Some thoughts on cornering

Admin on 07/04/2012

How many ways are there to go round a corner on a mountainboard? The answer is lots

But to start with let’s think of a corner as having nine points on it. Three of them are on the outside edge, one at start of the corner, one at the apex, and one at the end. Let’s call them A, B and C. And then we have the same along the inside edge of the corner. Let’s call them D, E, and F. Now, let’s add another three points that follow the middle of the corner and call them G, H and I, and draw all the connecting lines.

Those nine points can be joined up like this:

Cornering lines

Which gives us:

  • A, B, C
  • A, B, I
  • A, B, F
  • A, H, C
  • A, H, I
  • A, H, F
  • A, E, F
  • A, E, I
  • A, E, C
  • D, B, C
  • D, B, F
  • D, B, I
  • D, H, C
  • D, H, I
  • D, H, F
  • D, E, F
  • D, E, I
  • D, E, C
  • G, B, F
  • G, B, I
  • G, B, C
  • G, H, F
  • G, H, I
  • G, H, C
  • G, E, F
  • G, E, I
  • G, E, C

Those nine points give us 27 different ways to go round a corner.

So, what the point of all this? Surely we just ride into a corner, go round it, come out of it and carrying on riding, right? Is it really worth thinking about your line? What are the benefits?

There are two benefits to choosing your line round a corner; speed and control.

Taking a corner at the maximum speed is all about getting it as smooth as possible. In motor sports, the ‘racing line’ would be A, E, C as it’s the shortest line though the corner (rather than going round it), and on some corners that would work just fine. But on a boarderX track this might not be the case. As berms are built to hold the rider on the track following the central line of G, H, I might be the faster line. But, out freeriding on a loose surface might mean that taking the widest line of A, B, C might be fastest as we don’t slide.

Control is all about being able to put your board exactly where you want it, to be able to come out of a corner on the best line for the next feature or obstacle. Remember, line out is more important than line in, so if we want to exit the corner at point I we have nine lines to follow. If we knew we were going too fast to get round the corner we might go D, B, I and lose some speed by going out wide. Or maybe we came into the corner on the G, H, I line but a rider had fallen in front of us so we had to go G, B, I. And, of course, this is all based on the perfect corner, but in the real world the track might narrow at the exit of the corner so that F, I, and C are all in the same place. Then we really need to consider our line in to make the exit clean.

So, regardless of whether we have a berm to help us get round the corner or not, choosing the right line can be really useful for maintaining speed, loosing speed, avoiding obstacles (and other riders), or even just making it round the corner. As every corner is different, it’s up to you to decide what you think is the best line to take (and if you’re a boarderX racer, practice every line).

It’s lucky there are so many corners in the world.

Some thoughts on suspension trucks

Admin on 31/03/2012

There has been talk about suspension trucks for mountainboards for as long as I can remember, probably for as long as there have been mountainboard trucks. It’s not a huge mental leap from riding non-suspension mountainboard trucks, to seeing bikes, cars, etc. with suspension, to thinking maybe mountainboards should have suspension trucks.

Now, some people will say, ‘No need, your legs are your suspension.’ And in a way they’re right. The riders legs do a lot of the work suspension would do and they have a really fast organic computer controlling them. However, that doesn’t mean there might be benefits from also having some kind of suspension or dampening built into the trucks. It’s certainly worth considering, even if just to get our heads around the fundamental concepts involved in suspension trucks, think about the advantages and disadvantages, and decide whether it’s worth pursuing or not.

Firstly, a quick nod the closest thing to suspension trucks currently on the market; the noSno flexi axle.

Goofy’s noSno Flexi Axles

Now, we have to be clear that these haven’t ever been claimed by noSno to be suspension trucks, and although they do a lot for dampening rough terrain (and have other advantages too) the problem with noSno flexi axles is that they suffer from ‘bump-steer’. This is important because it’s one of the big challenges in designing mountainboard suspension trucks. Bump-steer occurs when one wheel hits a rock and gets pushed up. Since the wheels are connected by an axle which is mounted at an angle to effect steering, one wheel hitting a rock can cause the board to steer. Riding over lots of rocks causes lots of bump-steer and can make the board difficult to control at speed.

So, now we understand the need for suspension a bit more and have a reason to explore it, let’s get the basics right. First some quick definitions of the differences between ‘suspension’ and ‘dampening’. Flexi axles (noSno or otherwise) are designed to provide dampening. They reduce the effects of rough terrain on the board and the rider, but they are not suspension. To be a true suspension truck the wheels would have to actually be suspended in the same way bike and car wheels are. That means that when they are being ridden they are held in equilibrium between the spring effect pushing the board up (or the wheel down) and the weight of the rider pushing the board down. Now that we know the difference, we can throw the differences aside as the aim is still the same; to reduce bump-steer and give a smoother, more controllable ride.

The most important fundamental concept to get your head around when it comes to suspension and dampening trucks is that each wheel needs to be able to move vertically to effect suspension/dampening completely independently of the truck moving diagonally to effect steering. Time for a quick sketch…

Steering and Suspension Angles

It’s this keeping the suspension independent from the steering that is the biggest challenge in designing suspension and/or dampening trucks, partly because there isn’t much room to work with, and partly because of how complex suspension design actual is.

Here are a few examples of some of the designs people much smarter than me have come up with:

Beiran’s Flexi Axle Trucks
ODB’s suspension truck idea
Eric Brinner’s suspension trucks
Josh Tulberg’s Suspension Trucks
Brennig’s Suspension Trucks

All sorts of designs, idea, models and prototypes out there. Some have lots of promise, some are overly complex, and some just won’t work as they miss the point about steering moving on one plane while suspension moves on another plane. Let’s try to get down to the simplest reduction of what would be required to build a flexi axle that doesn’t suffer from bump steer. Another quick sketch and it might look something like this.

Twisted flexi axles

This seems to me to be the simplest version of a flexi-axle truck that can (hopefully) keep steering separate from dampening. The diagonal base bolts on to a noSno baseplate (or Nompa deck) while the horizontal axles can flex for each wheel individually. I can’t think of a simpler way of doing it so this seems to be the starting point to begin designing better dampening trucks. Maybe it’s time for the ideas people to step aside and the engineers to step in. Either way, there’s lots of work that can be done with suspension and dampening trucks, but is it worth it?

Josh did a survey on SurfingDirt Forum, and found that of the sixty responses, 24  were not interested, 31 were some what interested and 5 were very interested in the idea of ‘suspension trucks’, and 33 of those 60 were interested in specifically seeing suspension on mountainboard trucks. Since mountainboard suspension trucks would only ever really be for riding very rough terrain they will always be a high-end specialty feature, but then again, we used to say the same about brakes…

No more random video

Admin on 30/03/2012

To stop embedded youtube videos displaying loads of completely unrelated videos to a viewer after they have watched your video change the url from http://www.youtube.com/v/ai8oNbuMSdoto http://www.youtube.com/v/ai8oNbuMSdo?rel=0. Adding the rel=0 will stop the related videos displaying.

Some thoughts on brakeboards

Admin on 19/03/2012

With more and more mountainboarders getting into downhilling and riding with brakes, I thought I’d a have a think about a few different ways of setting up brakeboards, the terrain they’re might be suited to, and some advantages and disadvantages I can see. Firstly, types of brakes.

Types of brakes

The four types of brakes are hydraulic discs, hydraulic pads, cable pads, and cable discs. All have their advantages and disadvantages. Cable pads are the cheapest and simplest but don’t tend to work very well (but can be beefed up a bit). Hydraulic pads like the ABS and Trampa brakes are lightweight and not too expensive but can lack stopping power. Cable disc pads are a bit rare but work really well. And then there’s the noSno disc brakes, which are the most expensive but definitely the most effective.

There are also different ways to set-up brakeboards. I call them heavy, light, and mixed.

Heavy

Heavy set-ups will have nine, ten, or twelve inch wheels all round, generally have a longer deck for stability at speed, and are better suited to long open firetracks and mountain descents. This set-up can have pad or disc brakes as they are mostly used for slowing down rather than stopping.

Light

Light set-ups will have eight inch wheels and most usually pad brakes. They are the most general brake boards and can be ridden by all kinds of riders, not just downhillers, but anyone who wants a bit more confidence on a board or doesn’t want to learn other speed control techniques. More riders using this kind of set up is important for getting over the idea that brakes are only for really gnarly terrain.

Mixed

Mixed set-ups have bigger wheels on the front and smaller on the back, such as nines and eights or ten and nines. This set-up is great for tight singletrack riding. Brakes on the front with heavy tyres for traction, and smaller wheels on the back to make it lighter and more agile.

Front or back

Should brakes be on the front or back trucks? Traditional wisdom says brakes should be on the front as that’s where you’re body goes as you brake which should give you more traction and better braking power. Front brakes work well for Mixed set-ups, but Light and even Heavy set-ups could have the brakes on the front or the back. I’ve found that riding a Light set-up with brakes on the back works well as in my head I can separate direction from control. That means that everything I do with the front of the board is about where I’m going and everything I do with the back is about controlling my speed, scrubbing and braking.

So, that’s some of my thoughts on brake boards and different ways of setting them up. I don’t think there is one right way to do it. It’s dependent on the rider, the board, the brakes and the terrain, but it’s important to experiment and find the right way for you rather than going with the ‘usual’ way of doing it.

Hyper brakes are go!

Admin on 16/03/2012

Took my new hyper brake board out for a spin to get a quick impression of the brakes.

Hyper board at night

First thoughts are that they are excellent. Fantastic stopping power on eights on tarmac and although much heavier than hydraulic pad set-ups they make up for it in knowing you will most definitely stop.

I wasn’t sure cable discs brakes were a good idea as they can be notoriously difficult to balance, but these were perfect, stopping in a straight line without any pull.

I don’t know if they’ll be as robust as hydraulic disc brakes and with six inch discs you wouldn’t want them on anything too rough, but they are definitely worth having.

Facebook Face Finder

Admin on 10/03/2012

Bump into an old friend, get chatting but have to rush off. Facebook me, they say. Wait, you say, I’ll take a photo of you with my smart phone and then click the ‘Find’ button on this new Facefind app I just downloaded. Facefind would use facial recognition software to match the photo you just took to photos on Facebook and suggest the person as a friend. You can then click the ‘Ask to be friends’ button.

Remolition roadtripping for fun, fuel and funds

Admin on 07/03/2012

This spring, in case you haven’t heard, Remolition are going on a roadtrip from Land’s End to John O’ Groats, and riding as many places as possible in between. Why? Just because no one has done it yet with mountainboards. It should be loads of fun, and we’ll get to ride loads of places we’ve never ridden before. And hopefully, we’ll be able to raise some money.

The Air Ambulance is charity that every mountainboarder should support, because one day you might need them. And they need all the fund-raising they can get, especially as the rising fuel prices affect them so much (there’s a petition against charging Air Ambulance VAT on fuel which you should sign). You should also donate to the Air Ambulance on the Remolition 838 Miles Just Giving page. Any amount will help, so go, it’s good karma.

IMDB app

Admin on 28/02/2012

Idea: Facial recognition app on your smart phone that scans actors faces and finds their page on IMDB, lists their films, etc.

Nompa’s are taking over the world

Admin on 26/02/2012

Although my Nompa experiments have grinded to halt recently, Brennig has been busy building a 35 degree version. Looks like he’s done a good job of shaping the deck and fitting the trucks, but I reckon he can get a lot more creative with the deck shaping (maybe dinosaur shapes). He has fitted noSno soft bindings, which is what I’m using at the moment. They seem to be a happy medium between the weight of ratchet bindings and control of snowboard bindings.

Now he just needs to get out there, test ride it and report back.

Brennig's Nompa

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