Top speed (both sprint and sustained) in MPH pumping a skate

Glenn S · Post by **Glenn S** » Mon Jan 20, 2003 11:52 pm

I am curious to see what others think might be a top speed in "mile per hour" obtained pumping a skateboard on a flat(no help from hill) surface, and not necessarily around cones. And what setup might best be used for top speeds?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Glenn on 2003-01-20 19:40 ]</font>

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 12:06 am

Glenn,

At the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1987, I pumped my Turner to a top end speed of 244 MPH.

Of course, this is unverified. Seems someone forgot to take off the lens cover! :razz:

P.S. Seriously, the age-old question: are you referring to a sustained average speed or a top speed in a sprint? There's a big difference.

Glenn S · Post by **Glenn S** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 12:15 am

Wesley,
Wow that is really impressive! Did you do that top speed with a parallel stance?

How long do you think you could maintain that top speed, and what might you think would be your average sustained speed?
Thanks, Glenn

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 12:48 am

Glenn,

I can maintain that speed . . . until I wake up!

Again, though, I am wondering if you're wondering about a sprint speed, a sustained average speed or both?

As far as your set up question, I would suggest a good medium-stiff flex board with an 18"-20" wheelbase, some decent medium to full trak width trucks and the hardest wheel and fastest bearing combination you can muster.

Hard wheels (86-90A duro) are better for sustaining speed on a flat, decent surface.

Glenn S · Post by **Glenn S** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 1:39 am

Both really.
I know this has probably been discussed to death at ncdsa.com but I am finding it hard to search for the info. And here It will all be in one place.

Terry Kirby · Post by **Terry Kirby** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 8:58 pm

Top Speed, depends on rider. Faster than you can run off I bet. Best set up, something w/ tall gearing. This means long WB and longer flexier deck.38" deck w/ the trucks pretty tight.

Adam Trahan · Post by **Adam Trahan** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 11:01 pm

Great question.

I'm with TK. I bet our Super G Pocket Pistol 36" set ups would just about be perfect for this sort of speed run.

Sounds in the order of a cyber slalom, 100 cone, fastest pump...

Good one Glenn.

On 2003-01-21 14:58, Terence Kirby wrote:
Top Speed, depends on rider. Faster than you can run off I bet. Best set up, something w/ tall gearing. This means long WB and longer flexier deck.38" deck w/ the trucks pretty tight.

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 7:26 pm

I'm in for a flat land speed run- I'll need a Roe Hester though and some fast wheels.

Since none of us have radar guns lets do this through a timing trap (using tape switches like Tway's timer) that is short say 10 feet where the conversion to mph would be easy. Actually Metric is the easier conversion per hour, but no easier per second.

(FEET TRAVELED/SECONDS) X (3600SECONDS IN AN HOUR/5280 FEET IN A MILE) WILL GIVE US OUR ANSWER in MPH.

So .6818181803 is the conversion factor of 3600 divided by 5280.

Now

feet traveled/seconds X .6818181803 = mph

so for instance If I travel 440 feet in 10 seconds I'm doing 30 mph.

440feet/10 seconds x .6818181803 =30mph

but in our case we will use a fixed distance and vary the time. Ideally lets choose a short fixed distance that allows easy calculations so that the .6818181803 constant is eliminated and that we do not have to sustain the peak pump for very long.
The reciprocal of .6818181803 is 14.666666666 or 14 & 2/3.

So choosing 14.666 feet or 14 feet 8 inches -(for those who hate 666) should give us a easy to convert time as it will make multiplying by the constant uneeded as we have canceled it out.

So set two tape switches 14 feet 8 inches apart (on center) measure your elapsed time between the strips. Divide by ten ie move the decimal of the time over one place. Now take the inverse and that is your answer in mph.

* we could also do the distance as 1.466666 feet and not have to divide the time by ten but our accuracy is likely to go down as measuring that precisely is unlikely and your "pump radius" would be interfereing more and tend to give inconsistent times.

so run 14 feet 8 inches in 2.5 seconds nd you are going 2.5 seconds /10 and flip it. so .25 seconds = 1/4 of a second = 4mph.
do it in 5 seconds its 2mph.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: John Gilmour on 2003-01-24 11:43 ]</font>

Claude Regnier · Post by **Claude Regnier** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 1:13 am

Radar Gun, yes, 30 MPH one time on a bike path. The officer on the road was trying to figure out if there was a speeding violation but couldn't come up with one.

Lucky me. This would of been about 6' OC. It could have been less, I very rarerilly ever ran anything longer then 6. A lot of my courses decreased in spacing from 6' OC to 4" OC this I found usually helped maintain speed and added acceleration.

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Sat Jan 25, 2003 8:00 pm

At 30 mph- it is likely you have the record. That's cooking.

Claude Regnier · Post by **Claude Regnier** » Sat Jan 25, 2003 10:14 pm

Perhaps but possibly only because no one else was clocked at max. I'm sure several racers could attain this mark under the right circumstances.

I certainally don't expect to hit it agin at this point in my life. Obviously some of the hills in Cali could host such an attempt.

We're we not clocked in the upper 20's in Boston. I think 30 is attainable on that road and imagine if it was repaved.

Ih case your real slow at checking out all the posts could you reply to my reply,eh!!!!

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Sat Jan 25, 2003 10:57 pm

Claude,

Not to nit pick (moi?

But the original question was about pumping ON THE FLAT. No hills, no grade, no gravity advantage. Flat out speed either as a top end burst or sustained velocity over a given distance.

Now I read where you're talking about hitting 30 MPH on various hills in California and such.

Are we all talking about the same thing?
(Just checking.)

Claude Regnier · Post by **Claude Regnier** » Sat Jan 25, 2003 11:56 pm

No Wes that 30 was hit right here at home on a fairly well sloped bike path.

It actually only came back to memory when John mentioned Radar Gun. I guess getting the ticket would have been good after all,eh!

On flats I don't think I ever hit more then 25 mph. Maybe a little less, all I know is I couldn't run it out. That is why i really got goos at knee slides and wear big pads. Now running anything out over 15 mph will likely call for a knee slide.

Brian Morris · Post by **Brian Morris** » Sun Jan 26, 2003 2:52 am

I think I have brought myself to at least 25. I found out the hard way that you can't throw down a hand and slide on a slalom board with really soft Stingers, If it wasn't for the run off, I would have gone face first into the spare tire of a parked conversion van.

Brian

Brady Mitchell · Post by **Brady Mitchell** » Sun Jan 26, 2003 5:08 am

I doubt I am even near worthy of trying to post a time but still I`m curious as for what my top speed may be. Chuck and Mark have this great spot in WP that has a long run-off at the bottom of the hill and it runs pretty much flat. Could be THE spot to post a fast time.

Now does Mark have that timer figgered out yet?

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Wed Feb 05, 2003 2:15 am

set those strips at 14 feet 8 inches and let it rip.

Terry Kirby · Post by **Terry Kirby** » Wed Feb 05, 2003 2:48 am

There is no way a human can do a sustained pump at 30. 25 mabey buy only a few of the powerhouse pumpers could hit that. Next time you drive a car, do 30mph, open the door and look down, now imagine some nut on a skateboard wiggling next to you. TK
PS someone please prove me wrong. I would love to see it.

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Wed Feb 05, 2003 3:47 am

Don't jump to conclusions, TK. He just said "25-30." Maybe he meant "KPH?" :razz:

Claude Regnier · Post by **Claude Regnier** » Wed Feb 05, 2003 1:00 pm

Sustained, no I doubt it as well. At that rate of speed if you maintained it for say 10 to 15 cones it may only be for 2.5 seconds. Hitting a top speed of 30 mph is possible under the right circumstances, hill and course.

That's not very long. It 's does require a hell of a lot of quick movement however. But if your running tight, straight gates it is doable.

Wes I usually record speed in KPH when I'm Slaloming on my hands it makes me feel better.

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