ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

Ok I switched some things around on my HS changing from shock wedges to hard wedges really tightened up the my ability to finish my turns but I feel a front truck push on the initiation of my toeside turns especially when I'm trying to accelerate...No so much when I'm coasting or slowing down. I'm not sure if it's the reduced angle a pair of wedge shock risers compared to two wedged hard risers or if it's the fact that my board is taller now or if it's just in my head. I have a Khiro rail kit on order but unless I really need it I have other things I would rather use it on. Any thoughts???

Reducing wedge won't let the front steer as acutely across the fall line ... so it should stick even better??

Are you letting your weight get a little biased towards the rear? (I did this when I first
started. Like I was trying to kickturn my toe side turns out of habit from ramp riding...)
Just a thought...

What's the specs on your setup??

Tod is right about the weight shift and that sounds like the most likely cause.
Your front wheel duro may be a factor, now that you have less 'give' or shock absorbsion with the change of wedge material. In effect you may have slightly reduced your ability to absorb surface inconsistancies if they are now harder.
When you say the board is taller, is that the front only (which would help keep weight rearwards) or the whole deck?

MD

Setup
Fullbag HS set 20" WB
Geezer 90mm front (set at 92mm)
Chindy rear set at 103mm
Yellow Hotspots in the front, Trimmed lip Green Avalons in the rear
the front of the board is 3/8" higher than the rear (used to be one 1/8")
Though I've lost about 10lbs since I made my wheels choice I now weigh about 205 so I think the wheels are still about right...I'm coning the Avalons nicely

interesting...I hadn't thought about how raising the front would shift my weight bias and I certainly didn't expect it to change that much over just 1/4". I don't care for the feeling of front push. I did notice that the more I shifted my hips to face forward the less it happened but my toeside carve has always been natural (snowboarding and surfing) I would really rather not mess with it. I guess I will have to use the rail kit after all to get my deck closer to level (wheel bite is not an issue) I never missed a cone or even lost the line because of the push it was just a really uncomfortable feeling on what was supposed to be the fast tight finish to a loose hybrid course
thank a bunch you guys have given me a bunch to think about....

Another thing you could try Tony...Most racers ride as you do with a wider rear than front track, but many, me included, find it doesn't work for them. Slalom set-ups can be very personal and sometimes very counter-intuitive things...
I ALWAYS ride with my front track either the same or slightly wider than the rear, give it a try, you never know...For me I feel it puts more emphasis on the front truck allowing the rear to follow and just 'do its thing'. When I try it the other way I feel almost as if the rear overpowers the front causing it to work too hard, and maybe slide,plus I then tend to clip cones with the rear. As you guys say....'Go figure'.

Martin.

I have had the front the same as the rear for me it just seems to slow down my turning making me late for everything (can you say cone spray). I made a Catek mistake and changed too much on my set up at once. I ran a short straight 15 cone practice this morning just to play with my weight bias...conscientiously shifting forward helps the front but loosens up the rear a bit on my heels. Which forces my rear foot into a more square stance leading to cone catches on my heel (that pisses me off more than anything). I should have my rail kit this week and I will return to the same ride height front and rear I had before. Rather annoying, in over 30 years of skating I've always been able to work around setup issues but I've had more problems in the 2 years I've been skating cones than I've ever had in any other discipline...which is probably also why I enjoy it so much, working through problems...its like dreaming up new curb tricks...

Tony try loosening up the front truck a bit. The bushing set-up may not be allowing you accelrate quick enough for your satisfaction.

There is a fine line here between tight enough to make the course at speed and trying to accelerate quickly.

Another thing is a narrower front truck and wheel set-up. I'll admit some of my wheels may be shaved too much for some courses but my timer is proving that there exists another fine line there!

Oh & Martin and Tod wait till you see my Tail piece.

Claude Regnier wrote:
Oh & Martin and Tod wait till you see my Tail piece.

Oooo-eeer! You would get your face slapped if you said that to a woman! You Bad Boy...I'll see your Tail Piece in Gothenburg!

Martin.

Claude Regnier wrote:Tony try loosening up the front truck a bit. The bushing set-up may not be allowing you accelrate quick enough for your satisfaction.

There is a fine line here between tight enough to make the course at speed and trying to accelerate quickly.

I have stewwed on this one for a while...I have always been a set it and forget it type of person when it comes to my trucks but I remember Rick Floyd both talking about and fiddling with his front truck tightness at Needham. At the time I was a bit snobish that I didn't need to do "that"....now I'm not so sure...I may end up tweaking my front truck tightness a lot more in the future, I'm gonna feel foolish if that's all it was

Those Vermonters...ha...they'll try ANYTHING!

Good luck with the setups TP - I'm off to Morro tomorrow AM.

PS - I've felt "push" on Indys / Bennetts / RTX when I over-wedge and the axle is forward of the pivot point. I never go above 10 degrees with those trucks now - and more like five degrees on the Bennett...been running the Bennett flat for GS!

Rick Floyd wrote:Those Vermonters...ha...they'll try ANYTHING!

Good luck with the setups TP - I'm off to Morro tomorrow AM.

PS - I've felt "push" on Indys / Bennetts / RTX when I over-wedge and the axle is forward of the pivot point. I never go above 10 degrees with those trucks now - and more like five degrees on the Bennett...been running the Bennett flat for GS!

Good luck in Morro - Go Lizards!

MD

Well its fricken hot and my skating partner decided that waves were better than cones for turns but my rail kit came in. So I changed my setup around until I got it pretty even. I dropped the front 1/8th and raised the rear 1/8th, went back to 14 degrees in the front and messed a bit with the rear before settling for about 4-5 degrees of dewedge after flattening the tail (I had about 2 degrees before). I threw out 10 cones and just tried it out...it feels better now, I also played a bit with bushing tightness taking about 1/2 turn out, no push and overall feels more controllable without feeling too stable the real test will likely be Sunday evening when I can run cones but I like what I feel

A solid 3 hours of running 48 cones and other than real sore legs I have no more problems. I spent a lot of time playing with the tightness of my front truck think I need a softer front bushing or I need to be a bit more aggressive. I can't sit back any more and cruise a course I have to charge it, not that there is a problem with that other than my abs feel like I've been doing sit-ups for those 3 hours. I finally set a good training course, so good I'm going back tomorrow with spray paint to put black dots down Thanks for the help