What even is Wheel lift?!

WHEEL LIFT 

What is it? Why does it happen? And how to prevent it...

WHAT IS IT:

Wheel lift is when you go turn, and one (or in some cases, even more than one. But these cases are isolated, so ymmv) wheel lifts up. So, imagine for a second, you are riding your longboard...

... you are carving, schlarving, and then you feel it. It's like a hard rock, hitting the ground. It's subtle at first, but definitely there. This is what wheel lift is, and let me be the first to say, it sucks.

But, Why does it happen?:

Well, it's a spectrum right? On one end, you have too tight of bushings. With too tight (or hard) of bushings, they'll be so restrictive , that they will literally HAVE to lift a wheel. Whereas if you have too soft of a bushing, the bushing will be so soft that it will also, lift a wheel. 

It's a delicate balance, but, it can be mitigated!!

So, how do you prevent wheel lift?

Pretty simple, really. You just gotta experiment with bushings. I like Riptide Krank and APS. But there are so many brands that people experiment with and enjoy. Abec11, Venom, Seismic, even 88WheelCo. 

Now I'm not saying...

I'm not saying you should do this. However, if you are on a budget... just buy a single pack of 77a (or Similar duro) bushings and install them in your front truck. Then, tighten your rear trucks. This should feel near perfect, but do note it's not universal. But it is a good starting point. 

The Difference between a Rear Zero Degree Bracket and a Torsion Tail

So what are the key details to the difference between the two?

Well, there's two main differences:

1. The Arms vs. the Single Point of Pivot

So, how a Torsion Tail works. The basics. Essentially, you have two arms that articulate independently from each other, that connect from the mounting point to the wheels. This will basically make it create that pump in, and pump out motion. So, in order for them to articulate well, you need softer Bushings. The bushings in this TTX pictured below, for example, are 80a APS Riptide Bushings.

The TTX paired with 80a Orange Bushings 

This is drastically different than the rear 0° Bracket. So, for the rear 0° bracket, it's essentially a single pivoting piece, similar to a Don't Trip Delirium (but not exactly like it. Click here for more info). All of these trucks below are 0° rear bracket 

The Ecolite Tail 

The Don't Trip Delirium 

The LepSk8 Tail

2. How soft the bushings should be. 

So, with the 0° bracket, you would want something a little harder. That's because the rear articulates like a rear truck, so, you would want something a little more restrictive. That's  because the angle is closer to the ground, it squishes the bushings in a different way; more lean, no turn. But not TOO hard!! If it's too hard, it'll hurt your ankles, and you will get wheel lift.

Compared to the TTX, which needs a softer bushing to articulate the arms well. 

All of the bushings in the above pictures are in the 85a-90a range. Excluding the TTX. That one has 80a bushings.

The bushings in my Ecolite when I first got it, were way too hard for me. I weigh something like 214 now, and man, I just didn't like those bushings. Way too restricted, whereas now I have 93a vs. 96a. Night and Day difference. 

Not only that, but the rebound? Damn man. The Rebound is (in my personal opinion) one of the better things about the LDP experience. It, for lack of a better term, forces you to do better. 

So, which one would I recommend? Well, that's going to depend on how you want the board to feel. Do you want it to feel surfy? If so, you might opt for a zero degree rear. Or, rather, you would like it to feel like 

Plus, with the recent release of the Tango Tail, which is also still a Torsion Tail, it's now more affordable than anything. 

I don't have any idea though. You will just have to spend your money, and see what I mean. Take care, and Much Metta to you and your family. 

-Boardin_Buddhist

Honest Review of The Orangatang Bee's Knees

I'm very impressed 

The Bee's Knees are VERY good. 

They're very nimble and VERY fast. 

Honestly like, I even like them a little bit better than the Karmas. 

Let's talk a little about why:

THE FEEL

They feel very different compared to all my other wheels. I feel like I'm on my tippytoes when riding these wheels, versus the hard contact of the underfoot with other wheels like Karmas, Abec11 Reflys, SpeedVents, etc. 

Which incidentally brings me to my next point:

THE LIPS

The lips are rounded over. They're not a square edge lip!! It's to primarily provide relief to the wheels to prevent chunking. And man, this combined with the core, really set this wheel apart from other competitors. 

THE SPEED

They're VERY fast. These wheels weigh in at around 10 oz per wheel, so you know they're light. And brother, they feel light, too. But they're also super nimble. "Why are they nimble" you may be asking. Well, that's because of the lip. It's rounded over. Making these wheels very thin. They're actually smaller width wise than Kegels at 54mm (CP of Bees Knees 44mm, Kegels are 56mm in overall width, 80mm in height) 

THE CORE:

These cores actually come centerset....most wheels of this size (and frankly, all big wheels on the Otang lineup... except for these) feature an offset core. But these ones, they're actually a centerset core. What this does, that's different compared to the other wheels with a offset core, is that both lips will contact the ground and grip with both lips, versus one that's gripping. Because most wheels are often offset, which grip with one lip, the outer lip. Not to say all of them are offset (Abec11 Refly 90mm is Centerset, for example), but this wheel is. But SpeedVents are offset, as well as Karmas. As well as most Boas iirc. 

The Duro:

I got the 77a blue Bee's Knees. Not only are they very squishy, you can feel them gripping the pavement. I'm thinking of buying a harder set (80a Orange, or, the NEW 83a Pink) and putting them onto the front truck of my setup, so that way I will have minimal slippage, plus grip for days. But we will see. 

Verdict:

They have the IT factor to them. 11.1/10. They're better than the Karmas, and I thought that the Karmas were among the best of the best. I mean, honestly, I feel the lips gripping hard, and gripping right despite the rounded lips. 

Comparative Progress

I started out my LDP career with an experimental board. 

It was an experiment for sure. It was more of a hodge podge of things I had at the time. The deck itself is an Ehlers evo shape, and I got it pretty cheap. I chopped it so I can outfit a TTS/A(?) , and no, it wasn't pretty. For grip I have Vicious griptape, for a front truck I have the narrowest Bennet Vector truck available (because they were out of stock on their website and thought; "Hey why not?", not realizing at the time that the different widths/trims were important to distinguish between the two disciplines). Those disciplines of course being Slalom and LongDistancePush/Pump. And for wheels, it had Ahmyo Akasha FR on the rear, 79a, and 78a plow kings on the front. 

Think of this, like an early (very early, rough) version of the Melonenkacke Platypusher. Now granted, I didn't think this setup out all the way, hence why it's so goddamn ugly. Especially the front truck. Too narrow of a front, paired with used cruiser wheels, paired with fairly scrubbed Ahmyo Akasha FR's, is a recipe for a sub par setup. Not to mention the fact that both these wheels were well under the 75mm threshold for pumping wheels. 

Compare this, to what I have now

Optimized bushings for my weight. Plus, much larger wheels, make this a pumping machine. 

DON'T TRIP SPHERICAL REPLACEMENT

If you are thinking of "upgrading" the spherical in your Pivot for a Pivot Cup , heed this warning: 

Don't Trip Pivot Tubes don't work!!!

SKOA CUPS WORK!!!

I know, very confusing. 

Honest Review of the Orangatang Love Handles

They're okay. They're really slow though.

I've taken them to a multitude of places, including:

1. The skatepark 

On the skatepark, they're very slow. You will be carving and turning, wiggling, but if you go too slow past a certain threshold they're very hard to get back up to speed. Which is weird. But, my Surfskate is longer than usual (~57") so that may have something to do with it.

2. The trail.

On the trail though? They're very easy to get up to speed. You can carve pretty fast, and then when your carving turns into pumping, that's when you can seriously get some speed.

The Consensus?

They're okay. They really excel at quick, concise movements, especially over a trail where you have to be going back and forth constantly. But other than that? No, this isn't the wheel for me. 

Why?

I think it was two things:

1. The Core

2. The Urethane 

Let me explain to you why I think that. 

1. The Core

It's a VERY basic core. No step to stiffen the Urethane or anything. Like I said, it's just a simple core. Nothing like the EC HUB core from Seismic, which actually stiffens the Urethane. By having the step in the core, it'd actually stiffen the outer lip area, but, no, it doesn't have anything like that.

2. The Urethane 

It's very sluggish, just in general. Many LDP'ers actually don't like Orangatang wheels because of how slow they are. They actually feature a  notoriously slow urethane, called Happy Thane. But there are exceptions to this rule. Like, for example, The Kegels, and The Caguamas. In Heat,iykyk. Even the Bee's Knee's...... So yes there are exceptions, but they're pretty minute when compared to other Urethane formulas. 

Overall though?

Ehhhh...

3-4, maybe a 5/10, high 4/10, really low 5/10. Which is weird because I don't mind this Urethane when poured in, say, a Kegels mold. But, on the other hand however, my Surfskate is on the longer side. So, that may influence the feeling. 

They roll, but other than that? No, these wheels aren't it for me. Very disappointed 

Don't forget to leave a comment.about your favorite Urethane, Wheel or Brand of Urethane, i.e. Abec11, Seismic, Orangatang etc. etc.

Honest Review of the Pantheon Karma

Pantheon Karma Wheel Review 

I've had two sets, the first ones in were, let's say, pretty rough. I got them from a friend. The friend in question actually downhilled on these, and threw some slides. So, they were pretty worn when I got them. I believe they were worn down to at least 91mm, maybe even 90mm.

So obviously, that's not ideal. BUT, I will say this; when I first got them from Sam Odenborg and threw them on the old BB+, I could almost immediately start pumping them. Even with a not so ideal bushing setup. So, that's a good testament to how these wheels perform. 

I liked them so much in fact, that I got them for myself. Here are the specs:

Diameter: 92mm

Width: 53mm

Contact Patch: 49mm

Weight: 278g each

I love them. 

They're grippy when fresh. They're also very fast.

The thing I like the most about the karma's is how they are poured. They're poured to be gripping, no matter what. Like, they're poured with a slight skew. It's pretty interesting. Not only that but they are also poured upside down, so the bubbles are forming on the outside of the wheel, instead of on the inside, because again it has that lip. Pure performance, right?

Plus, with that rebound lip, it helps a lot. I can actually feel it helping. All around though, I am very impressed. 

One thing I absolutely love about this wheel is that it has the Nautilus Core....a new core by Pantheon. I like it cause it's unique, it has that biomimicry effect. The thing about the core though, is that Pantheon updated their core, making this core harder to find, essentially. They updated it to increase the strength, but man, that new core looks boring. I'm sorry, but it had to be said. 

It's also huge. It stands at 92mm tall. In fact it's slightly bigger than my other 90mm wheel, the Abec11 Refly's. And it's at least 7mm taller than my old Speedvents. But it's still small, when compared to it's bigger brother the Hoku, which stands at 102mm. 

But by golly miss molly do I love these wheels. 10/11 for me, truly.