pavedwave longboarding

samhell · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 66 Location: San Diego, CA USA

I just hooked up with Ben from Grombiz and got a set of his
new Special Ops trucks. I think these are going to hold
great possibilities for LDP. I will be doing a full test and review
very, very, soon.. These trucks are beautiful and I think
I'm really going to dig these, the adjustment possibilities
are about as wide as you could want.
I'm running my Big Zigs inverted for narrower track width,
the axles are 135mm by themselves. With the wheels inverted
it's closer to a 125mm truck. I'll be giving my full thoughts.

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galaclandsurfing dot com

pavedwave · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1120 Location: seattle wa usa

these look promising John, looking forward to hearing more!

there's supposed to be a couple of these floating around the NW with a couple of the NWLB crew, I'm trying to get my hands on 'em over this winter break.

they look totally different from their first versions. wicked.

Belegnole · Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 86 Location: Appleton, Wisconsin

Yes, I have been wondering with the adjustability of these, how well they would work for LDP. I had thought they might work well for a all around board if nothing else. Adjust for going down hills, then readjust for some pumping on the flats. No disassembly or shimming, just do it on the fly.
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No matter where you go, there you are....

pavedwave · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1120 Location: seattle wa usa

what i'm really curious about is the rebound-to-center mechanism... are there bushings in all durometers that are easy to swap out? i know the original ones seemed to rely more on a spring mechanism, these are quite different.

samhell · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 66 Location: San Diego, CA USA

James,
I will be testing these out this weeekend.
I'm healing up from a nasty cold, I wanted to go ride them today, but I can barely even walk straight today. Wink

I'll be doing a full review here and on silverfish and on my tech page.
The return to center on these is better than you'd think.
Having them setup with the narrow width and inverted Zigs
is going to be very responsive.
They are very close in width to a Bennett 4.3 with non inverted Big Zigs.
From what Ben (Grombiz) was saying, you can still run the springs
on these, you can even run them without bushings and just springs
if you want them to be liquidy loose..
_________________
San Diego Pump Society
galaclandsurfing dot com

saturdaysfiesta · Joined: 22 Oct 2008 Posts: 15 Location: Los Altos, CA

could this really be just as good as a bennet tracker combo? I don't have my galac yet (still waiting patiently Smile

), but In the area I live, a quick customization could be great for some of the steeper grades. and jsut think of the garage sessions...

...drool

p.s. they look damn sexy

samhell · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 66 Location: San Diego, CA USA

pavedwave · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1120 Location: seattle wa usa

angelo_pb · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:09 pm Post subject:

I am eagerly awaiting the paved wave seal of approval on these as well. I have a Pulse 40 v2.0 on order. I have no clue how long it will take but I don't want to bug scott and it seems that the perfect trucks setup has yet to be invented. I was looking at the carver cx setup but then saw the pics of the destroyed bushings. Then these Grom Biz trucks hit. From what I am reading, LDP takes it toll on the components. If the grade 8 kings pins are failing on a regular basis with the wedged Bennetts, how will these hold up? What is their mechanically weakest part most prone to metal fatigue? How do they pump and feel? What is the return-center-mechanism? Thanks

pavedwave · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1120 Location: seattle wa usa

it may be a while before i get out on these (foot of snow, and I'm fighting a cold as well) so I'm still eagerly awaiting John's review!!

in my experience personally, i've not yet had a standard Bennett kingpin break. the ones I busted were on the Randal-like trucks, Randals and Gullwing Cruisers. note that I weigh 165, and the guys who busted their Bennett pins weighed a bit more. but I was a bit perplexed on the reports of people breaking them after only a month or so of riding. the failure point in their cases, not surprisingly, appears to be where the bolt is splined just under the hex head, right where the bolt comes through the baseplate.

my as-yet untested theory on eliminating the breakage is to replace the standard Bennett kingpin with a Grade8, putting the bolt up through the baseplate and holding the hex-head in place with JB-weld. since I have never busted a Bennett pin, and have put literally thousands of miles on at least one of my front Bennetts, I'm really not going to bother with this test. I'd have to have busted a couple myself to be motivated to do so, or for the test to have any merit. my trust in the Bennetts really hasn't been shaken by the reports-- but I do think for heavier riders, who are putting in heavy miles, considering the grade8 modification could be worth it.

for a variety of reasons I'm really looking forward to how well the Grombiz work!