Manufacturer's contact information posts

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Wesley Tucker
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Manufacturer's contact information posts

Post by Wesley Tucker » Sun Jan 23, 2005 7:04 pm

It's cold outside today, so I stayed in and worked on a little project I discussed this week with Jani. I'll tell y'all the same thing I told him earlier.

I went to the Downhill Billies Skate session on North Carolina last week and it was very cool. Lots of longboarders and a few who wanted to try slalom. Naturally, the conversation got around to buying stuff and the best way to get info. I, of course, referred them to this site as being the most comprehensive clearinghouse for matter pertaining to slalom skateboarding.

On the drive home, though, something dawned on me that started to bug me. If a newbie comes to this site and starts looking for specific information about equipment, they are pretty well screwed unless they do a lot of hunting a pecking. What I realized was the manufacturers had not posted an actual "contact" topic in their forums. Without it, then figuring out a website URL can get frustrating, not counting trying to make a call or email.

So I PM'd Jani and suggested he contact the owners about updating their sites with info about how and where to get stuff. Jani wrote me back and suggested that if I have the time to go ahead and do it. So I did. I don't think I stepped on anybody's toes but just cut and pasted stuff directly from the websites.

Also, the manufacturers are the MODERATORS of their individual forums. They can go in and edit my post to reflect whatever additional information they please or make changes as they want. Whether it's a new phone number, adding a cel or deleting an old email address, they have the freedom to change it at will. No problem. If they would also check to make sure there are no typos or incorrect phone number, that would also be a help.

Some manufacturers DO NOT have a contact post. I wouldn't presume to post something for Peter Verdone or the 3TC truck because I have no way of knowing the particular status of that equipment. SKF bearings has no contact because I couldn't find a skate-specific website for what is in truth a major industrial supplier.

One last thing: I'm hoping either Jani, the forum moderators or whoever is able would go in and make each of these posts a "STICKY" or whatever is desired to make sure it stays at the top of the forum. This info is really at the heart of each manufacturer's ability to sell stuff and it wouldn't do any good for these posts to get buried over time by succeeding topics.

Eric Moore
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Post by Eric Moore » Sun Jan 23, 2005 8:09 pm

Great work Wes!

I've also been thinking about how it would be difficult for a newbie to sort through the mountains of posts looking for any particular bit of information. Since moving to Colorado I've become a newbie at a different but related sport - snowboarding. So I spent quite a bit of time looking for snowboarding info online, and I came across a great site called the Carver's Almanac at www.alpinecarving.com. This site has a ton of info for new carvers. Not a forum, just all the basics laid out in plain text. I started to think that slalom needs a site like this, because as far as I know there is no site for new slalomers with all the info they'd want to know laid out in an organized fashion.

I've started to put a site like this together, but there is a lot of information to compile, so I expect it will be some time before it's up.

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Post by Jani Soderhall » Sun Jan 23, 2005 9:52 pm

Good job, Wesley!

It's was good idea and your speed of implementation impressive.


The remaining stock of the 3TC truck is now in the hands of Geezer X.

The SKF website is http://www.skfsport.com. It mostly features roller skating and is rarely updated. SKF has been kind of supportive of the European scene over the last two years with their representative being present at most races. The information I have is that this guy we all got to know, Sandro Vonau, has now left the company.


Eric,

If you want to host any or all of the stuff you're compiling here at this site, you're most welcome. I put together most of the static part of this site in 2003 and soon after realized how good the forum part is and how hard it is to keep a static site updated. I have made a committment to disassemble the static part and add a portal to the site, but I haven't made it there yet. If you or anybody else wants to maintain a part of the current static site by replacing it with new content, that would be great!

/Jani

Wesley Tucker
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Post by Wesley Tucker » Sun Jan 23, 2005 10:01 pm

Eric,

Thanks for the props.

I like your idea. A comprehensive website displaying equipment, comparing specs and maybe relating race results of the various manufacturers would be very cool. (Let's never forget we RACE and competing and winning is what it's all about.) As soon as you get it done, I would suggest a post in the NEW TO SLALOM SKATEBOARDING? forum and it'll get stickied to the top.

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Post by Glenn S » Sun Jan 23, 2005 11:37 pm

Wesley,
Excellent Idea. Without the gear there would be no slalom as we know it.

Wesley Tucker
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Post by Wesley Tucker » Sun Jan 23, 2005 11:44 pm

Jani Soderhall wrote:The SKF website is http://www.skfsport.com.
Fixed.

Eric Moore
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Post by Eric Moore » Mon Jan 24, 2005 12:22 am

Jani,
I didn't realize there was currently a static portion of this site. Is there a link to it somewhere that I missed?

I'm a grad student so I have some webspace allotted by the university so my original intention was to host the content there. However it might make more sense to have it right here at ss.com.

I'm not making any promises about getting this thing up in any specified amount of time. It's taking longer than I expected and I've got plenty of other stuff to attend to. But I do intend to work steadily on it when I have time available. It started out as procrastination as I was studying for my Ph.D. preliminary qualiftying exam.

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Post by Glenn S » Mon Jan 24, 2005 1:10 am

Eric,
I think that Jani meant the http://www.slalomskateboarder.com page , without the phpBB portion of the address. Where the forum is http://www.slalomskateboarder.com/phpBB/

Hey Jani, can you make the ISSA tile above as a link to that front page? Here is really no where in the forum to link to the front page (home page, whatever you call it). And the link to the forum at the front page could probably be made more visible too.

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Post by Jani Soderhall » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:17 pm

Glenn S wrote:Jani, can you make the ISSA title above as a link to that front page?
Done, now we have to make sure it is updated too...


Eric,

If you, or anybody else, want to publish anything at all, for example replacing some of the stuff you can find from that front page, just let me know and we can discuss how to go about it.

I should at least make minor adjustments (soon) so that the home page does not appear out of date.

/Jani

Eric Moore
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Post by Eric Moore » Tue Jan 25, 2005 2:22 am

The stuff I've been drafting out isn't really front page stuff. But once I get it all pulled together (if I get it all pulled together) a link from the front page to my stuff would be nice. Or maybe a table of contents on the front page to the articles that I'm planning.

The only thing on the front page that I see needs changing is the link to the 2004 contest schedule should be changed to the 2005 contest schedule.

This is the preliminary table of contents that I've laid out:

<b>Gear</b>
Decks
Trucks
Wheels
Bearings
Bushings
Saftety Gear

<b>Customizing Your Setup</b>
Wedging trucks
Redrilling decks
Lathing wheels
Shaving bushings
Deck contours

<b>Technique</b>
Beginners
Pumping
Braking
Race Strategy

<b>Disciplines</b>
Tight Slalom
Hybrid Slalom
Giant Slalom
Super G
SlalomCross

<b>Rules</b>
General slalom rules
Things that change from race to race
ISSA official rules

<b>Glossary</b>

<b>Links</b>
Manufacturers
Shops
Forums
Info/Personal pages


To give you an idea of how far along I am, I'm almost done with "decks". "Decks" has subsections on entry level boards, laminate decks, foam cores, s-cambers, and I'm debating about including a brief discussion of vintage decks. As you can see there is quite a lot to go.

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Post by Jani Soderhall » Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:05 am

Eric Moore wrote:The only thing on the front page that I see needs changing is the link to the 2004 contest schedule should be changed to the 2005 contest schedule.
Update of link to calendar 2005 done today.

Eric,

You're stuff could replace the stuff I wrote > two years ago about equipment. That listing is out of date now. It would be cool to replace it not just by a brief listing of manufacturers but your more comprehensive listing.

Keep going and let us know when you're at a stage where you want to publish something. We could do just the boards the start with if you feel that it is nearing completion.

If you give me the texts I'll do the layout of submit it to Lillis if a more advanced design is required.

/Jani

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Post by Glenn S » Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:30 pm

Jani, could you check the Slalom! archive link?
And would you mind if I take a stab at the html for the Manufacturers pages linked from that front page and update or add others that have joined the field?

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Post by Jani Soderhall » Tue Jan 25, 2005 4:19 pm

Glenn S wrote:Jani, could you check the Slalom! archive link?
Oops, I wonder when I lost that link. Fixed now. I still have several issues prepared to go online, but as usual my ambitions are wider than my available time.
Glenn S wrote:And would you mind if I take a stab at the html for the Manufacturers pages linked from that front page and update or add others that have joined the field?
Yes, please do!

Wesley Tucker
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New Forums, NOTHING DELETED!

Post by Wesley Tucker » Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:47 pm

Ok,

A few changes. Nothing tremendous, just something y'all might want to take note of.

First of all, NO TOPIC THREAD HAS BEEN DELETED. Everyone's words are still in the database.

The GULLWING forum, though, has been DELETED. There were only three topics in there and all were moved to the GENERAL TRUCK DISCUSSION forum, including the order informational order sticky. There might a GW or two out there in slalom world, but they are so few and far between than it's pretty much agreed by the management that a forum for that particular truck is excessive.

Secondly, the "3-TC" forum has been RENAMED to "MONKEYWRENCH MACHINE WORKS." Eric has all the 3TC stock and also has a pretty good business doing custom work. No way of knowing if there will ever be another run of 3TCs by Seismic, but until that time Eric has agreed to moderate the forum. Again, a forum dedicated to a product that's no longer in production doesn't seem quite right compared to companies churning out stuff regularly. Also, Eric assured me today on the phone that his website for MMW will be up again in the very near future. As soon as it is, a sticky post for all the contact and ordering information will be made available.

Finally, a new forum for the Splitfire truck. I contacted Gary Fluitt and he tells me things are going well with sales and production. He should have some news to post as soon as he checks in to SS.com and sees his new forum.

Only one thing this time without permission: I replaced Dan Gesmer with Eric Wallgren as moderator of the 3TC forum. Since Dan, though, now refers all inquiries about the truck to Geezer, there's no reason to assume he'll mind having Eric responsible for answering all the questions and keeping the forum up to date.

Wesley Tucker
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KRYPTONICS is GONE!

Post by Wesley Tucker » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:32 pm

And another thing . . .

The KRYPTONICS wheels forum is GONE. It never had a moderator, the company has no slalom-specific wheels and there hasn't been a post in the forum for a year.

That has "outta here!" written all over it.

Again, though, NOTHING was deleted. All topic related to Kryptonics were moved to the GENERAL SLALOM SKATEBOARD WHEEL forum. And, hey, if Krypto comes to its senses and make a good racing wheel, there can always be a new forum.

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KRYPGRIP

Post by Steve Collins » Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:59 am

...actually, Kryptonics does have a slalom-specific wheel, the KrypGrip.

I've never actually seen one in real life, just on the "old school" part of their website.

I doubt it's any competition for Manx, but it does exist.

Wesley Tucker
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Fate Of the PVD Forum

Post by Wesley Tucker » Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:47 pm

OK,

I've been wielding the hatchet with reckless abandon concerning the manufacturer forums. Now comes one that I think MIGHT be a little controversial, so I wanted to air it out before I took any action:

Ground Effects
Peter Verdone Design - Moderator: Peter Verdone.

First of all, I know there are still a lot of people racing and winning on PVDs. So there will probably be some discussion in the future about the product. But the forum is close to dead. Hasn't been a post since early last year. Hell, the forum even has the WRONG NAME: I was informed the trucks are no longer knowns as GERTS, but PVDs. Also, does anyone know if Peter even bothers to check in and look at his own forum?

Again, there might be plans in the works to revive the truck or maybe even Peter is working on something completely new. There's no way to know. My feeling, though, is that the manufacturer's forums serve three purposes: providing technical info, relaying personal experiences on the product AND providing a slalom racer on information on how to order and operate the equipment. I'd like to know if PVD still meets that criteria?

Again, I'm not going to arbitrarily slash Peter's forum the way I did Kryptonic wheels. It's not like there was anyone to rush to the defense of why Kryp should take up our bandwidth. And, if things change and such a circumstance occurs, the forum can always be revived. Also, NOTHING WILL BE DELETED FROM THE PVD FORUM. All topics will be moved to the "General Slalom Skateboard Truck Discussion." So everyone's words of wisdom will be saved for the ages.

Let your thoughts be known. One last thing: silence will be taken as agreement.

Wesley Tucker
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All The News We Print We Fit!

Post by Wesley Tucker » Thu Jan 27, 2005 1:44 am

Another tid bit,

There is now a new forum for Kebbek Slalom Boards. After a brief exchange with Pierre Gravel, he was excited about the chance to moderate and also have a place to post more information about racing and racing products from North of the Border.

One other thing before anyone asks. At the same time I contacted Kebbek, I also communicated with Maurus Strobel about a forum for Indiana Skateboards. Why they never had a forum to begin with always sort of surprised me. They were really the only source for flexible racing stuff for almost 10 years in the '90s, if not longer.

Maurus was appreciative of the offer, but declined on behalf of himself and Christoph at Indiana. Both said their schedules would not allow them the time to attend to keeping a forum up to date and preventing stagnation. I completely understand. As I told Maurus and Pierre, I'd rather not have a forum than have one that just sits there for years with no activity. That sort of slince after a while makes me nervous.

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Post by Wesley Tucker » Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:51 pm

Well, the response has been zero, so I'm assuming my direction for PVDs is acceptable. Peter Verdone Designs will NOT have a forum until such time as Peter once again (if ever) resumes production of a slalom-related product.

Again, NOTHING IS DELETED! All PVD discussion topics are now available in the GENERAL SLALOM SKATEBOARD TRUCK DISCUSSION forum.

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Post by Wesley Tucker » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:34 pm

OK,

Time to pare and prune. My next target is the "West L.A. College - USA" forum. I think for now WLAC is dead and the forum has gone quiet now for six months.

If anyone has a reason why it shouldn't be moved to "CALIFORNIA," let me know. As I see Pavel Decks is now a DECK FORUM, reducing the list a little is a good thing.

I'm serious when I say, "be active or be gone!" A long list of dead forums going no where just rankles me to no end. I see where Joe and Scott are moderators of the forum. Does anyone know if Scott has looked at this website since the last WLAC event? Personally, I never could understand why a particular race held sporadically was ever given it's own forum. It should clearly be a NORTH AMERICA or CALIFORNIA topic.

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Post by Jani Soderhall » Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:04 pm

Wesley,

I put Joe I as moderator for all the forums I thought needed pruning. If you want to go ahead and tackle them, just do so.

I absolutely agree that single events should never be given their own forums. They are too temporary in nature. If we still do it, we need to merge them into a larger forum later on.

It would be good if you could come up with a plan on how to handle all US races. All the Euro races are in one single forum and I guess it would be easier if there was a similar solution to the US races, but maybe that's too much in one place? And what do we do with the historical events? It's good that they stay, but they shouldn't obscure the view of the more recent happenings.

Good luck!

/Jani

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