lightweight boards

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 5:09 pm

OK...here's a question for the techies...is there any REAL advantage to one board that weighs less than another. I mean honestly, the bulk of the weight usually comes in the trucks and wheels anyway....but even beyond that, to suggest that a lightweight board outperforms a heavier board is to say that a lightweight rider outperforms a heavier rider.
One would have to conculde that a 3 pound board under a 190 pound rider would have to be equal to a 1 pound board under a 192 pound rider....but hell, that's just ridiculous!

So ...outside of conjecture why do people consider a lightweight board more advantageous?
And is it advantageous in both tight AND giant?

Tod Oles · Post by **Tod Oles** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 12:18 am

Chris,

Did you ever ride the Manta Alan made me?? It's LIGHT!
And it can be felt when you're bringing the board back under yourself, like when finishing
a hard offset, or slicing it through a nice long set of stingers....

Anything that oscillates will produce less and less inertia as mass is pared off of it.

So it would follow that you should be able to make a skateboard change directions faster and with less effort if it is simply lighter.....

Oh, never mind..... I thought you said, "Trekie"

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:05 am

heh heh...you know TKO, that's something that i thought about as well....and that's a reason i was considering getting a newer board....but with enough leg strength, the opposite would be true. A good yank and the heavier board would actually pick up inertia when coming back over.

And on GS it should hold true that a heavier board would have better traction, thought i'm not sure how much more...

it's kind of like comparing Tribbles with that bigass Hand that was holding the Enterprise in space that one time

Tod Oles · Post by **Tod Oles** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 5:07 am

NOW THAT"S A SIMILE.....

CB,

I try and look at this whole gig with decks, trucks and wheels in as pragmatically a fashion
as my small mind will let me.

I've rarely gotten in trouble going with the flow of gravity.....It's in defiance of it thats got me where I'm at today......

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/p ... u6l1a.html

Put this behind your brow and all will be in focus young Jedi........Opps, wrong movie......

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 5:21 pm

It's scary inside that head of yours aint it?

The reasoning is sound....and would be highly applicable to TS and possibly hybrid courses.

But i'm not so sure about GS

So i'm mired in the same quandary....do i sell my tad-bit-heavy Ick GS for a lighter board?
Or i keep it because it's damn beautiful and just learn do GS better?

dang...reality is starting to set in

Tod Oles · Post by **Tod Oles** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 12:42 am

Christopher Bara wrote:It's scary inside that head of yours aint it?

Not so much scary.......just kinda noisy, with all these vociferous pangs for skate knowledge...

I think you'd be further ahead if you put a few of the pounds you lost back on than to have a board be what? .5-1lb heavier if weight for gliding faster is what you're looking for...

I guess I want the lightest setup I can get when it comes to controlling the deck in any "quick" lateral transition....most of the GS courses I've seen have some technical sections that keep you dancing and not just gliding.

I think I'm onto you anyway.....you just need an excuse to get one of those Roe Torsion cores in that sexed up new Drayton shape......add 6 inches and your lookin at a nice full GS deck. Then do with the Ick what Dave Gale did with that Fibreflex and collect autographs on it?

2 cents ain't worth a crap now-a-days is it.....?

Later, Tod

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:00 am

nope...not even close..

Not a big Roe fan.

But that 36" Pistol sure is pretty.

None the less.
The Ick:
Hand layed fiberglass and one-of-a-kind shape
Concave made of hard foam and layered over in a resin with shaved fiberglass floating in it to let it be both flexible and rigid.
2" strips of Carbon fiber layed under the resin
Painted Corvette yellow, wetsanded to a show finish and hand striped

Being that it's fiberglass, it's heavier....but geez.....its art

Tod Oles · Post by **Tod Oles** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:57 am

Damn,

Thought I'd try yours before I blew my own $$...

I did like Cividino's Pistol that I tried in Chi-town, although he likes more front steering than I do...

I'm still a firm believer in that dampening type of flex the PPS foamys have, especially for GS
when you get the wheels near or at the chatter point...Like they absorb the high frequency
vibes so you can feel whats really happening at the contact patches....Sidlo's design is like
that, only stiffer. I'm sure it has alot to do with how torsionally stiff a boxed foamcore is also.

If Kenny throws another race I'm making it there just to try his longer decks if he'll oblige...

As far as the Ick goes... Well, every chance I get I ride Chainsaw's mini !!!! I love that thing!

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 4:12 am

I'm sure you'll have a half dozen boards to try out at Kenny's next gig....We'll be there...I figure i'd hold onto the Ick and sell an old board to raise cash for a big pistol too....not much purpose in keeping the old stuff around anymore...may as well have a new board to not ride!

Last weekend of October....keep it open...but dont tell anybody yet, it's still a secret

Tod Oles · Post by **Tod Oles** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 4:25 am

Thanks Chris,

My boss will be "pre-notified" tommorrow...

Marion Karr · Post by **Marion Karr** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 4:45 pm

Jumping in here since I am the new Sherriff in town.......(new moderator...just joking...)....we need to keep the trekkie and jedi references separated please......any way..

I know I am a newbie and don't know all the stuff you guys know but as far as the longer PPS Foam Core, I have a 36" and and recently bought a GS/Hybrid from Tway. Both of those boards resonate enough energy to your feet to let you know when you are about to break loose but also don't bounce you off in a hard offset turn. The 36" is what i have been riding at the soap box derby hill (set up with a chicken offset indy and 8mm indy front...not broke down to purchase the big truck guns yet...Im still too slow for that stuff) and it works great on that very fast but short hill.

I also road with Sidlo, Cfav, and Cnova this weekend in Chicago and man those boards that crew are riding are sweet! Cfav's board was lighter than my 32" PPS Foam core.

Back to my Moderator duties..work work work work work work work work....cause I don't know squat.

Todd and Chris...dudes, get your butts down here in November!

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 9:29 pm

actually, the pps36 is what i'm looking at....but i've already got a great board...But being a fiberglass board it's heavier and stiffer than the carbons out there. This would probably bother me on TS, but on big hills it's real stable....then....dammit.....i go down for a couple Columbus sessions and see Kennys bouncy boards and i think ...hmmmmm.....
(of course i SHOULD be thinking "he's Mollica and i'm not"....but no, i think about the gear)

So it gets back down to this....Agreed, a lightweight, springy board is great for smaller stuff that you have to whip around....but on the big fast hills, is the extra weight beneficial?

probably 10 different answers

Hey Sheriff....Looks like you've got a great line up for your race...and it really is a blast riding in town....especially a small town....but finances are going to be tight for me. the weifee's 40th is about a month after your race and i have to rub some penny's together for this one (may even have to buy a card) So unless the guys decide to do the 11 hour drive, we're a nada.....cant cut a 500.00 weekend....

Marion Karr · Post by **Marion Karr** » Fri Sep 16, 2005 12:16 am

Understandable Bara.....but if you guys can make the drive that would be cool....drop me an email when you get a chance...

Later Bros!

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:34 am

Not that I'm any sort of authority, but being an owner of several foam and wood core PPS's and Roe's, all with varying degrees of camber and flex, I have been riding non-camber, concave, stiff , wood and fibreglass (and thus heavier) SubSonic's (and one Morningwood) for pretty most of this racing season and gotten more podium finishes than I ever have in prior years. This is partly because I have simply improved and partly because these decks have worked GREAT for me, especially on T/S and Hybrid.

One of the things I like best about this type of deck is that from one wheelbase to the next there is more consistency, predicability, etc. In short, they are not as finicky as a flex cambered deck which tends to be best suited to a particular rider weight range, wheel base, and cone spacing/linear speed combination. And if not "dialed in" to those variables, flex camber decks tend to be OK at best and annoying and oppisitional at worst outside of their optimal "dialed in" range. However, a truly "dialed in" flex camber deck that suits the rider's style and course at hand is a great thing. However, sometimes simpler IS better.

Adios-Paul

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 4:09 am

points well taken Paul....Since I first posted this thread, i've put on a couple lbs, so i figure i already nulified any weight savings i would have been looking for anyway.

Not sure if there is a right or wrong answer to this one.......

I'm sticking with what i've got

thanks all

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 4:45 am

Hey Chris, I like the ending of your last post. I concur. Are you signed up for the DHB Dixie Cup? If so I might see you there-Adios, Paul

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 3:01 pm

yessirree..........be there with the heavy Ick in hand......
we're drivin down from Detroit..............need a lift?

(you've got one long flight there man, but it's a great way to end the season, aye?)

Paul Howard · Post by **Paul Howard** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 8:22 pm

Hey, thanks for the offer on a ride, if I go (it's still tentative but I'm paid and have a room reservation, I just need the airline ticket $) I may take you up on your offer. I will likely fly into the Charlotte airport. I'm at work, gotta go, Love the last logo on the end of your last post. Adios-Paul

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