Question on airflows and splitfires

Yatchie · Question on airflows and splitfires

First off, I am a long time reader first time poster on this site. I have basically followed the instructions on pavedwave and went ahead and ordered a subsonic pulse. 6 weeks later, I cannot be more pleased with how awesome pumping is, especially with my old pumping deck as bad as it was (but that’s for another time).

Right now im am riding an indy on the back of my pulse and I get excessive sliding, better described as drifting. I don’t know, maybe im pumping way to hard, but at a certain point I cant go much faster because my turn is limited by the drifting and it slows me down. So my question is will spending the extra few dollars to get an airflow help with this problem?

I ask this because as James pointed out splitfires helped him stick turns much better than other trucks.

Also, if it would be a good idea to switch over, what are your recommendations on airflows to replace 130mm indies?

Thank you guys for all the great information you provide….

stocago

You could try dewedging your rear truck a bit more first.

What wheels are you using?

You might try a Seismic Stable-Turn, before plucking down the extra cash on a precision truck.

Yatchie

i have lemon bigzigs front and lime in back and i think my dewedging is fine but i will be willing to give that a try once i get my wedging kit in a few days.

stocago

Try dewedging the back truck 2,3 or even 5 degrees more. Your wheels should be grippy enough, but you could probably find grippier ones. Getting a Seismic rear truck made the most difference for me.

egret

Where'd you find old school mounting Indy's? I want some

rodgon

ok so i also would like to know...

performance wise whats the benefit of the Airflow? can it be used as a front truck as well? or just for a back truck?

if used for the front what the benefit over a bennet?

pavedwave

(premise: the splitfire is basically identical to the airflow...)

right off the bat, the first most obvious benefit of the Split over Bennett is the front kingpin clearance. that's why I rode a split front the first two years of the STP, because of the unpredictable rocks and chunks of tar in the road that I thought might hang up on the bennett and pitch me off the board. however, I rode the bennett on that ride this year and it was fine, so this is a questionable "benefit".

the biggest benefit is you'll probably feel 200% more confident at higher speeds, like in the 30mph--45mph range. that's where you have to really be on your game with the Bennett, and careful not to allow yourself to turn too sharply. the Split on the other hand doesn't "dive" as much, so it feels more stable at speeds.

for slalom mainly, the front splitfire, coupled with a randal 50 deg baseplate, has a nice, accurate feel, although once you've tried the fluid Radikal, it's hard to go back. Martin Drayton was running split front and back for a really long time, and that's what I was running all this year, though next year will be moving to a split-rear Radikal front.

Bullwings

^^^

Where can i get one of these trucks? Splitfires are no longer being made, and the only place i found Airflows at (Sk8kings) only has them in 95mm or 110mm. I'd preferably want something in the 125mm-130mm range for my front truck. That, and it seems like the Airflows are designed as a rear traction truck than a front pumping truck.

pavedwave

you can really only get splits used off someone else nowadays. but sk8kings is a good place to pick up airflows, and you use spacers to get the width you're after... from their site:

"SPECS: This truck is available in your choice of 95mm hanger width which can be spaced out to 114mm or 110mm hanger width which can be spaced out to 130mm."

you're right that most people have found them to excel as a rear traction truck, myself included. here's the pics I shot a couple years ago when trying to decide between a bennett front or splitfire front for a cross-state excursion, I think the kingpin clearance was 1/2" versus a full inch on the splits.

but the main thing was keeping the steep downhill sections under more control with more footbraking, probably around 25-30mph on the bennett front, rather than the 35-40mph I was comfortable with on the splits.

Bullwings

Will the airflows work as a front pumping truck?

If not, what will compare to the splitfires as a front pumping truck in terms of ease of pumping and more importantly stability? Also, is that a randal base plate with those splitfires? Think Randal 125s will be a close compromise?

As of now, i'm more than happy with my Seismics for my rear traction truck.

pavedwave