pavedwave longboarding

SoloRider · Joined: 14 Aug 2009 Posts: 45 Location: Seattle, WA

Anybody run Seismics on both ends? I'm getting kind of antsy waiting on a new Bennett to show up at the shop and it dawned on me that I might be able to use my Seismic 155s. I've got one quick and one stable and with my wheels reversed it's just a touch narrower than the RT-S 129 equivalent. I've got purple springs for the stable and yellow or reds for the quick. Does this sound halfway decent? Anybody else try a Seismic front and rear setup? What kind of wedging?

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

Many of us ran Seismics on slalom decks around 2001--2003, front and rear. Usually the light yellows, light greens, or even whites in the front, and something much stiffer in back like heavy reds or greens. Then the whole scene shifted into Splitfires and Radikals and now of course GOGs and Virages -- all "regular" bushing trucks. Seismic is still considered a strong contender even in competitive slalom as a rear truck -- they've got seriously powerful return, and can be really sticky once you figure them out. I don't know anyone who still runs them front and back other than for cruising and carving.

Last year I really gave the front Seismic the full-on college try (specifically for LDP), pumping a few 13-mile flat commutes. I really wanted them to work because I like the idea of a full "system" like that. But I just couldn't get the front to be loose enough for my taste, for LDP anyway. The only way I could really get into a front Seismic again is if Gesmer re-released the silver springs, which were even mellower than the bone-whites, or if he could figure out some kind of urethane tube-shaped bushings...

Now for just shredding and carving up a hill, I could dig 'em as a set. I typically just wedge and dewedge them a little, not as much as with traditional trucks.

Gary in VA · Joined: 17 Apr 2008 Posts: 10 Location: Pilot, VA

I held a set of these in my hand several years back. Wish I could get hold of a couple sets.

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

Those are rad. I just wonder if this ever went much further? My guess is how they would figure out a way to control deforming issues when they compress, maybe some kind of thin sheath? I asked Dan about that not long ago but it was one of many questions and got buried. Last update I see to Jani's thread on slalomskateboarder is 2004...

http://www.slalomskateboarder.com...=7607339aa524e8655bbd92b075ee97f3

SoloRider · Joined: 14 Aug 2009 Posts: 45 Location: Seattle, WA

That looks pretty cool. I'm curious how well they work. Just in skating around my living room I can tell I definitely need lighter springs up front then the yellows I've got in there now. I'm going to head out in a little bit in search of some whites, maybe I'll get lucky. The other hindrance I see(with no remedy in sight) is the rotation limit of the Seismics, at the stops they don't go near as far as my Bennetts. Once I get to ride them for real I doubt I'll get that hard turn from the Bennett and with linear springs I'm sure I'll miss having that pop that a progressive spring gives at the end of travel. Well, my Bennett will hit the shop some time next week so if it's really not working, it's not like I'll have to deal with it for too long.
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pavedwave · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1120 Location: seattle wa usa

I've got some white springs kickin about in the garage -- in Lake Forest Park area if you can swing by today, I'll be gone all weekend.

SoloRider · Joined: 14 Aug 2009 Posts: 45 Location: Seattle, WA

That'd be great, let me know when and where and I'll be there.
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SoloRider · Joined: 14 Aug 2009 Posts: 45 Location: Seattle, WA

The result:

Immediately after picking up the new springs from James I hit the upper levels of a local garage to try them out. My first impression was that it wasn't so bad. The Seismics don't have enough rotation to really get a good short deep acceleration pumps in and the lack of ramp up in the spring rate is a little odd, but at higher speed those nice long shallower pumps felt pretty good. Good that is, until I pulled out my other deck set up with a Bennett 5.0 and 129 RT-S. The difference is night and day. Riding my older deck back to back with this setup really drove home the point for me that the setup wasn't working. I just wasn't getting near enough propulsion out of the effort I was putting in with the Seismics, the other setup was effortless by comparison. I was really hoping that the Seismics would work, if for no other reason then the lack of a kingpin hanging out 1/4" off the ground. It would have meant that I could do my rough as hell 1/2 mile commute on a LDP deck, oh well.

I should add that I'm not done playing around just yet. Another idea might be to lose the springs altogether and add still more wedge. I'm sure it would be really twitchy that way but I'd be getting more turn out of the truck at the cost of lean, I'm guessing it'd require a lighter touch at low speed but would work better. The longer that new Bennett takes to show up, the more I'm going to have to play around with the current setup...
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SoloRider · Joined: 14 Aug 2009 Posts: 45 Location: Seattle, WA

Just a quick update on this. My Bennett finally showed up at the shop yesterday and before swapping it out I decided to try one more thing. I pulled the front springs out altogether and tried it again. It's like night and day, the truck turns far enough now to pump at lower speeds and actualy accelerates quite nicely. It's still not a Bennett and it makes the deck super unstable for pushing but still fun in it's own right. I might just hold off on that Bennett for a few more days...

_________________
I roll my own.
forty2longboards.blogspot.com