2010: Blog less, Ride more.
Happy Christmas and Happy New Year from The Dirt Box
May your bearings run free and your runs be full of awesome!
Cheers,
TDB!
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Hot Action, plus Master of the Hill: Both in full and for free!
As posted on the ATBSports forum, One 5 Media have decided to release Hot Action for absolutely free (previously $5).
Go fetch, and enjoy from here!
Alternatively, if you still need a copy to have on your computer go to http://one5.tv to purchase a quicktime of the film or just go there to donate, I'm sure they won't mind!
On a similar note, an excellent video from this years Master of the Hill competition, Poland can be found here (or equally last years video here). Looks like an excellent downhill location!
Go fetch, and enjoy from here!
Alternatively, if you still need a copy to have on your computer go to http://one5.tv to purchase a quicktime of the film or just go there to donate, I'm sure they won't mind!
On a similar note, an excellent video from this years Master of the Hill competition, Poland can be found here (or equally last years video here). Looks like an excellent downhill location!
Friday, 18 December 2009
Bearings - To clean or to buy new??
Bearings. Full set of 8 is £10 including p&p from ATBSports. So, if we're going to bother cleaning our bearings we have to do it for less than £10 for it to be worthwhile.
To clarify this, I mean that if I'm going to clean my bearings then I should be able to buy my cleaning fluid, grease and buy my own free time (currently set at approximately £10 per hour), for under £10.
To further clarify this last point, I like to set a cost for my free time in order to judge which jobs are worth doing and which jobs can be outsourced, especially those jobs that I am not especially fussed about. An example of this could be changing the oil in my car. Whilst I am perfectly capable of changing the oil myself, I estimate that this activity would take me approximatley 2 hours of my time from finding the right tools, doing the job through to getting cleaned up and moving on to something else. This in terms of my free time budget comes to £20 (plus cost of oil). Therefore, if a garage can change the oil for me for under £20 (plus cost of oil), then I'll get them to do the works for me.
Going back to the issue of bearings, if we say that the cleaning fluid and grease can be bought for £5 total, then I need to complete the cleaning in under half an hour in order to keep to the £10 limit set above. Any longer and I may as well buy new.
Can I dismantle, clean and reassemble within £10? Going to buy some bits tomorrow and will attempt this over the weekend. Updates as we go.....
Friday 18th Dec:
Visited Derby Bearings Ltd for a quote for new bearings and got told approximately £3-£3.50 per bearing. Since I can buy them off the internet for £1.25, if I do buy new I'll do just that. Bought 400g tube of grease for £1.60 (smallest size available). This should be enough grease to last me forever!
Realised late last night that to replace all my bearings with new wouldn't be just one set for £10 but rather three sets for £30: 8 x wheel bearings for the noSno and 8 x wheels bearings + 4 x kingpin bearings for MBS board. Blimey, perhaps it is worth me doing them all in one shot! (Or more realistic, I'll clean the spare ones I have and then replace as necessary).... Next job, find suitable cleaning fluid!
Saturday 19th Dec:
House stinks of white spirit. Bearings seems lovely and clean though I had to prise both sides of to get at all the muck. Some bearings seem to be in much better condition that others so I'm going to have to come up with a strategy. I'm thinking taking the bearings off one of the boards, cleaning them up too then pickling the best ones to go back on. The worst case ones don't seem to spin well however much I slosh them around. Next job, re-greasing.
To clarify this, I mean that if I'm going to clean my bearings then I should be able to buy my cleaning fluid, grease and buy my own free time (currently set at approximately £10 per hour), for under £10.
To further clarify this last point, I like to set a cost for my free time in order to judge which jobs are worth doing and which jobs can be outsourced, especially those jobs that I am not especially fussed about. An example of this could be changing the oil in my car. Whilst I am perfectly capable of changing the oil myself, I estimate that this activity would take me approximatley 2 hours of my time from finding the right tools, doing the job through to getting cleaned up and moving on to something else. This in terms of my free time budget comes to £20 (plus cost of oil). Therefore, if a garage can change the oil for me for under £20 (plus cost of oil), then I'll get them to do the works for me.
Going back to the issue of bearings, if we say that the cleaning fluid and grease can be bought for £5 total, then I need to complete the cleaning in under half an hour in order to keep to the £10 limit set above. Any longer and I may as well buy new.
Can I dismantle, clean and reassemble within £10? Going to buy some bits tomorrow and will attempt this over the weekend. Updates as we go.....
Friday 18th Dec:
Visited Derby Bearings Ltd for a quote for new bearings and got told approximately £3-£3.50 per bearing. Since I can buy them off the internet for £1.25, if I do buy new I'll do just that. Bought 400g tube of grease for £1.60 (smallest size available). This should be enough grease to last me forever!
Realised late last night that to replace all my bearings with new wouldn't be just one set for £10 but rather three sets for £30: 8 x wheel bearings for the noSno and 8 x wheels bearings + 4 x kingpin bearings for MBS board. Blimey, perhaps it is worth me doing them all in one shot! (Or more realistic, I'll clean the spare ones I have and then replace as necessary).... Next job, find suitable cleaning fluid!
Saturday 19th Dec:
House stinks of white spirit. Bearings seems lovely and clean though I had to prise both sides of to get at all the muck. Some bearings seem to be in much better condition that others so I'm going to have to come up with a strategy. I'm thinking taking the bearings off one of the boards, cleaning them up too then pickling the best ones to go back on. The worst case ones don't seem to spin well however much I slosh them around. Next job, re-greasing.
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Macclesfield Forest Freeride Gathering Sunday 13th December 2009
The plan was simple, 7 of us had confirmed attending a gathering set in the North West of the Peak District for the not too ungodly hour of 10am. I had an approximate postcode and an rough idea of the exact location and two hours to get there. Threw the kit in the back of the car, three tyres good, one puncture - when did this happen?! Pick brother Rob up along the way. He's having breakfast still so a good time to strip the tyre down on the kitchen table and investigate things - discover a big old thorn right through the middle. 10 minutes later with the right tools and a bucket of water I'm re-assembling and we're on the way. Looks like a cold but clear day and the run from Buxton across the peak is beautiful.
The rest of the day I could describe, but it's easier to view and fortunately both JC and Rob both took some excellent footage. I reckon 12-14 boarders turned up in the end displaying all kinds of crazy riding, even on the loose gravelly surface. It may have been slow according to JC, but it sure was fun.
Enjoy!
The rest of the day I could describe, but it's easier to view and fortunately both JC and Rob both took some excellent footage. I reckon 12-14 boarders turned up in the end displaying all kinds of crazy riding, even on the loose gravelly surface. It may have been slow according to JC, but it sure was fun.
Enjoy!
Friday, 11 December 2009
ATBA Updated website, and Downhill Championship: first details
New website overhaul from ATBA (All Terrain Boarding Association)
http://www.atbauk.org/
But, the really intreaguing part of it can be found in the 'Events' part of the website....
Downhill Championship
The all-new ATBA-UK Downhill Championship will take place on the 12th and 13th of June 2010 in Cheddar, Somerset. This exciting new discipline involves riders giving it their all to get their best time down a track that will push all their skills to the limit.
.....Interesting!
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Surfing Dirt - Mountainboard Community
Surfing Dirt, uniting the mountainboarders of all nationalities under one forum. Unfortunately under the weather right now (probably a victim of its own success!) so bookmark that link and check back regularly. Fortunately the main page still works and provides a good insight into the kind of information provided by forum regulars.
Friendly bunch, so sign up, say hello and get involved!
Awww, luv you guys too! : D
Friendly bunch, so sign up, say hello and get involved!
Mountain Board Free Riding: Safety Guide
Injuries - a distinct possibility when mountain boarding and always worth having a bit of knowledge to hand just in case you, or someone with you has a bit of a mishap and needs patching up before getting to A&E or hopefully just a nice bath.
BikeRadar have a nice article about 'First aid treatment on the trail' which although is obviously aimed towards the mountain biker covers "soft tissue injuries, with the occasional broken arm or collar bone". Sound familiar?
Along with some nice step-by-step repair your mates instructions, it also includes the usual advice given out about freeriding, i.e if you ride alone tell someone where you are going and for what duration; preferably ride in a group of two or more and carry a mobile phone and first aid kit with you.
All sensible stuff really and if it gets you sorted out and riding sooner, then so much the better.
BikeRadar have a nice article about 'First aid treatment on the trail' which although is obviously aimed towards the mountain biker covers "soft tissue injuries, with the occasional broken arm or collar bone". Sound familiar?
Along with some nice step-by-step repair your mates instructions, it also includes the usual advice given out about freeriding, i.e if you ride alone tell someone where you are going and for what duration; preferably ride in a group of two or more and carry a mobile phone and first aid kit with you.
All sensible stuff really and if it gets you sorted out and riding sooner, then so much the better.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Bit of a longshot...Derby Mountain Boarder Funding?
General browsing on line and found the following web-post:
http://www.midlandcanoeclub.com/mb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1342
Specifically:
AOB – I mentioned the mountain-boarders in Allestree Park and suggested that RW invite them to a future meeting and see if they might be interested in forming a 'club', so that ultimately they might attract some funding for their (e.g.) jumps, etc? I said I'd pass a contact name/e-mail on to RW.
(FYI, Allestree Park, just outside Derby)
Does anyone know if anyone has been approached in regards to this? If there is someone out there prepared to hand out money for this sort of thing, it'd be great to not lose this opportunity. (if only so something formal is arranged and the existing jumps not destroyed twice yearly)
Any info appreciated!
http://www.midlandcanoeclub.com/mb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1342
Specifically:
AOB – I mentioned the mountain-boarders in Allestree Park and suggested that RW invite them to a future meeting and see if they might be interested in forming a 'club', so that ultimately they might attract some funding for their (e.g.) jumps, etc? I said I'd pass a contact name/e-mail on to RW.
(FYI, Allestree Park, just outside Derby)
Does anyone know if anyone has been approached in regards to this? If there is someone out there prepared to hand out money for this sort of thing, it'd be great to not lose this opportunity. (if only so something formal is arranged and the existing jumps not destroyed twice yearly)
Any info appreciated!
Monday, 30 November 2009
Cannock Chase, Freeride Meetup Sunday 29th November - Write Up
Sunday 29th November 2009: A write-up of our free ride day in the West Midlands Cannock Chase featuring LeapB4ULook (LB4UL), Goofy Mark, Mutley and AdeMcC (me). Not done a meeting write-up before, so chronologically seems to make the most sense!
6.20am Alarm goes off. This is obviously far too early and I stay in bed another 10 minutes.
6.30am Get up, prepare sandwiches, drink coffee, pull out assorted items from the boardroom (cupboard for mountain board bits and bobs but boardroom sounds grander). Why didn't I sort all this out the night before?
7.00am Leave House. Its dark, cold and rainy. I wonder if many people will turn up.
7.50am Arrive at Coppice Hill carpark entrance. Amazing since I had to re-'repair' the satnav the night before with gaffa tape and I forgot to print off maps. No ones there, the gate to the car park is closed and its still raining. Do mountain boarders shit in the woods? Absolutely! Ooh, car turning up, trousers back on! (don't want to explain myself to local copper)
8.00am Goofy Mark and Mutley turn up. Introductions are made, we eye up each others toys, the rain gets heavier, we get back into the car. Where is LB4UL?? At this point would rather be in the car than out in the wet so maybe not a bad thing.
8.20am LB4UL turns up and suggests we try the next car park along. This sounds like (and turns out to be) a great idea. We pad-up, look happy and discover that LB4UL was late due to him losing his car key (it turned up on the length of string looped around his neck).
The next 5 hours or so consists of the following runs, all of which can be found on Rogers Run Guide here.
(1) Start from car park at top of hill. Can only see first 15 metres but on map appears to go right down into valley. Only way to find out - ride! Path feels more like river bed at times but beats walking and though shallow, gets us approximately 2/3rds of the way down before we lose momentum. Opposite side of valley looks like there are tracks everywhere.
(2) LB4UL spots tasty looking track to the right, short, not too steep, bit rutted, sharp right hanger at the bottom. Goes first and makes it looks easy. Everybody else ignores the bend and ends up in the soft bushes. For the first time, and for the rest of the day the rain stops. This is a good sign.
(3) Into the valley and spot track opposite, gravelly, well drained, potential to be fast. Is fast! Couple of escape routes left and right but otherwise on to the bottom with selection of river, bogs or raised bridge to choose to comically crash into. Once again LB4UL rides it clean, the rest of us less so, but we're all smiling so we keep on.
(4) Followed the valley North, turned right, crossed the river, travelled perpendicular to river to find grassy track to right with boggy central run with options left and right being bit dryer. Super slidey and rutted but not too much of an issue. The sun is shining now and it is actually looking like quite a nice day!
(5) Continued East and found two grass tracks that start and end at the same points. One straight and fast, the other, longer and twisty. We each ride each one in turn. LB4UL gets interest from couple of elderly dog walkers and complains that 'this always happens' and 'why can't the same thing happen with young ladies?' General consensus that not many young ladies visit Cannock Chase on wet Sunday mornings, and besides, we all stink and look a bit grubby by now. Mutley suggests naming the runs the 'pair of tits'. No one objects.
Mark reads the map and informs us that if we continue on this path, we are moving further away from the cars. A good way in the right sort of direction is back up the hill.
(6) Head right at the track at the top of the slope to find the road leads downwards again. Best strap in! Road disappears downwards but LB4UL assures us its ridable. Everyone rides it clean except for me who landed on my arse. Hooray for arse pads! Informed by LB4UL that I need more weight on front foot. Fair enough comment, just feels hard to fight when you can feel the rocks pinging off the front truck the whole way down! Wonder if I'll get another bruise for the wife to laugh at?
(7) Another track that disappears round the corner. Mark and Mutley ride first. All we hear is a shout, then giggling from the bottom. Giggling is a good sign, so down I go, to be presented by a huge puddle and obvious escape route to the right. Escape route is a bog. "Lean back" shouts GM. I'm going to lean forward; I've got good momentum, its not too boggy and I need to commit more to these things. And end up face first in the bog. Hahaha, more giggles, the bogs claimed three victims so far. LB4UL pulls up short in a very calm and dignified manor. I suspect that he's done this kind of thing before.
Quite lost at this point. I suspect that if this whole thing had been a rouse to take advantage of me by three strangers in the middle of nowhere, then the plan had been highly elaborate and is therefore unlikely. I don't worry about this possibility for long...
(8) Similar track to last one except straight. Can see puddle at bottom so we all take it very easy! Bit too easy, not enough fun and holding back is daft really as I'm already half soaked.
(9) Can see starting point on other side of valley. Only way to go is down the grassy slope with nice steep middle section and run out onto grassy track which would have run further if not so soggy.
Walk up different track with definite possibility for riding down at later date. Back to car to expose ourselves to the amusement of walkers and bikers.
1.40pm All leave in one piece uninjured and boards working. Satnav in two parts. Bugger. I head roughly east, hit the A38 and head home.
In summary, Cannock Chase is a fantastic location for boarding. Yes, the day started out wet leading to the trails being a bit boggy and slidey in places but it certainly deterred the crowds that can get in the way of these things. In theory, We could return next weekend and the weekend after and still not see everything to do here, or come back in the summer and have a completely different riding experience. Grass, gravel, woods, short steep tracks, long gentle tracks, long steep tracks and everything in between - there is plenty to keep the average freerider happy. Consensus seems to be that we'll be back for more soon, so keep an eye out on the forums and next time, be involved!
Big cheers go out to LeapB4ULook, Goofy Mark and Mutley for sorting out the details and arranging for all this to take place, all I had to do was turn up.
6.20am Alarm goes off. This is obviously far too early and I stay in bed another 10 minutes.
6.30am Get up, prepare sandwiches, drink coffee, pull out assorted items from the boardroom (cupboard for mountain board bits and bobs but boardroom sounds grander). Why didn't I sort all this out the night before?
7.00am Leave House. Its dark, cold and rainy. I wonder if many people will turn up.
7.50am Arrive at Coppice Hill carpark entrance. Amazing since I had to re-'repair' the satnav the night before with gaffa tape and I forgot to print off maps. No ones there, the gate to the car park is closed and its still raining. Do mountain boarders shit in the woods? Absolutely! Ooh, car turning up, trousers back on! (don't want to explain myself to local copper)
8.00am Goofy Mark and Mutley turn up. Introductions are made, we eye up each others toys, the rain gets heavier, we get back into the car. Where is LB4UL?? At this point would rather be in the car than out in the wet so maybe not a bad thing.
8.20am LB4UL turns up and suggests we try the next car park along. This sounds like (and turns out to be) a great idea. We pad-up, look happy and discover that LB4UL was late due to him losing his car key (it turned up on the length of string looped around his neck).
The next 5 hours or so consists of the following runs, all of which can be found on Rogers Run Guide here.
(1) Start from car park at top of hill. Can only see first 15 metres but on map appears to go right down into valley. Only way to find out - ride! Path feels more like river bed at times but beats walking and though shallow, gets us approximately 2/3rds of the way down before we lose momentum. Opposite side of valley looks like there are tracks everywhere.
(2) LB4UL spots tasty looking track to the right, short, not too steep, bit rutted, sharp right hanger at the bottom. Goes first and makes it looks easy. Everybody else ignores the bend and ends up in the soft bushes. For the first time, and for the rest of the day the rain stops. This is a good sign.
(3) Into the valley and spot track opposite, gravelly, well drained, potential to be fast. Is fast! Couple of escape routes left and right but otherwise on to the bottom with selection of river, bogs or raised bridge to choose to comically crash into. Once again LB4UL rides it clean, the rest of us less so, but we're all smiling so we keep on.
(4) Followed the valley North, turned right, crossed the river, travelled perpendicular to river to find grassy track to right with boggy central run with options left and right being bit dryer. Super slidey and rutted but not too much of an issue. The sun is shining now and it is actually looking like quite a nice day!
(5) Continued East and found two grass tracks that start and end at the same points. One straight and fast, the other, longer and twisty. We each ride each one in turn. LB4UL gets interest from couple of elderly dog walkers and complains that 'this always happens' and 'why can't the same thing happen with young ladies?' General consensus that not many young ladies visit Cannock Chase on wet Sunday mornings, and besides, we all stink and look a bit grubby by now. Mutley suggests naming the runs the 'pair of tits'. No one objects.
Mark reads the map and informs us that if we continue on this path, we are moving further away from the cars. A good way in the right sort of direction is back up the hill.
(6) Head right at the track at the top of the slope to find the road leads downwards again. Best strap in! Road disappears downwards but LB4UL assures us its ridable. Everyone rides it clean except for me who landed on my arse. Hooray for arse pads! Informed by LB4UL that I need more weight on front foot. Fair enough comment, just feels hard to fight when you can feel the rocks pinging off the front truck the whole way down! Wonder if I'll get another bruise for the wife to laugh at?
(7) Another track that disappears round the corner. Mark and Mutley ride first. All we hear is a shout, then giggling from the bottom. Giggling is a good sign, so down I go, to be presented by a huge puddle and obvious escape route to the right. Escape route is a bog. "Lean back" shouts GM. I'm going to lean forward; I've got good momentum, its not too boggy and I need to commit more to these things. And end up face first in the bog. Hahaha, more giggles, the bogs claimed three victims so far. LB4UL pulls up short in a very calm and dignified manor. I suspect that he's done this kind of thing before.
Quite lost at this point. I suspect that if this whole thing had been a rouse to take advantage of me by three strangers in the middle of nowhere, then the plan had been highly elaborate and is therefore unlikely. I don't worry about this possibility for long...
(8) Similar track to last one except straight. Can see puddle at bottom so we all take it very easy! Bit too easy, not enough fun and holding back is daft really as I'm already half soaked.
(9) Can see starting point on other side of valley. Only way to go is down the grassy slope with nice steep middle section and run out onto grassy track which would have run further if not so soggy.
Walk up different track with definite possibility for riding down at later date. Back to car to expose ourselves to the amusement of walkers and bikers.
1.40pm All leave in one piece uninjured and boards working. Satnav in two parts. Bugger. I head roughly east, hit the A38 and head home.
In summary, Cannock Chase is a fantastic location for boarding. Yes, the day started out wet leading to the trails being a bit boggy and slidey in places but it certainly deterred the crowds that can get in the way of these things. In theory, We could return next weekend and the weekend after and still not see everything to do here, or come back in the summer and have a completely different riding experience. Grass, gravel, woods, short steep tracks, long gentle tracks, long steep tracks and everything in between - there is plenty to keep the average freerider happy. Consensus seems to be that we'll be back for more soon, so keep an eye out on the forums and next time, be involved!
Big cheers go out to LeapB4ULook, Goofy Mark and Mutley for sorting out the details and arranging for all this to take place, all I had to do was turn up.
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Mountainboarders Meet-up Map
Whilst going solo has it's thrills, the freedom to do everything at your own pace and the fun of doing things for your own sake, riding with others ups the game, reveals new lines you probably hadn't even considered and has the added benefit that if it all goes wrong, someone's there to phone the ambulance man.
But many people don't know of other people in the area who mountainboard and get bored as a result. However, Remolitions Artful Rogers has handily put together a mountainboarders Meet-up map where people can see who else is in there area to contact, or can put up their own details and hope that someone gets in touch with them! The more people, the better for everyone, and remember, you don't have to be specific with your tag, just something in the right town or region. This should at least stop the stalkers/burglers from knowing where you live.
View Mountainboarders Meet-up Map in a larger map
But many people don't know of other people in the area who mountainboard and get bored as a result. However, Remolitions Artful Rogers has handily put together a mountainboarders Meet-up map where people can see who else is in there area to contact, or can put up their own details and hope that someone gets in touch with them! The more people, the better for everyone, and remember, you don't have to be specific with your tag, just something in the right town or region. This should at least stop the stalkers/burglers from knowing where you live.
View Mountainboarders Meet-up Map in a larger map
Monday, 23 November 2009
Cannock Chase, Freeride Meetup Sunday 29th November
This weekend would have seen a large mountain board meet-up up in the Whinlatter forest, apparently the only mountainous forest in England. That is it would have, had the rains not left local town Keswick totally flooded.
Still, for those who can't wait for the next big thing, there another meet-up this Sunday 29th November 2009 at Cannock Chase* details through the facebook or Surfing Dirt links and with any luck photos to follow next week.
* - unless it floods of course :(
Still, for those who can't wait for the next big thing, there another meet-up this Sunday 29th November 2009 at Cannock Chase* details through the facebook or Surfing Dirt links and with any luck photos to follow next week.
* - unless it floods of course :(
Friday, 20 November 2009
Brakes and the art of going faster
Jeremy Clarkson as part of the utterly brilliant Top Gear did a challenge a couple of years ago where he attempted to race a Honda NSX around the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca circuit with the same lap time a he could achieve in Gran Turismo 4.
He couldn't, reasoning that at the back of his mind is imagination and the thought "what if a wheel falls off now?" or "what if I press the brake pedal and nothing happens?". It was the "what ifs" that preventing him going all out and it was racing drivers without this imagination that could achieve the best times.
I often have a similar issue in that whilst I love bombing some of the local single tracks, with lovely tight bends, in the back of my mind is always the thought of what if just round this next corner is a walker, or a child, or a dog!??! Funnily enough, its not usually my own safety that bothers me, its that of other, innocent people.
As posted previously, I received in the post a set of Alpine Brake System brakes, customised to fit directly onto the noSno. I rode the new set up for the first time last night and so far, I am very, very impressed. The build quality is superb and the brakes very responsive without the feeling that I was going to lock up and end up arse over tit (to borrow a beautiful phrase from the English language). I do want to ride with it some more before writing more about it and could do a comparison with both the MBS V-Brake and noSno disk brakes, so if either manufacturer are feeling generous?! : D
Anyway, the strange thing was though that although I had access to a brake, I very rarely applied it and found myself riding faster than I would do normally. The knowledge that if I absolutely needed to slow down, then I could do allowed me to ride sections faster and scrubbing speed with greater flair. Additionally, whilst there are a couple of trails that run one after the other nicely in theory, there's absolutely no way you'd want to start the lower section at the kind of pace that you would hitting it straight from the top; the brake allows me to ride both consecutively.
So now I can attempt longer runs at a faster pace. As someone wise once said on the forums, "Brake? They should rename it 'the go faster device!'" Yee Haa!
He couldn't, reasoning that at the back of his mind is imagination and the thought "what if a wheel falls off now?" or "what if I press the brake pedal and nothing happens?". It was the "what ifs" that preventing him going all out and it was racing drivers without this imagination that could achieve the best times.
I often have a similar issue in that whilst I love bombing some of the local single tracks, with lovely tight bends, in the back of my mind is always the thought of what if just round this next corner is a walker, or a child, or a dog!??! Funnily enough, its not usually my own safety that bothers me, its that of other, innocent people.
As posted previously, I received in the post a set of Alpine Brake System brakes, customised to fit directly onto the noSno. I rode the new set up for the first time last night and so far, I am very, very impressed. The build quality is superb and the brakes very responsive without the feeling that I was going to lock up and end up arse over tit (to borrow a beautiful phrase from the English language). I do want to ride with it some more before writing more about it and could do a comparison with both the MBS V-Brake and noSno disk brakes, so if either manufacturer are feeling generous?! : D
Anyway, the strange thing was though that although I had access to a brake, I very rarely applied it and found myself riding faster than I would do normally. The knowledge that if I absolutely needed to slow down, then I could do allowed me to ride sections faster and scrubbing speed with greater flair. Additionally, whilst there are a couple of trails that run one after the other nicely in theory, there's absolutely no way you'd want to start the lower section at the kind of pace that you would hitting it straight from the top; the brake allows me to ride both consecutively.
So now I can attempt longer runs at a faster pace. As someone wise once said on the forums, "Brake? They should rename it 'the go faster device!'" Yee Haa!
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Hillbilly Gloves for Mountain Boarding
Well, mine are two years old now and whilst are a bit tatty round the edges, are till holding together nicely
Hillbilly gloves are available from ATBSports in either 'Half Ass' or 'Heavy Doody' versions, featuring either fingerless/single splint or full glove/twin splint depending on choice. It should be noted that the splints are removable so it is possible to have a full glove/single splint version should you wish. Both sets are made by Hillbilly designed specially for mountainboarding so have heavy duty Goat Skin Leather and have reinforced finger protection.
I personally ride with the Heavy Doody version as shown in the photo above with the understanding (I'm not a doctor, please don't sue me) that the second splint ensures that in a really bad accident, then the arm will break rather than the wrist: i.e. simple break v complicated break. Though having not broken my arm, I really cannot back this information up, but either way, wrist protection is of course far more preferable than no protection. The very bare minimum I'll ride in is helmet and gloves (and underpants of course).
From the picture above you can see the leather starting to go around the palm of the hand in the area holding the lower splint, and once that goes, new gloves will be inevitable. All I can say is that when this does eventually happens, I will be buying once again from Hillbilly.
I personally ride with the Heavy Doody version as shown in the photo above with the understanding (I'm not a doctor, please don't sue me) that the second splint ensures that in a really bad accident, then the arm will break rather than the wrist: i.e. simple break v complicated break. Though having not broken my arm, I really cannot back this information up, but either way, wrist protection is of course far more preferable than no protection. The very bare minimum I'll ride in is helmet and gloves (and underpants of course).
From the picture above you can see the leather starting to go around the palm of the hand in the area holding the lower splint, and once that goes, new gloves will be inevitable. All I can say is that when this does eventually happens, I will be buying once again from Hillbilly.
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
MBS Old School - Deck Specs!
As promised, MBS Boards from yesteryear (2006 ish) as told in pictures!
MBS Comp Series:
MBS Core Series!
MBS Pro 16!
Key!
MBS Comp Series:
MBS Core Series!
MBS Recreational Series!
MBS Skate Series!
Key!
MBS Mountain Boards - Old vs New
Typical scenario, you want to buy a mountain board but don't want to pay a fortune so buy a second hand MBS board (other manufactures available). You have a great time and spend all day riding and all night dreaming and so decide to buy a brand new board; but wait - the new boards all have different names and constructions!??! How to compare? The simple advice is either to a) visit a centre and try out a few different boards that they have on offer, b) ask for advice through the forums, or c) check through the tables below and try to figure it out!
Before we go too far, it should be pointed out that the old MBS naming convention of Comp 16 or Comp 26X referred to the approximate overall board length, i.e. 118cm and 134cm respectively; whilst the new MBS naming convention of Comp 95 or Pro 100 refers to the deck length of 95cm or 100cm respectively. In a sense, the new naming convention works better than the old as a Comp 26X deck wouldn't be 10cm longer than a Comp 16 deck as a Comp 26X would be issued with 9" tyres as opposed to the Comp 16's 8" 'ers. Or something like that..... Confused? Heres a fun table:
Maybe the following will help. Below are the 'Board Chooser' tables as supplied by MBS back in the day. I don't know which day specifically so I'm going to guess at pre '07. The two tables show similar information but neither are exclusive, so I've included both.
Before we go too far, it should be pointed out that the old MBS naming convention of Comp 16 or Comp 26X referred to the approximate overall board length, i.e. 118cm and 134cm respectively; whilst the new MBS naming convention of Comp 95 or Pro 100 refers to the deck length of 95cm or 100cm respectively. In a sense, the new naming convention works better than the old as a Comp 26X deck wouldn't be 10cm longer than a Comp 16 deck as a Comp 26X would be issued with 9" tyres as opposed to the Comp 16's 8" 'ers. Or something like that..... Confused? Heres a fun table:
| Old Board | Length (cm) | Weight (kg) |
| MBS Pro 16 (Leon Robbins) | 118 | 6.7 |
| MBS Comp 26X | 134 | 10.5 |
| MBS Comp 16 | 118 | 6.8 |
| MBS Comp 6* | 106 | 6.5 |
| MBS Core 16 | 117 | 7.4 |
| MBS Core 8 | 108 | 5.4 |
| MBS Core 1* | 98 | 5.1 |
| Jeep Renegade | 108 | 7 |
| Jeep CJ-5* | 91 | 5.7 |
| MBS Atom | 106 | 5.4 |
| MBS Atom Lowrider | 99 | 3.3 |
| MBS Longboard | 112 | 3.8 |
| New Boards | Length (cm) | Weight (kg) |
| MBS Pro 100 | 119 | 7.26 |
| MBS Pro 95 | 109 | 7 |
| MBS Pro 90 | 104 | 5.2 |
| MBS Comp 95X | 120 | 9 |
| MBS Comp 95 | 116 | 6.5 |
| MBS Comp 90 | 108 | 5.9 |
| MBS Core 95 | 110 | 6.2 |
| MBS Core 90 | 104 | 5.4 |
| MBS Atom 95X | 110 | 7 |
| MBS Atom 95 | 110 | 6.9 |
| MBS Pro 95* | 109 | 7 |
| MBS Pro 90* | 104 | 5.2 |
| MBS Comp 90* | 108 | 5.9 |
| MBS Core 90* | 104 | 5.4 |
| MBS Atom 80X* | 91 | 5.4 |
| * designates junior boards |
Maybe the following will help. Below are the 'Board Chooser' tables as supplied by MBS back in the day. I don't know which day specifically so I'm going to guess at pre '07. The two tables show similar information but neither are exclusive, so I've included both.
This can be compared to MBS' newest range by going straight to the 'Product Selector' here.
I've got a bit of the old literature originally provided by MBS with their original boards and intend to gradually post the interesting bits here (assuming MBS don't mind???). I'd have thought its all good publicity.
Edit: Edited sections where I was being an idiot-hole
Edit 2: Confirmation of MBS naming conventions clarified here!
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
The Joy of Maps
Maps are great! Plan your route, see where you've been, look for those tightly packed contours that mean slopes!
Up till a couple of years ago, when it came to on-line mapping, I would have advised people who had the money (or the means) to acquire Memory Map, the magic pc software that had not only licensed 1:25,000 OS mapping, but also 3D visualisers to see the whole thing; hills, valleys, the whole undulating landscape. It was good. It is still good, if very, very expensive, but with a whole host of free information available at your finger tips on-line, it'd be daft not to look there first.
Road maps, OS maps, satellite imagery, birds eye views,terrain view, street view, route planning and a whole lot more to follow (in no particular order and with emphasis on off road 4x4 wheely boarding):
Multi Map - demo available here
Google Maps
Probably the best known mapping website available possibly due to the ease of adding user information to the maps and ease of integration into other websites.
Best used to highlight points of interest i.e. people, places
Very good satallite imagery
Terrain view: Handy to give rough idea of terrain but only really effective zoomed out or in really hilly areas
Very good road maps in order to get to where you were going in the first place
Bing Maps (was Live Search)
Alternative to Google Maps, but has some great alternative features (particularly after the update on the 12th November 2009):
Contains OS maps at both 1:50,000 and 1:25,000. (very easy to flick between the two)
Alternative Satalite Imagery and Bird eye Views (not all areas).
These two features alone makes desktop trail hunting a lot easier. From using the OS maps to find a suitable slope, it is a breeze to switch to the birds eye view to see whether that route goes straight through a field, wood, or trading estate.
Of course, there's still the possibility of getting to site and finding that the trail is totally un-ridable, or densely packed with cattle, or just plain rubbish.
Where's the Path
...is genius! OS Map on one side, Satellite view is on the other. Moving the cursor on one side is replicated at the same spot on the other. Paths drawn on one site are replicated on the other! Always worth a look just in case you suspect that either the map lies, or when you suspect that you are allowed access through a particular piece of ground.
OS Maps are unfortunately only in 1:50,000 but there if you select the 25k button, then select a spot, then that location is opened in Streetmap at 1:25:000. GPS logs can be imported / exported accordingly.
Google Earth
Downloadable application displaying satellite views of the world in all its glory. Has the ability to show the terrain in 3D, though its only accurate to points every 50 metres or so. This can result for example in valleys not displaying as the 50 metre points span the gap, or in peaks of hills not quite in the right location.
Other maps websites include:
Multimap
Streetmap
Flash Earth
Strangemaps
Hope this information be helpful, though I've got a feeling that I'll have to update it all in 3 months!
Up till a couple of years ago, when it came to on-line mapping, I would have advised people who had the money (or the means) to acquire Memory Map, the magic pc software that had not only licensed 1:25,000 OS mapping, but also 3D visualisers to see the whole thing; hills, valleys, the whole undulating landscape. It was good. It is still good, if very, very expensive, but with a whole host of free information available at your finger tips on-line, it'd be daft not to look there first.
Road maps, OS maps, satellite imagery, birds eye views,terrain view, street view, route planning and a whole lot more to follow (in no particular order and with emphasis on off road 4x4 wheely boarding):
Multi Map - demo available here
Google Maps
Probably the best known mapping website available possibly due to the ease of adding user information to the maps and ease of integration into other websites.
Best used to highlight points of interest i.e. people, places
Very good satallite imagery
Terrain view: Handy to give rough idea of terrain but only really effective zoomed out or in really hilly areas
Very good road maps in order to get to where you were going in the first place
Bing Maps (was Live Search)
Alternative to Google Maps, but has some great alternative features (particularly after the update on the 12th November 2009):
Contains OS maps at both 1:50,000 and 1:25,000. (very easy to flick between the two)
Alternative Satalite Imagery and Bird eye Views (not all areas).
These two features alone makes desktop trail hunting a lot easier. From using the OS maps to find a suitable slope, it is a breeze to switch to the birds eye view to see whether that route goes straight through a field, wood, or trading estate.
Of course, there's still the possibility of getting to site and finding that the trail is totally un-ridable, or densely packed with cattle, or just plain rubbish.
Where's the Path
...is genius! OS Map on one side, Satellite view is on the other. Moving the cursor on one side is replicated at the same spot on the other. Paths drawn on one site are replicated on the other! Always worth a look just in case you suspect that either the map lies, or when you suspect that you are allowed access through a particular piece of ground.
OS Maps are unfortunately only in 1:50,000 but there if you select the 25k button, then select a spot, then that location is opened in Streetmap at 1:25:000. GPS logs can be imported / exported accordingly.
Google Earth
Downloadable application displaying satellite views of the world in all its glory. Has the ability to show the terrain in 3D, though its only accurate to points every 50 metres or so. This can result for example in valleys not displaying as the 50 metre points span the gap, or in peaks of hills not quite in the right location.
Other maps websites include:
Multimap
Streetmap
Flash Earth
Strangemaps
Hope this information be helpful, though I've got a feeling that I'll have to update it all in 3 months!
Monday, 16 November 2009
Alpine Brake Systems
Arrived today. And like a wally I've left my tools in the kitchen. Job for tonight, testing sometime this week (if it stops raining at any point), feedback after.
How to make a mountain board go faster? Better Bearings?
Was reading through random google links over the weekend when I came across some fella on yahoo questions asking about which bearings were the best as he wanted to go faster. Fair enough!
Bearings, a particular talking point in the skating community usually comes down so some bloke with anecdotal data who swears his mega bucks bearings are fantastic, verses those who advise to save their money on good old reliable cheap (but not mega cheap) equivalents.
A lot of the myths and confusions does seem to revolve around bearing standards and Lush Longboards (whos longboards are non coincidently lush!) do a great job of explaining things here.
If we want to transcribe the data above to mountain boarding, then its probably safe to say that we do not speed as fast as downhill longboards, our wheels have larger diameters than downhill longboarders; therefore it should be safe to say that our bearings rotate slower than downhill longboarders. In this case, the advice above given by Lush about not seeing the benefit of fitting expensive bearings should equally apply to us.
Good bearings can be bought straight from ATBSports from here, £10 for 8. I've looked previously online for equivalent bearings straight from the manufacturer, best I could do was £2.50 each plus p&p.
So, going back to the original question about making a mountain board go faster, I can think of the following: (feel free to add your own!)
Ps the resolved Y! answer was 'Kite buggy bearings'....
Pps, need more pictures, I can never be arsed to add pictures : (
Bearings, a particular talking point in the skating community usually comes down so some bloke with anecdotal data who swears his mega bucks bearings are fantastic, verses those who advise to save their money on good old reliable cheap (but not mega cheap) equivalents.
A lot of the myths and confusions does seem to revolve around bearing standards and Lush Longboards (whos longboards are non coincidently lush!) do a great job of explaining things here.
If we want to transcribe the data above to mountain boarding, then its probably safe to say that we do not speed as fast as downhill longboards, our wheels have larger diameters than downhill longboarders; therefore it should be safe to say that our bearings rotate slower than downhill longboarders. In this case, the advice above given by Lush about not seeing the benefit of fitting expensive bearings should equally apply to us.
Good bearings can be bought straight from ATBSports from here, £10 for 8. I've looked previously online for equivalent bearings straight from the manufacturer, best I could do was £2.50 each plus p&p.
So, going back to the original question about making a mountain board go faster, I can think of the following: (feel free to add your own!)
- Pump up tires - more pump = more umph!
- Steeper slope - let gravity do its magic!
- Smoother slope - tarmacs quicker than deep grass!
- Dryer slope - don't get stuck in the mud!
- Wear Lycra - you perv!
- Fit larger tires - 9 or 10 inch or even larger
- Make sure your axle nuts aren't too tight - hand tighten and then release by quarter or half a turn or so.
Ps the resolved Y! answer was 'Kite buggy bearings'....
Pps, need more pictures, I can never be arsed to add pictures : (
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Shed Security
One thing I like to do when I'm lucky enough to have a bit of downtime, is to trawl through websites of various sports that I wouldn't normally participate in - for example Mountain Biking. Whilst the direct subject matter of bikes may be less interesting to me, these guys share exactly the same mentalities. For example the rush of a swift decent, the joy of discovering a new trail, the realities of riding to the limit and forgetting for that moment the job, the mortgage and other lifes grinds.
And also the grim reality that you can put your all into a hobby, only for some arsehole to break into the shed and steal your custom setup with the 'bugger to get hold of specialist parts'.
Bike Radar have done a couple of nice articles on How to Toughen Up Your Shed part 1 and part 2 with great advice at relatively low cost. Certainly low compared to the cost of replacement anyway.
The only problem that we have as mountain boarders is that we don't have a triangle of metal to slip a chain through to secure the board directly to ground or something heavy. I'm not sure how best to overcome this part so any comments to this appreciated! I've gone down the route of storing everything in a shed that is moderately secure, but is also so overgrown, that most people don't realise its even there. Its worked so far, touch wood..... In an ideal world the wife would let me keep the boards where they belong - in the kitchen, but so far, for some reason, this is not an option.
There's plenty more good advice not only on Bike Radar, but plenty of other similar websites, so look beyond the obvious, we're not so different from other sports at all.
And also the grim reality that you can put your all into a hobby, only for some arsehole to break into the shed and steal your custom setup with the 'bugger to get hold of specialist parts'.
Bike Radar have done a couple of nice articles on How to Toughen Up Your Shed part 1 and part 2 with great advice at relatively low cost. Certainly low compared to the cost of replacement anyway.
The only problem that we have as mountain boarders is that we don't have a triangle of metal to slip a chain through to secure the board directly to ground or something heavy. I'm not sure how best to overcome this part so any comments to this appreciated! I've gone down the route of storing everything in a shed that is moderately secure, but is also so overgrown, that most people don't realise its even there. Its worked so far, touch wood..... In an ideal world the wife would let me keep the boards where they belong - in the kitchen, but so far, for some reason, this is not an option.
There's plenty more good advice not only on Bike Radar, but plenty of other similar websites, so look beyond the obvious, we're not so different from other sports at all.
International ATBA-UK Mountain Board Film Festival
Of course, it's not just freeborders who are making films, and this year from the 16th-18th October (which goes to show just how bang up to date this blog really is!!!) saw the first International ATBA-UK Mountain Board Film Festival. Absolutely the best write up appears to have been done by the Remolition lads, so click the link here (full of direct links to the top three films).
Freebord Best Submitted Videos - 2009!
Every year Freebord invite their forum members to produce short two minute videos to show off their skills, be it in terms of high production values, skills or just pure entertainment. These videos get judged and the top 10 selected before being whittled down further.
See all ten videos here or if you're gagging for more, last years top five are here
See all ten videos here or if you're gagging for more, last years top five are here
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Brake Lights for Boarders?
Spotted via the ever interesting (if totally unrelated to boarding) website hackaday, where clever people do clever things to other things in a geeky, yet fun way.
The bike brake light senses you slowing down is clever in the sense that it is activated via deceleration measured by the accelerometer, rather than mechanical means, and thus could be utilised by a boarder without any mechanical alterations whatsoever.
Who would use it? I'm thinking maybe a longboarder for the benefit of traffic, or for mountain boarders where it is not obvious if the guy in front is applying the brake or not???
Perhaps the bigger questions are where would a brake light be mounted, or whether more investigation should be made into headlights, particularly as its getting dark around 5pm these days!
A direct link here with video.
The bike brake light senses you slowing down is clever in the sense that it is activated via deceleration measured by the accelerometer, rather than mechanical means, and thus could be utilised by a boarder without any mechanical alterations whatsoever.
Who would use it? I'm thinking maybe a longboarder for the benefit of traffic, or for mountain boarders where it is not obvious if the guy in front is applying the brake or not???
Perhaps the bigger questions are where would a brake light be mounted, or whether more investigation should be made into headlights, particularly as its getting dark around 5pm these days!
A direct link here with video.
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Down and Dirty (2001) - Mountain Board DVD
Just a quickie, Down and Dirty, released in 2001 and before my time - free to download direct from MBS.
From good old wikipedia:
"Down And Dirty (VHS) (2001 - USA) Journey from Canada to Colorado all the way to the beaches of Southern California with mountainboarding's most progressive riders as they show you high speed descents, spin tricks, handrails, and flowing rhythm sections; this movie pushes the limits of mountainboarding way beyond what most will believe."
Worth a watch? Well, its only 113 Meg in size for just under 12 minutes of entertainment in easy mpg format and a good nostalgic look at mountain boarding 8 years ago.
Grab it here whilst you can and big cheers to McCarver of Surfing Dirt for the heads up.
From good old wikipedia:
"Down And Dirty (VHS) (2001 - USA) Journey from Canada to Colorado all the way to the beaches of Southern California with mountainboarding's most progressive riders as they show you high speed descents, spin tricks, handrails, and flowing rhythm sections; this movie pushes the limits of mountainboarding way beyond what most will believe."
Worth a watch? Well, its only 113 Meg in size for just under 12 minutes of entertainment in easy mpg format and a good nostalgic look at mountain boarding 8 years ago.
Grab it here whilst you can and big cheers to McCarver of Surfing Dirt for the heads up.
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Pump Review - BikeHut Suspension Shock Pump for Mountain Board use
Still, seems to be a good time to give it a review as any so here we go!
I bought this specifically for its small size - around 6 inches, and the handy gauge that purports to go up to 300 psi... I don't know how accurate the gauge was, but at least it did mean that I could inflate to the same amount each time for each tire. The screw on valve attachment was also handy and easy attachable compared to some of the bulky quick release versions that couldn't fit to the valves being so close to the rims. The pump also has a decent bleed valve for further adjustment. Seems to be solidly construct with metal shaft and housing.
On the downside, inflating even an 8 inch tire to 40 psi took time and many, many pumps which was knackering, took a while to use and I suspected was the reason for the pump wearing out quicker than it would normally. Also, although the pump was small, it was still too large to fit in my camelbak and so would typically remain in the boot of the car.
20 quid from Halfords here so about midrange price range and I do intend to repair, if I can track down the right size washers. I did need a pump though in the meantime, so with size out the window, I've bought a Top Joe Blow Sport Pump here, review to follow in about a year, or if it breaks in the meantime. Just for those that are curious about my links, I am all for supporting my local bike shop, but I visited a handful in and around Derby and the selection of pumps was terrible!
Friday, 6 November 2009
Mountain Board Trails Map
Remember the Mountain Board Trails map I created and linked to a few months back? No? Good, because there is a far superior version available:
View Mountainboard Ride Guide in a larger map
With 385 locations currently listed in the UK and abroad, many with the routes drawn on, this should be your first place to check for trails if new to an area, or new to the sport. Particularly interesting to the lazy middle-aged-midlands based boarder are the spots shown above in north Derbyshire around the Edale, Castleton and Lady Bower Reservoir region, and pulling my finger out to check a few of them out is mandatory!
Credit where credits due, but I've no idea who was responsible for collating the data above, so I'll just say that the original link was obtained through the ever reliable Remolition website.
Edit: Thanks to Smilie below we can give full credit to artfulroger - what a resourceful / well travelled / well informed chap!
View Mountainboard Ride Guide in a larger map
With 385 locations currently listed in the UK and abroad, many with the routes drawn on, this should be your first place to check for trails if new to an area, or new to the sport. Particularly interesting to the lazy middle-aged-midlands based boarder are the spots shown above in north Derbyshire around the Edale, Castleton and Lady Bower Reservoir region, and pulling my finger out to check a few of them out is mandatory!
Credit where credits due, but I've no idea who was responsible for collating the data above, so I'll just say that the original link was obtained through the ever reliable Remolition website.
Edit: Thanks to Smilie below we can give full credit to artfulroger - what a resourceful / well travelled / well informed chap!
Alpine Brake Systems
Exciting news as I've finally got round to placing an order with Alpine Brake Systems.
The intention is to to fit it to the noSno (which I fully intend to write about soon) which should be a doddle given the circular axles and existing 10 inch Primo composite hubs. My main concern has always been not for my own safety, but that of others, particularly on some of the tighter local tracks. Plus it would be nice to have the option of monster off-road which doesn't happen very often, but is possible here and certainly abroad, though it doesn't always go to plan.
Research into this kind of thing showed two other braking systems on the market made by MBS (generally regarded as a slow-down-device rather than a brake, but cheap) and the hi-tech, very expensive, and highly (if not too efficient) disk brakes made by noSno.
I hope to be able to write a positive review soon.
Who knows, maybe one day people will send me stuff to review! ; D
The intention is to to fit it to the noSno (which I fully intend to write about soon) which should be a doddle given the circular axles and existing 10 inch Primo composite hubs. My main concern has always been not for my own safety, but that of others, particularly on some of the tighter local tracks. Plus it would be nice to have the option of monster off-road which doesn't happen very often, but is possible here and certainly abroad, though it doesn't always go to plan.
Research into this kind of thing showed two other braking systems on the market made by MBS (generally regarded as a slow-down-device rather than a brake, but cheap) and the hi-tech, very expensive, and highly (if not too efficient) disk brakes made by noSno.
I hope to be able to write a positive review soon.
Who knows, maybe one day people will send me stuff to review! ; D
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Freebord Tetris - The original and follow up....
I don't freebord enough, hence the very few musings about the subject, which is daft cos freebordings ace, if a little misunderstood by the masses (those who are in the know anyway). Anyway, a recent marketing project featuring freebords and tetris shapes seemed to make its way through the interweb tubes and crop up in plenty of random places.
Freebord Tetris and probably on vimeo and other places.
Im not a marketing guru and wasn't entirely sure if not including a web address in the video was a good thing, and certainly, other freebord links have impressed me more in the past, but this one seemed to grab peoples attention.
Following from this, freebord have released a behind the scenes vid, which doesn't show much more, but hey!
Behind the scenes!
So, is the message here to market your product along with classic video games? Reproduce Donkey Kong on a mountain board? Mario on a longboard???
Freebord Tetris and probably on vimeo and other places.
Im not a marketing guru and wasn't entirely sure if not including a web address in the video was a good thing, and certainly, other freebord links have impressed me more in the past, but this one seemed to grab peoples attention.
Following from this, freebord have released a behind the scenes vid, which doesn't show much more, but hey!
Behind the scenes!
So, is the message here to market your product along with classic video games? Reproduce Donkey Kong on a mountain board? Mario on a longboard???
Monday, 24 August 2009
Scuz Magazine
Scuz mountain boarding magazine rocked.
From wikipedia:
"Scuz Mountainboarding Zine was at one time the only mountainboarding publication in the world for the sport of mountainboarding. It was first published in July 2004 as a paid-for magazine, however subsequent issues were published and distributed for free both as a printed hardcopy version and on the internet as a downloadable PDF.
It was announced in October 2006 that issue twelve would be the final issue and in 2007, the magazine would be rebranded as Mountainboard Magazine with a cover charge."
Mountainboard magazine unfortunately folded after 1 issue but if you're feeling nostalgic, Scuz can be downloaded from the following link. Well, issues one to eight anyway.
Starting out as a regular zine with questionable articles - Issue 3(?) 'The Joys of Shoplifting' it was a good entertaining read which by the latter issues became really quite professional. Still worth a read with articles on cleaning your bearings, tyre pressure choice and build your own balance board.
From wikipedia:
"Scuz Mountainboarding Zine was at one time the only mountainboarding publication in the world for the sport of mountainboarding. It was first published in July 2004 as a paid-for magazine, however subsequent issues were published and distributed for free both as a printed hardcopy version and on the internet as a downloadable PDF.
It was announced in October 2006 that issue twelve would be the final issue and in 2007, the magazine would be rebranded as Mountainboard Magazine with a cover charge."
Mountainboard magazine unfortunately folded after 1 issue but if you're feeling nostalgic, Scuz can be downloaded from the following link. Well, issues one to eight anyway.
Starting out as a regular zine with questionable articles - Issue 3(?) 'The Joys of Shoplifting' it was a good entertaining read which by the latter issues became really quite professional. Still worth a read with articles on cleaning your bearings, tyre pressure choice and build your own balance board.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Downhill
'Tis true that while we do indeed live in a country with mountains, they're not always close at hand, hence the woods, the park and the centres. But people do ride the mountains, and occasionally they film their efforts too leading to some excellent sense of speed and scale and personally speaking of the most exciting especially some of the helmet cameras.
Trouble being that a search of youtube (other video sites available) leads to much freestyle, loads of people falling down slopes on wobbly boards, and the occasional boarder-x, but not much big mountain, and then the footage that is available is either bumpy, grainy or just generally unwatchable.
Fortunately some people do like to film this sort of thing, so I've done the hard work below and provided a few links. (I'd inbed videos but that's beyond me to be honest).
Master of the Hill, (2008 footage?)
Evil C's Courchevel 2008 footage hmm, doesn't seem to be working right now...
Pete Tathams (nosno) 'Morzine The Movie'
Or check out Phil Milovanovs sections in either of the Russian Videos Hard Times, or Still Friends.
Feel free to suggest more of the same below.
Trouble being that a search of youtube (other video sites available) leads to much freestyle, loads of people falling down slopes on wobbly boards, and the occasional boarder-x, but not much big mountain, and then the footage that is available is either bumpy, grainy or just generally unwatchable.
Fortunately some people do like to film this sort of thing, so I've done the hard work below and provided a few links. (I'd inbed videos but that's beyond me to be honest).
Master of the Hill, (2008 footage?)
Evil C's Courchevel 2008 footage hmm, doesn't seem to be working right now...
Pete Tathams (nosno) 'Morzine The Movie'
Or check out Phil Milovanovs sections in either of the Russian Videos Hard Times, or Still Friends.
Feel free to suggest more of the same below.
OMG How fast was that?! Part 2 aka GPS on the cheap
Right, lets keep things simple, cut out the wires, magnets, sensors and all the rest and lets embrace technology. GPS in theory should be able to measure everything we want it to do, contained within a unit flexible to display and record the information we want to know.
Dedicated GPS units have been around for a while now and are popularly used by walkers and mountain bikers alike. Like most things in this world, you can spend as little or as much as you like depending on make, model and functions.
More recently though, GPS units are being integrated more and more into mobile phones, and are being offered free as part of phone contract packages. This is where my current set-up comes in and is merely one way to do things.
Part 1) Acquire the phone!
I've been with Vodaphone for around 8 years now on a package costing me approximately £13 a month with the option of a new phone every year on the proviso that I sign up for a further 18 months. For an extra £1.50 I get an itemised phone bill which ensures that most of my calls which are for business use are claimed back through expenses. This year I opted for the Blackberry 8900 with integrated GPS.
Part 2) Get protected!
As we all know, using protection prevents life's little mishaps and given my history with mobiles, is a must! There may be better protection available but plenty of people on the forums rate the Otterbox. Made up from three layers - a transparent layer that covers the screen, a hard plastic shell that clips over the top, and a soft rubber outer covering, its pretty robust and should give the phone a bit more of a change to survive a stacking. On that point, as I do like to ride alone, carrying a mobile is a very, very good idea, again, just in case worst comes to the worst.
The Otterbox does bulk up the phone as a whole, but it is still east to use the keypad and trackball. Maybe not whilst using Hillbilly gloves, but hey! Got mine £25 off ebay from some chap in the UK and as of 3 months riding, is still intact.
Part 3) Get Software!
Commercial software is available for example ViewRanger that has been tested and rated highly by Mountainboard Magazine. Viewranger doesn't support the blackberry unfortunately so the search goes on.
Fortunately, there is some fantastic free software (donation ware) that I primarily use called GPSLogger:
GPSLogger
GPSLogger does everything without being flashy logging your location and height every set interval time. It can then display various pages on screen as shown below, or can export the data in GPX, KML or CSV format for use in MemoryMap, Google Earth or Microsoft Excel.
Simply setup the options such as metric or imperial units and the sample interval in seconds. I tend to use 1 second for downhill mountain boarding, and 15 seconds for hiking. Select 'Start Logging' to begin, and 'Stop Logging' when done (obviously!).
The following screens are an example of me riding down KMC earlier this year. If you think it looks a bit odd then you're right - I fell over near the top and decided to climb back up rather than stop and then start the logging over again. Note that you can use the tracker ball to select individual points on the line trace to get specific information for each particular point.
Speed:
Path:
Elevation:
Updated versions of GPSLogger are released every so often through the webpage so its worth visiting.
Other available packages include TrekBuddy which contains very handy functions, but is currently work-in-progress for me to get to grips with.
Dedicated GPS units have been around for a while now and are popularly used by walkers and mountain bikers alike. Like most things in this world, you can spend as little or as much as you like depending on make, model and functions.
More recently though, GPS units are being integrated more and more into mobile phones, and are being offered free as part of phone contract packages. This is where my current set-up comes in and is merely one way to do things.
Part 1) Acquire the phone!
I've been with Vodaphone for around 8 years now on a package costing me approximately £13 a month with the option of a new phone every year on the proviso that I sign up for a further 18 months. For an extra £1.50 I get an itemised phone bill which ensures that most of my calls which are for business use are claimed back through expenses. This year I opted for the Blackberry 8900 with integrated GPS.Part 2) Get protected!
As we all know, using protection prevents life's little mishaps and given my history with mobiles, is a must! There may be better protection available but plenty of people on the forums rate the Otterbox. Made up from three layers - a transparent layer that covers the screen, a hard plastic shell that clips over the top, and a soft rubber outer covering, its pretty robust and should give the phone a bit more of a change to survive a stacking. On that point, as I do like to ride alone, carrying a mobile is a very, very good idea, again, just in case worst comes to the worst.The Otterbox does bulk up the phone as a whole, but it is still east to use the keypad and trackball. Maybe not whilst using Hillbilly gloves, but hey! Got mine £25 off ebay from some chap in the UK and as of 3 months riding, is still intact.
Part 3) Get Software!
Commercial software is available for example ViewRanger that has been tested and rated highly by Mountainboard Magazine. Viewranger doesn't support the blackberry unfortunately so the search goes on.
Fortunately, there is some fantastic free software (donation ware) that I primarily use called GPSLogger:
GPSLogger
GPSLogger does everything without being flashy logging your location and height every set interval time. It can then display various pages on screen as shown below, or can export the data in GPX, KML or CSV format for use in MemoryMap, Google Earth or Microsoft Excel.
Simply setup the options such as metric or imperial units and the sample interval in seconds. I tend to use 1 second for downhill mountain boarding, and 15 seconds for hiking. Select 'Start Logging' to begin, and 'Stop Logging' when done (obviously!).
The following screens are an example of me riding down KMC earlier this year. If you think it looks a bit odd then you're right - I fell over near the top and decided to climb back up rather than stop and then start the logging over again. Note that you can use the tracker ball to select individual points on the line trace to get specific information for each particular point.
Speed:
Path:
Elevation:
Updated versions of GPSLogger are released every so often through the webpage so its worth visiting.
Other available packages include TrekBuddy which contains very handy functions, but is currently work-in-progress for me to get to grips with.
OMG How fast was that?! Part 1
My Dad used to say to me - if I want to buy a car that feels fast, don't buy an expensive sports car, buy a low car - one where you are mere inches off the tarmac. And it's true that whist we are all used to speeding along at 70miles an hour on the motorway (legally at least) we don't have to approach anything like that sort of speed to feel fast on our boards.
But just how fast are we going? Does it really matter?
It shouldn't matter, but for curiosities sake, lets explore how we can measure our efforts.
The first device I considered was a digital bike speedometer, the type that can be picked up for around a tenner and use a magnet on the wheel as a trigger. According to the technical documentation available on line, most models allow you to reduce the wheel diameter, or distance travelled per wheel revolution right down to very small units. Remember that this variable is used to calculate the speed and so is important to get right for meaningful results. Some of the very cheap models don't record max speed so check the specifications - it's only usually a couple of quid extra to add this function.
Next job would be the custom fit of the magnet and sensor. Most of the models looked at come with fittings to what would be the bike front fork and to the spoke for the sensor and magnet, and to the handlebars for the digital readout. All of these will need a bit of work to fit in place considering the closeness of the trucks to the ground and the potential to damage/misalign the sensors.
I suppose that the digital readout could either be fixed to the board somewhere, or run up your leg and into a pocket. Always the danger there of getting the wire snagged on a passing tree or possible ripping the wire off. Wireless devices do exist but that results in extra £££s and extra batteries.
This is of course all hyperthetical as I've not tried the above, nor do I know of anyone else who has tried it. I guess the upshot is that its a relatively cheap thing to try out though a fit of work will be required to fix and that the data received will only be as good as the device will manage.
Part 2 - GPS!
But just how fast are we going? Does it really matter?
It shouldn't matter, but for curiosities sake, lets explore how we can measure our efforts.
The first device I considered was a digital bike speedometer, the type that can be picked up for around a tenner and use a magnet on the wheel as a trigger. According to the technical documentation available on line, most models allow you to reduce the wheel diameter, or distance travelled per wheel revolution right down to very small units. Remember that this variable is used to calculate the speed and so is important to get right for meaningful results. Some of the very cheap models don't record max speed so check the specifications - it's only usually a couple of quid extra to add this function.Next job would be the custom fit of the magnet and sensor. Most of the models looked at come with fittings to what would be the bike front fork and to the spoke for the sensor and magnet, and to the handlebars for the digital readout. All of these will need a bit of work to fit in place considering the closeness of the trucks to the ground and the potential to damage/misalign the sensors.
I suppose that the digital readout could either be fixed to the board somewhere, or run up your leg and into a pocket. Always the danger there of getting the wire snagged on a passing tree or possible ripping the wire off. Wireless devices do exist but that results in extra £££s and extra batteries.
This is of course all hyperthetical as I've not tried the above, nor do I know of anyone else who has tried it. I guess the upshot is that its a relatively cheap thing to try out though a fit of work will be required to fix and that the data received will only be as good as the device will manage.
Part 2 - GPS!
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Tips to speed check - Mountain Boarding
Every so often, a thread is started on the ATBsports forums that brings together some really good community knowledge.
In May, 'checkers' asked:
im not a bad rider and want to learn how to speed check so i can handle those faster runs with out having to power slide.
Im not exactly sure to speed check and cant seem to find any info on the web.
i can stand-up slide to a stop slow speeds, is speed checking along the same lines?
Any tips/guides on how to speed check would be much appreciated
Dunstan replied with:
Hey, I think there are 5 ways to control speed on a mountainboard, and if your board has brakes there are 6.
The simplest are letting the tyres down a bit, and powersliding like you said. You obviously want to progress from that, so other ways to speed check are using the terrain, ie riding through any long grass/softer ground that might be on the side of the run.
Scrubbing is a good way, which is usually kicking the back of the board out one way or another, or if you're good sliding it a bit while maintaining an upright stance. If you get really good you'll be able to do full on powerslides standing up, you'll be proper stoked when you get those. The way to scrub is to take you're weight off the part of the board you're going to kick out/slide and then try and drag it along the ground either toeside or heelside, while carrying on riding in the same direction, and bring the board back straight once you've done it. You can do it with the whole board as well, little jumps turning the board a bit and then jumping back straight. Try them starting slowly at first, once you get the hang of them buikd up the speed as you get more confident. For slides, try it on a surface like wet grass or gravel so you can start sliding easier.
If you find yourself faced with super gnarly super steep single track that you think you'll never be able to ride, you probably can, by using falling leaf. Basically the idea is that if you have your board at 90deg to the fall line of the hill, you won't go anywhere, and you'll go faster/slower based on what angle you point the board. So for a really steep run you're not confident to bomb, turning you're board down the hill a tiny bit, say 10-20 degrees, going across a bit and then doing it the other way can make steep stuff possible. The line you take looks like a falling leaf hence the name.
Hope that helps!
Vambo added:
..also at speed get low and try continual tight carving where you're wheels are on the edge sliding so as to keep speed to a maximum but controllable (grip the next bend)....Best used for fire tracks and tarmac lanes/roads.
Tip 8 - go freeriding long fast runs more.
Good point made there, practice makes perfect!
Belac added:
just to add to whats said above, when scrubbing you're best to carve into the slide. a massive mistakea to make is to be packing it along at a huge speed and go to scrub straight away, all the inertia is going forwards and so you genrally catch an edge. if your a regular rider and you wanna do a heelslide, carve out left a little bit, and then as you start coming back in start your scrub, means your weight is over the back of the board and on the effective edge ie your back wheels.
i think one of the best ways to learn is get a skateboard/longboard and find a smooth hill, go slide, then bring those skills back to mountainboarding.
..Which makes the great point of board cross over skills and how we really can learn from other disciplines. EvilC makes the following points:
yeah, caleb is spot on there - I do most of my scrubbing on a heelside carve for that reason. Just do a toeside carve to put you on one side of the track, then lean into the heelside carve quite hard and as you carve, jump your board around against the direction of travel - the faster you are going, the less you should jump, but you can control speed pretty effectively this way.
Good to learn, but if you are finding a run too fast for you and you constantly have to speed check, consider letting some air out of your tyres. On some runs, I will actually do the run faster with less pressure in my tyres, simply because the faster you are going the harder it is to scrub speed, and it can become a full time job controlling the speed. With less air in your tyres, you can just bomb the run and know that you are going to max out on speed earlier, so you don't have to worry about scrubbing speed before it gets out of control.
Hard to explain, but I hope you get what I mean.
Which makes a whole lot of sense. Start at a level you are happy with and work your way up.
Belac elaborates on his earlier post with the following:
re the original thred, the other thing is to not ride the gnarliest runs till your ready, i tried some of the big mountain mtb single track out here and nearly killed myself. if you can't scrub at speed then your not in control, that means not only a danger to yourself, but to others. i notice theres been studies on breaking times in skating/longboarding/freeboarding, would be interested what the break time and distance is at differant speeds on a mountainboard. not trying to be preechy tho, like clive said, just let the tires down.
Sometimes, the best answer is also the easiest. Much credit to all the above posters for taking the time to explain things in easy steps for the rest of us, Cheers!
In May, 'checkers' asked:
im not a bad rider and want to learn how to speed check so i can handle those faster runs with out having to power slide.
Im not exactly sure to speed check and cant seem to find any info on the web.
i can stand-up slide to a stop slow speeds, is speed checking along the same lines?
Any tips/guides on how to speed check would be much appreciated
Dunstan replied with:
Hey, I think there are 5 ways to control speed on a mountainboard, and if your board has brakes there are 6.
The simplest are letting the tyres down a bit, and powersliding like you said. You obviously want to progress from that, so other ways to speed check are using the terrain, ie riding through any long grass/softer ground that might be on the side of the run.
Scrubbing is a good way, which is usually kicking the back of the board out one way or another, or if you're good sliding it a bit while maintaining an upright stance. If you get really good you'll be able to do full on powerslides standing up, you'll be proper stoked when you get those. The way to scrub is to take you're weight off the part of the board you're going to kick out/slide and then try and drag it along the ground either toeside or heelside, while carrying on riding in the same direction, and bring the board back straight once you've done it. You can do it with the whole board as well, little jumps turning the board a bit and then jumping back straight. Try them starting slowly at first, once you get the hang of them buikd up the speed as you get more confident. For slides, try it on a surface like wet grass or gravel so you can start sliding easier.
If you find yourself faced with super gnarly super steep single track that you think you'll never be able to ride, you probably can, by using falling leaf. Basically the idea is that if you have your board at 90deg to the fall line of the hill, you won't go anywhere, and you'll go faster/slower based on what angle you point the board. So for a really steep run you're not confident to bomb, turning you're board down the hill a tiny bit, say 10-20 degrees, going across a bit and then doing it the other way can make steep stuff possible. The line you take looks like a falling leaf hence the name.
Hope that helps!
Vambo added:
..also at speed get low and try continual tight carving where you're wheels are on the edge sliding so as to keep speed to a maximum but controllable (grip the next bend)....Best used for fire tracks and tarmac lanes/roads.
Tip 8 - go freeriding long fast runs more.
Good point made there, practice makes perfect!
Belac added:
just to add to whats said above, when scrubbing you're best to carve into the slide. a massive mistakea to make is to be packing it along at a huge speed and go to scrub straight away, all the inertia is going forwards and so you genrally catch an edge. if your a regular rider and you wanna do a heelslide, carve out left a little bit, and then as you start coming back in start your scrub, means your weight is over the back of the board and on the effective edge ie your back wheels.
i think one of the best ways to learn is get a skateboard/longboard and find a smooth hill, go slide, then bring those skills back to mountainboarding.
..Which makes the great point of board cross over skills and how we really can learn from other disciplines. EvilC makes the following points:
yeah, caleb is spot on there - I do most of my scrubbing on a heelside carve for that reason. Just do a toeside carve to put you on one side of the track, then lean into the heelside carve quite hard and as you carve, jump your board around against the direction of travel - the faster you are going, the less you should jump, but you can control speed pretty effectively this way.
Good to learn, but if you are finding a run too fast for you and you constantly have to speed check, consider letting some air out of your tyres. On some runs, I will actually do the run faster with less pressure in my tyres, simply because the faster you are going the harder it is to scrub speed, and it can become a full time job controlling the speed. With less air in your tyres, you can just bomb the run and know that you are going to max out on speed earlier, so you don't have to worry about scrubbing speed before it gets out of control.
Hard to explain, but I hope you get what I mean.
Which makes a whole lot of sense. Start at a level you are happy with and work your way up.
Belac elaborates on his earlier post with the following:
re the original thred, the other thing is to not ride the gnarliest runs till your ready, i tried some of the big mountain mtb single track out here and nearly killed myself. if you can't scrub at speed then your not in control, that means not only a danger to yourself, but to others. i notice theres been studies on breaking times in skating/longboarding/freeboarding, would be interested what the break time and distance is at differant speeds on a mountainboard. not trying to be preechy tho, like clive said, just let the tires down.
Sometimes, the best answer is also the easiest. Much credit to all the above posters for taking the time to explain things in easy steps for the rest of us, Cheers!
Sunday, 19 July 2009
2009 ATBA-UK National Series
What a plonker, I shouldn't be writing about the 2009 ATBA-UK National Series just after it had already started, but hey ho. Taken directly from http://www.atbauk.org/ is the following info.
Round 1: 17-19 July 2009 – South West Extreme (formerly SWMBC)
Round 2: 14-16 August 2009 – The Edge
Round 3: 4–6 September 2009 – Hales Superbole
However (and the reason for kick-starting this post) it absolutely pissed down Thursday night, and apparently the ATBA-UK tent blew away.
So......Round 1 will now be held on 10-11 October (the contingency weekend) and further details will be found on the ATBA-UK website as they are confirmed.
Membership forms and 2009 National Series Entry Form can be downloaded from the ATBA website if required.
Monday, 13 July 2009
HOT ACTION!
Just a heads-up to say that 'Hot Action', the brand new film from the One5Media crew is now available to download for the sum of $5US. The review to follow from myself in a few days but will probably conclude that:
a) they can ride much better than me
b) doesn't feature enough downhill footage for my liking
c) is 'worth it' depending on not whether the cost of a city-centre pint is affordable
Take a look here to buy, or click through to view the trailer.
Previous work by the one5media guys 'Shralpdown' can be viewed in full and in glorious HD here.
On a related note, I've got this theory that all mountain board movies can be reviewed by considering the following:
- % of film featuring park riding
- % of film featuring free riding
- choice of tunes - would I have the soundtrack on my generic mp3 player?
- 'fun' nes
- camera proficiency
- % of film featuring AJ Lawson*
* - Nothing against AJ, it's just that he crops up everywhere :)
a) they can ride much better than me
b) doesn't feature enough downhill footage for my liking
c) is 'worth it' depending on not whether the cost of a city-centre pint is affordable
Take a look here to buy, or click through to view the trailer.
Previous work by the one5media guys 'Shralpdown' can be viewed in full and in glorious HD here.
On a related note, I've got this theory that all mountain board movies can be reviewed by considering the following:
- % of film featuring park riding
- % of film featuring free riding
- choice of tunes - would I have the soundtrack on my generic mp3 player?
- 'fun' nes
- camera proficiency
- % of film featuring AJ Lawson*
* - Nothing against AJ, it's just that he crops up everywhere :)
Monday, 29 June 2009
RIP KMC :*(
Well, thats it, the end of an era, Kelstedge Mountain Board Centre is no more. We rode, we drank, we slept, we rode some more. While there is the temptation to be down about things, we've had some excellent times and met some amazing people.
So what does this mean for the typical middle-aged, midlands-based boarder?
1) Freeriding, and lots of it! We do it all through the winter months, there are woods and natural tracks waiting to be discovered. Plus, there are plenty of bikers doing exactly the same thing so use them for inspiration. Just take the usual precautions if riding alone.
2) Visit other centres! From the midlands the nearest ones are probably Court Farm (Hereford) and The Edge (South of Telford) and Hales Superbole (West of Nantwich). Plus Round 3 of the ATBA-UK National Series is being held at Hales Superbole on the 4th-6th September 2009.
3) Take up a similar sport, for example Snowboarding. Theres a rumour that Tamworth Snowdome is doing 3-hour evening sessions for £16!
So chin-up, make the best of a bad situation, get out there and ride! And if you do, email me and if I can, I'll join you!
So what does this mean for the typical middle-aged, midlands-based boarder?
1) Freeriding, and lots of it! We do it all through the winter months, there are woods and natural tracks waiting to be discovered. Plus, there are plenty of bikers doing exactly the same thing so use them for inspiration. Just take the usual precautions if riding alone.
2) Visit other centres! From the midlands the nearest ones are probably Court Farm (Hereford) and The Edge (South of Telford) and Hales Superbole (West of Nantwich). Plus Round 3 of the ATBA-UK National Series is being held at Hales Superbole on the 4th-6th September 2009.
3) Take up a similar sport, for example Snowboarding. Theres a rumour that Tamworth Snowdome is doing 3-hour evening sessions for £16!
So chin-up, make the best of a bad situation, get out there and ride! And if you do, email me and if I can, I'll join you!
Monday, 22 June 2009
KMC Closing? + James’ Birthday = Party!!! - This Weekend
For reasons that I won’t go into (because I’m not the right person to do so), there is a strong possibility that Kelstedge Mountain Board Centre will be closing down for good within a matter of weeks. This makes me a very sad panda.
A good attendance this coming weekend by anyone that can make it, may (though with absolutely no guarantees) allow the centre to stay open at least till the end of July.
What is certain right now is that there will be riding this Saturday, there will be evening drinks at the Old Poets Corner in Ashover, there will be camping Saturday night, and we will be riding Sunday (hangovers dependant).
It’s also local rider James’ birthday (21 again).
I’m only posting this now to give people as much notice as possible. Hopefully more details will be posted by someone soon.
Please don’t contact me directly for details, best off contacting KMC through the details on the website.
http://www.mountainboardingatkmc.co.uk/
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=53.171944&lon=-1.492909&z=18.3&r=0&src=msa - KMC
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=53.162791&lon=-1.480256&z=18.4&r=0&src=msa - Old Poets
Feel free to add your messages of support below.
Cheers!
A good attendance this coming weekend by anyone that can make it, may (though with absolutely no guarantees) allow the centre to stay open at least till the end of July.
What is certain right now is that there will be riding this Saturday, there will be evening drinks at the Old Poets Corner in Ashover, there will be camping Saturday night, and we will be riding Sunday (hangovers dependant).
It’s also local rider James’ birthday (21 again).
I’m only posting this now to give people as much notice as possible. Hopefully more details will be posted by someone soon.
Please don’t contact me directly for details, best off contacting KMC through the details on the website.
http://www.mountainboardingatkmc.co.uk/
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=53.171944&lon=-1.492909&z=18.3&r=0&src=msa - KMC
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=53.162791&lon=-1.480256&z=18.4&r=0&src=msa - Old Poets
Feel free to add your messages of support below.
Cheers!
Friday, 5 June 2009
New ATBA-UK Website
Just a heads up on the new ATBA-UK website
Linky
Home page to the 'All-Terrain-Boarding-Association', the not for profit, membership organisation set up to administer, represent and promote the sport of mountain boarding.
Website under construction so check in periodically.
Linky
Home page to the 'All-Terrain-Boarding-Association', the not for profit, membership organisation set up to administer, represent and promote the sport of mountain boarding.
Website under construction so check in periodically.
Monday, 1 June 2009
MBS Rockstar Pros
After my Rockstar hubs went a bit 50p shaped, decided to upgrade to the Rockstar Pros
Linky
Not a huge amount to say about them, except the ride feels a bit smoother due to less wheel wobble than before.
To give a indication of weight difference, the Pros weighed between 163-165 grams, whilst the Standards weighed 140-141 grams. Weight in both cases did not include spacers, bearings, or tyres, but did include nuts and bolts. This equates to a weight increase of around 94 grams for 4 tyres i.e. not very much really.
Converting the hubs over took around half an hour although most of this was taken hunting round for a correct size spanner and removing the old Rockstars, them being quite a tight fit onto the tyres. One method that worked really well was to pop the really sticky ones into the freezer for 15 minutes. This either causes the hubs to shrink slightly, or the tyre to become rigid enough to come straight off. Tip taken from mbs.com.
The benifits of the Pros are as follows as taken from ATBSports website:
The Extra strength allows them to be run on harder pressures for higher speed and faster accelleration on race tracks. The web design also adds extra side forces strength for kite flying. Available as just hubs or with bearings and also as a single hub for replacements and now in Black and Gold options as well as the chrome standards.
The outer rim edges are the same as a standard hub so they can be run at all normal pressures without breakages they do not need to be run max pressure.
These are also narrower than a standard rockstar making the tyre sit higher and run faster. All in all the top of the line hub that performs as well as it looks.
These are also narrower than a standard rockstar making the tyre sit higher and run faster. All in all the top of the line hub that performs as well as it looks.
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
MBS Bearings
MBS Kingpin Bearings [Left], MBS Wheel Bearings [Right]A post that reveals how infrequently I clean my board, and a weird manufacturing decision by MBS.
I recently decided to change my wheel bearings. A couple of them were showing signs of rust and I hadn't touched them for approximately 2 and a half years. They are relatively cheap to buy and having shopped around, found that they are cheaper to buy straight from a mountain board shop, ATBSports for example (£10, £0 p&p), than to buy from a dedicated bearing shop (£2.50 each +p&p, and remember 8 are required, two per wheel).
Generally, half of the bearings were in reasonable condition with no signs of rust and still suitably lubed, whilst the other half had seen better days but I'll keep hold of and maybe clean/lube if I get a spare day.
I popped in the new ones with the intention of using the old, but good ones to replace the less than great kingpin bearings. These up till now had been slowly deteriorating but if they ever failed, I reasoned that this would be much less of an issue than if a wheel bearing seized up on me.
It was this point that it became obvious that there was a problem - although similar, the wheel bearing are actually approximatley 2mm bigger than the kingpin bearings and will therefore not fit in the Matrix Top Hanger and with a larger diameter core so that the kingpin would wobble if fitted.
Kingpin bearings to fit the MBS Matrix Top Hanger can be bought (ATBSports for example, £10 for 4) but check the sizes just in case!
Point of this is, I don't know why MBS chose to use two similar but not interchangeable bearings, so if you are thinking of stripping down the MBS Matrix Top Hanger, make sure you have the correct bearings before you do!
Edit: Edited for accuracy
Sunday, 8 March 2009
Mountainboarding Wiki
Egg Shocks verses Trampa Dampas
MBS Egg Shocks (Left) and Trampa Dampas (Right)
MBS Egg Shocks
From the website:
The MBS Eggshocks are the small plastic/rubber dampers that fit inside the springs on the board to dampen vibrations such as speed wobble. They do wear over time and are worth replacing after about a year of use. Also heavier riders or riders wanting higher speeds would be worth upgrading to stiffer shocks.
Yellow Eggshocks - Medium - set of 4 - Intended to add stability.
For a stiffer ride than springs alone - Yellow for a GS feel. (GS??)
Orange Eggshocks - Hard - set of 4 - Intended to add stability.
For a super-stiff ride - Orange for downhill and Big Air.
Red Eggshocks - Hard - set of 4 - Intended to add stability.
For a super-stiff ride - RED for Speed and Big Air.
£10 per pack of 4 + p&p from ATBSports here!
Trampa Dampas
From the website:
The Trampa Dampa is a specifically designed elastomer which due to its special shape fits perfectly into the cap of most spring designed or Channel / Matrix truck.
The design incorporates 3 Balls which are stacked ontop of each other, sligtly larger in overall length and width than any other Egg shaped elastomer, the result gives a more progressive compression allowing confident high speed steering for the rider
Yellow 65shore Medium
Green >75 shore Hard
Blue 85 shore Super stiff
£10 each (pack of 4) + p&p from Trampa here!
Edit: Noticed that Red (80 shore) and White (90 shore) are now available
Definition of 'shore' here
Comparison
My original board came equip with yellow (medium) egg shocks. I was advised by Nathan of Team BAD (Bristol and District group) to upgrade to Trampa Dampas of which I bought a set of yellow (mediums). To prevent speed wobbles, I then changed to a set of green (hard) Trampa Dampas.
Trampa Dampas have the advantage of being longer than egg shocks that result in less cranking down of the springs required before damping starts when turning. This in turn puts less stress on the springs so I guess in theory the springs should last longer. I imagine (though cannot back it up) that given the length of the dampas, there is less chance of them popping out accidentally. I cannot understand why MBS made their egg shocks require so much cranking in order to become effective? In reality, it takes me less time to set up and get riding much quicker.
For me the green Trampa Dampas run great in all types of mountain board disciplines, except for freestyle and big air in which I am openly rubbish. I reckon its been a couple of years since original instillation and they still look absolutely fine, if a little grubby.
It should be noted that I weigh around 13-14 stone at present and lighter / heavier riders and riding style will have an effect on what damping system (if indeed used at all) is preferred.
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