Virage Slalom Trucks

**easy** · 03-14-2009 08:58 PM

Very nice! Which board is that going on?

**GPymp** · 03-14-2009 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by CarlTheSmokingCrab

You only bought one?

the wife just bought a H and K P30
I spent a couple of bucks for my trip to the Sizzler on the 28th
Then this Virage. I am tapped..for the moment.

**GPymp** · 03-14-2009 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by easy

Very nice! Which board is that going on?

hey Earl

the FullBag HS with a Splitfire Pro front.

**GPymp** · 03-16-2009 11:04 AM

Holy Cow! It sticks to the ground. Its on my FullBag Hybrid, rear PPS Racer X wheels and Garver Ceramic bearings. It allows me to go faster. (it is possible even for me) Now you guys with GOG Racer X rear trucks can already dial your boards to 18-20 degree dewedge.(Or you Mad Rad riders) I have just reached a new level of traction nirvana.

Ahh yes, I love the truck.

**JudgeK** · 03-16-2009 11:35 PM

So i guess the plan now is, Will Beat Borto...........

I found i am having trouble keeping the front wheels on the deck, gonna take some time to dial in correctly, also getting a touch of rear wheel bite, hopefully Venoms will sort that out, defeats the object to put more risers on.

**stridey** · 03-17-2009 01:47 AM

You may need 'some' riserage...the rear was designed to reduce the need on kick tail design boards to have a stack of angled risers and bent bolts. And as we are finding the leverage is great, so harder rear lower bushings in particular are needed. This leverage is also what is giving the grip. Modern slalom style is with your feet over the trucks and I found using a footblock so my foot could be over the front truck, rather than behind it helps plat the wheels down, The footblock saves you slipping (obviously!) but rather than mimic where you would normally plant your foot trying an inch or so further forward. I place footblock in line with my front bolt, some others use the bolt hole an 1" further forward.

Dont forget, the angle IS steep, its not designed to fit every persons preferences, Thats an impossiblity, but to reduce the need for lots of risers. But looking at what some pro racers use in hybrid and GS the Virage rear does mimic that angle well. Whilst adjustable trucks are an excellent idea I do feel there may be pluses in keeping things stiff with a conventional two piece design, and also lighter in weight. What i did notice was very few racers actually adjust their adjustables once they found a good angle. Also there is a bit of rattle on some trucks with sphericals, and even a small amount of movement between hanger and baseplate.

I am sure that riders will have their own ideas on setup, and I am really interested in hearing what works for individuals....

The Virage website Virage Trucks will be revised by midday today, with ordring info for Fronts, Rears and Risers...and Ts too.

**JudgeK** · 03-17-2009 02:17 AM

I have put a bit more angle into the rear, maybe to about 25 degrees, i still like a bit of rear turn/steer and will slowly work my way back to a lesser degree if needed, depends how fast i need to go. Have ordered a load of Venoms from blues to greens to work out a good combo. I love the V's on my downhill boards, yellow top green bottoms front and rear and i like a deadish rear on them too, 35 deg plates on my EVO (effective18 deg) and 28 deg on the D'seed. Don't get wobbles now but still have plenty of turn from the front.

I think i may need a 1/8 shocker plus a good 1/2 of flat riser on the tail, the front i hope will match nicely with the same set up. As a complete amateur who hopes to improve i would guess i could lower it all later. Thanks GPymp for the advice and Stridey i will keep you posted on all developement, Did you get my idea for a DH truck? or is it too daft to explore........lol Phil JK

**GPymp** · 03-17-2009 06:01 AM

Judge, I have a FullBag HS and in the rear I am only using one Khiro 7degree wedge. This doesnt make the truck flat but adds a degree or two negative wedge..
(Each board set up will be different in the rear. Axe, Skaterbuilt, PPS etc.)
At 210lbs, green (93a) Venoms Proto on the bottom and a red (90a) barrel on top.
If you are anywhere near my weight, try green/green in back. The rear is tight, so tight you are almost unable to move the truck up or down with your hand. (two fingers width between the board and the wheel. (PPS RacerX wheels in the rear)
The front is a Pro (bearing) Splifire. It has a blue (78a) Venom cone on the bottom, Khiro Bitch on top. (50 degree UB plate with a Khiro wedge) You can take one finger and easily move the front wheels loose.

I ride my TS with a little different set-up with a little more turn in the back for crazy cones the pro's set up here.

The hill I ride on is considered fast. (even with my slow mushy butt)

**stridey** · 03-17-2009 01:31 PM

The revised website is up and running..thankfully we don't have any photos of team 'flow' members Pelle Gustaffson (SWE) and Sam Gordon (UK).
We have an ad in the next Concrete Wave, and we are in teh Concrete Wave Buyers guide. These are NOT the ads!

This is:

**SamG** · 03-18-2009 03:09 PM

Keep having this crazy dream that it's a beautiful sunny day in Jurmala, Pelle has skated bravely in a tight slalom comp, but rightly gave up his first position in order to take in the stiletto scenery that bikinied down to the beach.

It could never happen.

He'd never wear a shirt in real life.

**BigDaddy@TactisSkates** · 03-18-2009 04:01 PM

I love it! more bored slalom skaters... making absolutely killer trucks...

Send me vendor info. and pricing... we will put them to the test

PM me

Dano

**JudgeK** · 03-22-2009 01:52 AM

Stridey, gave the rear a good session today, hitting the run of cones faster than ever, great confidence in the rears ability to stay stuck to the line. Had one scary moment, near washout but it all hung together. Good feedback from the guys, they say it feels 'weird' not turning just pivoting but love the look of the Virage. Running at about 20 degress feels best for me at present. Hopefully the front will arrive tomorrow. BTW felt so confident i ran the slow DH run we do, on the Pavel, no changes no problems and was being drafted by others!!! I think you should build DH trucks similar to the slaloms, they may not offer anything new, but #### they would look a million bucks and do the job they're designed for, a 35 degree rear and a 50 front would be the dogs with 200mm hangers. I know there are plenty precision trucks on the market, but market yours at the right price and they would sell, big time.

**stridey** · 03-22-2009 02:20 AM

Thats interesting feed back, You've probably found that stiffer bushing work well, and on the angulation if you have a kicktail rear design using straight risers will wedge the riser by the angle of the tail, taking the angle to nearer a real 70 degrees. But do look at the angles that Ramone and Dominick use on their GOGs, and I know Sam Gordon explains the modern style of slalom away from turny rears really well on the Silverfish thread here:
Oh my lord a 0* Base Plate

I think that being in Australia you may not benefit so much from the input we get in the UK...we see the way the Euros tweak and ride, and also have strong links to the US riders.. from that info we have our own style (?). Anyway, lets get you running an ideal setup with the Virages and see how you fare. I know Sam in particular studies techniques, with finness, where I tend to hammer a board through a course...

I hope that front gets to you very soon, Im running Blue Elims, no lower washer, Sam is lighter and running white Khiro barrels.

**JudgeK** · 03-22-2009 03:35 AM

Yea i'm running white Khiros on front Tracker and yellow Venoms in the rear Virage, feels good to me. i know what you mean about studying styles, i now ride with my feet fully in the board and at 45deg which has much improved my speed and pump, also stopped me toeing cones. I am a rank amateur and have a #### load to learn, and having not competed against our best i have no idea where i stand, tht i will resolve in September when i have learnt a bit more. DH is still my main passion and i still need to learn more there too.

**GPymp** · 03-22-2009 09:22 AM

nice..I am an amature too. Lowly and ranked...smelling.

Traction Jackson action figure comes with every rear truck.

**SamG** · 03-22-2009 04:35 PM

Hi Judge K,

Sounds like you are doing exactly the right things.

Here's a few general setup suggestions:

If you prefer a quicker turning front truck to see you rapidly around the cones then you could do a lot worse than running a pair of Khiro barrels up front as below:

I weigh around 65 kilos, or 10.5 stone, and this combination seems to work pretty well for flat ground pumping with cones spaced at 6 foot and above. The front truck, with it's baseplate angle of 55 degrees, is mounted on a Pavel Pirnack. This deck has a slight upturn in the nose so that it naturally adds about 3-5 degrees to the existing angle, so making an angle closer to 60 degrees:

If you can lay your hands on a Khiro wedge set, or have a regular wedged riser to hand, then try running these up front. The Virage baseplate is already prewedged, so it is not necessary to angle too steeply. Try gentle increments until you feel comfortable with its response. The angle in the above image is a rough visual guide.

You will find that the washer on the top of the top bushing (if the truck is upside down) will act as a natural turn limiter. If you are hitting the buffers too harshly then tighten the kingpin bolt a little. It's best to run the truck with zero play between the bushings and spherical pivot. If you have to crank down too harshly on the Khiro whites for any reason, eg: front end seems to twitchy, running the board on a slope or weigh greater than 65 kilos, then change out the bushings for something stiffer, one at a time. The next stage up might be to take off the bottom bushing collar/ washer (again looking at the truck upside down) and put in a blue Venom Eliminator with the curved away centre facing the spherical bearing. If again this seems too loose then put the collar back on. For stability at greater speed and for the heavier rider, then run two Venom blue Eliminators on the front truck with the collar removed. Initial turn will be good with the wider portion of the bushing causing progressive ramping and rebound. If Venom bushings are not readily available, then use similar Khiro barrel product. Again, if on a hill, you might want to run the front truck flat or with a slight reverse wedge to take out some of the rapid steering.

As regards the rear truck, on my Pavel Pirnack the unit is seated on the kicktail of the deck. In this instance I have added 5 degrees and a 5mm riser in order to reduce steering and to prevent the possibility of wheelbite:

Again this is a setup for riding on the flat through six-foot-plus cone spacing. It works out to being roughly 75 degrees. For similar courses on a slope then it would be good to consider wedging the truck so that the baseplate is horizontal. This will help prevent the board's tail-end turning too sharply and causing oversteer. With the kingpin becoming more vertical, the effective pressure on the bushings is greater because the lever is more linear. In this situation you might want to run stiffer bushings to conteract the greater leverage.

Currently I'm running two Venom pink barrels, but for a more taut setup try running a Venom Eliminator on the bottom such as the green. The wider bushing should help prevent the hanger turning too far. If this is not available then a Khiro purple barrel is a good option. In the pictures above, I am running a narrow washer on the top. Using the wider provided with the truck will stiffen the ride further.

Let us know how you get on and do post if you discover any other bushing alchemy!

Sam

**JudgeK** · 03-23-2009 02:58 AM

Sam thanks for the info. I would love a Pirnack!!! The Roadster will do fine at the mo' . My rear is set very similar, but flat to the tail angle. I run white Khiros in the tracker on the front, jeez i'm being repetitive, and i weigh close on 115kg. I love bullying the board thru' the cones and find the harder i go the better it is. I quite like the loose feeling, it encourages me to push more. I think the front Virage will work well for me, i have some blue Venoms i want to try, i jjust hope the V's take a barrel and a hi cone on the KP. The Trackers wouldn't!!! I'll let u know what happens. I wanna be able to wiggle butt, nope that don't sound right, i wanna kick butt by wiggling mine.....

**dozerdoggie** · 03-23-2009 04:24 AM

8o8o....................

**SamG** · 03-23-2009 06:10 PM

The Pirnack is a great deck, having spoon shapes in both tip and tail to help lock in the feet. The Roadster is a modern classic, being race proven from LA to Oz. Can't go wrong on a deck like that; right, Mr Pice!

You have the rear Virage set up as intended. What you'll find with the front Tracker is that it'll get better and better the older it gets, steering really well when wedged steeply. Check out how Ramon Koenigshausen used to wedge his. Then one day you'll take it apart to change pivot cup and realize that the reason it works so well is that the pivot pin has worn down, steepening the steering angle and has shaped itself perfectly to the aluminium cup interior. When it goes past this phase and needs to be replaced, it takes forever wondering why new ones never go as well as the old ones that are hovering on the edge of the sell-by date. Bit like us old skaters, really.

The Virage front should be great for faster hills and a bit of GS, having a Randal-like forward-facing kingpin layout. Might just be the trick to take on Haggy Strom or Steve Daddow. Those guys are fast at all times on all courses.
Go get 'em!

Sam