Slalom on a Stik

[Guest]

I am very new to this sport. In fact I have never even tried it. That is about to change as soon as I can get some cones and it stops raining here in Nashville.

I ride a Stik made by Carveboard. Although I have modified it to the point where only the trucks of the original Lil Stik (I think they call it a Twin Tip now) are left. I added bindings from a mountainboard, urethane shocks, different wheels, axles and bearings and had a deck 1 1/2" shorter and one ply thicker made.

I ride my concrete skatepark.

I'm wondering if my board would be allowed in competitions?

[Wesley Tucker]

"Allowed?"

Here's the rules about what you can ride in a skateboard slalom contest:

The machine must have a surface to stand on
The machine must have only TWO turning devices, one fore and one aft.
The machine must have AT LEAST four wheels, one at each corner.*

Everything else is up to the rider. It must be noted, though, that some races are qualified as a "longboard" event and as such there are regulations regarding wheelbase length.

Other than that, a length of 2x4 with some steel roller skate wheels are more than welcome.

*There are no rules about what is and isn't allowed in a slalom race. If it's a skateboard and you want to ride it, you'll always be welcome to try and qualify.

Oh, and no motors. Exskates and such ain't cuttin' it.

[Guest]

The machine must have only TWO turning devices, one fore and one aft.
The machine must have AT LEAST four wheels, one at each corner

Thanks Wes.

I did my homework on this site to see what kind of cones to buy. Although I think I might stick with halved tennis balls to start out.

I wonder if Tierney boards



or _______ would qualify for slalmon.

I guess Freebords would qualify.

[Wesley Tucker]

Poin,

That board is fine. Of course, I hope you don't have to ride on a course with cones closer than 10 feet apart. Thinking about getting that board to turn makes my ankles hurt.

Another thing: You might really want to consider coming up with $35 for a set of Avalons or maybe some Manx or Abec11 wheels. Those kickflipper wheels will slalom, but if you push them too hard, you're gonna slide like Ricky Henderson into second base. That's not necessarily a good thing in slalom.

We try desperately to go FAST and to maintain TRACTION. It's a fine line between too much grip slowing you down and not enough leading to a major slam trying to negotiate a serious frontside turn. That's the kind of knowledge that only comes with experience.

I'm not 'dissing your board. It will slalom. I've never seen you ride and for all I know you'll make this sucker whizz down a hill like Snyder's hound after a rabbit. But from outward appearances, big wide trucks and hard thin wheels RARELY make a good combination trying to slalom with any speed.

Good Luck. Will we see you at Luna or Red Clay in April?

[Guest]

My board turns real quick.

I've tested it against a regular slalom board and it turns much faster. I have urethane in the springs to stiffen it up for jumping. If I took them out it would turn even faster. The principle of my trucks are the same as Seismics, just a different geometry.

My board is also fast in the flats. I can out run a BMX bike on the street course at my park.

The wheels are Krypto 76mm 82a.

Your are right about a softer, wider wheel for slalom. I'll see how these work out for now. If I ride on anything other than smooth concrete I think I can make them hold in a hard turn. If not I have some really soft wheels that came with the Stik that might do the trick.

I doubt you'll see me at any competitions or event s this year unless they are real close to Nashville. Maybe next. I gotta see if I can do this first.

Thanks for your advice. I'm learning a lot on this site. It is a great resource.

[Karl Floitgraf]

Question, do you ride the board with your feet perpendicular to eachother? That seems interesting. And do you have a well defined tail/nose with that board or could you ride it reverse about the same.


Looks cool, take some video of you riding that thing, I'd love to see it.

[Eric Brammer]

You can see a Carvestik in action at this addy: www.carveboardsports.com

They are not agile enough for TS, but could no doubt make most Hybrid courses, and GS as well. The 'trucks' don't have tensioners llike Seismic does, and the stock steering angles would make it tend to slightly 'oversteer' during aggressive slalom. Wes, the wheels are NOT hard nor slow, They're BIG + GREEN on that board! The DaKone wheels that are standard for those do have an odd shape, but it suddenly makes sense when you see how steep the steering is on these. I like these boards as crosstrainers for snowboarding, as you actually 'get up on edge', more so than is possible with normal longboards or slalom boards. However, the steering 'looseness' is an issue for going fast. It's best that you don't go too fast on a Carvestik, but rather enjoy the Surfing/freecarving aspect of the ride.
The Teirney Ride pictured is another good Snowboard crossover board, but has only two wheels. That photo is of a Snowboard Racer doing some crosstraining drills during the warm, dry months. The gates used are not quite right, but you can't really set stumpies in the road! Tierney's are suprisingly stable at speed (no wobbles), but a bit hard to ride a slower, pedestrian speeds. I like those with the Rubber tires Vs. the Urethane, as the level of grip makes the inherent tippiness not seem so bad. In tipping in, beware of the deck's width; I took a good hard fall by augering the corner of the board into the pavement mid-carve my 2nd run out on one. I'd love to see a better deck shape from them, and maybe slider-glove material along the rails, just in case.