pavedwave longboarding

holios551 · Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Posts: 5 Location: Windsor,CA

howdy,

I just picked up a mermaid a few weeks ago and am loving the LDP experience. She is setup right now with randall 125s, wedged to about 68 in front and dewedged roughly to about 25ish in the rear. With no other LDP comparisons I am liking the feel and pumpability of this setup. Waiting on 60 and 28 baseplates so I can eliminate some of the altitude of my ride, hopefully by being able to remove some risers/wedges.
So far, the longest jaunt that I have gone by pumping alone is a little over 2 miles, much respect for all you hardcore LDPers out there. I am still tinkering around with my bushing setup, front is orange and white khiro cones bottom and venom yellow conical top. Rear is just double barrel blue Khiro. Seems to work so far.
Oh yeah, this is my first post Very Happy

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Peace

Todd

stocago · Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 227

Welcome!

Your 'maid might have some wheel clearance issues in front if you lower it much, but I haven't run a Randal up there, only in back. With a Bennett in front, especially with large wheels, I'm needing a lot of riser on that deck.

You might also try running firmer bushings in back, unless you weigh closer to 100 than 200 pounds.

LDPanda · Joined: 21 Nov 2008 Posts: 418 Location: Seattle, WA

Welcome! ive been seeing you lurking here for a while, glad to see you finally posting! Love that avatar too!

Sounds like a really nice setup, i think double randals are underrated. I agree with stacato that harder bushings in the rear will probably make you more efficient by directing more of your energry forward insteaed of side to side. In other words, youll carve less and pump more. Keep us updated!

holios551 · Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Posts: 5 Location: Windsor,CA

Yeah, I am still messing around with the bushings. Originally I had white and orange barrels, then changed to the double blues, what a difference. I only weigh in the 140-150 lb range, I'll change out one of the blues for a red and see how it goes.
I am only hoping to just lower my ride by about maybe 1/2'', this may be just a pipe dream, won't know till the new baseplates get here. One concern I have is the wheelbase, as it is now setup at the longest available, the actual axle to axle wheelbase is 32 1/4''. Does this seem to be in the right range?
Anyhow, here is my whole setup in a nutshell:
Mermaid light flex
front randall 65ish*, khiro orange/yellow cone(hourglass bottom), yellow venom cone top.
rear randall 28ish*, double barrel Khiro
Otang in heat 83a wheels, waiting on my gumball 78a.
_________________
Peace

Todd

zatoichi37 · Joined: 04 Apr 2009 Posts: 6

That sounds about right, but you might want to try making the wheelbase shorter. Harder durometer bushings in back helped me so much. Right now I have yellow/black khiro barrels in the rear truck of my roe mermaid (tracker 129), but I am alot heavier than you(220lbs).
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....and then i found five dollars!

Ian the Groove Worshipper · Joined: 03 Dec 2008 Posts: 79 Location: Largo, FL

With regards to your WB, using the reverse kingpin trucks at both ends will shorten the actual WB (measured from axle to axle) substantially over using a Bennett/Tracker or Seismic setup. It will also make your board feel stiffer.

To me, a shorter WB feels surfier at slow speeds, accelerates quicker, climbs better, and pumps at a faster cadence. The short WB is not ideal for a Cyber Mile type effort, but short of that is great as long as the flex is right for you.

You can manipulate your flex not only by choosing a different rear truck mounting position, but also by using different trucks. A wedged Bennett up front will add around 1.5 inches to your actual WB and make your board a heck of a lot flexier, and adding a Seismic in back will add another 1.5" or so. If you are handy, you can also drill another set of truck mounting holes an inch in front of the front truck on your Mermaid to give yourself a little more WB.

The Randals with the 28 and 60 degree baseplates is a setup I've had my eyes on, and I don't see anybody else sharing their experience with this setup. Keep us posted with how well it works for you.

holios551 · Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Posts: 5 Location: Windsor,CA

Thanks for all the input. I have gotten and mounted my new baseplates and mounted them up. Originally I had it setup with the front wedged to 65* and the rear dewedged to about 15* or so. Being reverse kingpin it did shrink up my wheelbase a bit and minimized the flex significantly. Although it pumped very well but I like a flexy board.

So, just for giggles and s**ts I turned my rear truck around backwards, that definitely increased the flex to my liking. It pumped pretty doggone good too, it seemed awkward at first but I am taking a liking to it.

Today, just for the heck of it, I turned the truck back around, removed the wedges and drilled another set of front truck holes. This works OK, not as flexy as before and doesn't seem to keep up to speed as well as before. Over this weekend I plan on doing a little tweaking bit by bit to get this sucker just where I want it.

All in all the front randall pumps beautifully, I can get up to cruising speed from a dead stop. Just need to dial in the rear. Would like to try dewedging the rear to about 10* or less, the only problem is that will require some super risers and bolts in order to maintain a level ride.

Setup #1
Long wheelbase
front randall 60* wedged to 65*
rear randall 28* dewedged to 15*
Worked well just needs more flex

Setup #2
Short wheelbase
front randall 60* wedged to 65*
rear randall 28*(backwards) dewedged to 15*
Pumped good, super flexy because of backwards truck, stays at high speed easily.

Setup #3
New long wheelbase (drilled new front mounting holes)
front randall 60* wedged to 65*
rear randall 28* dewedged to 15*
Pumps fine, hard to maintain high speed. Need to dewedge rear truck.

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Peace

Todd