I have been reading and doing some rough design work, and while doing that I priced out some 6061 t-6 channel as well as 6061 & 50 series Al plate. The materials alone run nearly 200 smackers (not to mention machine shop work for the pan). Then I see rewsports luge (albiet boomless) for 250, I'm thinking buy the time I buy materials and screw up one chunk of Al i'm at or above 250.
So I pose this question: Rewsports or Body rocket. I realize the body rocket is more expensive, so is the cost difference worth the perfomance difference? Or should I go lally and pass it off when i get faster then the sled so to speak?
Also open for other sugestions.
Looking forward to seeing my first luge up-close this weekend.
Paul, Both perform similar. They are both from the original Bama Design. Bama sold Bodyrocket to Tim Cayer and Tim made some good changes. The lally board came after by Andy modifying the design a little. His is much lighter, but only because it uses less material. This is where the concern is. Although the designs are real similar you should notice the Lally board does not have Gussets sandwiching the channel stack. IT relies on the weld only. Now they are very good welds but Aluminum shows stress in the way of cracks, welds stress and crack sooner than the stock. Several of us have had mostly welded luges and after about 2 to 3 years of heavy use start to notice some significant spider cracks and end up adding gussets or retiring the luge. I didn't want an angled cut piece of channel stabing me in the back or balls. Bet you did't know this.. Tom Masons Rail made by Bob Pererya uses over sized gussets and NO welds, allowing it to be completely disassembled and stuffed in a golf flight bag.
Another reason Lally's is cheaper is because they make many at once and offer hardly any options. Tim's boards are custom fit and accesorized as you would like with alot of nice touches To include adjustable head rest and leg or foot pegs. So don't look so much for performance differences. The biggest performance tweak you can make is to yourself practicing. This is more important than wheels, bearings, trucks or the luge. Now don't get me wrong. A solid performing and reliable luge chassis is needed to go fast and stable, but the top 5 luges that people make are all just as good as the next in the speed and stabilty department. Each offers different features. The Lally boards best feature is it's price to performance ratio. You get a real great board so cheap that you can really leave the 2x4's and nails in the shed instead of making a death trap like most of us did the first time out.
bob
PS Washington Post Source section... 1/30/05 Have a look..
Is there a site for the bodyrocket? The only one I found were instructions on how to build one.
Not that I am aware of. The Body Rocket was being built and sold by Tim Cayer of irssports.com. He may still have pieces left, you can try to contact him.
Lally vs. Bodyrocket
Linear Mode
