Riding on wet pavement

Batalero · Riding on wet pavement

A few months ago I asked James Peters how he handles LDP when the road is wet , here is his answer ;

-" All i really do in the rain is pump a lot less aggressively, and push a lot more. i'm hoping for next rainy season, to make some grooves in a set of pink gumballs for better traction, and see how that works.

still, wet equals slippery no matter what, so basically I still have to get out and ride, in order to keep my sanity, but just can't pump as hard. "

I hope it helps .

Sylvain

pavedwave

man, anyone who pumps in the rain is kooky

;-p

mrgumdropman · pumping in rain

pumping in rain bad idea. it makes my 78a wheels feel like 99a and unexpected slides happen alot

dmccoach

Yup - was out the other day after a rian - semi-wet trail - pumping along, but conscious of the reduced traction, but not certain of where the "let go" point was... carved one too hard and on my arse I went...

Actually, I went doen on my hip-bone...

just be careful when wet

ZapZang

I was pumping over a pedestrian bridge over the highway in the rain last week ... thought I had it under control but then hit a patch of paint where they'd covered over some graffiti and BAM I was down, right over a large highway full of rush hour traffic. I got some honks ... just sat there for a sec and laughed.

(and then later my bearings all had to get spun out in solvent and reoiled cause they were starting to rust ...)

But the week before went miles in the pouring rain through a nature reserve trail, didnt eat it once and all my bearings were fine even though I was leaving a wake behind me ... I think never stopping was the key there, the spinning wheels didnt let any water creep into the bearings. Of course my two friends did both eat it on a wet bridge trying to carve/pump on wet wood ... they slid and skipped like four times longer than a normal wipe due to the reduced friction though, so it looked worse than usual but did less damage.

Good times.

dmccoach

Well I did it again - I actually rode in the rain the other day - real stupid - I mean I am riding and conscious of the potential to fall and telling myself to take it easy...

Well in spite of my best efforts I hit a puddle and I went down hard (off to the side at speed) and rolled - the kind of fall that causes you to say to yorself on the way down (before you hit) - Like "OH $&)! this is gonna leave a mark..."

Two days later and my hip looked like a "Rorschach inkblot test..." - all nice and purple and red and splotched. I asked my wife - what does this look like to you? --- Not very romantic - she didn't dig it.

These solid wheels on boards are not Michelins w/rain grooves - they hydroplane real easy.

That's it I'm done - I am swearing off wet pavement - that's twice this summer I went down due to wet pavement - if it's wet - I pick up the board and walk...

LD skater since 1971

How about the landyachtz wet hogs
http://www.landyachtz.com/D26.cfm?PID=141&place=1

Or use a 72 or 75 duro wheel and cut a cross hatching with also 2 or 3 large groves in the wheel with a lathe.
Like this R/C car tire lathe they make arbors for 1/8th scale cars tires they are the same size as large skateboard wheels.
http://www.teamcobra.com/cobra/tirelathes.htm

So you get a flat groove and cross hatching verse a rounded cut you would get with a soldering iron. The flat cut give you 90 degree edge for the mechanical grip. The grooving disperses the water. The cross hatching give you the mechanical grip.

I have watched on Speed TV when they use to have World Rally Championship they would be grooving and cutting cross hatches in to the tires to make intermediate or extreme wet tires.

Or maybe small rubber rain tries might work also work.
this site has 70mm rubber shod aluminum rimmed skateboard wheels
it whole sale only.But they may sale to you or get you in contact with dealer.
http://www.yakresearch.com/a/yakskateboard.html

edp_swakakin

I know someone who has them Confused

But if I know him, his not about to go out in the rain to try them Smile

camel

Coat the outside of your installed bearings with petroleum jelly. It's nasty, but it makes for good rain bearings. They roll slower, but you aren't going to notice in the rain anyway. Cleans up like any other grease, mineral spirits. Don't forget the inside bearing as well.

LD skater since 1971

When I was younger my street skating buddies and I would take our old boards that tail was thin from ollieing. We mount old trucks and wheels and WD 40 the the bearings we would go rain skate boarding. We mostly would do really long TY slides or skate this bank at the escondido savings bank across the street we could drift slides across it. What was cool were learning more slide control and balance in the rain.

One time it was raining so hard in front of the skate shop the rain gutter was over flowing over the sidewalk. This skinny kid went of the sidewalk but he weigh about 80 lbs. his board floated and he surfed the rapids of the gutter.

But now to present it seems like you loose all that balance I have tried TY slides and down hill checking slide I eat crap every time.

Alec

Yeah! Ty slides Very Happy

LD skater since 1971

Wow!! Someone knows who the great Ty Page and his famous Ty slide is.
I had the privilege of getting to skate with Ty Page once. My friend Lynn Cooper, Victor Starr, and my sister and I were skating freestyle at the Los Angeles olympic hand ball courts in Torrance , Ca. Lynn also invited Russ Howell to skate with us because Victor was in town from Arizona their good friends. Russ walks up with a friend and it's Ty Page.

So we skated some freestyle and Lynn wanted to have a Ty slide contest on the slick cement. So Victor and my sister kept track of how far our slides were I did something like 10 feet. Russ did about 20 something feet. Lynn did about 30 something feet. Ty did about 45 feet slide. He had not skated much since the 70's because of family stuff he was also painting house for living back then.
But what was cool is he seemed so happy with his life was so centered is the only word I know how to explain it.
Just like Russ Howell is same way I don't know what it is about most of the pros from yesteryear. They are just honest to goodness nice people and not full of themselves.

Alec

Yeah, always felt that Ty was a very under-rated skater, not that I ever had the pleasure to skate with him like you.
He seemed to be one of the great innovators but not taken seriously seemingly because he was on the California Freeformer team.

A friend of mine had the Black Gold wheels, seem to remember they were pretty good.

gboom

I really like riding in the rain. It can get old after a few months of rain in the pacific NW, but my rolls rolls has rusty bearings that keep my speed in check. Oh, and foot braking is almost magical, kind of like sliding across a slippery floor with slippery socks. I always hum "foot braking in the rain" to the tune of singing in the rain. Think about it.

Also, if you have not tried skating with a nice big umbrella in some rain, give it a go. It is hoot. It can function like a sail or parachute and I have a theory that it could help with some pumping. Let me know Smile

LDPanda

I went out to a garage last night, figuring it would be dry enough to pump a couple laps. It was a little wet from cars dragging snow up, but it looked dry enough. I get around one lap with small conservative pumps and no problems, so I decide to step it up a notch. I get about 15 feet with a wider pump before my back wheels slide out and I hit the ground hard. I was wearing gloves and avoided any serious injury, but my elbow is pretty beat up. Im just wondering if theres anyway around this. Is it a wheel problem? Im running on lime bigzigs, is there something that would grip under slick conditions better? Would rain grooves even help in this situation (my understanding is they are for preventing hydroplaning, not really adding grip per se)? Would adjusting my back truck help anything? should I just suck it up and wear pads?

pavedwave

bummer Panda, hope that swellbow isn't too nasty. i've never really found that even grooved rain wheels will stick in the short-term, like short pumps. rain wheels work great for hooking back up on a long, sweeping turn, where you gradually get the wheels "back on track" after a slide. however, it seems like my pink 78a Gumballs and red 72a Avilas "stick" slightly better than harder duros -- but still, urethane and wet asphalt are just sketch.

Mark-- i can't say i love rain riding so much after this spring's Ultraskate, where we spent most of the time in the rain, sometimes torrential. i think it "ruined" me!! but still, the Rolls is a great board for that muck.

i think Eric is talking about the Landy Wet Hogs he left behind here... sorry Eric, I still haven't been out to test 'em, but I think you know why Embarassed

LDPanda

Would buying a 2pack of red avilas and keeping my bigzigs up front work? I dont really want to buy a full set of new wheels as my zigs only have about 60 miles on them, but id rather buy a 2pack of avilas than pads Smile

Theyre both 75mm so I dont see any reason it wouldnt work. I just dont know if it would be too big of a jump from 80a in front to 73a in back. Question

pavedwave

well the wheels would work just fine together, but I wouldn't say they'd replace the need for pads if you're really serious about this pumping in the rain thing!! Let me know if you're interested in a garage session, in case I get down to the parking garage one of these upcoming nights, or morning over the weekend, then you could at least try out the Avilas first to see how 'soft' they are.

LDPanda

So i braved the pavement today and did my usual 5 mile pump after work, just up and down a small stretch of the gilman trail. It was treacherous to say the least. Tiny pinecones, sticks, pens and all sorts of debris, wet leaves and wet pavement, not to mention a few rude bikers, good times Evil or Very Mad

I decided just to stick to a very small easy pump the whole way and managed to stay on the board the whole time. A little boring perhaps, but safe. I was a little tired at the end from doing the same pump the whole way, but not too bad overall, at least less painful than my garage sesh. Its just good to get out there and skate.

jat.