Skateboard wheel/truck for kiting

[tomtom]

For plummet - You can of course zip on drop deck board - but you cannot do tight arc on such board because because of drop you cannot tilt board enough /wheel bite/ to actually lean against. So its high speed stability vs turning radius compromise.

[tomtom]

surfskate example! If this is what you want do

BTW i did not know about this video /very nice/, but its exactly my setup. Unhooked Peak with surfskate.

[Herman]

Thanks everybody I now know where I am going with this. For tomtom, wheel bite is not normally an issue with drop through or drop-down deck because of the cut away nose, what might restrict the turning circle is the relatively long wheel base. Maybe carver trucks would be a problem for a standard drop through nose if they sweep further aft. Carver trucks are generally lower so I guess you don't need to drop the deck down anyway.

Thanks everybody I enjoyed the videos.

Regards Herman.

PS if you overdo the drop down you can get ground bite - need bigger wheels or truck spacer to cure that.

[bragnouff]

I've always found that the light winds combined with an urban environment were making it much harder with a kite than with a windsurf rig. Plus I liked reconnecting with the feeling of a sail.
On that setup below, running drop through deck, randall trucks and soft 69mm wheels.


Keen to try with a wing. Done plenty of wing landboarding on the beach, but some smooth roads in light winds on soft urethane would be super sweet. Hard to find the right spot though!

[Herman]

Nice vid Bragnouff, if you don't already do this you could add to your repertoire by riding switch then swop back and front hand, from this head up into a tack you will need to bring the rig aft for this so drop your front hand onto the mast. Having tacked you will be backside to, now bring the rig forward and continually bear away keeping your front hand on the mast until the sail gybes off your back and into regular stance. That would be old old school but still fun! When I was doing all this stuff I had access to airfield pans so pretty sweet conditions.

I take your point about urban environments but I can ride with a rig albeit on a mountain board on the beach 200 metres from my front door. A short drive and there is a big car park adjacent to a beach which is deserted in winter and I really fancy doing a toe to heel tack on a skateboard under a kite for something different. I don't run a van anymore and the logistics with a small car are easier with kites than rigs.

Regard Herman.

[edt]

kind of expecting some 360s and shove its on that kite skating viddy. I think you can kite anything, longboard trick board, big wheels small wheels the only difference is we tend to get more speed on the skateboard than flatland, so watch out for speed wobbles. I really like that low rider long board from plummet looks fun.

[nixmatters]

I'm not a fan of Carver, Surfskate, Yaw, etc. Tried many of the 'surf/carve' trucks with 'standard' rear truck and a deep pivoting front one. Just not my taste.

I'm very happy for street cruising/carving/pumping with these 2:
- Revenge Alpha II 9,5" (175mm), 3 different hardenss bushings available, Medium/red worked best for me (75 kg). I ride them with an Arbor Fleetwood 43", wheel base 29.75", 70mm/78a original arbor wheels.
- Gullwing Sidewinder II 9" on Arbor Zepellin 32" with These 727 75mm/78a wheels. Deck sits low, but not as much as with normal trucks. A very long 31" wheel base (32" board), but still allowing quite tight turns. Playing with bushings hardenss (4 on each truck) can take a while till you find your favorite setup, but is totally worth it.

Both trucks are symmetrical, provide deeper carving and nicer 'surf' pumping than any reverse kingpins with a stiff, not too long deck. The Loaded Vanguard type is a whole different ball game.

I've tried both with a 2line trainer kite and prefer the Sidewinders. Much less chance for a speed wobble and the pivoting is not limited by the construction like on the Revenge Alpha. Need to finally get harder wheels and try sliding, as 78a wheels are no good for that.

Check some videos with more professional reviews and see if they could be what you're looking for.

[Herman]

nixmatters.

Thanks for a lot of good info to ponder over. At the moment I have been switching around Paris longboard trucks (reverse king pin) and Sabre streets on a 44 Inc and 32 inch decks. With a variety of bushings and wheels. Getting used to the many different ways to get energy into the board. The feel you get changes a lot with just these variations. As edit said I think you can kite on pretty much anything; it will be fun just trying to get the best out of the kit i have as well as searching for my ideal set up. I will try and get some time on a carving asymetric set up before shelling out big bucks in that direction.

I did start on some cheapo rather than budget trucks and broke a king pin in about 3 weeks and so I would not do that again.

Once again thank you for passing on your experience.

Regards Herman

[Herman]

Just for info here are the 2 set ups I will be starting to kite with:

A. Drop deck 34" axle to axle wheel base, Paris reverse king pin trucks, 73 X 41.5mm 80a wheels.
B. Madrid twintwin deck 27" axle to axle wheel base, Sabre street trucks, 66 X 45mm 80a wheels. (Normal kingpin).

Both of these set ups have similar turning circles, trucks compensating for wheel base difference, and seem to me to turn sharper than the mountain boards I use but no doubt wider than carver set ups. Both feel very usable to me and the decks have pros and cons. One thing I discovered that had not occurred to me was that the shorter wheel base allows you to run stiffer trucks for the same turning circle and thus gives a firmer platform for foot changes. I am not saying this is a game changer it is just different. Obviously I want to feel happy on loose trucks as well since I want to try carver set ups in due course.

After a while I will put the Paris trucks on the Madrid deck as a stepping stone to a carver set up.

[tomtom]

Are these setups pumpable? Are you experimenting with wedges? This way you can also set deck firmer /for same turning circle/. In any case let as known. Im always open to new ideas.