Otherwise, these will come off the axle and throw you off the board. Experienced longboarders bend over as they ride on the board. This is done in order to decrease the surface area in which the wind passes through. Doing the tuck will allow you to cut through the air efficiently. But how do you bend over without losing your balance? Put your entire front foot on the deck, near the front truck. Your rear foot must be standing while tiptoeing at the same time.
Your hands must be behind your back as you keep your knees bent. Your chest must be as close to your knees as much as possible. See to it that there should be no air pockets open. This technique can help you to speed up for up to 50 mph.
Is there another way to ride aerodynamically? Beginners who find it hard to tuck while going downhill may choose to just bend their hips, as if they crouch down. This posture will also make you go faster because you will be lowering your center of gravity. Furthermore, crouching down will help you gain stability as you aim for faster speed. When you keep twitching from side to side, your board will not be able to run in a straight direction. This increases your travel distance while also slowing you down.
So, as much as possible maintain a straight direction when riding your longboard at faster speed. Pushing for several times will help you speed up. Do this many times before coasting. Then, tilt the deck using your front foot. Is it okay to push with my front foot? Note that pushing must be done by your back foot.
Your front foot toes must be pointing towards the direction where you will be traveling. Speed wobbles will prove to be a huge impediment to going faster. But is it possible to tame speed wobbles? Yes, it is. One way to tame speed wobbles is to tighten your trucks. You may also reduce the truck angles in order to postpone wobbles. If they are too tight, the speed of the longboard will be much slower. Be cautious because if they're too loose, they will bounce off the Longboard during the run.
This would cause you to stop suddenly, or even worse, trigger an accident if you're sliding at high speed. Bearings are one of the most important parts of a longboard. Thus, if this part is too old, they need to be under warranty, then you need to do it right away to get faster on the longboard. Check the bearings for creaking, slow rotation, or rusting.
You can clean them up and lubricate them if necessary to ensure a smooth ride. Some bearings allow you to remove them from the wheel for cleaning. You can also take off the rubber shield on the inside of the bearings with a screwdriver. The shields are crucial in preventing dirt and grime from getting into the bearings, so make sure you will not damage them.
Next, dip the bearings in mineral water or kerosene in a bowl. Shake it for a few minutes, ensuring that no dirt, rust, or grease remains inside the bearings. And finally, dry them before reinstalling them back to the board.
If you still can not get the desired speed after cleaning, upgrade the bearings to speed up. Otherwise, tight wheels might slow you down. If your wheels are too loose, they will wobble, causing you to lose your balance and putting a strain on the axles, which can permanently damage them. Adjust them appropriately, or, preferably, purchase a set of bearing spacers to place between your bearings and wheels.
They allow you to decrease how much turning the back truck does by using a lower angle baseplate …. And by reducing the amount of turning the back truck does you increase the stability of the board and decrease the chances of getting speed wobbles. But that said, some riders do prefer symmetrical trucks for going fast too. And you might also see some riders using split angles at slower speeds because they enjoy the security of the added stability. Bushings for split angles are different.
Because the angle of the back truck is lower, you have more leverage over your bushings. It felt stable and solid at those speeds. Air braking and sliding is probably the safest bet to shave off speed. At that point, you should be able to comfortably slide without the worry of wobbles, or you can then foot brake.
Some riders, like those in the video below, just opt to slide instead. If you have enough control as a rider, it is a viable option too. Finally getting to the most exciting part of this article. A lot of what a rider chooses to use boils down to personal preference and experience.
And there is sometimes such diversity between what different riders ride that it can feel confusing to understand sometimes hehe.
Their setups do follow a rule of thumb, but every single thing has been customized and tweaked to fit their preferences, quirks, body types, shoes, how tight they want the board to feel, etc.
I could go on! You could tell a lot about a person by how they set up their board …. And whilst all the setups below have been immaculately set up and thoroughly tested at many speeds, it was the riders doing most of the work. Going this fast and joining the 3 digit club is no joke.
It requires a decent amount of skill and most riders will likely never go this fast. Most skaters who hit this speed are likely very experienced with years of skating under their belt. To go this fast, they likely have big DH wheels like Kegels, Magnums, Cueis, or Seismic Alphas to help them reach these sorts of speeds. Speeds like this are easily hit on the IDF race circuit. Races like Kozakov, Newtons, Killington, Peyragudes, etc.
That said, some riders choose to skate open roads this quick. The riders who do choose to skate open roads like this do take several safety precautions so they can skate fast safely.
The riders use walkie talkies to ensure that the hill is clear of vehicles and is safe to skate. A post shared by Kalil Hammouri kalil.
Buut, Troy Yardwaste explains what it feels like to go over kph in this post radical documentary here , about 2. Riders typically have precision trucks along with the basic downhill skateboard gear that I mentioned above.
What makes precision trucks special is how they are manufactured. Unlike the other truck options that are cast into molds or are forged, precision trucks are cut out of a block of aluminum with a CNC machine. This ensures micro-meter precision and that there will be no play and slop between the different truck components. Ensuring for a precise feeling ride, that is stable at really fast speeds. Of course, you will also find precision trucks used throughout all levels of downhill skating. That said, they are a bit overkill for the slower submph speeds.
In the clip below, Emily and a bunch of other riders go about 65mph at the Killington Downhill race back in This is roughly what Emily was using to skate then:. You can check out her setup video here. Aside from the deck, Emily now rides completely different trucks. Pearse is a rider out of Ireland that is making waves in the DH scene.
Here is what he rides:. Still, enjoy this video of him skating his local hill. Golden hour pole dancing with Pearse. Think I'm gonna make this a thing. Zane is an upcoming rider from Australia. One of those riders you can sort of tell is gonna make a big impact in the race scene over the next few years — Australia seems to be the cooking pot for a ton of great riders.
A freeride event where riders can expect to hit speeds upwards of kph into tight hairpins. The setup described below is Zane riders at the moment — the setup he uses in the clip below is a bit different the clip below was filmed last summer. Despite being 6ft 2inches tall, Zane loves the tiny Small Blind.
He says he loves how much grip and stopping power he can get from it … Finally, he comments that he raced the Cuei 75aa Killers for all the IDF races he attended, but that he was switching over to the Venom Magnums cause they felt better for him, being the bigger rider that he is. A post shared by Nick Greentree nick. Straight out of Brazil, Melissa is one of the best female Downhill skateboarders in the world. But in contrast to that, a lot of skaters do love them especially when they use them in Aera or Paris trucks.
And it kinda of makes sense. The guy who designed Aera trucks, also designed Hardcore bushings. It simply makes sense that they make for a good combo.
Anyway, check out Mel going really quick in the clip below. Nothing fancy. The first and most important step in learning how to control your speed is knowing and mastering how to stop your board, especially in high speed situations. There are several ways on how you can stop your longboard. One technique that downhill longboarders often do to control their speed when going downhill is called air braking.
It is basically a reverse downhill tuck but this one relies heavily on increasing wind resistance instead of decreasing it. Slowly raise your chest and upper body and spread out your arms. This move would give the wind more surface area which would then increase the resistance of the wind causing your board to slow down and eventually stop.
Foot braking is one of the most fundamental stopping techniques in longboarding and the easiest to learn as well. To do this, you must first balance yourself on your leading foot. Try to lower your body down to a slight squat and slowly lower your back foot until it touches the ground. Drag your back foot across the ground until your board starts to slow down and eventually stop.
About Contact Privacy Policy. Longboards can go as fast as 65 miles per hour, but your personal speed highly depends on your riding abilities. If you are a beginner and slowly trying to learn how to control your board, try to go as slowly as possible. Table of Contents. How Fast Do Longboards Go?
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