How to tuck

[assumeivan]

Wouldn't riders be bulking up for downhill then?

[HerBDerb]

the weight thing drives me crazy, it does give you more momentum, but does not go faster, this is newtons law

That only applies to a vacuum.
It's called terminal velocity. The extra momentum helps overtake the air resistance.

[andrew_cruise]

ivan, usualy racers are pretty in shape as the lighter you are the less you drift in a corner becuase you have less momentum carrying you forwards.

how would some1 have the same tuck as another person who is 50 pounds heavier? is he eating lead? being fat slows you down as it is not as dense as bone or muscle so the more fit you are the faster you will be.

[bboomgaard]

Weight doesn't matter, density compared to air resistance matters. This determines the terminal velocity of an object, where the amount of air resistance becomes equal to the acceleration due to gravity. A dense object has a higher terminal velocity. Take a coffee filter, drop it. See how slow it falls? Take two and drop them together, the effect of air resistance is somewhat more negated due to the fact that it is more massive. This effect does come into play in downhill, but the other factors are just as important. (Now being as large as you can possibly be to fit in your leathers properly will help, but it would be more beneficial to have muscle than fat.)

Edit: somebody beat me to it, o well, I went into a little more detail

[Dash]

Like a lot of things, if you are in good shape you will be a better rider. Worry about being healthy and fit, not how much you weigh.

[Belak4life]

^^^True, I believe endurance is crucial to racing

[SgtSparkles]

fat equals bad tuck and inability to hold tucks over long distances

[mc99david]

the trouble with all this logic, is that a heavier rider also takes up more space, so worse wind resistance, so the momentum may be helping push through the air, but there is more resistance to push through... I have just found from riding with riders that are heavier than me. they dont excelerate faster, the only advantage they have is to carry that speed further in flats, and dont corner as well... the other thing is that its harder to draft off small riders, and small riders get a great draft off the bigger riders.

[T.V.A.R.]

the weight thing drives me crazy, it does give you more momentum, but does not go faster, this is newtons law

Thats newtons law in a resistancless vacuum. Believe me. I lost this argument a while ago. The increase in momentum essentially translates to faster when you add things like air resistance and rolling friction.

[Pat S]

My example with two people with same tuck etc but one guy is heavier was just an example to prove how weight affects speed. I know thats impossible, it was just to prove that point.

In corners, I know inertia dictates that you would drift more but the increased force of friction of the wheels also comes into play (F_friction=mass*gravity*coefficient of friction).

Since both momentum (Momentum=mass*velocity) and force of friction are linearly dependent to mass, mass can be assumed negligible.

[justgodown]

i cant explain why weight matters as well as pat s can, but i know that when i go to a race everyone there asks you how much you weigh. i wondered why everyone was asking other racers there weight so i asked a very expeirance rider, they said its becues "the heaver you are the faster you go".

i also know when i focues on getting my weight forward on the board i go faster.

just to add cretibility i did win a straght bomb at bonnelli this year.

i know weight dose not help you in the turns it causes you to drift more.

just go out and try it then tell me what you think.

this is a good silverfish conversation.

[Basch]

fat equals bad tuck and inability to hold tucks over long distances

I can hold a pretty good brazilian tuck for like forever. Brazilian style tucking is perfered when you are a bit bigger

[ksplash]

Heavy riders have an automatic advantage in downhill skateboarding.

the only advantage i can think of, as a studying physicist, is momentum. heavier riders will be harder to stop so they could potentially have a higher terminal velocity. though on the other hand someone who weighs less will have a smaller frame creating less surface area for air friction. so coming from a studying physicist, the difference between someone who weighs 120lbs and 220lbs will only make a difference if these two riders have exactly the same tuck and make exactly the same motions and corrections. Basically i'm saying that there are just too many variables for weight to be the defining one.

[Basch]

the difference between someone who weighs 120lbs and 220lbs will only make a difference if these two riders have exactly the same tuck and make exactly the same motions and corrections.

no it doesn't. I can outrun one of my tucked mates without even really tucking myself because he weighs about 130 lbs. We run almost the same setup wheel/bearing wise

[assumeivan]

I've skated with very small riders that were extremely fast.

[Pat S]

It's all about the ratio of weight to frontal surface area. The higher the ratio, the faster you are.

[justgodown]

you tuck still matters more then anything without a doubt.

micho is like 6,4 and weighs at least 200 pounds but he still gets one of the most tinyest and most compact tuck. that makes him one of the fastest riders out there. same with Eric Lumberg and K-rimes. They are all big guys that are able to get into tiny tucks.

they have alot of mass and little drag vs not as much mass and little drag.

most world cup chapions are heavy riders.....
fredrick linstorm
tom endsran
eric lumberg

ok just think about if you were at the to of a mile long hill and you put a 100 pound weight on one skateboard and a 150 pound weight on another skateboard and rolled them down the hill at the same time. all i can say is the one with the 150 weight gets to the bottom first.

[mc99david]

i've started doing a modified brazilian. instead of puting my knee on my board, i put it in the heal of my front shoe, seems to make it a bit more airo cause the knee falls in behind my foot and my legs stay lined up, and i can rest my chest on my front leg getting rid of the gap between, and i can hold it forever, its very comfortable.. its got a little more working out to do, but so far its working good

[bpz]

micho is like 6,4 and weighs at least 200 pounds

I don't think so...?

[the Kyle Seigler]

the only advantage i can think of, as a studying physicist, is momentum. heavier riders will be harder to stop so they could potentially have a higher terminal velocity. though on the other hand someone who weighs less will have a smaller frame creating less surface area for air friction. so coming from a studying physicist, the difference between someone who weighs 120lbs and 220lbs will only make a difference if these two riders have exactly the same tuck and make exactly the same motions and corrections. Basically i'm saying that there are just too many variables for weight to be the defining one.

If I'm not mistaken, all objects (in a vacuum) have the same terminal velocity, as it is mostly determined by the object toward which they are being pulled (a 100lb skater and a 130lb skater have negligible differences in gravitational pull--and that would be the only difference--remember that this is compared with the mass of the entire earth and its gravitational pull). I believe it's something around 9.3 meters per second (correct me if I'm wrong), so in an "ideal world" with no friction or air resistance we'd have an equation like this:

ideal terminal velocity as deflected horizontally = 9.3 meters per second x 1/(slope of hill)

because the board/rider would be dropping vertically at 9.3 meters per second and that velocity would deflect itself into a lateral motion determined by the slope of the hill. The hill's grade is factored in as an inverse because the difference from vertical is what's important here, not the slope off of horizontal. This is because the approach to terminal velocity uninhibited is vertical (or directly toward the source of gravity). No matter how much either object/skater weighs, the vertical drop would be the same rate. Because the hill in this case is also a constant, (constant) x (constant) = constant deflected terminal velocity.

The most relevant part of this is that because of friction, air resistance, cornering, and equipment, these are all theoretical arguments and no skater will be able to attain this velocity.

With these things factored in, if a heavier rider can tuck in a way which counters his increased drag more than his increased drag hurts him he will be faster. If he cannot tuck small and clean enough, then his weight will work against him. As someone stated before, your weight to drag ratio is the best determinant here. The person with the highest (weight)/(drag) will be the most efficient at getting their mass through the air.