I bought this Skaterbuilt Mike Maysey Hybrid slalom at Hogtoberfest from "The Bass Player"
Wasn't too keen on the sticker job albeit there were some cool ones on there so set about removing them, all came off without too much trouble and after a quick clean with some brake cleaner to remove the sticker residue it was looking a lot cleaner.
It looks as though Helen Keller has been let loose on it with an electric drill however, some of the stickers were strategically placed to hide holes.
I had planned to set this up as Mike Maysey recommended with a Tracker RT-S / RT-X combo but didn't have one to hand.
The rearmost set of rear truck mounting holes were an extra set that had been added, I contemplated not using these but then realised that with a 'reverse kingpin' truck the wheelbase is effectively shorter so went with the longer option.
A bit of judicious bolt bending and riser stacking, about 20° of de-wedge under the 35° baseplate and taking the angle of the flattish tail into account the Randal looks to be suitably de-wedged.
I slapped some 85A Riptide barrels in it and some Lime Green Zig Zags on Seismic Tektron bearings.
On the front the Bennett needed a bit of tweaking as the original press in kingpin had been removed and it had been supplied with an 'aircraft grade' longer kingpin, broke out the JB Weld and fixed it into place.
A 10° wedge and a couple of thinner risers, Reflex Bushings of an unknown duro, Yellow Zig Zags blah blah blah.
Didn't take it for a spin as I need to wait for the JB Weld to cure completely before cranking the nut down from finger tight.
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 10º of dewedge.
Have removed the big aluminium block and gone down the traditional route for now.
3 x Surrey Skateboards wedged risers, 10º each, just about bring the kingpin up to vertical.
Front now running on a 10º wedge and a 5º 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.
Made the trip to Hogtoberfest today, was really looking forward to the slalom racing.
It was sunny but cold when I left home, a few spots of rain just before the Dartford Tunnel but arrived at a very grey and overcast Redbridge Cycle Centre.
Queued up to pay to race only to find that in the time it took to queue it had started raining, it stopped a few times and the sun came out and the bitterly cold wind blew. Didn't dry the track out though.
Still I had a really good time meeting up with old friends.
The lovely thoughtful Jo bought me beer for my birthday...
Here's my new 2014 Aluminium riser...
Work in progress...
What it is replicating...
Fitted
Got my board out of my bag only to find it had been vandalised by my so called friends, off centre and crooked sticker...
Bought some 2nd hand Seismic Hotspots from Paul Price...
And some Lush Slide Gloves from Jo & Steve size S but fit like a glove...
Bolted the slalom board together today, there was a lot of swearing.
Firstly, griptape, now if I was a shop selling a deck and chucking in some free griptape I think I'd make sure it was wide enough to fit the deck I was selling.
Ended up doing the old 'racing stripe' trick of gripping one side, cutting off the excess and then gripping the other leaving a gap to stretch it out a bit.
Oh, I removed the top sticker which was at too jaunty an angle for my OCD, did it carefully whilst heating with a hairdryer. It now lives on the bottom of the deck.
Secondly bolt holes and wedged risers and truck baseplates, nothing seemed to line up, I ran a bit short of wedged risers and ended up running a drill bit through the baseplate holes to angle them slightly.
So...
Bennett 4.3 on the front, used an old Tracker wedged riser that I had converted into a pair of 'rail' type risers and increased the wedge on at some point. Holey Smoke bottom bushing (deck side) Khiro orange barrel on the top with a flat washer.
Tracker RT-S on the rear, two Surrey Skateboards clear wedges which gives it a bit of de-wedge as it's mounted under the tail of the deck, standard Tracker bushings.
Cult Gamma Ray wheels, 72mm 80a all round.
Took it out for a spin to check it out, I could have used yesterdays blog title really, placed board on ground, step on, take a push, pump, wheel bite, slam. Rough concrete road meets skin, cuts to both palms of hands, scrazed knee, glasses bounce on road. Pick myself up dust myself off checking week old jeans (phew, no hole in knee). Tighten front truck.
My slalom test track was a bit damp and a bit green but I risked it anyway, feels good but I didn't want to go too crazy, check the wheel tracks out.
They were from this first video...
I then moved down the slope to a drier bit of road, I'm pumping down and then up the hill in this one...
Well as I said, I've been bitten by the Slalom bug, I had so much fun on Sunday I decided to get one.
Ordered this on ebay on Tuesday night, arrived this morning.
Fantastic service from Ed at Skateboards Of Choice or Skateskunk as he is known on ebay.
Skaterbuilt ConeKiller Mafia, beautiful deck, sticker on top being at a 'jaunty angle' is making my ocd senses tingle slightly though...
It was my *cough* 50th Birthday on Tuesday and as I was down in Brighton for a few days decided to invite some friends along for a skate at Shoreham Skatepark.
The weather was dodgy all week but wasn't as bad as forecast on Wednesday, dry and windy most of the day in Brighton but then a big downpour at 3 o'clockish.
Me and the current Mrs Brown arrived by train just late enough to make sure that Trev and Gray had swept and dried the bowl and as we crossed the road to the park Nathan arrived.
We managed to skate until dark with only one small shower, then it was off to the Duke of Wellington where they had laid on a buffet, fireworks and folk singing, awesome.
Then Jelly turned up, gave me stickers and bought me a beer. Cheers.
Mrs Brown managed to snap us before the pub, l-r Nathan, Trev (cunningly hiding Trackers), Me, Gray.
Thanks Trev, great shot of me and a rare frontside moment, must be the new Skaterbuilt, felt right straight away (well 2nd run after I'd tightened the trucks a bit).
Spent the afternoon pottering about building this up.
Random stickers removed, polished up with a bit of Mr Sheen.
I originally thought about fitting the Z-Rollers but realised that had old school drilled baseplates so discounted then as the deck is drilled for new school trucks.
Indy 215's were way too wide, 169's were a good fit but still a bit wide with the BDS Dub Cons
I thought I'd get away with it though and started getting the Stage 5's ready only to realise that they had old school baseplates, DOH!
I had a set of Stage 8's but in the end decided to fit some Tracker B2's.
A bit of hammering and cursing later and they had Grind King kingpins fitted and black Bones Hardcore Mediums. Wedged risers slapped in between and it's ready to go.
Think the grip tape job was done by Stevie Wonder though so will have to be redone.
