Headed out for an early morning slalom session today. Plan was to hit Ascot race course underpass. Met Trev and Paul there.
Unfortunately it's Royal Ascot next week and so the normally gated road was open to allow access for contractors etc.
We decided to try Ash Ranges, after a walk from the station car park through the woods we found that the Red Flags were flying and it was a no-go (unless we wanted to get shot, which we didn't)
Trev suggested a spot that he had cycled past recently that was not far a drive away, one junction on the M3.
It turned out to be ok, not the smoothest of surfaces but quiet.
The view as we walked up from where we'd parked
Looking down from about halfway up.
Looking up from the same spot.
Some things to miss.
Had a good time, rain stopped play in the end.
It was all going so well until Trev volunteered to film me.
In the afternoon I decided to have a fiddle with my rear truck.
I was impressed with its performance today but it still felt a bit surfy at the back, I wanted to get it feeling a bit less so.
The Cone Killer came drilled for multiple alternative mounts but in reality only the two extremes lined up with baseplates.
I've had the rear truck mounted on the rearmost set of holes but found this was giving me a really long wheelbase and it was difficult to get over the rear truck.
So the holes in the top of the deck line up with the holes in the baseplate...
But once you turn it over the holes don't…
Holes are drilled perpendicular to the top of the deck.
I put some short bolts through the inner holes and used the baseplate as a guide to drill through, so the holes are now elongated on the bottom of the deck but still round on the top.
Played around with risers, the softer ones are ok but squid out a bit, they do however take up the curve from the kicktail.
I ended up with 3 x soft 0 - 0.5" and a thin hard riser to help spread the load
Still a bit of bending and squidging, about 10ยบ of dewedge.
Latest ebay purchase arrived at work today, 9" Herron trucks.
Carbon Fiber (sic) supposedly, look like plastic to me, I've not seen any Carbon Fibre that looks like that, maybe some in there somewhere but they are injection moulded.
Couldn't easily get to a Tracker 161 to compare weights but they weigh 332g compared to 354g for narrower Tracker B2's with GK kingpins.
Reports I read say they turn like Trackers so looking forward to giving them a try. Apparently the stock bushings are rock hard so they'll go.
A recent ebay win (or lose, depends on your viewpoint), big box of various trucks and truck parts.
A set of ACS 651's, at one time the Gold version, now lacking most of the gold coating.
Four Indy baseplates, 2 with kingpins, 2 without and one Indy 109 hanger.
A pair of Randal DH hangers.
Two Tracker RT-S trucks
One has been cut down to slightly wider than Midtrack width
One Grind King Jay Adams with a stripped thread on one end of the axle and a bent axle and damaged thread on the other.
Two pairs of shock pads, two sets of Grind King kingpins (one with big flat heads, other with smaller heads) one pair of unbranded Grind King type kingpins, a regular old type kingpin, four splined type with dodgy threads, one bearing (no shield), three kingpin nuts, a cup washer, a flat washer, a GK insert and a random locknut
A pair of cheap unbranded hangers and baseplates, a pair of Speed Demon baseplates (one with a kingpin) a hanger.
This is the reason I decided to bid on this package, A Radikal Dragons Claw front slalom truck, sadly missing it spherical bearing from the hanger and the kingpin is snapped off in the thread insert in the baseplate. Three more pairs of interchangeable axles for width tweakage.
Stridey has offered to send me a free spherical for the hanger, cheers, I have emailed Keith Hollien regarding a kingpin and insert but no reply as yet.
Whilst I was photographing all the above I thought I'd have a swap around with the 8 wheeler hangers
Have removed the big aluminium block and gone down the traditional route for now.
3 x Surrey Skateboards wedged risers, 10ยบ each, just about bring the kingpin up to vertical.
Front now running on a 10ยบ wedge and a 5ยบ wedge.
Also for last weeks session at Bowlworth I tried No Skoolz on the BDS 8.
Messing a bit with my OCD having 98a's on the outside and 92a's on the inside. Makes it a bit 'Carlos Fandango' and maybe makes it a bit difficult to turn due to the wheel hang.
