I’ve had the pleasure of riding most of the Stooge Raceboards approach for a fast board, for some time now. Really the only thing I was missing from having a ful Stooge setup was the platform. I’ve had the 3-links, electronics and race wheels on different decks used in different settings. But I’ve never had it on a as gigantic platform as Moe uses himself.
I thought now was the time.
I love wooden decks and knew it had to be a plateform out of good old Canadian maple, and I wanted the deck to be optimized for the 3-links. A deck to get the most out of the 3-links as possible. I wanted it to be huge. I wanted the biggest wheelbase I’ve ever ridden. I wanted it to be targeted at high speed riding on roads / tracks where there is room to really let the muscles of the Stooge setup unfold.
So the process of developing a new deck from the ground began, and I was heavily inspired by the original Stooge platform.
I knew from the beginning that I wanted a dropdown deck. I am a big fan of dropdowns and the nice features that gives a setup. Like lower center of gravity and the ability to use pneumatics. And with some clever designing the ability to use the drop to push against in accelerations.
The 3-links have almost endless adjustment possibilities controlling the turning radius. The turning radius is determined by the angle of the radius rods and of course the wheelbase. The radius rod angle can be changed by the three holes in the baseplate but also by the radius tab that sits on the axel.
The center heim controls ridding height, and the ridding height effects angle of the radius rods and thereby also turn-ability. So by chancing ridding height via the center heim we change how the setup turns, and things begins to be advanced / complicated when dailling in the setup.
I knew I wanted to be able to lower the gravity as much as possible, so I had to make room for the center heim to be possible to go through the deck.
Wheelbase is huge - 106 cm / 41.7 inch so I knew the flex might be a problem. I needed as much material as possible both at the drop and just before the trucks.
The shape over each truck is determined by the radius rods. I needed a little cutout in order to get full tilt without the rods hitting the deck.
The deck is directional. I made the rear drop longer / softer as I want to use the drop to push against. The front drop though were made a bit shorter and steeper to get closer to the truck with the front foot.
Also the rear truck sit a little further back as I wanted to be sure to have clearance when using the drop to push against.
Besides the work on the deck, Moe supplied me with new updated baseplate, and the widened wheels he makes from the metroboard hubs and tires. All in all I got myself a quite different ride than I had before.
The ride…. Must say I was surprised what influence the wheelbase made to quiet it down, making this setup extremely stable. I do a lot of riding on old un even roads which often makes the board dance a bit. Now that unevenness is barely noticeable. I have it set up as low as I can which makes the it a lot less turny. Set up as here it’s not a carving machine. It thrives at speeds above 40kmh / 25mph. It makes those speeds a lot more comfortable. Like night and day from the last deck this was on, which had a wheel base of 92cm / 36”.
Special thanks needs to go to mr Jamie for patiently answering questions and Brandon for stretching a long way to make this happen.
Partlist (sorry for not being more specific):
Deck: My own - and I am pretty proud of it!
Trucks: 3-links https://electric-skateboard.builders/t/nkp-3-link-evolution-thread/47413
Wheels: The widened metroboard hubs and tires.
Electronics: Read here: 🏁 SRB Esc Approach 🏁
The back drop has s perfect curve to push against.
