Dragon tail, two heights?

Radikal Skateboard Trucks

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Christopher Bara
KILL CITY RACING
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Dragon tail, two heights?

Post by Christopher Bara » Sun Jun 27, 2004 6:38 pm

I'm was looking at my Dragon claw before i was about to add another 1/8" riser because of wheelbite and see that it looks to have a setting to put the trailing arms up higher and raise the profile.
Is that what this adjustment is for (it came to me on the lower profile setting)...will raising the trailing arms have an affect in how it feels?.....i'm wondering if i should mess with the truck a little, or just add more risers...

anybody?

run clean

Jeff Goad
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Post by Jeff Goad » Sun Jun 27, 2004 8:43 pm

Use the height adjuster that's what it's there for. It should not change anything.
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Rick Stanziale
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Post by Rick Stanziale » Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:25 am

Mine has 3 different positions but I've never been able to use the lowest without wheelbite (yeah, back truck wheelbite). McCree does, however, use the lowest setting exclusively (correct me if I'm wrong).

You can even turn the swing arms in the opposite direction, don't know if anyone has ever ridden it that way.

On a related note, the narrowed Radikal front truck proved to be too narrow for untrimmed Avalons - they were biting on the baseplate (yeah, wheelbite on the baseplate). A wider front axle solved the problem and the setup, proved to be a tight slalom slayer this morning.

Christopher Bara
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Post by Christopher Bara » Mon Jun 28, 2004 3:11 pm

Thanks folks....On a related note, i'm glad you brought up that damn front truck.
I put my rads on a Pistol DP board (Jeff, these were the ones that were on that Turner over the weekend....i re-tooled all day Sunday....that's the price ya pay for not finishing in the top 3, aye?)
I lifted the rear like you suggested and that worked great....
i have the front truck with the narrowest axles and trimmed av's
two clear bushings (i'm 190 lbs)....
i'll be damned if i can get that thing to turn as good as a well wedged RTX.....is there a trick here?....too narrow for a 9.25" wide board maybe?...maybe wedge it 6 degrees?....
as it stands now, i cannot cut 6 foot cones unless i already have really good speed, so at the top of a course, or on the flat, they're not working out too well.

thoughts?

Jeff Goad
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Post by Jeff Goad » Mon Jun 28, 2004 11:51 pm

too narrow in the front, move up a size or two.
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Rick Stanziale
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that's what she said...

Post by Rick Stanziale » Tue Jun 29, 2004 1:38 am

Image

Keith Hollien
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Post by Keith Hollien » Wed Jun 30, 2004 7:07 pm

Christopher, e-mail me your phone # and we can talk. I can say 3.5" front truck is a little narrow for a 9.25" board.

Mark rides the middle hole on the rear swing arm truck. Bobby and I ride the top hloe only and both of us do not like the way it rides on the middle hole.

The lowest hole on the rear truck is gone , because it was unusable. There are no wheels made that would work. I kept telling Mark from day one that it was a waste of time and money to have it. All of the newer trucks have two holes only.

Any questions feel free to contact me at Hollien@mail.ifas.ufl.edu.

Later Keith, Team Radikal.
ps My website should be up next week(KeithHollien.com).

Jonathan Harms
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Post by Jonathan Harms » Wed Jun 30, 2004 11:08 pm

Keith, what don't you & Bobby like about how the rear truck rides in the middle hole? What feels different between the two settings?

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Post by Keith Hollien » Fri Jul 02, 2004 6:37 pm

Jonathan, I am not sure I can answer that question. Bobby did not say why, just that he did not like the way it felt. Since I do not practice very often I have not had a chance to spend time on the rear truck positions. One reason I like the top hole is the truck height. I still think Mark lowered the height of the truck too much. I am glad the new trucks are lower than the old DSX trucks. Sorry I could not give you an answer to your question. When I do practice I spend time working on my understanding of the bushings and wheels, so I can make quick and good calls on equipment at races. At races you do not have very much time to decide what to use for a course.

Later Keith, Team Radikal.

Mark McCree
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rear radikal

Post by Mark McCree » Sat Aug 07, 2004 4:42 pm

The rear truck has many ways to be adjusted. The swing arm can go up or down and risers can be used or not used. Testing for your comfort setting is all I can suggest. I have set them in about all of the combinations you can immagine. They all have different feels with different wheels. (hey that rhimes).

Experiment with the different variables and have fun doing it. Then you will know what's best for your ride preference.

Mark McCree

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