ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

Hi there,

I am new here and I've been longboarding for a half year now. I've got a sector nine pintail, but I'm not to happy with the trucks. So I'm looking for a pair of Seismics, but I got no clue which width I should have? I'm intending to practice some slalom.
I hope you guys can help me out...

Thx!

slalom with a s9 pintail? the one that is 47'' long? I have one of those with randals, and I can tell ya, its not to great for slalom. Better for carving hills. BUT go to a big hill and set up cones very far apart and go beetween those. Its FUN. o ya, if you have the 47'' get 180s

hope this helps......................

Loes wrote:Hi there,

I am new here and I've been longboarding for a half year now. I've got a sector nine pintail, but I'm not to happy with the trucs. So I'm looking for a pair of seismics, but I got no clue which width I should have? I'm intending to practice some slalom.
I hope you guys can help me out...

Thx!

If you want to slalom on a longboard then I would say get the seismic 155 or the 135. Depends on the width of the board. If the trucks are too narrow for the board it will be a very unstable ride, See the seismic website for details on which trucks to choose. Randal 150s would be a cheaper alternative. Hope this helps. mike

I have an S9 pintail as well. You're not going to get very far in slalom with that unless you have room to practice SGS or GS. I'd just slap some randalls on it and keep it as a carver and buy a seperate slalom board. If you don't have the money for a slalom board and want to skate GS then some 155's and some Avalons would work OK on that deck.

I figured out the same so I'm saving for a slalom deck. Does anyone know a good deck? Is Indiana any good (since they have decks in weight classes)?

Good complete starter decks:

Pocket pistol E-series complete
http://pocketpistolskates.com/start.cfm

Bahne Blackhill complete
http://www.justpushplay.com/skeqfrbask.html

edit: On the weight/flex thing. Once you've chosen a manufacturer, email/phone them, tell them your weight, they'll dial you in right on the flex.

There's others...

Q

To answer the original question, "Which width Seismics":

105's cover most slalom needs. For big downhill GS turns, you might want to go 130. Wider than that is probably counterproductive for slalom. Get the 45 degree base for the front and 35 for the back.

Seismics are good slalom trucks but are also just great all-around trucks. Longboarders love them. Park riders love them.

Just make sure to dial the springs: As soft as pocssible in front and medium in back. Wedge the front 5 -10 degrees for turning. Possibly de-wedge the back 5 degrees. The back sticks like a mofo, so my feeling is that it's OK to allow a little more turning there. That'll have to be up to you.

[Disclaimer: The above advice is just some wild-ass notion from some dude. WTF do I know?]

Loes,
You don't say where you're from, but since you mentioned Indiana, I'm guessing it's somewhere in Europe. I haven't ridden an Indiana board, but I've seen several people who have, including Maurus Strobel, so I'm sure they work just fine. They seem narrower than most other companies' boards, and they also seem to have a higher camber (the upward curve in the middle of the deck). Some people like that, and others don't. If you're just getting into slalom, I'd suggest getting a fairly inexpensive setup, or if possible, find some other slalomers who live near you and try theirs. The Pocket Pistols and Bahne that Jack Q. mentioned are both good boards, and with the current weakness of the dollar, perhaps they'd be affordable now as well, even when you factor in the shipping costs.