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| Q&A: McKendry on Speed (1810 Posts)
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slow wheels
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On 10/18/2005 duane
wrote in from
United States
(68.15.nnn.nnn)
sorry Chris for that title in your forum
Kryptonics actually made a slow wheel in the first batch of Star Trac wheels circa 75-76, the yellow ones. A deliberate speed control wheel. They really were a lot slower, real soft, wore out quickly
got swept into the dust bin of history. not many sets out there
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Wheels for Flexdex 41
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On 10/17/2005
Scott
wrote in from
United States
(131.191.nnn.nnn)
Hey Chris,
I recently pre-ordered a new Flexdex Pro 41 deck because I didn't want the standard Kryptonics that come with it and I had a question about what wheels I should put on it. I was thinking about putting on some 75a or 78a gumballs or maybe some flashbacks but I'm not sure. Are the gumballs too big, what would you put on it. Thanks and this forum is great.
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Nathan going slower
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On 10/16/2005
Derik
wrote in from
Germany
(193.7.nnn.nnn)
Hello Nathan,
I had the same problem. I have only two little hills in my neighbourhood. The street is steep and verry narrow. And when I started to ride last year I felt verry uncomfortable. It was to fast for me. I got wobbles and the board throw me off. I have two different wheels, but also one wheel-set is much slower, it was to fast for me. I started at the bottom of the hill with firm trucks. Every day I went a little higher. I started to learn sliding and drifting. Now I know, when my board breakes loose. That is important, because You can take out a lot of speed with hard carving at the end of the boards traction. After half a year I lost my fear. Now I can ride the hills any speed I like. I can take them full speed or carve slowly or stop with a slide.
Of course You can check out rubber wheels. They are slow and have awesome traction. But my advice - as a beginner - is just practice!
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rubber wheels
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On 10/15/2005 herbn
wrote in from
United States
(205.188.nnn.nnn)
there you go ,real good advice, where's duane to chime in about the potential speed in rubber and my solvent question,must be busy.
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Capping Top Speed
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On 10/15/2005 nicnoyd
wrote in from
Germany
(213.157.nnn.nnn)
if you want to GO slow(er),that is...
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Capping top Speed
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On 10/15/2005
nicnoyd
wrote in from
Germany
(213.157.nnn.nnn)
If you want to slow(er) on purpose, you might want to try a rubber wheel...
I love my Xt-wheels for the dirt & grass, but on pavement they are just slow,even at about 100mm...Could be used to carve a hill that you think is to steep for normal wheels...
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wheel size for speed
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On 10/14/2005 herbn
wrote in from
United States
(152.163.nnn.nnn)
what i've found ,,is that if i use 65,70 72, 76,or 83 mm wheels,i can't speak for bigger wheels,but a 40mph hill is a about a 40 mph hill on any of those sizes and just about any bearing, smaller wheels may accellerate a little faster and if a hill is really short or not to steep a short wheels accelleration works to get you faster,but only by a little bit. Bigger wheels have more top end but then ,on bigger hills, the wall of wind hits ya, so they're top end is only a bit higher,really. As many variables as ther are to maximize speed , there are nearly as many variable to minimize speed. If you are not an experienced skater and carving down a hill is just turning while rolling with no real pump or braking power most wheels and bearings will get you into the same range of speed on any given hill,there is no wheel that will go 45 mph on a hill where everything else goes 30,and the opposite is true also.Squeezing an extra mph out of a hill is a matter of talent and technique, and so if reducing your speed,unless of course you do the silly stuff i mentioned in my earlier post i.e overtighten your bearings or wear the big cloths.
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pay attention dude
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On 10/14/2005 dan@csu
wrote in from
United States
(129.82.nnn.nnn)
if you read the original question, he wasn't asking how to become more stable at speed. he actually wanted to go slower- in which case most of your suggestions are a bad idea
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Wheelsize & going *slower*?
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On 10/14/2005 brad
wrote in from
United States
(155.229.nnn.nnn)
from my experience, if the hill is even remotely rough, you will go a lot slower with a harder wheel. i also find the smaller wheels under 62mm go slower than 69mm and over. wider abec11 wheels give a lot more traction for carving, and if speed is an issue user wider trucks and harder bushings, but not so hard you can't carve or avoid a car. if you use randal trucks, you can reverse the hangars, or just the rear hangar to get more stability reducing the speed wobble question. i find the randal 180's which are a lot more stable will not carve well as well as the randal 150's which is critical on most roads and streets and the Tracker TRS 139mm or 149mm designed for slalom give me a lot more turnability than the randals and are stable with carving at least into the 30's + (30mph). if you are not sure about the bushings look at the khiros which are good bushings and color coded for hardness/softness. pad up!
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not really...
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On 10/12/2005 dan@csu
wrote in from
United States
(216.17.nnn.nnn)
it's my understanding that the larger the wheel, the more potential for speed it has- that's why they're used on long straight courses. so yes, i think a smaller wheel would serve you better, but also take into account that you don't want something so small that a pebble could knock you off. also a sticky wheel (soft/large contact patch) would allow you to carve harder to keep speed down.
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slow wheel size
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On 10/12/2005 herbn
wrote in from
United States
(64.12.nnn.nnn)
people seem to win races on every available size of DH wheel, it
's not like the guys who spend the bucks on 100mm wheels win every race.SO if there are races where 76mm wheels or even 70mm wheels beat out the big guns,you're not limited to losing speeds with smaller wheels.If a hill looks to fast don't start at the top,or work on carving techniques ,and sliding turns, and get the speeds down that way,get slow bearings, stand up tall,wear an oversized windbreaker jacket and big parachute pants.
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Wheelsize & going *slower*?
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On 10/11/2005
nathan
wrote in from
Canada
(24.235.nnn.nnn)
This may be an bizarre question but, I'm trying to overcome my ignorance so here goes:
Exactly how much difference will wheel size (for same durometer wheels) make in terms of speed? For some hills beyond a certain steepness, carving, footbraking & other attempts to slow down notwithstanding, I find myself going... too fast for my comfort. (yes I'm going to learn how to slide)
I'm not really into longboarding for the speed aspect -- I just want to enjoy carving around in a controlled fashion. But there's not a huge selection of different steepness hills where I live. If I move down in wheel size (e.g. from 76mm to 70mm), will it make a huge difference in terms of the top end of my velocity? I don't mind going at a decent clip, but sometimes it would be nice if I knew that my top speed was... capped in some way...
Thank you for your response. I hope this question isn't too ridiculous (since it seems to be the opposite of the original forum intention).
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chaputs'trucks
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On 10/10/2005 herbn
wrote in from
United States
(64.12.nnn.nnn)
I think cc has shown a liking for jimz's in the past, not the 10mm axles though, why would he? no biltins in 10mm ,yet.
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56 in the rain past a copper in salem, OR
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On 10/10/2005
david
wrote in from
United States
(192.211.nnn.nnn)
chris the big wheels dominated last saturday at the top speed challange in salem, OR. sean won on the old 101s, dave B who got third was using brand spankin new 97 flys and I managed to keep up with them on gumballs. the green looks so much better in the rain when its all clean and shiny.
check the video here.
http://academic.evergreen.edu/p/pridav25/sk8movies/Top_Speed_Challange_low_res.mov
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Speedtrucks
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On 10/9/2005 Dennis
wrote in from
Sweden
(83.250.nnn.nnn)
Hi Chris!
Which of these 3 trucks would you recommend for speedboarding.
1. Jimz with his own baseplate and 200/10mm axel, 173/8mm axel.
2. Maguns Speedtruck
3. Radikal Dragons Talon
4. Randals comp II (170 or 205mm hanger)
Would really appriciate an answer!
Btw, I just find out the joy of sliding gumballs, I have always thought that those wheels wasn´t for sliding, but the 88a sure is..like the way the wheels kickback after a slide.
Thanks for making such great products.
You don´t happen to know where I could get hold of a set of 74mm/78a flywheels and 101mm/78a flywheels?
Thanks again!
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bearings
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On 10/8/2005 a person with out knowlege
wrote in from
United States
(206.135.nnn.nnn)
what's a good bearing?
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Pairs
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On 10/7/2005
Chris Chaput
wrote in from
United States
(66.116.nnn.nnn)
We'll sell pairs of any wheel on Abec11.com, but we ship everything to our vendors in packs of four. Even the most slalom-like wheels (ie, Grippins) are packaged that way. If you want to buy from a store, let them know that we'll sell'm by the pair to them.
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ONE MORE THING
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On 10/7/2005 KLUDYMAN
wrote in from
United States
(68.111.nnn.nnn)
60MPH PLUS STAND-UP RULES!!!!!!!!!!!
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I FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED
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On 10/7/2005 KLUDYMAN
wrote in from
United States
(68.111.nnn.nnn)
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
LETS DO SOME TESTING AFTER THE HOLIDAYS BRO.
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Gumballs by the pair
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On 10/7/2005
Chris P
wrote in from
United States
(24.10.nnn.nnn)
Chaput, this forum rocks. I'd just like to tell you that before I ask a silly question.
How come Gumballs aren't sold by the pair? I do love Gumballs but can't really justify buying two sets to run split duro.
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Maryhill 2006
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On 10/7/2005
Chris Chaput
wrote in from
United States
(66.116.nnn.nnn)
I'll keep an Eye out for you. And yes, four very wide wheels. In the mean time, I'll be cookin' up some more speed in the lab.
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rocks
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On 10/7/2005 me again
wrote in from
United States
(67.100.nnn.nnn)
see you again maryhill '06. 4 wheels down this time...
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green crack rocks
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On 10/7/2005
david
wrote in from
United States
(67.100.nnn.nnn)
damn chaput, you always keep coming out with new stuff, you got me hooked on that green like a crack fiend.....i remember the first time i tryed the new flywheels, i was blown away by their traction, speed, etc, can't wait to see what you are up to now....
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Oops
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On 10/7/2005
Chris Chaput
wrote in from
United States
(66.116.nnn.nnn)
I knew that I shouldn't have said "sluggish". Here's what I meant by that. The Gumballs are a massive wheel. Not in its height (although 76mm is pretty big for a skateboard wheel), but in how much urethane is supported by the hub, and by how much unsupported urethane is hanging off the inside and outside edges. Whenever we're moving boxes of wheels around the shop, the box of Gumballs is always the back-breaker. The hubs are relatively small for a wheel of that size. In a very soft durometer, such as our 75a, the wheel will deform (adapt) to the ground whenever there is a sideload. This means that in Downhill for example, when you are maching into a turn, the wheel will flex and keep the contact patch flat on the ground. You get a boatload of traction, and if you're in a low and stable position, you can control the board when the wheels want to grab. It's not ideal for sliding, but when traction is of paramount importance, they hold. These are faster, longer, and more drawn out turns than you'd experience when pumping your board around as in Slalom.
When doing snappier turns as in Slalom, 75a feels too "blubbery". The wheel will deform so much that speed is actually lost when compared to a firmer wheel with decent traction. Wheels with durometers in the low 80's are firm enough to support themselves when pumping, and are still sticky enough to hold the road. So what I'm saying is that any really soft wheel that has a large wheel-to-hub ratio is going to feel blubbery or sluggish when trying to pump them, comapred to a firmer version of the same.
The 75a Gumballs are very fast for downhill, carving and cruising. Once you've taken a couple of good strong pushes, they roll forever and hold their momentum well. They are like big green balls of stored energy, that smooth out even the roughest roads. Only the 97mm Flywheels have more urethane depth. The 97mm Flywheels have the advantage in being able to roll over junk in the road. They feel more tank-like, and breed a different type of confidence. Most of the guys who race the really big wheels (90mm and 97mm) like the amount of urethane, the centerset bearing seats and the shape. They like the smooth sliding characteristics and mass of the wheel. It's not that their top end is really much more of an advantage, but the way that they handle. People are designing boards and trucks around them. Even though they have comparable amounts of urethane on them, the Flywheels do have a large core, and are not quite as smooth as a Gumball. Compared to a 75a Gumball, just about every wheel feels a little harsh.
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re 75a Gumballs
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On 10/7/2005
brad
wrote in from
United States
(155.229.nnn.nnn)
Chris - "The 75a Gumballs will feel a big "sluggish" at low speeds, but will start pulling away from a 70mm at higher speeds"
higher speeds? above 30mph? above 35mph? above 40mph? ....
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