What size trucks and setup? - New to slalom

[Agapito Reyes]

Hi,

I've always wanted to get into slalom since I was a kid in the late seventies. Unfortunately in my native country there was no slalom competition, just pipe and street skating. Now I'm here, I can pursue slalom racing, and yes, I do wanna race.

I got a Road Rider board from Santa Cruz, it measures 28.25"x6.25". What size truck should I get if I choose Siesmic trucks? It has a camber to it and it straightens out when I'm on the board. I'm not sure what discipline yet (TS,GS?) How can I set this board for versatility? When I get my skills better then I'll get a specialized board per diciplines. For the mean time I need to learn on the deck I have. What wheels should I also get?

Is there anyone in the Sacramento area I can hook up with to practice and race with? I can drive as far as San Francisco if there's a club that meets and have a course set up.

Cheers,

Agapito

[Sven Lippert]

hey agapito,

a few days ago i followed a perfect offer from the internet and bought a complete slalomdeck for my son who wants to get into slalom - dont make any experiments with setups - BUY THE BAHNE BLACK HILL COMPLETE - check the web for different offers - i bought one with tracker rts/rtx and cambrias for a fair price - and have fun !!!!!!

[Nick Krest]

Agapito -

A good place to start would be to visit HC's Sk8SanJose website: http://www.geocities.com/sk8sanjose/

Lots of links and contact info for Bay Area / NorCal riders.

If it's Seismics you're after, I would probably run 105's on your RR deck - a 45* on the front, 30* on the rear.

[Tod Oles]

Agapito,

In the 6 months that I've been slaloming again nothing I've tried has worked better then a pair of 105 Seismics with 3dm 80a Avalons mounted on them.
Be sure to get the 45* up front and 30* out back as Nick has said. I've found this combination is very versatile.
The 80 durometer Avalon is a good all around wheel.

Be sure to spend lots of $$ on different wheels of all kinds though! If you slalom alot you'll need them!!

In my opinion, the learning curve is so much shorter with the Seismics than the Trackers or Indys of the same basic hanger width. If you do get a set of Seismics be sure and play around with the different springs that are offered to fine tune the steering feel to your liking.

I purchased the Seimics and the 3dm Avalons from here, http://www.toyandsport.com/products/class_450.html they're located in Palo Alto and the pro there is Gary Holl. He was exceptionally gracious with suggestions and help. Have a great time!!

[Glenn S]

Agapito,
Also if you want to go with conventional trucks you should consider Independent 101s (they might call current versions of these 109s, but they are still 101mm) or Tracker RTX (106mm), both front and back.

But for conventional trucks up front I suggest you switch out the typically minimal rebound bushings which usually come stock with either Tracker Stimulator bushings or Radikal bushing in softest duro. But both the Stimulators and Radikal bushings need to have the o.d. trimmed down to 1" to fit the hanger properly. But Stimulators and Radikal bushings are high-rebound bushings that will make a front truck come to life. For the back truck a less lively urethane can be fine. Typically you'll put softer bushings up front and harder bushings in the back.

And for conventional trucks like the 101 or RTX I'd suggest you go with about 13 degrees of "wedge" up front, and 5 degrees of "de-wedge" in the back.

Get some Flashbacks or Avalons for wheels, and when you get the wheels tell them to include bearing spacers and speedrings. And just buy some $5 a set Pleasure Tool sealed abec3 bearings for starters.

Also, as far as hanger width I have seen most just ride 101mm to 106mm widths, some are cutting 101s and RTX hangers down to as narrow as 85mm. And for Giant Slalom I've seen some using up to 120mm. But typically slalom is done on narrower hangers than other forms of skateboarding.

[Agapito Reyes]

Thank you guys,for the advice.Looks like there's no way to make this venture as cheap as possible.Meaning,you have to try stuff that might or not work for you.I've been through this process before with cycling and speed skating(ice and Inline).Lucky that I still have plenty of good bearings from inline speedskating.

I'll get the siesmic trucks and try them,if they don't work I'll try another.Since I have no style yet and my own technique I don't know what will work for me.I'll start with all the info provided as starting point.Can't wait to get my board going and try my hand at slalom.This takes me back when I was in highschool taking the bus to the next town which was located on top of the hills in my region.Then my friends and myself go racing down the hill back to my town.I know slalom is a whole different decipline but I know I'm gonna get into it.For sure this board isn't gonna satisfy me,not for long.

Agapito

[Tod Oles]

For sure this board isn't gonna satisfy me,not for long.

Aaah, the words of a true slalom junkie...

All kidding aside, I think if you come from a cycling and or inline background you'll do just fine with the fitness "fast" slaloming requires.
You definitly will have to try all sorts of combinations to see what will work
best for you.

Is "slaloming" a word??

Also when I first got into this, I downloaded a bunch of videos of as many of the fast guys as I could find.
Then I had my wife video me as I practiced imitating different styles while I timed myself through the same course.

I'll state the obvious.... if your not using good technique an expensive setup is a waste... Although fun to fondle...