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New trucks for 2009

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:49 pm
by Michael Stride
Been busy....new trucks for 2009....more details to follow after final testing....
sneak preview. Cost? the pound is low, will accept buttons, shells, bread..

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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 5:15 pm
by Robert Gaisek
Lovely!

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 8:11 pm
by Michael Stride
Would love to show more, but that pic is a sneaky angle. There is a very interesting axle arrangement. But I dont want to give away more until the system is fully tested, as it is rather secret for the next couple of weeks.

nice

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 8:47 pm
by Pelle Gustafsson
moore pic´s please!!!

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:23 pm
by Michael Stride
Image

What I can say is the design work has been done in conjunction with a chassis designer for a rather special sports car company in the UK. And stress analysis too.

Pics to follow shorty.[/img]

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:44 pm
by Robert Gaisek
Any hints for price? Colors? Angles?

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:45 pm
by Donald Campbell
great to see so much innovation coming from the uk,michael

keep us puzzled and continue the good work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:59 pm
by Michael Stride
Angles: A number of different baseplate angles have been produced, couldnt show pics as they would perhaps show a little too much. BUT they are designed to be 'good' angles and riders will use risers for final adjustment to suit. front and rear hangars are different.

Colours: Initial runs will be in anodized silver and red as we all know red is faster.
Angles: These are not adjustable, as I believe GOGS are easily the best truck for that out there. Also, these do not have spherical bearings in the hanger OR baseplate.

The axles are unique, and incorporate a few 'nice' features. They may well surprise and delight.

Price: These will be produced in the UK by a small manufacturing company, on some very sophisticated precision machinery. I was lucky enough to find a small firm where the machine operator was a skater. the trucks use a number of off the shelf skate components to reduce cost. And will mean ease of replacement if needed. Think of them as very accurately made nice trucks.

The pound is down the pan...so for Euro and US riders these may well be priced at a keen point. They will not however be cheap.

The aim is to produce a NICE truck...I really do believe the best out there are the GOGS and will remain so. These are designed to offer something different, at a different price level, between high end and modified regular trucks. GOGS rule at the top.

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 10:03 pm
by Robert Gaisek
Can´t wait to see them IRL!

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:07 pm
by Michael Stride
The new Virage Trucks website is up at ....http://www.viragetrucks.com
Due for release at the Cadwell race on February 8th. More details.
Different front and rear hangars. Different baseplate angles. CNC milled in the UK. Utilising Khiro kingpin and Khiro small pivot cup. Choice of Khiro or Venom bushings, 8mm axles of a new design. No spherical bearings. Cadcam work by a chassis engineer for a top UK sports car company... Hence the confidential bit....more news to follow at www.viragetrucks.com

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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:25 pm
by Michael Stride
More pictures. This time showing the final pre-prod testing models in matt sandblast finish and polished. The Axles are just being finalised. Also we have two different lengths which you can see on the front truck, for GS and Londg Distance Pumping.

Schweet I think!


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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:28 pm
by Robert Gaisek
NICE!

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:39 pm
by HUYNH BACH SAC Frédéric
Really nice in matt finish !
Any range of price ?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:06 pm
by Miguel Marco
Very very nice Michael !!! :D

What is the hanger width?
And are they the same front and back?

Doesn't look like a stim shaped bushing would fit the rear one. Am I right?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:36 pm
by Michael Stride
You could fit a stim, but they have been designed specifically for the excellent Venom barrels and cones though a Khiro will work well (1mm less tall)

Its intended that adjustments will be like on Gogs and Radikals, using different hardness bushings rather than squiding down on soft ones...

Price...the Euro and Dollar are high against the pound. So things look good.

Final price will be decided in a couple of weeks.

Width 102 mm (includes speedring!) or 122 when widened, however we may offer a 5 mm spacer too. To be decided.

You would need a second axle to go wider, it was decided that although one would work if long enough it would mean the screw thread would be within the hangar holder, so we felt it would be better to offer specific axles. Also we will offer them in different materials over time.

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:02 pm
by Toby Warg
Sweet!
Which angles will you produce?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:21 pm
by Michael Stride
currently the front is 45 degree.
the rear is 80. or 10..depending which ever method you use to measure.

The hangars are in fact interchangable with each other, though the rear is inline with the kingpin, the front one is offset.

I did ummm and arrrrgh over doing such a radical (no pun intended) angle, but all it does is mimic the current preffered angles people are using.

We were going to do a 60 degree baseplate, but decided that currently people de wedge the rears to a great extent, such as on a Skandal.

The rear truck does look rather new, with such a large in built angle, but that is exactly the way to look at it. The wedging is built in, rather than a stack of risers. This should give a more stable feel. hope so.

I decided not to do the 60 degree plate as I envisage people will wedge the front with a khiro wedge anyway,though some people will maybe wedge a little less like on the front of a Pirnack.

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:29 pm
by Pat Chewning
It appears that the axles are a hex head bolt-- correct?

That is, the axles do not have threads on the outboard end, but the hex head is built into the axle so that you must remove the axle to get new wheels installed.

Is that correct?

Can you show a disassembled view of the hanger, axle, nuts.....

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:30 pm
by Miguel Marco
Michael Stride wrote:You could fit a stim, but they have been designed specifically for the excellent Venom barrels and cones though a Khiro will work well (1mm less tall)
Venom is coming out with a stim shape. And being able to use a stim/JimZ shape bushing in the back, combined with a great duro choice, will give an even greater range of adjustment and feel. Specially for a fat bastard like me... :D
Michael Stride wrote:Its intended that adjustments will be like on Gogs and Radikals, using different hardness bushings rather than squiding down on soft ones...
That's how I have always done it, no matter the truck. I hate the feeling of squished down bushings.
Michael Stride wrote:Width 102 mm (includes speedring!) or 122 when widened, however we may offer a 5 mm spacer too. To be decided.
I personnally would love a 5mm spacer.

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 11:31 pm
by Michael Stride
The Axle is in essence a bolt. It has a Hex head as it is actually milled from hex bar. The speed ring/washer is built in just under the head.

The screw thread only appears at the very end of the bolt, ie a mm or two inside the inside of the smooth hanger hole. I do think its essential to use wheel spacers with this sytem BUT Id recomend that anyway. It is surprising just how robust the whole set up is, no slop. And part of that is because the bearings are always held on smooth axle, not threads.

We are finalising the axle design and one option is to thread them clock wise and counter clockwise so the tendency will be to tighten rather than loosen depending on orientation....but thats a tweek I dont think we need. Also the machine shop has a wonderful machine for doing some trick axles ends, like domes, though they already look trick as they don't present a nyloc nut as regular trucks do.

??????????

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:49 pm
by Pelle Gustafsson
can i pre-book a set???

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:47 pm
by Michael Stride
hey Pelle, glad you like the look of them!

I am seeing my machinist next week with ethe final refinements, and they will get me my pricing. I will sell them in front and rear flavours, and also in 3 finishes. 'Euro' sandblast with shiny logos, 'Polished' (trying to think of a name for that) and Anodized in a range of colours. I may also consider selling 'Raw' versions as finishing does add to cost. The 'dwell' marks would show from machining on those., but one set of protos I have they polished the raw lightly and its looked OK....I think people may like the options.

The machinists are happy to work to small (ish) runs and I think once the price is decided I will either get some made for instant sale, or take deposits if I feel thats best. My gut feeling is Id rather like to be able to make some and sell off the shelf, for the sandblast version, and special orders would be capable of being made in 10 days after an order or so.....thats something I have to work on.


anyway, as I said, Im glad you like the look so far.

Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:25 pm
by Jani Soderhall
This is very good news! If the price/performance ratio is right, this is just what we needed.

/Jani

Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:29 pm
by Tod Oles
Michael,

Looks nice!!

Allen hex axles would help some folks from smashing outer seals......
(not that I've ever done that... cough cough :-)

Good luck with your venture,

Tod

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:41 pm
by Michael Stride
Had a few request for shots of the rear. So here goes. Yes, the angle is extreme, but bearing in mind that rears are often under a tailcurve these days the Virage Rear will offer a neat way of getting to your preffered angles. From behind it really does look like a gulls wing. Image

Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:25 pm
by Michael Stride
A little more testing on the prototypes.... Everything is holding, and feeling good. Release date gets closer! Sam Gordon has been documenting progress on his blog. Here: http://web.me.com/samgordon/Site/Skate_ ... sting.html
He can't spell 'complement' but he sure can test trucks!

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from Sam Blog:
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:49 pm
by Robert Gaisek
Any news about how much?

Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:58 pm
by Michael Stride
Final pricing will be decided for Cadwell race 8th February.

As the final tweaks are done in testing these have to be allowed for in final machining. And I will also be trying different axle options to provide different levels of finish and specification.

Hopefully a 'Raw' base version, a Polished, a Euro Matt version and Anodized finishes will be offered.

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:51 pm
by Michael Stride
A few tweaks for Cadwell.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:03 pm
by Steve Collins
A spherical bearing in the hanger is more than just a tweak. Very nice. Why not one in the baseplate as well? It can't be any more expensive than machining that knob.

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:14 pm
by Michael Stride
i'm not sure I like the feel of spherical pivots. I have studied their properties, and decided , on balance that a spherical there would mimic a Rad or Gog, and those trucks are fine as they are. I didnt set out to create copies, just try something I would like to ride, the skaters equivelent of vanity publishing.


This is an attempt to do something a little different, for a different feel.

I can absolutely see why a spherical is advantageous to a great extent in the hanger, on the front, but I am yet to be persuaded that the same applies to the pivot area.

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:07 am
by Tod Oles
Michael,

IMHO,

A 60* baseplate for that spherical hanger would
cure a lot of front truck mounting troubles
(less wedges, bent hardware...swearing, etc...)
and maybe a better match for the dead rear angle you're offering.

the peanut gallery has spoken, carry on.

T.O.

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:16 pm
by Michael Stride
A 60 degree forward tilt is being proto'd right now. It will also include enough height to save on flat wedging for 'most' decks.

One thing that has taken work is how to utilise a FIXED regular kingpin and still get the spherical imperial bearing over the top so you can fettle bushings easily.

Some judicial scalloping and grooving solves this, meaning some work on the bearing...this will not affect performance, but does we hope, provide a simple solution.
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:31 pm
by Wesley Tucker
Tod Oles wrote:Allen hex axles would help some folks from smashing outer seals......
(not that I've ever done that... cough cough :-)
Tod,

With the truck's design, couldn't this be done by just going to a Fastenal store and getting what you want?

An 8mm Hex Head bolt is not out of the ordinary and probably less than 50¢ each.

Here ya' go:

http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/de ... ku=0141690

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:47 pm
by Michael Stride
We have made the machined custom axle length 65mm so that you could do just that , replace or utilise off the shelf 8mm bolts. (more common in Europe though and motorbike race stores) In most cases the thread would go too far down the shaft to what we are custom making. But we may find a longer bolt we can cut down, if thats cheaper. Dunno yet.

We have also looked at off the shelf titanium 65mm bolts that kinda go the other way perfomance wise.

We also looked into getting custom made titanium bolts.

And I have a test set with a titanium Kingpin too!
These have a tool saver head on them as well.. but the shank was stepped so we looked at some others that are on their way.

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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:17 pm
by Robert Gaisek
Maybe a silly question but......

Isn´t titanium too stiff? Didn´t Radikal have a problem with broken kingpins?

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:11 pm
by Michael Stride
Its not a silly question at all.

I have a Broken Rad kingpin in my hand right now, and they shear at the point where the screw thread enters the baseplate.

My design doesnt have that weak point, at that place, (it would befurther up, under the bearing)...

Also, it may be worth considering that the break point of titanium is higher than that of Grade 8, the theory is that a titanium kingpin should break after the point a grade 8 would, but your right, the properties are different.

My feeling is that Id only really bother with a Titanium kingpin and axles when we make titanium hangers and baseplates. (that would save on shipping costs!)

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:44 pm
by Paul Keleher
This might sound a bit daft...but i kind of like the machining lines....

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:20 am
by Tod Oles
Wes,

I trenched through an unmarked communications line to our local Fastenal and thus
I'm banned from the entire franchise.... I was amazed at how much their business
relies on a functioning computer... :-)


BTW Paul,
I like the milling marks as well ... I'll be daft right along with ya

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:31 am
by Michael Stride
Glad you like the way they are looking. The first prototypes were made to test finishes (the nice sand blast effect) and set of mule trucks to get the performance up to scratch.

We've been working on a few tweaks that can only come from real world riding, and feedback from others. I'm happy to say things are progressing well.

Whilst performance and feel have to be priority number one, cost IS an issue. What we have done in the latest set of prototypes is to cut machine time down, try some ' 'raw' versions. Using the machine lines as a 'feature' was entirely deliberate, to see how a balance can be struck between cost and looks. Corduroy is cool, its the geography teachers material of choice!

So, the current news is that we had new sets ready for our race on Sunday, that has now been cancelled, so I'm keen to get the new trucks tested next week.

Its looking very likely that the rear truck will be ready for sale/orders early next week, and the front truck with new angled baseplate a couple of weeks later.

We have got stocks of left handed nuts in for the special axles, (one side is r/h the other L/h to stop any fears of loosenning).

The new width hangers for LDP (Long Distance Pumping) will be done after that.

And something secret too.


Keep 'em peeled!

Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:40 pm
by Wesley Tucker
Michael Stride wrote: Its looking very likely that the rear truck will be ready for sale/orders early next week, and the front truck with new angled baseplate a couple of weeks later.
Sooooooo . . . .

"Sale" means you have determined a PRICE?

C'mon, Mike, y'know it's the one thing that's got everyone hangin' on yer every word!

Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:26 pm
by Michael Stride
Tod, I asked the machinist whether we could put a hex in the head for you. The answer (of course) is yes.....

BUT, whilst Id be more than happy to do custom sets for you, the machinist looked at me and said "tell your chum to put a nut in his tool and stick it".

Whilst that may be a massive local insult, what he's actually suggesting makes perfect sense....put a nut in your skate tool, glue it, then your tool can only go 'so' far down the head!!!

Brilliant. Simple. And cheap. Much like me..... (!)