pavedwave distance skateboarding distance skateboarding, flatland pumping, cross-country adventuring, boardwalk cruising, and all things skateboarding and good times
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:45 pm Post subject: Different techniques & setup help
sorry for the long post.
I started pumping this June to cross-train for alpine snowboarding as I've grown somewhat bored by running and cycling. I'm not young anymore (46) but remembered pumping from my teens (in the 70s) on a fiberglass deck (talk about flex) and gave it a try on a Sector 9 Custom Weave and just fell in love with it.
That Custom Weave was modified to include a Bennett 5.0 up front (orange/orange) with a Tracker RT/S 129mm (orange/blue) in the back with Purple In Heat 'Otangs. This setup was OK but decided to upgrade the deck to a red Galac LDP (thanks John, great board!!!). I recently received it and immediately swapped the trucks/wheels to the Galac board and it did make a difference. I have a lot more leverage due to the wider board. Stiffer too.
Now, I can pump at a steady 10mph pace without any problems. I can even go up some small bumps where I could not before. But, and there's a but..... I want more speed!!!! If I really crank it on the flats, I can take it up to 14mph but I'm hitting a wall and I'm sure I can go faster (or maybe not).
At this point I'm not sure if it's technique and/or equipement.
Let me explain how I pump. I don't believe I pump the same way as others (and it may be due to the flex of the Custom weave that I had to adapt to). I have very little shoulder/arm motion and I don't gyrate over the front foot to pull me forward.
I use mostly a lower body motion each side of the board. And a lot of the forward thrust is done using applying a quick kick on the heels (with the rear heel digging a little more than the front heel due to the flex in the middle of the board) as if I'm trying to slide the board from under me and quickly coming back over the board for the toeside pump, and if I want to go faster, I apply more weight on the rear foot while I increase the frequency of "kicks" to snap the board with my rear heel as if I'm squishing some cockroach on the ground If I need to up a bump/hill and start slowing down I'll then do the gyrating motion with my body to increase the torque to go up the hill but on the flats, I definitely get the feeling that gyrating my body is actually slowing me down as I feel the front wheels dig in and preventing me from going faster. My front foot is over the rear screws of the front truck.
At this point, I'm not sure where to start. I've tried changing technique (using the gyrating motion) but it didn't seem to help (but it could be me not doing it correctly) and I'll be doing some changing to my setup and here's are my ideas but anyone notices some changes I'm thinking of, let me know, I'll also try that. I also believe that having the board rock back faster would help out (but what to change to get that?)
BTW, my loop is the Montreal F1 track. No cars and really nice pavement all around. I also have access to cycling paths that can take me around for miles on miles.
changes I'm thinking of: (I'm 160lbs on a short frame )
change wedging (currently +18* front, -7* back)
bushings. white/orange combos or maybe others combos.
increasing the wheelbase to get a little more flex but it'll be getting long (31.5" axle to axle, right now 30") If I shorten the wheelbase, I'll be stiffening the board but who knows, it may help.
Getting harder wheels (bigger? wider?), it'll be a little less comfortable but may have less friction.
Changing body position, more rearward or forward stance. Closer stance.
Getting flexier deck (last resort) and maybe shorter deck. Maybe a deck with some camber.
Skinnier/larger truck in front (4.3/6.0 Bennett)
Or maybe I can't go faster because
1) I need to lose weight
2) I'm not getting any younger
3) I've reached my Peter principle for pumping.
and changing anything won't help.
My ultimate goal would be to do a marathon under 2 hours but if I'd do one right now, I'd guess I'd do it in about 2.5 hours.
thanks for reading all the way thru and hopefully I'll be sorting out my pumping before winter sets in which should be real soon now... (can't wait to carve up on the slopes either so either way, I win )
Just some gross generalizations here that might help you out:
A stiffer deck will generally be faster than a flexier one.
A longer wheel base will generally be faster than a shorter one.
Harder wheels will generally be faster than softer ones.
A wider hangar (truck) will generally be faster than a narrower one.
A stiffer rear (less turning) will generally be faster than a turnier one.
Less wedging in front is generally faster than more wedging in front.
All that being said, your setup sounds very nice already and 10mph is a very respectable pace to keep up. Its pretty hard to 'judge' somebody's pump from reading a description but perhaps its a technique issue more than setup. If you feel youre at the peak of what you can do with your setup, the changes I might suggest would be: Change out your rear truck for a seismic 130 stable turn, airflow 110, or virage LDP (or grombiz, randal 125, whatever you might choose), take a little wedging off the front, experiment with different bushings, or switch wheels. I dont have a whole lot of experience with potangs but for a nice smooth track, you cant beat speedvents for speed As far as technique, im not sure watching videos or hearing descriptions can really help that much. Getting out there and putting in the miles will help much more. That said, i find my fastest pumps are when im pulled back pretty far on the board, more weight on my rear foot, and pumping equally heelside and toeside in quick'ish pumps.
Good luck with a 2 hour marathon, thats an admirable goal!
Initially, I'll increase the wheelbase, stiffen the rear more with harder bushing and tightening it them more and maybe play with the front wedging.
From there, I'll see what I can do but unfortunately, unless the weather warms up soon the season is almost over (a few weeks), and won't have too much time to try things out (especially with job/family/etc...)
I've been pondering this for a few days and am fascinated:
pavedwave said:
Quote:
mooney wrote:
James, What effect does having that board stiffer have on pumping ability and comfort?
Hey Mooney, sorry to catch this late.
What I find personally and this may differ for others, is that having a strong stiff 'beam' from tail to nose is good for pumping momentum when you throw your upper body side-side, laterally more.
On setups with more flex, I find my upper body is quieter most of the time, and I'm springing from pump to pump with slightly bent knees and throwing my weight upward and downward when transitioning between turns, rather than using as much lateral movement. So some of the preference is dictated by style, I think.
For comfort on a stiffer deck, I'd recommend possibly using only soft angled wedges. Khiros are good, but so are those clear ones I got from LBL one time (made by Holey or "Surrey"?) and on a flexier deck, you can afford to use hard plastic wedges, like the steep angles from the khiro wedge kit. But the Gbomb brackets themselves add a nice bit of suspension and angles are built into the design, so wedges aren't needed!
my pump style lends itself better to a stiffer board, but I definately want to practice the flexy board style. I stumbled on it once on my old Pulse. I was tired and somehow I started bouncing and remember how good it felt and how little energy I was using.
It's not a style I'm used to and not sure how it works uphill compared to the upper body style. Practice practice practice
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If I really crank it on the flats, I can take it up to 14mph but I'm hitting a wall and I'm sure I can go faster (or maybe not).
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