Speedboarding. Downhill skateboarding. Downhill. Bombing
hills. DH. Whatever you want to call it, it is going fast on a skateboard. Next
to freeriding, it’s probably the fastest-growing skateboarding discipline. In
this article we’ll go over what you need to know in order to get into
speedboarding.
Part I: Rules
The rules of
speedboarding can be summed up in one sentence, “Don’t be a kook.”
Unfortunately, that’s not very specific, so here’s a little more to go on.
1) Respect the rules of the road and the people
that live there. Stay in your lane. Don’t skate when there’s a lot of traffic.
If residents ask you to leave, then leave. Smile and wave at everyone. Pick up
any trash that’s yours and maybe some that’s not. Don’t park on people’s lawns.
Don’t blow through stop signs and traffic lights.
2) Skate within your limits. Push what you are
comfortable doing (that’s how you get better), but don’t be stupid. Take it
easy the first time you hit the hill as there might be things you didn’t know
about (camber changes, pavement changes, dogs that run out and chase you,
etc.). Don’t go balls-to-the-wall on a 50mph hill when you’ve never topped
40mph before.
3) Know how to control your speed. Be able to at
least make an emergency stop from whatever speed you’re going. You don’t need
to be able to throw stand up toeside checks at 40mph, but practice those
glove-down slides so you can stop if you have to. You never know what you’ll
encounter on the road. Being able to footbrake at speed is great too. It
doesn’t slow you down as quickly, but it’s very helpful in tight spots.
4) Know what other riders are doing around you and
make sure they know what you are doing. Riding with others is way more fun, but
when in tight packs, one mistake can take down multiple people. Don’t make
sketchy passes and make sure to signal (clapping with slide gloves is common)
your passes. Airbrake a little if you’re gaining on someone and don’t want to
pass yet. Make sure other people know when you are going to slide so they don’t
come crashing into you.
5) Wear your safety gear. Falling when
skiing/snowboarding at 40mph can hurt. Falling off a jet ski and bouncing on
the water at 40mph can hurt. Falling off a skateboard and slapping the pavement
at 40mph hurts worse. Roadrash hurts. A helmet is essential and slide gloves
pretty much are (they’re cheap and easy to make; google it). Kneepads are nice
too and elbow pads certainly help. I like sunglasses too because I have a
tendency to get hit in the face with bugs and small rocks (being able to see is
important). I also have dedicated skate pants. I don’t like ruining pants all
the time and my butt hits the ground when doing coleman slides occasionally.
The butt is duct-taped for extra padding and so it’s much harder to wear
through them and roadrash my butt (not fun). You don’t need a full-face helmet
and leathers, but you do need some safety gear.
6) Don’t be a kook because what you do skating
impacts other skaters. New spots aren’t exactly popping up out of the ground. Getting
a spot blown is going to ruin other people’s days too. Skate within your
limits, respect other people (especially residents and police), don’t post your
spots on the internet, and only bring people to your spots if you know they can
ride it safely or know their limits enough to say “I’m going to start from
lower down the hill.”
Part II: Gear
There are a lot of different options for your setup and most
of it comes down to preference. Try other people’s setups to see what you like
and what you don’t. People can give you recommendations, but nobody can tell
you exactly what you’re going to like best. Whatever you are most comfortable
going fast on is the best board for you to go fast on.
It’s important to note that when referring to grip, most
riders don’t go for maximum grip. The board, wheels, and trucks all impact grip
(as does the rider) and most riders want something that will hold a line well
but slides predictably when needed. The same goes for stability. The most
stable board ever wouldn’t turn very well. You need to be able to take good
lines through corners and dodge shiatsus that run out in front of you, but you
also need to be stable. Setups are typically a compromise between grip,
slideability, stability, and turning.
1) The board. A speedboard needs to be, above all
other things, stiff. Everything else varies, but flex makes for wobbles and
sketchiness when sliding. Concave and shape are both preference and vary widely
between boards. The other things to consider are deck height and wheelbase.
Most speedboards are topmounts, drop-throughs, or short drops (often 5/8” or so
of drop in the platform). The lower the deck height, the less grip the board
has (all other things equal). Lower boards are also more stable to an extent,
but stability is more in the rider. Wheelbase affects the turning circle of the
board and grip. A shorter wheelbase results in a more responsive board that
grips a little harder. A longer wheelbase results in a more stable board that
is a little more prone to sliding out. Most downhill boards have a wheelbase in
the 27” to 31” range, but not all do. Concaves vary considerably, but they need
to be comfortable and able to lock you in when gripping corners and sliding.
2) Trucks are a really important component of a
downhill setup as they control stability and turning. Unfortunately, they are
also very preference-based so it’s hard to make recommendations. The main thing
to look for is the baseplate angle. 50* trucks are typically more of a carving
and freeride truck, but plenty of people go fast on 50* plates as it is what
they are comfortable on. Paris, Gunmetal, and Caliber are some popular 50*
truck brands. A lot of people also ride lower angle trucks. This makes less
turn per input of lean. This feels a little less twitchy as small inputs are
translated into less turn. Too low of an angle and you sacrifice the ability to
turn and can lose grip around corners as you have to lean so far off the board
to get the same amount of turn. Some popular lower angle trucks are 44*
Calibers, 46* and 42* Gunmetals, Sabres (45*), Road Riders (45*), and 42*
Randals. Most people typically find TKP-style trucks like Independents a little
squirrelly for downhill, but plenty of people do it and it works well for them
(google “guide to running indys for downhill” if you’re thinking about it). You
don’t need precision trucks to go fast. Precisions are for when you know what
you like in a truck (bushing seat, baseplate angle, rake, etc.) and how to set
up your bushings exactly how you like them.
3) Wheels are tricky in that the ideal wheel varies
based on the road, the rider, and the rest of the setup. Big, wide wheels can
compensate for a lack of grip from the rest of the setup, but can make slides
less predictable. The bigger and heavier the rider, the more s/he can take
advantage of wide, grippy wheels. Most downhill-oriented wheels are offset and
square-lipped. They are also typically in the 70mm-75mm range and 78a-82a
durometer. Smaller wheels accelerate a bit faster and larger wheels hold roll
speed better. What this translates to is, with a smaller wheel, you accelerate
faster after shedding speed with a drift. Larger wheels have more momentum so,
when the hill starts to flatten out, you hold speed or keep accelerating
better. Big wheels aren’t going to make you faster than everyone else; a clean
tuck and good line will make you faster. Larger wheels are more prone to
wheelbite, but more riser just makes for more grip.
4) Bearings come in many varieties and prices, but
don’t really matter. As long as you run spacers and speed rings (or bearings
with built-in spacers and speed rings), then you’ll be fine. Super Precision
Swiss Ceramic bearings from space that cost $500 won’t make you noticeably
faster. Keeping your bearings clean and well lubricated is more important than
anything else. Good shields to keep the lube in and the dirt out are also nice.
5) Bushings are really important but also really
tricky to give advice on. They are very personal and vary based on rider
preference, trucks, and board. A good starting point is double barrels in the
duro that is your weight in pounds divided by 10 plus 70. So 85a for a 150lb
rider. Again, this is really only a starting point. A good bushing setup
requires experimentation. You want bushings soft enough that turning is easy,
but hard enough that you have some resistance, rebound, and stability.
The best way to figure out what you like is to try a lot of
other people’s setups. Some people like 50* trucks, some like lower angles, and
some like Indys. Some people love complicated concaves with W and microdrops
and some prefer a simple-yet-effective radial concave.
Part III: Technique
A lot of going fast has to do with practice and learning
from other riders. The only reason I’m any good at going fast is the hill I
lived on. It was really fast and we rode it every day. Balance and confidence
are really the only important things, both of which come from practice.
1) Speed wobbles are mostly in the rider. Yes, some
setups are more prone to wobbling than others. But, they are a result of lack
of practice and comfort with the setup. In order to get better, find a hill
bigger than you are comfortable doing from the top. Go from as high as you are
comfortable and ride down from there until the wobbles go away. Then go a
little further up the hill. Repeat. Wobbles can also result from poor weighting
of the board. The majority of your weight should be on your front foot.
Weighting the back more results in wobbles. A tuck is not only to become
aerodynamic; it also forces all your weight onto your front foot.
2) Tucking is tricky and the best tuck is not
always the most aerodynamic. As K-Rimes once said, “I think the secret to speed
is standing very still on your skateboard.” K-Rimes is fast, so we should
listen to him. Moving around in your tuck effectively makes your frontage wider
and you less aerodynamic. Moral: be comfortable in your tuck so you can stand
still in it and go fast. If you want to improve your tuck, ask and watch other
riders that are faster than you.
3) Taking good lines is something that comes with
practice. When in doubt, take a conservative line, or late apex. That way you
have more of your turning done before going through the corner. This allows you
to adjust your line better later. If you cut into a turn too early, you’ll end
up too far outside later, which is not cool. Taking a bad line can result in a
lot of bad things. Tumbling off into the grass isn’t too bad. Oncoming traffic
is bad. Trees hurt. Walls hurt. Curbs are bad. Falling off the side of a
mountain can be bad. Before you push what you think you can do in a corner, ask
yourself what the price of failure is.
4) Sliding. The faster you go, the easier it is to
slide. Sliding takes practice and balls. You need to commit to it. Google,
youtube, and especially other skaters can teach you how to slide better than I
can. Finding a steep hairpin with no traffic, curbs, or cliffs is probably the
best way to improve. Learn how to predrift it.
5) You are going to fall. It might hurt and it might
not be so bad. It sucks, but the longer you stay off your board after falling,
the harder it is going to be to ride the road again. There are bad places to
fall (in front of a car) and less bad places to fall (some nice soft grass and
dirt).
Thanks for reading. Have fun, skate safe, and know your
limits. Please feel free to share any questions, comments, or advice you have.
Dragon Captain signing off.
Matt.
