Couple more questions...

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Jon Taylor
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:15 pm

Couple more questions...

Post by Jon Taylor » Thu Nov 30, 2006 1:57 am

What do you think about the 30" slalom by flexdex ( http://www.flexdex.com/slalom30-deck.html ) I am assuming that it would be more flexible than wood, but how would that transform into differences in performance.

Also what do you think about the new board from Sector 9 sidewinder ( http://www.sector9.com/2006/ )? The trucks seem to be different than anything else I have seen around. Didn't know if any of you had an opinion about that.

Jon Taylor
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:15 pm

Post by Jon Taylor » Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:26 am

I guess the only thing that I was wondering about are the gullwing sidewinder 2 trucks. Does anyone know if you can get them without buying a complete from sector 9?

Marty Agather
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 4:20 am
Location: TwinTown, MN

Post by Marty Agather » Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:28 pm

Jon,

I don't know anything about that flexdex, but my impression is that they are not widely used by the racing crowd. The first deck I bought this summer after a 20 year hiatus was a Sector 9 Trylam with Randals - not a slalom board by any means, but a great longboard. I think S9 quality is pretty good, but again, not something you see the competition guys riding. The biggest knock I've seen against S9 is that they are a nationwide company, not a boutique shop, and that some people have had trouble with some of the wheels on the lower price models. Gull Wings had quite a name back in the day of your Bahne, and some pool success too, but I don't think they've made much of an impact lately, and again, I didn't even know about the trucks until looking at the S9 site. Let the other guys experiment with the new stuff, you want to buy something that is a known commodity. Then if it proves out, and it seems like it will work with your style, send 'em some cash!

Because you are new to the sport, I'd suggest you stick with more tried and true components. Adding a pretty flexible deck to the mix is just going to be one more variable that will tend to steepen the learning curve.

I'd say a good wood deck with Tracker RTX up front, RTS in back, and some slalom wheels aproaching 70mm (height) at a low 80's durometer (hardness softer -lower numbers have more traction, higher numbers have less traction but are faster) will be a nice solid place to start. In your other thread, somebody gave you a number of good board mfrs to look at. They are all very reputable companies, and any of them do very well at races across the country. You won't go wrong picking any of them. Look to the middle sizes, with a 19-20 wheelbase, and maybe a couple of sets of mounting points. That should be universal enough that you can be set up for a number of different racing styles - Tight, Hybrid GS. Will it be perfect for any one? Probably not, that's why some of these guys have a half dozen or more boards.

Once you get a board in place you'll learn how to run a course, pump to accelerate etc. Once you think you've got the basic riding down, you can start to tweak your board performance: wedging (angle of mounting the trucks) bushings (truck suspension stiffness) wheel base (more or less manuverable) and wheel durometer (traction) to begin to dial the board in to perform better.

There's a lot to do even if you make a good board choice, so save yourself the hassle of buying something that you may wish you didn't!
Skate 'em if you got 'em.

Marcos Soulsby-Monroy
Posts: 232
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2003 1:00 am
Location: League City

Post by Marcos Soulsby-Monroy » Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:32 am

I got this board as one of my 1st slalom deck and hated it. It had no memory and flexed straight to the ground. I was a parallel rider at the time and I should say that I bought my slalom 30 4 years ago. My daughter rides it now and it flexes under her 43 pounds.
As Luck would have it . . .

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