Those wrister gloves look interesting! I’m going to have to pickup a pair of them.
I can’t imagine that the winter version of the MX gloves will be as warm as those big winter gloves you have, but they might be worth a shot if they work for the “warmer winter days”
Welp.
It’s quite a bummer to have the Gravel Flux out of commission.
That is certainly a board that gets lots of action…
Even if it is just a 3 miler to pick up the kids from school.
So yesterday I took the Radrunner…
Today I will take the Radrunner.
The BN M1-AT Drives have been a bit of a mixed bag for me.
When they run well it’s great.
But I have had some hiccups and concerns over time…
And then a while back the right side came loose.
And I was able to fix that.
Now the left side came loose and broke some teeth…so without parts I can’t fix it.
So that sucks.
My initial reaction was to try the Boardnamics Straight cut gear…
But I am on the 4.6 gearing. And it is a sweet spot.
Straight goes from 5.5 to 3.8. so without changing motors I can’t really make that work.
I ordered some replacement 18tooth helical pinions from Kevin to get this back together.
Hopefully those show up from California soon…
But in the midst of it all I started pondering alternatives and I decided to order the Newbee 4GS gears to see how long before I break those.
I am getting the 5.0 gearing that was on pre-order…
So now I’m going to harass Ean @Ean.esk8 every day because that really helps parts magically appear.
I pondered going back to chains…
And trying ISO6 …
But that would also require buying a bunch of parts.
So I wanted to give gears another try…
I legit worry about the boys sticking their hands in the chain drive so the enclosed gear is a bit more attractive.
Wish me luck.
Let’s switch up to some positive news.
I recently decided to get a GPS.
And I like it.
I slap it on my wrist…
Up to this point I have been using Relive on my phone to track all my rides.
And I am totally happy with the mileage it tracks.
But the top speed was always really suspicious.
So I am hoping the Garmin Edge 130 Plus will be more accurate.
I am still hesitant to the idea of getting a data logger mabbober like the Metr.
I don’t want to obsess over the data and I don’t want to open up a bunch of boards.
I wonder when I will get on board with those.
But not today Satan… Not today.
One thing is already become apparent.
I generally go much slower than I thought I went.
Garmin top speed is 5-10 miles below Relive.
And I will go ahead and assume it’s significantly more accurate.
I can glance at my running speed during daylight.
Which I like. And I can also ignore it, or put it in my pocket.
But I used to think I got to 35mph on both the Gravel Flux and the Flux.
And looks like 30 is really my top speed on those.
(Remind me to loose 20 pounds)
And on the Omakase I thought I got close to 30 all the time and today the top was only 24.
Are those handlebars?
Yesterday was what I call a Bonus Day!!!
It was supposed to rain all day and I expected the day to be shot…
But instead it stayed dry and got close to 70 which is epic in November.
So riding happened and it was a good day.
1 mile warm up in the morning on the Pint X.
Mid morning I went on the GT to get half and half.
Took the long way making it 4.7 miles.
Right after that I thought rain was coming and I wanted to ride a smidge more so I got out on the Omakase. That ended up being 6 miles.
At lunch time still no rain…
So I went out with the little dude and took out the Demonseed DKP.
Now little dude is killing it on his balance bike so that is cool…
Even if I have mixed feelings about 2 wheels.
Speaking of 2 wheels as noted above that is what was used for school pick up.
After work, low and behold, it still had not rained.
It still was supposed to, so I spent happy hour riding around the neighborhood.
I started off on DKP vibes.
The Abec 111s broke traction a few times and scared the bejesus out of me…
I don’t think giant thane is right for this board so we are going to the other end of the spectrum next and I am going to slap the Akashas on here…
Speaking of the Akashas I took the Omakase out right after.
Jus a tiny bit, and then I took out the Llama.
The confidence I get from the grip of the MAD wheels is really something. I super dig them on the Llama.
And finally I ended the last bit of day light on the Flux, which is always delectable to ride.
I am really liking the Riptide Green 80a and White 70a combo.
If anyone out there sees this and you are on the fence about getting the Radium adapters for Matrix II. Don’t be dumb like me and wait forever.
Send it…
One of the things I noticed yesterday with the Flux and the Riptide Bushings is that I feel way, way more confident rolling fast down hill.
All in the happy hour rides added up to 19.4 miles.
So I stacked up 33.6 miles.
Pretty dang good for a bonus day.
You are already opening a bunch for the z-mote receivers so, might be a good time.
Lol.
The main ones I’d want a data logger mabbober for I have already done…
But this has certainly crossed my mind.
I am liking having more accurate speed data from the Garmin…
It’s amazing how there is always more stuff to do…
I just want to spend some time swapping wheels around.
The wheels dance starts.
The Akashas are going from the Omakase to the DKP.
The blacked out blue Kegels from the Dinghy go to the Omakase.
And the Orange Kegels that used to be on the Omakase before go on the Dinghy.
Tonight’s episode of on the bench (or near the bench) is brought to you by the Gravel Flux and the Haero.
It’s gonna be really nice here this week.
Probably the last really nice week in fact.
So I want to do school pick up on a skateboard.
So let’s get the Haero out of retirement.
I haven’t ridden it since I hurt myself being a dumb ass with it this summer.
Hopefully I can get the tow bracket over and it won’t interfere with the Idea mounts.
And I think the bindings will be coming off…
Yesterday was a damn good esk8 day.
That seems appropriate since it was Sunday and 68 degrees and sunny. That is kind of a big deal in November.
Morning warm up was on the Pint X. At 2.3 miles.
I rode the Dinghy around a bit later but no pictures or tracking… (So did it really happen?)
Then I went on to get down with urethane vibes with the wheel dance I did the night before.
And first off was the Demonseed DKP on Akashas.
Ended up doing 13 miles.
And wow dude.
So butter.
Sometimes when I go out on a new variation of a set up and it’s a miss, or ota not much or a change, sometimes it sucks.
This was pure gold.
I like the little wheels vibe on DKP.
I do have to be top mounted. But this is a bit lower than using the Caguamas.
And bettween the freshies figure 8 and the tennis courts I was in heaven.
Stoked on this setup.
Then I jumped on the Omakase.
Wheels wise the worn out blue Kegels felt pretty similar to the Akashas.
A change I did was softer bushings up front and the easier turning was a nice touch.
The old beat up motors are still running well.
The board feels great!!!
I do ponder upgrading the old old 10s3p 40t pack on here… But that is hard to do.
Also stoked on this setup.
Since I was feeling thane vibes I then took out the Rayne Crush for 5 miles.
The power of the hubs is definitely less than the other two board I had ridden. But that is ok. The vibe of this board is so magical with the free roll.
Then much later in the evening I tinkered on the Haero as noted above.
And I took it out at 10:30 for 7.3 miles…
And yeah… This was one of the times that I went out and it felt awkward and the set is not ideal feeling to me.
The Haero is squirly to me…
A long time ago I think the Flux ruined the Haero for me…
I love the giant standing platform and space to spread out.
I was able to spread out more with the bindings removed.
And as of today I am not sure I will chase after a set up with bindings ever again…
I may also have been ruined by the Riptide Bushings already…
Anyways.
Board works.
I didn’t fall.
I can use it to tow the kids this week.
And I will probably try to go down to 8 inch tires…
See if that small change helps a bit.
More to come on this set up…
All in all I stacked up 34.2 miles and it feels like I am doing it right…
Oh yeah.
On the Haero.
As far as the tinkering went it was tricky as per usual.
Here is the Hitch bracket.
And here is the start of the adapter for the apadter to move the hitch bracket up a little bit.
Funny is I had 8 inch tires in the front but wanted to slap the 9s on.
I had them mounted ready to go so that was easy.
Off course today I am going to take the 9s out and slap 8s back so… The is that.
Back to little wheels and the adapter is done…
If I ignore the fact loctite needs to cure this is ready to roll.
I did Change the motor sprocket from 11 to 12…
Are those mud pluggers? (The two that are leaning, not stacked in that photo)
So lunch break I went and rode the Llama.
Did 14.5 miles.
And they were glorious.
@fujio001 dude. I know you didn’t design these wheels or what not… But I thank you for making then available and getting some in my hands.
I think they are really something special.
I now find myself taking the Llama on routes I used to only go on pneumatics. Like this older chipnseal road in my favorite neighborhood to ride.
So this is a setup I am super stoked on.
it can still carve and feel loose, but it is quite stable at speed.
The grip with the MADs fills me with confidence.
And this thing really punches.
I did have maybe 4 hiccups which I am pretty sure were the mini remote…
But I have a Z.mote here for the Llama. Just need to pick which color…
And I got sag after about 10 miles.
And the 14.5 miles did get the battery down to 39.5.
It’s a 12s4p 40t and I am not sure exactly how old without digging.
My wish is that I could get 20 miles of hard riding… So someday a bigger battery needs to happen.
But you know… That is hard.
Yep. I just took off 9" mudpluggers. And it’s the ones leaning up.
That’s neat. I’ve been thinking of making a 4wd mudplugger setup for a while now.
To be honest I have not put a ton of miles on them.
But they probably have the most grip on real off road situations…
Their diameter seems smaller than 9 inch MBS T2s…
I love the MBS 9s on the gravel Flux.
I have not found a good set up like that that with they mudpluggers
But I ride mostly street and only mix it up a little bit with the “off-road” boards.
