Bindings

 

As you can see I have some snowboard bindings, yay! Picked these up off eBay for £7, from the eBay picture they looked like a load of bollocks (not the dog’s pair) , but I was pleasently surprised when they arrived in a real box, and was made from real plastic and foam. The straps were terrible but as you can see I swapped them with the pair of the nosno softs. Haven’t tried them out yet but they seem to be the right size, the highback doesn’t look too high and it’s pretty tough, perfecto mundo. I always wanted to go for an orange theme so I might eventually make an under board vinyl to draw that in, just needs some orange wheels..

I’ve also fixed one of the wheels from über toe in, it still has some camber but that shouldn’t cause too many problems, after all it increases turning. A few more things to do before it is ridable, got the inserts to insert in the trucks, need to fix the rest of the wheels, attach the brake in better, sort out the wheel bolts (they’re too long) and swap the bushings for harder ones.

Everything is coming together well, a few minor adjustments over the next few days and it should be ready for the downhill comp. Let’s hope it rides half as well as it looks!

It’s here !!!! A nompa with compa nompas, this is where the party is at!

Well there you have it, too excited to say anything yet but it’s all in the pictures. Hopefully it will say what it haves to say at Whinlatter.

 

Disaster …

Everything is turning a bit bollocks with a just over week to go till Whinlatter. Firstly the only place in the world I could find medium bushings was eBay but they might not arrive on time. Secondly I bided on crappy bindings on eBay which I didn’t want but won. Thirdly the guy who cut my deck is away so he can’t do the trucks. Then I was going to do it but I can’t find any blades to fit my jigsaw. So I have no bushings, no trucks and no brakes for next week. I’m now stuck not being able to ride, or make the trucks and testing the board at Whinlatter is doubtful. I need a miracle …,

Suspension idea

Had an idea for a suspension truck finally!! And luckily it’s simple enough for me to make it out of the remaining trampa material when i cut the trucks out of my deck. A few changes need to be done, will eventually change the spring for a shock absorber but it looks like it should work.

Logic

Update

Just a quicky. I managed to grab some cheap Burton bindings off eBay for £35, not bad. A few more ideas for future projects which im looking forward to doing. Now that’s its summertime I have daylight when I get back from college so I’m hoping to have weekly rides on Wednesdays. NEED to get some harder bushings, just can’t be bothered to spend £35 on some. A family friend has started working at a motor bike workshop so it I hope it will develop to be a potential place for me to make my trucks. Finally Whinlatter is getting closer, so I need to get a move on to get these trucks done and some riding in beforehand.

More P-types

 Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, blame history coursework, it should be banned. Since last time I’ve brought some plywood, made a few prototypes and went to see Wales win the Grand Slam, oh yeah! First order of business is the prototypes. If you didn’t know (you should) the trucks to the left are the Downhill MDF XXE pro 3000 OAGHSTahs triple-prosome T-R-U-X. Twas basically a downhill concept, with super wide axles and super long wheelbase it should be more stable than Syria. As you can see they’re beasts, but I doubt I’d be able to fashion these from my Trampa deck, but none the less they seemed to work, a less extreme version might be good.

I eventually got some plywood and made more normal trucks, loosly following the nosno composite design. A few changes were made though, firstly the axle was put off center allowing you to customize ride height and wheelbase by flipping them around. I then had a go fitting the ABS on, which worked really well luckily. Another consideration is axle length, longer being more stable and shorter being more agile, at the moment I’m planning on having long at the front and short at the back. This will give me more stability at higher speeds as I’ll lean forward, and with also probably make my brakes more effective by increasing front weight, traction and so on. A shorter and light back should make scrubby fun things easier to do, Roger (Leapb4ulook) has taken to this idea so much he’s looking at 3-wheelers, typical. With flexi axles longer axles would increase shock absorption and so on too. I have a lot more interesting stuff about flexi axles that have come up along the way but i wont bore you with it (yet).

I’m getting closer to reaching a final design, but the Trampa deck has enough room to make 2 pairs of trucks. I’m playing safe with one by sticking to the tried and tested nosno composite design, but for the other I might just go a little crazy. I’ve got a lot more to talk about but I’m a bit busy at the moment. I’m looking forward to getting these made and testing them at the ATBAUK Downhill Comp in Whinlatter.

 

Prototype 1

Quickly made my first prototype truck today. I was testing the jigsaw more than the truck really and rushed it a bit too as it was getting dark. The truck is about 30 cm x 12 cm, could do with being wider, about 33 cm. It’s made out of MDF so it’s not great for testing flex, but as I said it’s more of a jigsaw/shape test. When I have some more time I will try the ABS brake on it too. It’s a very basic shape, a bit like the original nosno composites, but I need to find a better material to test flex, maybe plyboard as it obviously has ply like the Trampa. I think the best solution is to have the flex at the tips and try and keep the center rigid so the shape is very important.

Not the best really, but it I had to start somewhere. I braved standing on the board for a few seconds and it didn’t snap surprisingly. As I said the next thing I’ll do is attach the ABS, then sort out some problems with the jigsaw, then find a better material, then get on with some more prototypes then make these things. I aim to do all this before the magical date of April the 14th, if you don’t know what this is, you should!

Preparation

 

My veteran Trampa is approaching the day of reckoning 😥 I think it was in the previous owners hands for 5-7 years before me, so it’s had it’s share of riding. I began removing it’s pride, first the bindings, then the trucks and finally it’s grip tape. It’s now laid bare on the cold floor, waiting to meet mr jigsaw. Starting to think of some templates for the compa-nompas, I’m also hoping to have some left over bits to make Roger’s truck idea, can’t find a picture, and I’m not sure if he remembers doing it, just ask him if you’re interested (even though you have no idea what I mean). I’m going to make some plywood (or something) prototypes first to see how the shape effects flex and strength, but I need the tools to do that first.

Yet again things are coming along nicely, but slowly. Other news, I think Jasper will be following in my footsteps provided I give him a bit more evidence of it working, I think. The more people on board (get it?) the better, I’d love some ideas off other people.

Tire towers

Don’t ask me why the picture is side ways but you get the picture (ha). I have come to realize that my board to tire ratio is a bit off 20:1, but you can never have too much. On the nompa front, I took it to the road, and it didn’t end too well as some of you know. That aside I’ve gotten a pair of T3 tires from a fellow Surfingdirt member. When riding mountain slopes they will go on the front two wheels to provide extra grip whilst the back two are fitted with T1’s so they can slide a little. When downhilling they’ll be placed on the back to do the opposite, I usually ride with 9″ strykers on the front and T1’s on the back but they seem to slide out on tight corners so I’m hoping that the T3’s will prevent this.

The next step will be to press on with the compa-nompas (Trampa axles), I’m going to make some prototypes out of wood first to see how the shape effects flex and strength and to get the template perfect before brutally murdering the other deck. I aslo need to decide on a template for the centre of the deck for slimming down, and I need to get hold of some sobrothane. Money is running low at the moment so the snowboard bindings have been put on stand by.

Despite my accident things are going well and I hope to be riding again by next week, sticking to grassy slopes in till the brakes are sorted. If you ever need tires, you know who to ask 😀