Downhill Questions

[Hawthorne]

Hey my first post and all, but i've head and read alot about these forums so i thought id ask a question here for you all.

I love downhill longboarding really, no question about it, i don't like to dance, do silly slides, and other such things, i just like to go out with a couple of friends and bomb hills as fast as i can. I've been doing it for a year now, having great fun.

Anyway, the question is. I'm 5ft 11, and weight just under 8 stone (50kg+/- or something) (i used to be anorexic) And i find it hard to gain weight. The problem i'm having is that, i can push as hard as other on a hill, and have a super speed tight tuck. But i'll never go as fast as they can, and i thought it maybe my weight, considering everyone has at least 2 stone more weight than me. Maybe that extra weight, gives them more momentum and speed that of someone my weight?

Here is my setup:

Landyachtz Drop Wedge
Seismic Speed Vent 80a 85mm
Bones Swiss Bearings
Fasttracker trucks

and i have full helmet and leathers etc. I'm struggling to find an answer to this problem. And how i can become faster, and get more out of a downhil experience, i mean i've never even had speed wobble and i've bombed hills at 47mph+.

Thanks in advance for any help you give on this

[Kevin in Edmonton]

I have the same problem too. I'm an 100 pound kid bombing with people that are about 150-215 pounds most of the time. Weight does make a difference going downhill, I know it.


Wanna keep up with them? Draft. Draft, get behind em and cut down your air resistance.

Hope it helps.

[Hawthorne]

I have the same problem too. I'm an 100 pound kid bombing with people that are about 150-215 pounds most of the time. Weight does make a difference going downhill, I know it.


Wanna keep up with them? Draft. Draft, get behind em and cut down your air resistance.

Hope it helps.

Yeah, me and a friend were thinking of mounting lead weight into our leathers. Or somehow making ourselfs heavier and faster.
Although being xmas soon, we can eat like kings everyday and get fat :P Hopefully!

[RodRod]

I have the same problem too. I'm an 100 pound kid bombing with people that are about 150-215 pounds most of the time. Weight does make a difference going downhill, I know it.


Wanna keep up with them? Draft. Draft, get behind em and cut down your air resistance.

Hope it helps.

exactly what i was gonna say. stay low and draft right on their ### .you will keep up.

while your not skating....eat a lot and lift weights. gain some muscle weight that will help your momentum 8)

but i have seen heavier guys get beat by lighter guys, like some colorado riders, calvin staub (lightweight) beat zak maytum (heavier than calvin) at an outlaw race in pretty much every heat and zak is a dam good rider

[eye_candy]

hmmm... i had the same problem, i weigh 110-115 ish, but i have adjusted my tuck, and drafting is also extremely helpful

[Hawthorne]

exactly what i was gonna say. stay low and draft right on their ### .you will keep up.

while your not skating....eat a lot and lift weights. gain some muscle weight that will help your momentum 8)

but i have seen heavier guys get beat by lighter guys, like some colorado riders, calvin staub (lightweight) beat zak maytum (heavier than calvin) at an outlaw race in pretty much every heat and zak is a dam good rider

I have agree being light is helpful, but there is no point being super quick and nifty round corners when everyones at the bottom of the hill just as you get to the first slope.

[eye_candy]

exactly what i was gonna say. stay low and draft right on their ### .you will keep up.

while your not skating....eat a lot and lift weights. gain some muscle weight that will help your momentum 8)

yes, due to it beign sports season here i have gained probably 10ish pounds of muscle mass,

definetly eat and work out, its goood for u

[RodRod]

I have agree being light is helpful, but there is no point being super quick and nifty round corners when everyones at the bottom of the hill just as you get to the first slope.

i was saying that the lighter rider won the race.
just commit and have fun..that's the point right? winning is just a bonus to the never ending stoke of downhill skating.

[miSSionary]

Agreed on the draft. Try a 75mm/80A wheel. I understand my advice makes no sense but something strange in my head (or one of the many voices in there) is telling me you should give this idea a try.

[William Richards]

Gaining muscle weight will help, but any weight will do. Drafting is a good idea. Eat cereal with half and half milk. I did it when I was 11 on my cousins ranch for summer every day for breakfast. Man that puts weight on ya. Get a heavier deck like a Demonseed.

[Hawthorne]

Agreed on the draft. Try a 75mm/80A wheel. I understand my advice makes no sense but something strange in my head (or one of the many voices in there) is telling me you should give this idea a try.

Yeah my new xmas setup is going to be:
Demonseed
Bear Smokey
Builtins
Tunnel Turantula 70mm's

See if that works or, some 74mm Seismic speed vents.

Yeah i'm not trying to win anything, i'm just getting annoyed that i can't keep up with everyone on the downhil, so when i get to the bottom i have no stoke, im just bummed out that i was 20meters behind everyone... and not fast enough to even get in there draft.
And i know im crazy fast on the downhill, it's just their crazy faster =/

[gabetar]

Don't put smokies on a demonseed!

[Hawthorne]

Don't put smokies on a demonseed!

errrr, why?

[miSSionary]

Yeah my new xmas setup is going to be:
Demonseed
Bear Smokey
Builtins
Tunnel Turantula 70mm's

See if that works or, some 74mm Seismic speed vents.

Yeah i'm not trying to win anything, i'm just getting annoyed that i can't keep up with everyone on the downhil, so when i get to the bottom i have no stoke, im just bummed out that i was 20meters behind everyone... and not fast enough to even get in there draft.
And i know im crazy fast on the downhill, it's just their crazy faster =/

Sweet on the new ride idea! I am 130lbs wet and a tall 5'7". I am NOT fast compared to the coloRADo crew but that is because they are all so talented here... Anywhoo, I have found that at my weight the 70mm and 75mm wheels are actually faster than the 85mm wheels (not that this is entirely true but my thought is that the 75 and 70 will get to speed faster while the 85 will fight to get the momentum and then you are done with the run when it is finally there with the 85). I have also found this to be kind of true using a 80a when others (heavier than me) are running 83a's (I believe this to be true because at our weight we can keep the 80a better pegged to the ground). I do still run 83a because I like the fun they provide in the turns.

[William Richards]

Agreed on the draft. Try a 75mm/80A wheel. I understand my advice makes no sense but something strange in my head (or one of the many voices in there) is telling me you should give this idea a try.

Yeah my new xmas setup is going to be:
Demonseed
Bear Smokey
Builtins
Tunnel Turantula 70mm's

See if that works or, some 74mm Seismic speed vents.

Yeah i'm not trying to win anything, i'm just getting annoyed that i can't keep up with everyone on the downhil, so when i get to the bottom i have no stoke, im just bummed out that i was 20meters behind everyone... and not fast enough to even get in there draft.
And i know im crazy fast on the downhill, it's just their crazy faster =/

Dont worry dude. As long as you are having fun on the sessions and on the quest to get faster. We have a dude that skates some serious fast hills with us and where the people who weigh 180 plus get up to 60 mph he gets about 53 to 55 mph at 117 lbs. He wants to go faster.
Missionary has a good point use a harder duro. I suggest retro 70mm limes or lemmons. I'm currently using some 70mm orange 86a on my Evo and love the drift. As for bearings everyone has thier favorites but I'd suggest some bones swiss six the guys on team bombsquad use them. I use BSB inline skate bearings grade 7 or 9 and they serve me well.

[Hawthorne]

Dont worry dude. As long as you are having fun on the sessions and on the quest to get faster. We have a dude that skates some serious fast hills with us and where the people who weigh 180 plus get up to 60 mph he gets about 53 to 55 mph at 117 lbs. He wants to go faster.
Missionary has a good point use a harder duro. I suggest retro 70mm limes or lemmons. I'm currently using some 70mm orange 86a on my Evo and love the drift. As for bearings everyone has thier favorites but I'd suggest some bones swiss six the guys on team bombsquad use them. I use BSB inline skate bearings grade 7 or 9 and they serve me well.

All advice taken, much appreciated.
Also, im not one for sliding or drifting to much. I like to stick to the ground as much as i can. Enless it's a comfy drift that im used too. Drafting is always fun, and im keen to do more. Bare in mind guys, im from England So our roads are different (wet/dry/wet/dry weather makes the tarmac/concrete set in different ways so, things respond differently over here too, not that i've expeirenced any foreign roads, but my guess is that yours are alot easier and better to skate

[mattyoaks]

Lighter guys are usually quicker in the corners I think..? Any truth to this?

But you have to be aware of them coming past so you can be on there ass asap. I skate with a heavier guy who comes by usually too quickly to jump in his draft unless you are really quick about it, otherwise he´s gone!

[gabetar]

errrr, why?

WAY too low, not enough leverage, it won't turn well at all, etc.

[BoardDuDE630]

its true weight helps in dh but there is a point where it matters less about weight and more about your tuck.
one of the guys i skate with is literally 2 times my size but i still beat him. the other day me and him were both skatin down a hill and goin the same speed right next to each other.
Im the smallest guy outta my group of friends but still the fastest (drafting off of them helps and so does my evo)

if you can i suggest trying sector 9 race formulas specifically the 77mm 81a the faste wheels ive ridden

[DPerjar]

Don't worry about it. And don't buy a demonseed because it weighs more, that's quite possibly one of the dumbest things I've heard.