Thrasher speedboard article

[rwadley]

Is anyone willing to scan the September 1983 Thrasher speedboard article written by Bob DeNike? I have the article, but cannot scan it. It is outdated for the most part, but it gives an idea of how far speedboarding has come in the last twenty something years.

[JBH]

Is anyone willing to scan the September 1983 Thrasher speedboard article written by Bob DeNike? I have the article, but cannot scan it. It is outdated for the most part, but it gives an idea of how far speedboarding has come in the last twenty something years.

Here you go, RW.

[rwadley]

thank you so very much. you made my day.

[wizzle]

awesome, thanks.

[SpookTheHamster]

Wow, it's funny reading all the recommendations. <160mm trucks, 30" boards, those guys are insane.

[Slim]

Wow, it's funny reading all the recommendations. <160mm trucks, 30" boards, those guys are insane.

Well, back then the downhill boards may have been like 30" but the trucks were mounted almost all the way to the ends so you'd still have like at least a 22" or 23" wheelbase. Kind of like a lot of giant slalom boards now days I guess. Of course I'm not saying I'd choose my 33" with 22" wheelbase pocketpistol as a serious downhilll racing board but I'd probably survive moderate speeds ok if I set it up right (tightened the trucks a bit, ha!)

As for trucks, aren't the Randal DH 160mm?

[tsmith25]

whats cool to me is that style wedging is still really common today. its how my board is. and many people run the dh rear base with r2 front which is similar.

[JBH]

Well, back then the downhill boards may have been like 30" but the trucks were mounted almost all the way to the ends so you'd still have like at least a 22" or 23" wheelbase. Kind of like a lot of giant slalom boards now days I guess. Of course I'm not saying I'd choose my 33" with 22" wheelbase pocketpistol as a serious downhilll racing board but I'd probably survive moderate speeds ok if I set it up right (tightened the trucks a bit, ha!)

Another thing is that many of the races back then seem to have been relatively short, almost sprints, in the neighborhood of maybe 20-40 second times. Capitola Classic and Laguna Seca come to mind. (Slim, did you ever go to Capitola back when they had those races there?) So having a relatively short, lightweight board probably helped a lot to get off the line quickly. John Hutson, the winningest downhiller ever, also rode pretty short boards, even at Signal Hill. He was known as a killer drafter and tactician, but I also seem to recall him saying that he liked a short, lightweight board because it allowed him to get a fast start if he needed to.