
Riding it the regular way is sweet after you get the hang of it. With skyhooks you get better more controlled slides and the ability to hold your edges to carve at high speed. I can cruise 35 mph on the fb way more confidently than i can on my 47" hypercarve w/ seismics. Plus stopping/speed conrol, looong drawn out powerslides, spins, airs, rails -alot is possible

bay area, CA freeborders go to the msgbord at freebord.com and shout-there are tons of people down to ride -weve got south bay east bay, berkely, SF all scoped out for downhill
i will ride with longboarders or and type of rider just ask

[d.max.atx]

scrub, are you the same guy that gets hated on in the Flowlab message boards for your Freebord comments? I was checking that forum out a few days ago, and man, you guys are rough over there!

[R]

What are those stock bearings they put in the edge wheels on the FB? abec negative 7! sheesh! their slow.

[freeborder]

i never had a problem with the stock bearings. but i replaced them with independant bearins. every time i take the center wheels off, the casters hit the ground.

[XLR8R]

Ok, I've been lookin at the vids of the freebord, and everytime someone carves, it seems to leave a lot of urethane on the ground, like a big white stripe of it. Does this board wear wheels down like no other? Or am I being over analytical? I think I'll ask for one on Christmas, thank the Lord I'm still young enough.

[zzzMarcus]

I've had one for awhile now, and while you will go through wheels faster than on a regular board, it's not as bad as you might think.

I'd say 5 months on a regularly ridden board might be possible.

[Docter M]

i was just thinking about this a while ago, and this is what i came up with:

the trucks probably aren't meant to be used as actual trucks, they're just there to allow an edge to carve with. so it probably wouldn't be a very good ride.

[rumplebuttskin]

They actually work ok. I completely removed the center wheels and their casters from one of my freebords because, um, I had two and even when I just took the wheel out the frame would still rub. It's just a nice solid cruiser, super stable for downhill stuff. The OEM wheels aren't very sticky though so it slides around a bit under heavy carve action. I'm still working on figuring out which hardware will allow me to put the center wheels back on since I trashed (purposefully) the big rivets getting them out.

Rumple

[n1ck]

I think they are slow for a reason.

But the centres should have top quality ABEC 7's to increase speed.