i was wondering if anh of you has one and uses it?
it seems perfect for our flat asphalt roads in holland
nice training tool or not? The front truck system is not a real skate truck, but one with a coil inside, that sort of swivels to the outside, you can see it in the video.
Thanks for any feedback, i know the system is around for a while now
I had the old carver board with blow up tyres, the huge one taylor used long time ago. Downside was that you really need a hilll for it, and Holland is flat, like the surf here@!
wouter
[img_assist|nid=1065119|title=carver skateboard 2012 taylor knox c7 truck|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=640]
Although the carver trucks are super fun, i wouldn’t really consider it as a training tool. There is nothing in my opinion that comes close to actually surfing. You will be able to generate speed by pumping the truck and its a blast. Skateboarding does help me improve my turns though so sure maybe it’ll help surfing, but don’t set your expectations too high. the carver trucks are made by a really good guy and venice surfer, I would highly recommend one!
You will enjoy the hell out of that thing on some nice smooth tarmac, it's not exactly like surfing but it sure is close!
(I was doing the same kind of flat-ground pumping back when I was a kid, using chicago trucks adjusted so loose they were about to fall apart. The Carver front truck works lots better, lol)
Everybody talks about pumping on flat ground which, yes, you can do. but, it’s more of a side-side pump, not a up-down-side-side pump like in surfing… The main thing that I like about mine (I bought just the trucks and put them on an old deck I had) is for turns. It has helped my surfing. It took away the “land legs” that I would normally have had after being out of the water for a while… I love mine. It really helps to go into turns thinking about which turn you are mimicking in surfing. Think about weight distribution between your two feet and your body mechanics. I have a tendency to put too much weight on my front foot during backside bottom turns and not opening my shoulders up enough. The skateboard is really helping with that.
As far as skating goes as a surf training exercise, I personally do not believe it has so much to do with the board / trucks, it has to do with how you skate and where.
If you can take advantage of a skate park that has a bowl section, DO IT! Find a couple different lines to draw and pump and carve them out with style. It defiately helps keep your rythm.
That’s a 36 deck, redrilled to a 17" wheelbase (don’t have the heart to
hack off the nose, but it does give me to option to go long if desired)
C7 front with 18mm of riser
(needs plenty of riser with these big 'ol wheels)
C2 rear wedged to 15 degrees
Old 85mm Krypo Blues worn down to 78mm or so (lovely drift)
I tried it with a Bennet 6.0
on the rear, wedged to 15 degrees (wedged, NOT de-wedged!). That was
pretty funky. With the C7 up front, and the wedged
Bennet rear, it felt like a super loose 5’8" twinny fish. I usually ride
the C7 with a 15 degree wedged C2 rear, this feels more like a
6’2"Thruster, more drive out of the turns. Dropping the the wedging on
the rear to 8 and to 0 degrees felt like putting bigger fins in, more
drive/less looseness.
I have also ridden this setup between 16 - 21" wheelbases (I have a sliding setup on my front truck now). These are analogous to 6’0" - 7’2" thrusters.
To extend this analogy to breaking point, loosening the front truck
swing arm spring feels like you are increasing the rocker, tightening it
gives a flatter rocker feeling.
Another great thing about the C7 truck is, although they are carvy as hell, they get more stable as your speed increases. I guess it is due to it being mounted on a trailing arm, working in a similar way to a car’s steering rack. I’ve only taken it up to 22mph so far, but so far, so good (especially for such a loose short wheelbase rig).
I was skating the Carver "34 Green Room and swiched to the "31 Fort Knox awesome for skate park surfing as well as street carving, simply replaced the deck, same C7 system and risers.
I have a deck with Carvers, and it’s fun on the flats, somewhat dangerous on hills, though. The trucks will follow at their own rate when you initiate a turn on a hill and you can wind up as a projectile. I think the closest to surfing feel is what I get with a 34" deck and my set of Original trucks. They are incredibly loose and still stable, meant to be constantly carving, much like constant rail to rail turns on a great wave. Not good for flats, but can be “pumped”. Very nice mechanical design, work perfectly, and on a gradual slope, feel like surfing a stubbie. I wish I could surf my stubbie as well as I can ride the Originals on a paved wave.
I’ve never given one a fair test ride, but for me I’ve always felt iffy about how high off the ground they are. I like my skates to be low. Anyone else have thoughts about that aspect?
The Originals aren’t like that. When you carve a turn, the edge of the deck almost touches the ground. The trucks are as low as they can be, and since you don’t ride these in a straight line, they feel fantastic on deep carves, just like on your surfboard.
