I am just starting to learn and wanted to snowkite with my snowboard this winter. While practicing flying my hydra 3.5 at Floyd Bennet field in Brooklyn. Looking at the large expense of pavements. It gave me the idea of practicing on a Freebord.



I has any one tried doing this before? I am learning both which makes the curve a bit steep but it seems like a good idea but I was wondering why no one else do this. Am I missing something?

i did it with a skateboard, check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Djti6C3KWE

Sweet video man! I like the modded kite too!

The only advantage I see on the freeboard is that you can possibly scrub off power by side sliding downwind a bit ? Trying to combine 2 things you are learning at once is a huge challenge. If you already freeboard then YES ! If you are more at home on a skateboard, stick to one.

I would highly recommend a helmet on pavement !

freebord more for downhill, kite power would destroy the wheels

the edge would be lost on center balance, too much drift ...so you constantly have to feed heel pressure. hence the wheel wear.

down hill just like snowboarding absolutely, but for a kite you need grip.

I don't know how to skate board but I have been snowboarding for about 10 years so the freebord actually felt relatively close a snowboard. Felt much more stable on it then a skateboard and being able to side slide down wind when the gust hits definitely helps a bit. Had a decent session today but I haven't yet figure out how to link my turns yet. Will try to get a video when I manage to convince my friends to come along.

I think I am also getting a little bit bored of the training kite (I can only do so many figure 8s and loops) and are looking for something a bit more challenging. Just surprised that no one else had try to link freebord and kiting together since the combo seems to make quite a bit of sense.

I started in a similar way but using rollerblades and a trainer. Phreerider is probably correct about the wheel wear . It was a big issue with the rolleblades.

For turns , take the kite to zenith and ride upwind to slow down and be properly set up for transition.

I can see what you meant Phreerider, edging on them would probably be an issue with a larger kite and more power. But for now on the 3.5 they feel decent, if a bit under powered in the 10 mph wind I have been getting.

Not terribly concern about the wheels, at around 20 bucks I can go through a few sets here and there and not worry too much about it.

I also tried using my roller blade, but they didn't really have the sense of flow I was looking for..

The reason that most people don't use skateboard type boards is because of the fact that you cant ride on bumpy and uneven surfaces with them , its different when youre being pulled by a kite versus just skateboarding the last thing u want is a bump or stone or sumthin of the like to throw u off the board . Most people would prefer to ride on grass or at the beach on hard packed sand anywas as its alot safer and you can really push the kite and have more fun , on concrete u really have to watch your speed and keep the kite under control or risk falling which wont be nice.Tthe mountainboard is perfect for all terrains including concrete as u ride over most bumps eaisly and the board is bigger which helps with stability also .

your right gemini, in my case though i live on a half mile strech of road. When the wind is SE or NW i am able to ride up and down allday. Ive clocked over 10 miles in about 15 minutes before, and close to 25mph. (helmet of course)

In the case of rocks and such, I bought Huge 78mm longboard wheels for my skateboard. it would take a monster patch of rocks to throw me off.

Im going to make a new video soon, i dont think too many people have perfected kite skateboarding like i have. I skateboarded for 8 years as well .

I dont meen to toot my own horn but BeeP BeeP!

I love kite skateboarding

i think that long board you have is fine but bigger wheels is a must!

If you want to do a lot of asphalt, it seems like you would be better served by:

MBS 8" Road Tires


Or GI Wheelz (followup to the GI Bazookas... fit on GI CrossAir hubs only... not cheap).


Or Cheng Shin Slicks
<* attached image *>

ATB,
Sam

I wouldn't mind giving regular mountain board, especially the new flexboardz a try at some point. But the freebord seem to be the board the simulate the feel of snowboard the closest, since that's what I like to get into I thought it would be a good training (and fun) tool.



Plus I guess its a fun coincident of the availability of a huge pave area plus a guy who's skitching cars in the middle of new york city traffic for years. Falling on pavement at speed is relatively safe when you don't have to worry about getting out of ways of on coming traffic!

Will practice some more and try to get a video up.

A bunch of us were just down at Floyd Bennet a couple weeks ago for the Cheezeball buggy rally. The aggregate in the pavement just eats anything that touches it, including your shoes. We all went through a set of tires. If you use the freeboard in light wind like you've been doing you should be alright but go out on a high wind day and FBF will eat those tires in a second, especially those caster wheels in the center. Looks very cool though. Give it a try and let us know how it goes. Generally speaking though, if your well powered with a kite you'll be trying to keep yourself from constantly drifting against the power of the kite. A board that makes drifting easier is actually counter productive and will just send you off downwind into a kite eating tree. Give it a shot though.........if it doesn't work you can always use the board for downhill fun:wee:

update on my attempts...
I am finally getting a little bit more comfortable on the freebord and had a pretty good session this past weekend since we had perfect wind condition.
Still not quite ready for prime time youtube video yet since I realized that in all the years I have snowboarded, I never learned how to ride switch comfortably. So I can go one way just fine "weeeee!" and coming back I am all over the place.. Are all of you landborder naturally ambidextrous or is there some secret that I have yet to decipher?
I also need to find a way to hook in to my training kite, I can get a harness (was thinking of session 2) but how do I add a loop to my training kite? And is there way I can simulate depowering on my Hydra 3.5??

Practice ... only way to overcome handedness in riding

I've got a long board skateboard from Costco that eventually I'll noodle around on with the Kitewing, just for something different :D