| Downhill Speed Equipment Most riders prefer a fairly stiff deck with a wheelbase of around 31 inches. I am currently riding a Kebbec drop-thru deck with Randal Downhills baseplate and RII hangars (pic, closeup) Many riders prefer a lower deck like a drop thru deck for easier footbraking, sliding, and stability. Safety: Highly recommend wearing leathers, sliding gloves, and full face helmet. |
| Technique Your weight should be biased towards the front truck. You should be in a relaxed forward stance. Don't worry too much about your tuck when starting. You should be balanced and comfortable. Work your way up the hill in increments. Get use to the speed and your setup. How do I prevent Wobbles? I have heard many theories (often conflicting or non-proven) regarding how wobbles get started and how to get rid of them. Here are some common advise on getting rid of wobs: tighten your truck, carve it out, keep you body loose to dampen the ocillation instead of panicking and tensing up. Flexy decks (lack of torsional rigidity) seems to add to the wobble problem. The other part of the secret to keeping the wobs away lies in truck design. Randal trucks have a reputation for being more 'wobbleproof' than conventional trucks. Randal trucks have little to no castor offset with the axle behind the kingpin placing more weight on the bushing instead of the pivot. The theory is that the bushing acts as a dampener preventing ocillation. (diagram by chaput) Randal RII's are popular carving trucks that offer good stability and/or tight turns (depending on your bushing setup). IMO, they are good for up to @30mph, but some do take it to high speeds. For serious bombing, I recommend Randal's Downhill trucks with its 35 degree pivot angle and zero castor offset. The truck is very slow turning at lower speed and "comes alive" when the speed picks up. It has a very stable ride without having to crank down on the bushings. The truck is very forgiving. Very popular trucks amongst speedboarders. Others also run Randal CompII - spinning axle, 35 degree, very slight castor offset Randal RII's - are meant for carving, but some like it for speed, 50 degree, slight castor offset Indys - 'dewedge' the rear truck, need special harder bushings, trucks are tighten down, do not run trucks loose. Lee Dansie runs Indys, but many riders don't trust these trucks. Check out www.ChrisChaput.com/randal/ for a guide to Randals Check out www.abec11.com's faq on truck design, click here See www.randal.com Various explanations of the wobbles collected from ncdsa. <archive> |
| Resources Dreg/Kebbek/Landyachtz/Bozi/Afroman/Comet Drop Thru decks (using rotozip) ChrisChaput.com HughR's skate page Randal Downhills - 35 deg, zero offset Wheels (larger for speed) Exkate 76,82mm Krypto 70,76,80,85mm Abec11 70,76,83,92,101mm |
| Check out sliding on my sliding page. Learn to slide before you bomb. |
| Links for Speedboarding ChrisChaput.com - tips, how-to www.geocities.com/wheelmanmike- good tips shnitzel.net - great videos, invented the R4 deck nuac.ca - canadian racing MarkGolter.com - good pics bikersherlock.com - the Sobe dude Manu Atuna - interview on ncdsa efarpe's site - south african riders d173.com - france asdownhill.ne1.net (aus-swiss) more pics links on my downhill pics page. |
| Bombing, Speed 101 |
 |