NOOB Questions Answered By Dopamine David

[jman1365]

of course on the trucks. they rattled when i rode.

okay, well I had asked it once already and just wanted to get that answered before we further diagnosed the problem
what wheels are you using?

[slide]

of course on the trucks. they rattled when i rode.

Does the rattle get worse and worse as speed increases, vibrating your entire setup? With a test spin does it makes a sound at every revolution? Spin it slow and it's like "duh.duh.duh.duh.duh." spin it fast and it's more like "du!du!du!du!du!du!?"

[slide]

My first duplicate. It feels about as satisfying as a broken hymen.

[brittjord]

baltic birch vs bamboo

[slide]

baltic birch vs bamboo

Trick question. The real answer is Canadian Maple because flex is for pussies.

Haha, just kidding, type birch and bamboo in the search thingy. It's been discussed many a time over and you'll get tons of info on the subject.

[jaredkent]

I hear things about water or getting your bearings wet is bad for them, I also hear people talking about practicing slides when its raining or wet out, or having rain boards. How much water is really bad for your bearings? Skating through a puddle? Skating an hour in the rain? Throwing your board in a lake?
Also when people talk about building rain boards, what do they mean? What are they doing or protecting on their board that they don't want their normal board to go through?
When do bearings need cleaning? I've heard "when they just feel gritty when riding" but like if I go out riding and my the outside faces of my bearings are covered in mud, how bad is this, if at all?

Last question. What is bearing cleaner? I see all these guides on how to clean your bearings but none really go into what to use as cleaner. I originally bought this but the tiny bottle doesn't seem like it would last very long. Am I supposed to dilute it or is it not bearing cleaner at all? And what other products work well as bearing cleaner.


I guess you can say I'm may be over paranoid about my bearings.

[slide]

Over paranoid? There's no such thing. With that in mind I would say clean them every time you get them wet or as soon as they feel slow. If you skate in the rain, clean them that night, or at the very least put a drop or two of speed cream in each one to displace the water until you clean them in the next day or two. Use pure acetone to clean them. You can also use pure acetone. Or for best results, use pure acetone. (Even if you have access to 100% lab grade alcohol, which doesn't dry as fast.) I clean my bearings with every 2 or 3 days I skate on them. It sounds like overkill but when you get the routine down it's just like taking a shower.

Here's some cleaning info -

Brian Holden - How to Clean Your Biltins

Bones Bearing Cleaning

Bearing Maintenance Support Bones Skateboard Bearings

Let me just make a few amendments to these videos. Rubber Nitrile gloves WILL NOT work to protect against acetone, almost nothing will. Also, don't use a hair dryer, I kind of think a blow dryer would contain dust, comprising the OCD level of cleanliness. So go with compressed air or just spin the bearing every couple of minutes for 10 minutes or so. Acetone evaporates fast, but make sure it's all gone. And if you insist on making a container (I just got the Bones. It lasts for who knows how long and laziness is priceless) use a plastic that says HDPE on the bottom (most resilient to acetone). The best container I found for this so far is Maalox. So pick up a bottle of that, get the rest of the stuff Brian said in the video and pick up some McDonalds on the way home so you have a reason to chug that bottle.

And rain boards? Hmmm, I think that pretty much means the deck is fully wrapped in fiberglass or carbon fiber. Or the deck is an expendable piece of shlt.

[notsogood]

Hey guys, I'm an ultra noob at longboarding. I skated "normal" (I'm not sure what the term is) boards for a while, but I'm deciding to switch over, or at least give it a try. So for now, Im going to need to know what board you guys reccomend. I would mostly be using it to go through the streets. I would like to be able to go down a hill, but basically, I just want to not have to stop and get off my board for anything, and keep going at a pretty good pace. I see some boards that seem to dip down where your feet go (http://www.thelongboardstore.com/lon...tural-complete), would these be good for me?

also trucks, please also reccomend a good pair of trucks to go along with the deck, along with the size and stuff.

Thanks

[copperdusk]

I know that you say ANY wheel can slide and I don't doubt that. What I'm wondering is: Will it be trickier to learn on softer(78a) wheels as opposed to hard(81a+)?

[Porterdisc]

Hey, quick question...my Nemesis comes in today with Paris 180's, equipped with the standard truck bushings! I will use this deck for small commuting, small hills and some general carving...I'm 6:2 and weigh 194 lbs. The skate store said that the Paris standard bushing will be fine based on my weight and what I'm going to do? Would my board be more lively if I switched to some lower duro bushings...like 87-88a venoms?? or should I just leave alone and enjoy? Thanks in avance!

[jaredkent]

I hear a lot of things about flipping the washers over on bushings what's the benefit to this?

I do this with my washers but i run a cone on the bottom and barrel on the top on the front truck (top being ground side, not sure if i got these right). The problem I'm seeing is my washer on my front truck is hitting and rubbing against my truck. It seems to have wore away some of the truck, how much of a problem is this? Should I put my washer back on correctly instead of upside down? Should I use a different size washer?

I'm also currently using my cone size washer flipped upside down on this problem bushing because I thought the smaller washer might stop the problem but its still there.

[jman1365]

I hear a lot of things about flipping the washers over on bushings what's the benefit to this?

I do this with my washers but i run a cone on the bottom and barrel on the top on the front truck (top being ground side, not sure if i got these right). The problem I'm seeing is my washer on my front truck is hitting and rubbing against my truck. It seems to have wore away some of the truck, how much of a problem is this? Should I put my washer back on correctly instead of upside down? Should I use a different size washer?

I'm also currently using my cone size washer flipped upside down on this problem bushing because I thought the smaller washer might stop the problem but its still there.

that's a problem that I've found with indy's,
I recommend running bones hardcore on top, this will be the quickest way to get rid of the problem and they feel really awesome in indys
if you don't want to do that than you should at least have a cone bushing of some sort up top and if you are using the cup washer make sure it's the smaller size and run it not flipped

[jaredkent]

that's a problem that I've found with indy's,
I recommend running bones hardcore on top, this will be the quickest way to get rid of the problem and they feel really awesome in indys
if you don't want to do that than you should at least have a cone bushing of some sort up top and if you are using the cup washer make sure it's the smaller size and run it not flipped

I'm running a cone up top on the back truck but the cone on the bottom up front. I skate mostly flat land, so while I'm learning how to pump I'm trying to make it as easy as possible. The cone on the bottom up front will give me a looser feel then the barrel on the back truck. Thats my only reason for it.

I'm just curious if its damaging my trucks and its something i should worry about.

[jman1365]

I'm running a cone up top on the back truck but the cone on the bottom up front. I skate mostly flat land, so while I'm learning how to pump I'm trying to make it as easy as possible. The cone on the bottom up front will give me a looser feel then the barrel on the back truck. Thats my only reason for it.

I'm just curious if its damaging my trucks and its something i should worry about.

I wouldn't be too worried about it, it's just gonna feel janky
get some more cone bushings

[jaredkent]

I wouldn't be too worried about it, it's just gonna feel janky
get some more cone bushings

yeah i haven't noticed a difference in my riding, it just clicks when i turn the truck

[Joey that guy]

Dumb question - Is it feasible let alone practical to re-bend an already cured board?

(Take into consideration the lack of a wood-workshop, so hand-tools and elbow grease)

[supfrsh15]

Hey, newbie here, looking to buy my first board just to cruise around on. im 230lbs and and looking one for under 200. thanks.

[ridetheicecoast]

Hey, newbie here, looking to buy my first board just to cruise around on. im 230lbs and and looking one for under 200. thanks.

i'd say to check out some sector nine boards, they tend to be less expensive then some other boards, and they are good cruzers. you sound like you are a bigger guy like me, im 6' 3'', 210, and i love to have a wider stance. you might want to check out the S9 bomb hills, good solid board, top mount deck, not much flex, but loosen up those trucks and its a super fun carver/cruzer

[unsunken]

Against my better judgment I picked up a NS Eclipse cause it was on sale. Turning is really hard so I was gonna loosen the trucks, but how do I tell when it's loose enough?

[ridetheicecoast]

Against my better judgment I picked up a NS Eclipse cause it was on sale. Turning is really hard so I was gonna loosen the trucks, but how do I tell when it's loose enough?

hop on, shift your weight back and forth to test them, and hell, if you would like them looser then you can get them, there are always the supercarve bushings that sell for like 6 bucks, real good rebound and super soft.