Trav and myself met at the Hopshop this morning. The day before I told young Kelly Carter if he wanted a skate tomorrow up the Blue Mountains he had to be at the shop by 8:30am. With an expected max temp of 8 degrees in the mountains Kelly shows up with just a T-shirt. When questioned about the expected temp he explains this to me in a way that only a 14yr old grom can. Kelly says if he brings a hoodie he has to bring a backpack and if he has a back pack it will slow down his tuck and ruin his aero on the bomb down Bondi Rd on his way home. Knowing the run down Bondi rd will take about 2mins and we will be in the mountains for the next 8hrs Trav and myself just stare at each other in general amusement.
I ask Kelly if he has any pads and he pulls out a ripped up piece of polyester, foam and plastic that looks like his dog had chewed on. Knowing what was ahead I grab a new set of 187 Fly knees and elbows off the shelf and tell him he’ll have to work a day in the shop next week for them.
Stocked with his new 187 pads we finally got gromtang Kelly in the car with the promise of a mountain skate and a cheeseburger. Little did Kelly know we were headed off to the SpaceStation to meet the BMB for a test session of the new 20ft Urban Assault Banshee.
We needed a heavy weight to anchor the beast, so we headed over to BMB strongman Scott ‘the Guff’ Guthrie’s place. When Kelly heard this he new he was in trouble. Like most groms, Kelly had heard all the stories of the legendary Guff the ‘grom punisher’ and told us he was a little scared of the big man. Kelly knows when you enter BMB territory you do it with the approval of Guff or you don’t do it.
We turn up at the BMB forward outpost in Bankstown and the Guff rolled out with his 10 ton anchor rope just for the occasion. Kelly sat quietly in the back when Guff jumped in the car next to him, there was a short uncomfortable moment when Guff looked at Kelly then gave us the nod and we headed up the highway to the BMB headquarters.
When we show up at the SpaceStation, legendary Springwood rider and president of the BMB Mountain Mic Codner has already got the hill warmed up. We head over to the top corner and unravel the Urban Assault, the crew stands back in awe as the triple braided latex banshee bungee shudders with molecular violence. Let me tell you when you unravel one of these babies you know your lifting the game to a whole new level. We waste no time in hooking this puppy to the pole at the top of the hill and tell crash test grom Kelly to pad up and get ready.
On the first test myself and Guff crank the bungee back with Mountain Mic on the video to capture any possible carnage. Having never tried it before Trav decides that holding the bungee with one hand is the go, we count him in and let it rip. Its hard to fully explain the amount of acceleration you get from one of these things, when we let it go Trav’s arm is nearly ripped from his shoulder as he takes off like a missile, hits the first corner and nearly drifts off the track. He walks back up the hill with a grin on his face and says ‘this is the best money I’ve spent since I bought my first skateboard.
Crash Test Grom now heads up to the line with a half concerned half excited look on his face and tells us to take it easy. In true BMB style we take him back to the members tees and put him on the line. Weighing only 50kgs on take off, launching Kelly was like releasing the second stage of a rocket. He accelerates at the full 0-60 in 2 seconds and ends up with the fastest run down the PumpStaion he has ever had. I must say the sight of the grom launching down the track faster than a Porsche with his tongue flapping across his cheek was awesome.
Next was big Guff on the classic luge, we use 3 guys to get the bungee back a good 8m further than anybody else and fire him down the road. Guff hammers down the straight and hauls through the first 2 corners, he approaches the S-bend at a higher speed than he has ever before and buries his rail, drifts across the line and before he knows it careers through the rubble and grass and straight into the deep bush. The sight of Guff approaching the guys covered in dirt with grass stuck in his trucks was just hilarious.
Its hard to fully explain the feeling of acceleration you get from one of these banshees, due to using gravity when you skate you feel a great sense of speed but you tend not to feel the force of acceleration very much. I can tell you this all changes when you launch off the bungee, you do something you have never been able to do on a skateboard before, feel about 50m of extreme acceleration. This thing suddenly puts into play a whole bunch of mid range hills and corners that you never considered before. On a short Downhill run instead of taking 300m to get up to speed you do it in about 2 seconds and you get to drift or slide that first corner you usually high tucked around.
A Banshee Bungee takes about 20 seconds to setup. You can use it anywhere, on a downhill track, in a ditch, carpark, back lane or out the front of your house. Well worth the price of admission, to see the terror in your parents face, the green envy in your mates eyes, and the thrill of car acceleration on your longboard.
This is an extreme sport product, you MUST wear protective clothing, a helmet essential. You would not jump out of a car going 60kmph, dont skate a longboard that fast without safety gear.
We all live in fear of a zombie outbreak. So you need to be prepared, it could happen on a street near you.
At Hopkin Racing, because we care, we have prepared the 7 ways a longboard could help you survive a zombie outbreak.
1. Longboards dont break easily, which means they make a great zombie crushing bat. Remember, never let go of your longboard when you swing at a zombie, it’s the number one rule.
2. Landyachtz Zombie wheels, we all know they are made from the undead and recycling is feared by every zombie. Show them your zombie wheels, let them know you mean business, and what could happen to them if they mess with you.
3. Zombies are not fast, and usually not organised. So out on street or on the footpath you’ll find good space between zombies. Your bushings will be your secret weapon. A bushing with lots of urethane, to help with a deep carve could be the difference between you and the undead. We recommend Venom bushings.
4. Dont be a zombie, no robot moves, loosen up, put a bit of style in your skating. This will help you react to zombies going for you, also help you pull off moves to avoid them. Bend your knees, loosen up the shoulders, move your feet around, dont get glued to that deck, it is the quickest way to join the undead.
5. Freeriding is your friend in a zombie outbreak. Those corner sessions, and slides you have been pulling off will be an important defense. If a wall of zombies is heading up the hill to get you, the only way out is through them. This is when pulling out a pendy or a toeside powerslide can knock the zombies off their feet.
6. If you are not skating fast enough to slide through, then the only other way is to go over them. Zombies are perfect objects to step trick over. They are slow, ridged and easy to get a foothold on. Every zombie is different, so every move could help, practice them all, especially flat topping, and any flip trick.
7. The best way to escape zombies is speed, they are slow, you need to be faster. Bombing a hill or general downhill skateboarding is the way to go. You need to work on your tuck. A better tuck means faster speed and it is a smaller object for a zombies to grab.
REMEMBER, always wear a helmet and safety gear when practicing on your longboard for a zombie outbreak. We are serious, longboards are speed machines, they are not a skatepark toy.
We hear this question a lot, and when we found this video on Youtube, with the questions and answers, thought we should post it up.
Video is by Dustin Hampton. The skater in the blue is Pete Eubank. Both Dustin and Pete are skating on Paris 180 trucks. The bushings in their trucks are standard Paris bushings but double barrel. That is, a barrel at the top and bottom (replacing the top cone with a barrel). This is what gives the truck extra stability, you are removing the lean you get from the cone and replacing it with more urethane that will be stable when compressed at speeds in a corner and on the straight in a tuck.
Other bushings that can be used are Venom Downhill or Eliminators, either in green or pink formula. If you are going to pimp out your trucks for downhill, it is best to replace the kingpin with a 3 inch grade 8 kingpin. This will give you the extra kingpin to fit on big barrel bushings and washers.
Remember: If you are going to do downhill, you MUST wear a helmet and protective clothing. Only dummies crash without a helmet. You can do serious speeds, and in a normal hill bomb you will be travelling at least 50km/h. You would not jump out of a moving car at those speeds without protection, dont speed skateboard without protection. This aint no kids play at the skatepark.
You may have seen this video before, it is a lot of fun so I thought I’d add it to the Hopkin blog.
Sandbagging is when a racer purposely goes slow to sit at the back of a race. The tactic can be for a few reasons. The main one is to keep in touch with the leaders, draft at the end of the race, to over take and progress to the next round or win the race. The other strategy of sandbagging is what we call in Australia the Steve Bradbury. That is sitting at the back and waiting for a mistake. It is a dangerous strategy, but worthwhile if you have noticed lead racers are crashing a lot in practice or previous heats. You let the leaders knock themselves out and you coast through for a win.
As most of you know, Jackson injured himself at the end of 2009. It was a low speed crash, just a freak accident that resulted in surgery to repair the damage. He has been progressing well. Last month he lost the cast, and a few weeks ago the metal pins were removed. He is mobile again, hobbling around but into major rehabilitation. Heaps of physio, exercise and movement to get the ankle up to full strength for the start of the Canadian race season.
How do you rehabilitate a downhill injury?
Jackson shows us, in the only way he knows how, via a video. His first video without a skateboard!!
How beautiful is the harbour in Sydney? Check out this film shot in the harbour at Shelly Beach, one of Sydney’s harbour beaches.
There is a lot of interest from the juniors and groms about competing at this year’s Master Of The Hill (MOTH).
It is this weekend, so you gotta start making plans on how to get there and getting parental permission to race.
ASRA have changed the focus of MOTH this year, and made it tastier for all the groms, juniors and anyone new to Downhill. This is a perfect race to start your downhill sporting life. The road we are racing on is about 800m long. It has an up hill run out, so no need to waste urethane sliding or shoes foot breaking. There is no motorised traffic. Road is perfect hotmix, no potholes. It is located in the bush, plenty of places to sit, watch or chill out.
For parents and guardians
This is not a dangerous event. ASRA are taking every precaution to make the event as safe as possible. There is always an element of risk, however there is no more risk than normal skate play on a local street or hill. In fact, kids are probably taking more risks on their local roads than they do at a sanctioned ASRA event where the authorities are watching.
ASRA believe it is important to give the youth coming into Downhill an event to learn all the safety aspects of the sport from older competitors. This is better than skaters holding their own outlaw races.
Competitors will get their safety gear and longboards checked. Racers will learn proper skating etiquette, how to skate within a group and near other competitors.
Racing will be limited to two competitors. All skaters will be wearing fullface helmets and leather jackets.
For competitors
You will need the proper safety gear or you will not be allowed to compete. If you still need a full face helmet, we have them available in hopshop. For leather jackets, check your local motorcycle shop, there are normally sales this time of year.
Leather pants are not required, but are an additional safety item. Shorts or jeans with skate knee pads are a good idea. Draggin Jeans have a full range of jeans that will save your skin in a crash. Check em out, your skin will love you for it. Please check all requirements on the official MOTH page
How to get your parents to let you race
Let them read this blog post, so they can see the ASRA safety requirements.
Tell them they can call the Hopshop and speak to James, David or Jackson on 02 80601588. Sometimes it is better to let one of the older skaters explain what the event is. Parents dont respond well to “it will be mad and (insert unreliable friend’s name here) will be there, and I’ll hate you forever if I can not go.”
If reason does not work, time for bribery and honey. Promise to do more around the house, more homework etc. Or tell them they can be involved.
Dad’s are more than welcome to volunteer, or be involved in some way – make it a father and son day. Mum’s are welcome. We always need more mum’s track side to make the responsible decisions.
If that does not work, try to sell the charms of the Blue Mountains. They can drop you off at the race, and then enjoy a day in the Blue Mountains. Maybe if you can all stay overnight, make it a small holiday. Last minute accommodation can be booked at Wotif.com.
Your parents can do the heritage walk at Katoomba. How about visiting the art galleries? Bushwalks. What mother could resist high tea at Liianfelds!!
The Hawkesbury farmers market is on this weekend in Penrith. Located on High Street in the Civic Precinct. 8am to 1pm. Enough time to drop you off, go to the markets to enjoy the food, produce, music and cooking demos, then cruise back to MOTH to see you in the final!
Hopkin Racing now sells, what we believe, is the best footbrake sole on the market.
Everyone is asking for tips on how to apply it to a shoe. For young and old, here are our instructions plus the Hopshop pro tips.
It takes a few times to get it right, but once you got this skill down you’ll be putting it on your resume (CV)…it is a skill every employer is looking for!!
What you’ll need Hopkin Racing footbrake sole
Shoe (preferably an old one to start and make sure you choose the shoe you footbrake on)
QuickGrip glue (in Australia made by Selleys)
Something heavy, preferably clamps and wood or big table and weights
Stanley Knife with a new blade
Preparation
Make sure both your sole of your shoe and the footbrake sole is clean. If you are replacing a footbrake sole, rip the old one off. Use a belt sander or a sander to remove any old footbrake pieces still stuck on. Do not grind a hole in your shoe, that would defeat the purpose of this whole exercise.
Glue the shoe
It is important to apply the glue in the right way. Glue gets put on the sole and also on the shoe. It is best to leave the glue for 30 minutes before putting the two together. During this time the glue will start to dry and will shrink. So when applying the glue make sure you go a bit heavy, and over, where the edge of the sole will be because the glue when it starts to dry will shrink into the centre. The best glue job, glues the edges tight, this will help the sole wear longer and avoid dangerous sole flap. After you left it for thirty minutes, the glue has a skin on top, so you can touch it without getting it on your fingers.
Weighting
Press the rubber onto the shoe. Focus on the nose and heel, these are the areas that will peel off first if it is not glued properly. So the best home DIY method is a heavy table leg inside the shoe on the heel. Then put heavy items on the toe. Try not to use books, go heavy like bricks or weights. The Hopshop tip is to use a wedge for the nose and heel. Best type of wedge is a door stop. The pointy edge goes under the nose. Other good DIY wedge is one made out of magazine covers (not concrete wave, use your Dad’s business magazines), newspaper can work but not ideal. Why wedge? The nose and heel are the places worn the most, which means they curve up. You want even pressure on the whole worn curve, so the heel and toe sticks to the footbrake sole. That is what the wedge does.
The weighting objective is to apply even pressure across the whole sole. Concentrating on the toe and heel, the centre will always stick, if there is a problem it will be on the toe and heel.
Best DIY shed job will be two bits of wood, top and bottom, clamped down. You can get away with two clamps, one for heel, one for toe.
The pro solution is to use a 1cm (half inch) thick piece of ply or wood in the shape of your inner sole. This can be slid into the shoe creating a top pressure for clamping. Then get a rectangular piece of wood for the bottom. Using clamps, create pressure on the heel and toe. Again, two clamps will work, however if you have a man size shed with plenty of clamps, the more pressure the better. How many clamps can you get on that shoe?
The waiting
How long do you have to wait? This is an important question if you have used your Mum’s dining room table leg, and bricks from the garden. You can ride on a 7 hours soak. So set up the weights at 9pm, and be good to go on your first downhill run at 7am. A 24 hour soak is best. Leave for three days and it is a rock.
Cutting the sole
Method for cutting is a sharp Stanley knife. Must be a fresh blade or it will hack the rubber. Best to put the shoe on a chopping board (you’ll find one in your mum’s kitchen, if you haven’t already cut it up for slide pucks) and trace around the edge.
Why not pre cut the Hopkin Footbrake Sole? The reason we do not precut, is the sole can move during the gluing method. While you are clamping or weighing it down, it does not matter if it moves a bit because you’ll be cutting it to an exact shape. Also you can apply the glue liberally over where the edge of the sole will be.
Why Hopkin Footbrake Soles?
Our footbrake soles are a dual rubber compound. It has a high density layer and a medium density layer fused together. The high density surface is the road side. It is lightly gripped and low wearing at high speed. It has a high heat dissipation which will save your griptape and is water proof. Once you try it you’ll never be ripping a tyre apart again!
I am a skating ocelot, without opposable thumbs, can you glue and cut my soles for me?
This is a service the Hopshop provides. We have a young staff, eager to play with glue, chemicals and power tools. Call the shop on 02 8060 1588 and will sort out all your gluing needs.
We have been promoting the Canberra Slalom event on 19th and 20th September. It is one of the raddest events on the ASRA calender. A weekend of skating euphoria. Saturday is Mt Stromlo, slalom racing, longboarding, BBQ, chill out with friends, talk skate and maybe win a raffle. Saturday night is the ASRA / CROSS get together at the Skatesman Hotel (over 18’s only but it is family friendly) . Sunday is Anslie drains ditch slalom. An event like no other in the world, who skates a ditch with teeth?
Enough of the hype hop…I have no skate points to go. I hear you. To paraphrase Woody Allen, I’m the boss but the wife makes all the decisions. Maybe it is a mum or Dad, partner or another fmaily member making the decisions. They are not interested in skating. What to do?
Floriade is on in Canberra on the same weekend as the ASRA skate event. This is the perfect excuse to get your partner, wife, girlfriend or Mum to Canberra. There is so much to do at Floriade, and it is all free, they’ll probably want to get down to Canberra early!! Give you the chance to get involved in some of those unofficial downhill sessions that will not be happening.
So you have no excuse. Use the power of the flower. Floriade is your friend. Go start working that spring magic now. It may not work straight away, let the idea sink in a bit, and she’ll think it is her idea by the weekend.
Another community inspire announcement by Hop.
Next week, how to sneak more skate gear past the boss.
This tutorial is only for the new trucks – If the nut is located against the baseplate of the truck, then you have the older version and you can skip this tutorial.
Some people have been wanting to get more turn out of their Bear Grizzlies and are not sure how to go about it. The first step is to flip the front bushing washer. If this is not enough, a second step is to remove the back bearing washer. Here are the detailed instructions but first these are all the components that make up a Bear Grizzly truck
1. Flip the front bushing washer:
The first thing you want to do to increase turning is to flip the front bushing washer. First, remove the nut. Second, simply take the washer and flip it so that the edges now face outwards. Secure the nut back onto the truck and give it a test run.
2. Remove the back bushing washer:
Only do this if the first step did not allow for enough turning. First, remove the nut. Secondly, remove the bushings, hanger, everything off of the truck so that you can get to the back bushing washer. While doing this, try and keep track of what order things went in so nothing goes in the wrong order or goes on backwards. Remove the back bushing washer and put everything else back on. Secure the nut back onto the truck.
The photo above is a truck with both modifications.
Make sure that the nut is covered by the entire thread of the kingpin (the screw looking thing attached to the truck). If it is on too loose, then vibrations while riding may knock it off altogether, which you really dont want to happen.
Manufacturers
