New Virage 'Vite' front quick turning truck

Curt Chapman · Post by **Curt Chapman** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:36 am

Any news on a new run of the "Vite"s?

Available in the USA when?

Any changes to the design?

Denis Hildebrand · Post by **Denis Hildebrand** » Fri Nov 19, 2010 2:24 am

CHRISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST

What a lovely truck Mike!!! U outdone urself!!!!1

Are they on octane for sale???
Just front trucks or u making rear trucks too??

Rob Ashby · Post by **Rob Ashby** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 2:10 pm

Any old excuse to get your balls out eh Sam?

Surely one Virage Team member (no pun intended) with a penchance for "plums out" riding is enough?

Sam Gordon · Post by **Sam Gordon** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:37 pm

Downhill???

Does this mean I have to do some 'balls out' testing? Uh oh.

Blindfold please.

And bucket.

Ramón Königshausen · Post by **Ramón Königshausen** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:29 pm

Michael Stride wrote: seems like everyone and their dog have DH trucks in their line up.

I've always liked your style of speech

But that is very true.

rmn

Michael Stride · Post by **Michael Stride** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:33 pm

Ramon...
The Virage Vittesse wil be ready when we have a design that adds something to whats on offer at the moment, seems like everyone and their dog have DH trucks in their line up.

Ramón Königshausen · Post by **Ramón Königshausen** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:39 pm

So what's the deal on DH trucks? Just going with the trend?

rmn

Philip Bond · Post by **Philip Bond** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 4:02 am

A reasonable close up of the Vite in action. Tight Hybrid, green/pink Reflex Barrels.

Philip Bond · Post by **Philip Bond** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 10:12 am

Had a rippin' session with my young friend Ghost Rider today, he is new to slalom and has benefited from riding my set ups. The down side is I keep changing things around to get the perfect/ best set up I can. Today we set a 40 cone course on a nice slope with good surface, this was the first time for 40 cones at this venue, which we skate every couple of weeks.
The difference in a 30 cone to 40 cone course was staggering, the last 15 cones were taken at a speed I hadn't done since my 1st comp. last year. The up shot of all this is the Vite is an awesome truck, it handled the pace with aplomb and is snappy and quick to respond. I have started running 89a Zigzags on the front and have had no problem with sliding, although Mark, a very good DH and free skater, had the rear end sliding, probably due to technique more than anything else. I have at the moment tho' found the Radikal Wing best compliments the Vite, but this is an angle issue that i need to sort, as previously I had a Virage rear that worked well with the Virage front. This was all on the Roadster. The Pirnack mean time has a matching pair of Virage and was just as quick thru' the cones but is probably more suited to Hybrid, ditch and GS, as suggested by SamG. It didn't feel as comfortable but certainly hustled thru ' the cones.

I also just wondered how many of you guys used higher duro wheels for tight? I feel they work better than some of the softer duros and certainly generate sustainable speed.

BTW being a big lad the Vite was loaded with green/pink Reflex barrells, with the softer duro board side. I run Virages the opposite way, harder duro board side. I find with the different geometries of the trucks, this give a better snap back. Only 3 weeks to season start, can't wait!!!

Philip Bond · Post by **Philip Bond** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 11:44 am

Had a short session tonite, wifey insisted, had the Roadster set up Vite/Virage/Zigzags. Felt as good if slightly faster than the Virage/Virage set up and was way more responsive and answered to change of direction tout de suite. As a comparison I had the Pirnack Virage/Rad Tail/O'tangs. Now this was also quick/smooth/fast turning but felt slower by comparison and also was quicker to pull up at the end of the run, which to me equals slower. I made no adjustment to bushings or nuts from the last session, just a st8 truck swap, with both boards at max wb. To me the Roadster/Vite/Virage set up is a winner for tight slalom. I will now try the Rad on the Roadster and full Virage on the Pirnack, then Vite/Virage on the Pirnack, I also want to swap the wheels over, the O'tangs feel smoother but slower, is this me??.
I am keeping a record of the different wedging and rising required so when I find Nirvana i will be able to replicate it. Again Mike your trucks rock. BTW how many sets are there in Aussie?

Michael Stride · Post by **Michael Stride** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:37 pm

Ooooooo its allk looking rather good for the Vite. The initial reviews in Seatle for LDP have been excellent and I know its looking good for slalom too of course. So good to see them being treasured!

Here is a short clip of the Vite hanger being milled , must apologise as I only had my phone and I held it up the wrong way.....anyway you can see the block, which is drilled first , then held in place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV1hlIid7Uc

[/url]

Philip Bond · Post by **Philip Bond** » Wed Jan 13, 2010 11:09 am

OK had my first real ride of the Pirnack with VITE, well this is how we went. I set my normal 40 cone course up, almost flat, 6' offsets with some 6.5' thrown in into a major offset curve followed by 20 stingers at 6'. Not world class level but challenging enough for a fat git like me, BTW 120kg and decreasing. Did the first couple of runs on the Roadster, which is set quite taught and runs smoothly when pushed hard. Had a gusty side/headwind so full speed not achievable. Two clean runs st8 off at reasonable pace with my back leg giving its all. Out came the Pirnack, VITE with Pink Reflex barrel bottom, nearest BP, and white Khiro top. Nearly fell off when pushing into cones, not use to the extra wb and front end wobble!!! Anyways, ran the course twice in total disbelief at the difference, not clean runs but quick and smooth. Shit the Pirnack generates a lot of power from the rear with the Rad tail and it's instant like hitting a gas pedal.
The Vite felt like it was gonna washout a couple of times but just hitched its skirt up and carried on without fuss. Turns were quick and if anything it oversteers pushing you wide until you take control. I changed out the white Khiro for a blue venom cone, ugghh, st8 back to white Khiro barrel thankyou. Will try the pink barrel/ pink cone next time when the wind has died down. Got the roadster out for another run and bugger me I couldn't ride the sucker, it felt like it wouldn't turn. Checked my foot placement and yea they were all wrong, tried another run and bullied it thru' clean as a whistle but it felt like i was having to try real hard.

First impression of the VITE Whoa, it turns quick and precise and isn't worried by washout. From a rank amateur in his rookie year, that may not be a perfect impression but i am impressed. Mikes trucks are the dogs and I wish I had bought a second Virage rear, but saying that The Rad Tail is so much better than the Rad Wing I have, I can generate so much go thru it and the VITE just soaks it all up.

I think I will swap the front trucks over tonite and give the boards a go tomorrow evening.

Just swapped the front trucks over and surprise surprise the Pirnack now has a shorter wb than the Roadster. The VITE lengthens axle to axle wb. Didn't expect that. So I will have to either use the longest WB on the Pirnack with a standard VIRAGE front, or try it as is, should be very quick indeed.

Sam Gordon · Post by **Sam Gordon** » Wed Jan 13, 2010 1:28 am

That board looks very like a 161 to me. Have you been shopping locally by chance?
Didn't know that they sold porn in Ikea.

Pelle Gustafsson · Post by **Pelle Gustafsson** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:41 pm

it just arrival today whith that buching on,will trye it on my way to work tomorrow and at training after work as well.... maby i put it in my bet tonight just beacause it´s so sexy!!!!

Sam Gordon · Post by **Sam Gordon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:15 pm

Ha Pelle, you romantic hound from the land of meatballs and rollmop, I see you are running the two white blocks up front also.

Have you managed to turn in anger yet? There must be an underground car park with your name on it...

...or is Philip going to become the most experienced authority on riding the Virage Vite?
Until, that is, he melts!

Sam

Pelle Gustafsson · Post by **Pelle Gustafsson** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:52 pm

Philip Bond · Post by **Philip Bond** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:28 pm

Thanks Sam, I will try the swap, I didn't really want to mess with the Roadster, but I guess it's only a case of putting it back together. It had taken me a year to get it sweet but it was one of my plans to swap front trucks anyway. I'll let you know what happens. Yea the weather here is too good, last 6 days have been 37c, 39c 40c 43c 44c and 25c.

Sam Gordon · Post by **Sam Gordon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 5:09 pm

Hi JudgeK; what cracking setups!

I have a Pirnack like that myself, with the Vite up front and regular Virage in the back. It gives excellent snappy response with zero slop. At the moment we are under a few feet of snow, so I am quite jealous of your weather!

Given that all slalom skaters regularly tweak and adjust their setups for that perfect flow, here are a few suggestions to try out before you either do any machining or make any extra purchases (sorry Michael).

From your pictures it looks like the Pirnack has a longer wheelbase capacity than the Hopkin Roadster. If this is the case then swop both sets of trucks over, running the regular Virages on the Pirnack and the Radikal/ Vite on the Roadster.

The fast turning Vite/ Radikal combo will then be on the shorter wheelbase board and will be a great setup for tighter slalom. The Vite is designed to run most naturally when flat mounted onto the deck (or with flat shock pad). Steering should be both snappy and progressive. It may be a bit warmer in the Southern Hemisphere, but up this way I run the Vite with two white Khiro barrel bushings. I weigh around 65 kilos. The Radikal rear is a very fast turning rear truck, so can handle a lot of wedging to bring the kingpin closer to vertical (this is how Pappas drives his board).

The longer wheelbase Pirnack with the regular Virage will make an excellent hybrid board that can handle everything from tight to giant slalom. It looks like you have the wedging pretty down to make that setup fly.

As regards the difference in truck widths, this shouldn't really be an issue. The key is to acclimatise to the way the board rides and then optimise technique around your setup, doing very small changes at a time. Keep us posted as to how you get on!

Sam

Vite reverse wedged by 3 degrees on the Pirnack in order to be run flat on the upturned nose. In fact the angle is around 2 degrees.

Philip Bond · Post by **Philip Bond** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:29 pm

I know this has been written about before but I couldn't find the thread, so here goes. I have just put a Pavel Pirnack together with a New Virage Vite front truck and a Radikal Dragons Tail rear, Thing is the rear is 97mm wheel edge to wheel edge, the front is 85mm, even with an extra 12mm of spacers (6mm per side). The board rides well but I would be interested in any feedback, opinions or stories ppl have on this. I don't want to have the Radikal hanger machined unless it's absolutely necessary. I think I'd rather buy another Virage Rear, than do that. Let me know what you think JudgeK

Philip Bond · Post by **Philip Bond** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 3:21 am

Pavel Pirnack Virage Vite -5*, Radikal Dragons Tail -4*, Orangatangs 4 presidents 80/83

Pavel Hopkins Roadster Virage front/rear Zigzags 80/86

Pavels in the sun, only 43C today, too hot to skate, just playing with my toys.

Pelle Gustafsson · Post by **Pelle Gustafsson** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:26 pm

totaly WOW

Philip Bond · Post by **Philip Bond** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 7:46 am

For all you Northern hemispherers.

Michael Stride · Post by **Michael Stride** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:53 pm

Cheers Phillip, your parcel went out today, look out for the orange bag!

Ive also sent out trucks to the U.S., Brazil, Sweden, France and the UK. It has to be dry somewhere?

Cant wait for you to get them and give them a go.

Philip Bond · Post by **Philip Bond** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:39 am

Can't wait for mine to arrive, gonna mount it on Harveys Pirnack, he sold me, and try and match it with the Radikal Tail, also that came form Harvey. If that fails I guess i'll be buying another Virage rear. Oh for next years competitions.

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:44 pm

Hey, that press can be made to work both ways.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Pelle Gustafsson · Post by **Pelle Gustafsson** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:38 pm

its depend on were the kingpin take place

Sj Kalliokoski · Post by **Sj Kalliokoski** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:13 pm

I would not recommend that due those kingpins can hurt you !!

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:56 pm

Do you ever wanna just get naked and roll around in it all?

Michael Stride · Post by **Michael Stride** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 6:51 pm

I thought Id show a little of the process of making the Virages and Vites, if your interested....

Here is the jig that holds the billet in place for the hangers, simply put we drill the axle holes into the billet then mount it firmly into this gig clamp to place into the milling machine:

This is the baseplate in its jig part made:

To put the kingpins in firmly we use a very old bit of kit...its basically a big lever...each angle baseplate has a corresponding wedge to hold the baseplate in at the right angle:

The workshop has a seperate section for 'skate stuff'!

Each truck is washed cleaned and assembled....

packed and ready to take home to organise shipping:

Sam Gordon · Post by **Sam Gordon** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:23 pm

Please sir, can I have some Moore?

...with sphericals !

Michael Stride · Post by **Michael Stride** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 9:46 pm

Dont forget the spherical in the hanger!

Ramón Königshausen · Post by **Ramón Königshausen** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 9:43 pm

Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition! The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V.

or just

rmn

Sam Gordon · Post by **Sam Gordon** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 9:12 pm

Pelle, surely you are not suggesting that this has all been done before??!!?

Crikey! It's like skateboarding's Greatest Hits re-mastered!!!

Pelle Gustafsson · Post by **Pelle Gustafsson** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:45 pm

Big smile!!

Michael Stride · Post by **Michael Stride** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:43 pm

Pelle. They look even nicer on podiums.

Yours should be with you around Christmas.

And the Lazer influence is there, we have taken Bennett angles and Lazer style, with Virage quality and axles. The Vite will be a nice ride!

Marcus, thanks for the compliment! Means a lot. You'll love the gold versions! (joke!)

Also Sam Gordon and I hope to come to an indoor sesh in Sweden soon.

Pelle Gustafsson · Post by **Pelle Gustafsson** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:08 pm

looks like a oldschool lazer truck.. fett nice!!!

Sam Gordon · Post by **Sam Gordon** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:22 am

Thanks Marcus; we're still very impressed by the 161 design ethic!

Julien, the board used here is a Pavel Pirnack. This deck has an upturned nose in order to both hold in the front foot and to steepen a regular truck steering angle. I have reverse wedged the Vite by five degrees so that the truck runs flat, emulating how it will operate on most slalom decks.

Here is a small bit of footage of the truck in testing on the flat at Hyde Park. Tight slalomers and long distance pumpers will be interested in this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1rwzHWJoJ0

Image taken before the truck was reverse wedged on the Pirnack:

Sam

Philip Bond · Post by **Philip Bond** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:44 am

Looks good Mike, will have to wait 'til the new year to buy, too much to hide from wifey at present.

Ran into an old friend/rival of yours a couple of months ago, Nick 'Boomerdog" Sable. Glad you too get on so well............

Julien RICHARD · Post by **Julien RICHARD** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 9:13 am

witch deck did you use for this set up?

is the front riser flat or angled?

Marcus Seyffarth · Post by **Marcus Seyffarth** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:55 am

NICE!!!

Sam Gordon · Post by **Sam Gordon** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 12:22 am

In the flesh:

Vite for Vendetta.
and Victory.

Michael Stride · Post by **Michael Stride** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:11 pm

More views, there will be Virage branding on some of the faces,:

Michael Stride · Post by **Michael Stride** » Thu Nov 26, 2009 10:54 am

Picking up the new, hopefully final pre-prods later;
sneak preview:

Michael Stride · Post by **Michael Stride** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 9:57 pm

You can buy either the baseplate, or the hanger.

Or both.

There are distinct advantages to using the complete trucks as the benefits of not have a massive riser tower are big.

The prices of the hanger and baseplate will differ, its looking like the baseplate will be cheaper than the hanger.

GARY GLASSER · Post by **GARY GLASSER** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 7:48 pm

Is it going to be sold as a set? (hanger/plate) Or can you chose to purchase just the hanger?

Marcus Seyffarth · Post by **Marcus Seyffarth** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:02 pm

Michael Stride wrote:Oh, I thought Id make one. Send it to the Czech Republic and buy them from there myself.

Moahahaha!

Nice channel, and a very nice looking truck! Its hard to understand that there are so many obvious improvements that no one have ever thought of before. Keep em coming!

/Marcus

Sam Gordon · Post by **Sam Gordon** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:37 pm

THAT sort of knobbling I can accept!

Michael and I have been testing the Vite on the flat in Hyde Park today. It's turning action is buttery smooth with quick turn initiation when run flat to the deck (zero riser angle). Despite my initial concerns that the front end might be too twitchy, the board whistled through 5 1/2 ft straight with ease and with a progressive, yet snappy feel. Lovely!

At the current angle, little riser is needed. The wheel travel path is fast turning, but moves in a comparatively horizontal plane, so that vertical travel in the turning action is not so great. No need of huge amounts of riser, then.

We then tested the truck dewedged to see how it would operate. First 5 degrees of steering was taken out, then 8 degrees.

Both angles felt smooth and progressive when freeriding, the 8 degree lending itself towards a hybrid course turn. Whilst the freeriding option shoud not be dismissed, the Vite is designed to be a fast turning truck first and foremost. With the exaggeratedly reduced turn angle (-8*) the progressive turn feel was improved a little, however this marginal benefit was outweighed y a greater comparative reduction in tun initiation. Vertical wheel travel at this angle as also greatly increased so demanding a higher flat riser to prevent wheelbite.

The 5 degree reverse wedge helped to return much of the snap that had been reduced by the -8 riser. Progression in turn rate seemed similar. Excellent for freeride, however when run through cones the turn initiation was not quite as rapid as preferred.

We then returned to running the truck flat again. Turn initiation was great, as was the progressive feel, however the shoulders of the bushing seat served to work as turn limiters, so preventing the fullest arc of turn to be tested. Whilst this made the truck operate very well on the tight straight course, final turn point and tipping/pitching point could not be determined. In other words, how would the truck behave at the steepest part of its turn?

All of this will be addressed through new machining in prototype version 2. Given that many of today's slalom decks have a sight upturn at the nose (Pavl Pirnack for example), a couple of steering degrees are incidentally added to the baseplate, so steepening the angle. Version 2 will therefore be reduced in angle by 3 degrees as both security measure (to prevent the possibility of pitching on step nosed decks) and to maintain turn initiation snap with progressive action. 3mm with be added to the truck height in order to accommodate the increased vertical wheel travel.

In such a way, the new version can be easily tuned using a 3 degree angled riser either to give the truck a super whippy turn initiation, or to make it the perfect choice for tight hybrid courses.

However you run the Virage Vite, you are really going to enjoy the precision feel of the smooth turning action offered up by its supertight tolerances and free-flowing bearing. Yum!!!

Sam

Pelle Gustafsson · Post by **Pelle Gustafsson** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:51 pm

cant wait to buy you a beer or 2-3-4-5 before a race... lol

Sam Gordon · Post by **Sam Gordon** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:47 pm

Good to hear that you are glued back together and have come out fighting!

Here's a picture of your bony metallic tail:

SamG

Pelle Gustafsson · Post by **Pelle Gustafsson** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:30 pm

yes i am back after a segery,and i going to be better then before so watch your back i coming upp and going to kick your tiny ass... hope to race whith you and all other virage gang

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New Virage 'Vite' front quick turning truck

Downhill

La Truck de Grande Vitesse

Deck

truck

Plast

wow!

Virage Trucks

Pavels plus Virage= porn?

wow

vite in the sun

Ha ha, Foxy!

Virage Vite

Truck...

Virage Vite

Testing...testing...testing...

Thanx

Iron Man

alive