Power Kite Forum

My new longboard!

stetson05 - 22-7-2012 at 09:12 PM

I have been working on different ideas for those low wind days. I finally finished converting my Flexboardz for street duty. Wasn't too bad actually. Just needed to find the right bearings and bolt combo. Rolls great on pavement or black top and rolls without stopping on a gentle slope. Now I just need one of those big Kahuna sticks!


my new longboard

Kamikuza - 22-7-2012 at 10:02 PM

Nice idea! I asked the guy about putting different wheels on... such as the balloon wheels so soft sand.

... bet the wheels wont last long :o

AD72 - 22-7-2012 at 10:22 PM

Call Dakitez about the Kahuna stick. Try that out with your 1.4m as well.

Houston AirHead - 23-7-2012 at 08:11 AM

it looks ready to transform and save our planet

indigo_wolf - 23-7-2012 at 08:42 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by stetson05
I have been working on different ideas for those low wind days. I finally finished converting my Flexboardz for street duty. Wasn't too bad actually. Just needed to find the right bearings and bolt combo. Rolls great on pavement or black top and rolls without stopping on a gentle slope. Now I just need one of those big Kahuna sticks!


my new longboard


Kinda curious.... is there a reason why you went with hard urethane rather that something like MBS Roadies?



Did you have to step down the axle stud diameter?

ATB,
Sam

BeamerBob - 23-7-2012 at 10:05 AM

Those tires would wear MUCH better. Good on you Stetson for changing things up. Custom is cool.

stetson05 - 23-7-2012 at 10:19 AM

@ Kamikuza
The scooter wheels seem to be lasting my kids pretty well except they weigh a quarter of what I weigh. They seem to be similar to rollerblade wheels so I would guess they will last about as long. My worry is holding up to the weight but I don't plan on going off any ramps with them soon.

Quote:
Originally posted by indigo_wolf

Kinda curious.... is there a reason why you went with hard urethane rather that something like MBS Roadies?



Did you have to step down the axle stud diameter?

ATB,
Sam


There are a couple of reasons that I didn't use a pneumatic tire.

The first being that when I asked someone who had tried them their opinion was, they were never going to roll as good as a polyurethane wheel or compare to a true longboard.

A second reason is price, though when you add in the hardware it was a little more expensive. I spent about $28

The third was to try something different.

For the axle I used the same diameter bolt as required for the Mendi tires. It was easy to find one in stainless at the hardware store. I eventually need to find one with more thread but I will do that later. The difficulty was really in the bearings. The Flexboardz is set up with english measurment bearings and the scooters, skateboards, and longboards seem to be all metric. I had to use some coercion to get the bearings to fit.

Houston AirHead - 23-7-2012 at 10:31 AM

i used to have those roadies, i wore them out in 2 days kiting on cement lolol:lol::lol:

stetson05 - 23-7-2012 at 10:46 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Houston AirHead
i used to have those roadies, i wore them out in 2 days kiting on cement lolol:lol::lol:


Was that a couple of years ago? Seems familiar like you posted that before. Like circa your skateboard one handed kiting days.

Houston AirHead - 23-7-2012 at 01:10 PM

haha yeah, don't get me wrong they were great tires and rubber isn't indestructible, roadies are good for bombing hills i think.

you know ebay has oversized urethane wheels for racing rollerblades that would work great, might wanna check it out

WELDNGOD - 23-7-2012 at 01:37 PM

What is the turning radius of that board?

ikemiester - 23-7-2012 at 03:55 PM

What about the wheels on this setup made by mbs. They used to have them on their website
Atom Longbouard

g-force junkie - 23-7-2012 at 04:04 PM

Who is submelon8? I thought it was Houston Airhead but now I think it is stetson05, love those vids on utube, wish I could get the local skateboarders to check out the potential that can be tapped into.

WELDNGOD - 23-7-2012 at 04:24 PM

Be careful,that is a VERY small contact patch for bombing a hill. You have minimal lateral traction with those wheels. It might slide out from under ya! But only if that board can carve like a longboard.

Kamikuza - 23-7-2012 at 04:50 PM

You'll be going faster and putting more load on them too though - I SHRED street hockey wheels... way faster than my little Asian buddies do :o

Ground clearance still ok?

Bladerunner - 23-7-2012 at 05:29 PM

Those wheels will probably work well for cruising with the " Big Stick " ! ( really enjoy mine )
Not very grippy though ?
Is there a reason you didn't use skate wheels like a regular longboard?

stetson05 - 23-7-2012 at 08:44 PM

Let me try and answer these questions if I can.

Quote:
Originally posted by WELDNGOD
What is the turning radius of that board?


This setup isn't optimised yet for tight turns. It needs larger diameter wheels. The taller the tires the tighter the turn radius based on ground clearance. I measured it today at 13 feet. I started to grind a little so the limitation isn't in the suspension but in the height of the wheels. The stiffness in the steering makes a difference too but with normal tires the radius is about 12. I have the harder shocks in place.

What is the turn radius of your longboard for comparison?

I plan on completely padding up and don't plan on bombing hills for a long time. That is a skill set I haven't honed yet.

Quote:
Originally posted by ikemiester
What about the wheels on this setup made by mbs. They used to have them on their website


I am just starting and used the wheels that were available around the house. I want bigger wheels but I will have to order them. I am looking for a wider one too like used with electric scooters. The bigger the wheel the more they cost and I don't have a big R&D buget yet.

Quote:
Originally posted by g-force junkieWho is submelon8? I thought it was Houston Airhead but now I think it is stetson05, love those vids on utube


I think submelon8 is HoustonAirhead. It isn't me but I have tried the technique of flying on super short lines and it works really well in the right winds.

Quote:
Originally posted by Kamikuza
Ground clearance still ok?


Ground clearance isn't quite there yet. Much better than with the 78mm wheels I started with though. There are several different ways to a get more clearance. The better the clearance though the tighter the turns.

Quote:
Originally posted by Bladerunner
Those wheels will probably work well for cruising with the " Big Stick " ! ( really enjoy mine )
Not very grippy though ?
Is there a reason you didn't use skate wheels like a regular longboard?


Skatewheels work great for what they do but the Flexboardz require a wheel with a curved surface. As the board flexes the portion on the wheel that touches the ground changes.

This made for a super long post.

ESP?

crazyherb - 23-7-2012 at 10:52 PM

Do I think I know where you're going with this??

https://vimeo.com/45546310

Am I close??

:thumbup:

PHREERIDER - 24-7-2012 at 08:08 AM

nice G, super hard, easy roll on pavement, should be fast on downhill.

i have not had any trouble with swap outs, 12MM seems to be across the spectrum skate trucks are smaller on some but not all.

pneumatics would have to be ROCK hard for pavement for ease use of and of the will burn like the rest as HOUSTONairhead mentioned. submelon8 i think is Houston, right?.

with a kite the urethane might last couple hours on pavement, definitely would not take long

i have a set of GI bazookas on AK 103 might need to jump them over , cool hybrid set up stetson