pavedwave longboarding

Nicholas Jackson · Joined: 17 Nov 2008 Posts: 29

Hi,

I have just been out for my first ride on my Mermaid and wanted to share a little stoke with you all.

Wow, I'm quite speechless at how good and how much fun this board is. I got up this morning with no stoke about the mermaid (not sure why) I had convinced myself that I much prefer pushing and that pumping was not for me.

Well I'm a fool, I had to tweak the board a little from the initial setup yesterday, having to add a couple of riser pads to the Khiro angle and 15 degree wedge on the front. It seems like Indy 139s are a little lower than Bennetts and with the 75mm tangs i was suffering serious wheel bite.

Christmas chores done, I decided to take her out for a spin. At first I wasn't feeling it, I could pump a little but nothing worth the effort. Now this is probably due to technique, I have never ridden a pumper before and only experimented with my Dervish. As the ride progressed I worked on my technique finally being able to accelerate effectively and even climb small inclines.

By the end of the ride I was flying this board really responds to the effort you put into it. I'm amazed at the speeds you can reach, I'm more amazed at how its possible to ride without pushing, a revelation I feel.

The board is just beautiful in every sense, not only is it seriously comfortable for pumping but it carves sweet too, screw Christmas I can't wait for light to go for a ride Smile

Merry Christmas everyone and a special thank you to Gareth and everyone who helped me tweak this thing.

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Nicholas Jackson · Joined: 17 Nov 2008 Posts: 29

Hi,

I'm getting the Mermaid a little more tuned now since acquiring a Skennett front truck. Originally I was running two Indy 139s but this was never going to be ideal. Not being able to get a bennett 4.3 in a single anytime soon in the UK I decided to spend the extra cash and get the Skennet which as always arrived from Octane sport quickly.

I had been riding the Mermaid with good success using the two Indys she pumped quite well but it always felt that you really had to put in allot of effort to roll along. The Skennett however seems to require much less effort to move at speed and has much better acceleration to the Indy. Its quite strange but technique wise i find the Skennett much less forgiving than the Indy, you really have to flow with it. With the Indy you just force it to do what you want and if you mess up there is nothing much lost.

I rode a loop near my house about 3 mile long and I have recorded the trip with my GPS both with the Skennett and with the Indy front truck. Conditions have been very similar both days and I am happy to say that the Skennett is 0.7mph faster and feels much more efficient. The loop is far from flat always either up or down and most of it is crappy british pavement, either badly maintained big slabs or the nice new small paving slabs which i hate more than the big stuff as it feels like you have to constantly accelerate to combat the cracks slowing you down.

GPS track with Skennett front Indy rear (Ignore altitude its gone crazy)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1655201

GPS track with both Indy
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1608503

I think the front is pretty dialed now I am happy with the 4.3 a speed of 10mph is about the average for pumping on the not so bad stuff. More speed would be nice but I feel i need the acceleration for the hills and the bad pavement.

The rear however is another issue, it just feels wrong. I can't quite put my finger on it but I am running an Indy 139 with Bones black bottom and yellow top, 10 degree wedge + khiro soft riser. I think i have the truck too tight with the indy front I found a really tight rear help to drive more power, with the Skennett front I am not so sure my back foot never felt comfortable so tomorrow I am going to play with different bushing or maybe just loosen the rear a little to give it a bit of spring.

Nic

Barry · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 5:23 pm Post subject:

How do Nicholas Wink

Happy new year and mermaid stoke to you Wink

Nice set up; but I think you should loose some of your rear de-wedge, your rear truck must run deader than a dead thing Very Happy

Try just using the soft angled riser in the back with just enough flat risers to 1: keep the deck level'ish and 2: stop any rear wheel rub. maybe just a couple of degrees of extra wedged rails may help if you find the soft angle too carvy.
I don't know what bushings you have in the rear but try some Red or Yellow Khiro Barrels or a mix of Red and Yellow.

Here is a picture of my walk about rear. the only thing I have ever changed to this set up is the wheel duro.
I have an RTS 129 with a quarter inch hard flat rubber riser, one soft 80a duro angled wedge and I think 3 degrees rails which make a total of 10 degrees de-wedge, with 77mm wheels this set up for me on this board is sweet.

If the photo does not show here is the link to it
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Kno...lkabout230808#5238476173670839026

Happy pumping.
take care,
Barry Wink

_________________
Barry Brown.
Rope & Canvas Craftsman.
Practical Works Of Art,
Inspred By Tradition.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ropeandcanvas
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Knotty.Bear

Nicholas Jackson · Joined: 17 Nov 2008 Posts: 29

Thanks Barry,

I will give this ago this evening and test it out tomorrow, I was not sure how dead to run the rear I think I got a little carried away Smile

I think i was under the mistaken impression that the rear tuck should just about be locked to get any pump out of it but ahem I think this was a little wrong Smile

I don't have any khiros so I will give it a try with some bones mediums I like these bushings as they have great snap and they are roughly in between the duro of the khiros.

Many thanks and Happy New Year,

Nic

Nicholas Jackson · Joined: 17 Nov 2008 Posts: 29

Thanks again Barry, I have just made the changes to my board with you recommended settings and she accelerates much better and is much nicer to ride.

I think I need to change the front also as I forgot to factor in the angle of the soft khiro when adding the rails by my calculation that means I am running 22degrees wedge on the front! I will swap the front rail for a 10 degree tomorrow which will give me the optimum of 17degrees.

I kind of understand the front truck needing to be turney hence the wedge but I'm not sure I understand the rear what part does the rear add to pumping performance?

Many thanks
Nic

Barry · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:30 am Post subject:

How Do Nic Wink

Glad that worked for you, as for the front; I run mine at 22 degrees with a Bennett vector 5.0 as I find it easier to pump; though you loose a little top end but I am not too bothered with top end speed I just want to enjoy going somewhere with minimum effort and a good work out at the end of the day.

If you want fast top end and don't mind the extra effort on hills go with the 17*, if you want a long distance all day long minimum effort and don't mind a lower top end speed then stick with the 22*

As for the rear, the less turning you have on your rear truck seems to put all the pumping power into the front leg and front truck, you tend to go staighter and maybe faster but it just feels wrong; like your back leg and the rear of the board are just along for the ride.
Having a small amount of turning in the rear gives a more turny feel to the back truck and seems to make the back leg join in with the pumping experience more, you tend to make more arcing carvy pumps which may or may not add to the momentum of the pump, and it just feels right, how much turn you have in the rear truck is I guess a matter of preference.

the above statements are just my own thoughts on this and from experimenting with my Namaste and Om decks and the truck I built for the rear of them. with everything from zero turn in the rear and up to what feels the same as the set up I use on my Walkabout I found that I eventually prefered the more carvy feel in the rear and a totally dead rear truck dit not make me feel good about riding after a few miles.
James may be able to give you more info on the effects of the various ammount of de-wedging on the rear truck.
I feel the rear truck tends to get a little left behind (no pun intended) in the whole scheme of things.
I have bought some Seismics stable truks to try on the rear so my views may change again after using them.
everyone who has tried them seems to be rating them.

I hope this helps a little.
Oh another thing that may or maynot affect your wedging/ de-wedging is the amount of camber and flex you have in your board as well.

Take care,
Barry Wink

_________________
Barry Brown.
Rope & Canvas Craftsman.
Practical Works Of Art,
Inspred By Tradition.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ropeandcanvas
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Knotty.Bear

Nicholas Jackson · Joined: 17 Nov 2008 Posts: 29

Thanks Barry,

That's a usefull explanation.

Nic

LovethePump · Joined: 06 Oct 2008 Posts: 15

Nicholas Jackson · Joined: 17 Nov 2008 Posts: 29

Yes the amount of front wedge affects the straight line speed but I think you have to compromise depending on the terrain you ride. Generally I am accelerating all the time due to bad pavements and road junctions so I ride a Skennett which is based on a 4.3 Bennett wedged with 22 degrees.

I find with this set-up I can accelerate from almost standing still If I want to and my cruising speed is around 11mph which is OK.

Rear truck I ride an Indy (stage 10) 129 wedged de-wedged with about 10 degrees (soft khiro riser and 3 degree khiro rail). Its lovely and stable lets me pump well and also if I want to bust some carves its quite happy with that as well.

I have been waiting for a Seismic 130 stable turn which I intend to set up with dark green springs for about 4 months now (mistakes of trying to shop with a local skateshop). I think with this wedged with either a 7 degree khiro or even flat on the deck the board is going to be sweet.

I can not get enough of this setup the Skennett is lovely and even though my quiver is ever expanding the mermaid is the board I go for first every time.

Nic

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

Great review Nic, good to see she's working out. And once again some great tech explanations Barry!

I'm finding the 'deadness' of the rear truck is always a balance between those two elements -- dewedging, and the bushing/spring duro.

You can have

and you might come to some really similar conclusions.

Personally I prefer the feel of moderate dewedging and pretty stiff springs, for a straight-ahead, all out blasting pump machine (my Roe, the daily commuter) and a looser set of springs/bushings on a board that I'm just riding a couple miles to the store and maybe carving up a hill with on the way.