Dtc wheels-victory grip

These wheels are definatly in a world of their own , I’ve ridden allot of wheels since I have been riding and these are up there being one of the best, not many wheels I have ridden can compare to this , maybe closest is sector 9 race formula 78a in slide.

The wheels don’t come in duros but just grip, speed and drift. I haven’t ridden the other wheels only the grip but I can tell that they will be all amazing, been riding these on my 9.81 board sponsored to me by Dtc rider Nicolas Robert. I must say I don’t think I’ll be going back to any other wheel for racing.

They seem to be very grippy but yet will slide when you want to, also the slide is predictable and not the type to go mad and throw you off the board. I am in love. The aluminium core is rad, I admit the bearings are hard to get in them but theres always ways i.e. heat up to 80c and they slide in or some gentle sanding with some sandpaper.

Because of the core it is a super stiff wheel and I would love to see anyone cone one or even flat spot one because I can’t and haven’t seen it done yet.

All in all these wheels are great and I would recommend anyone to buy these. At the moment buying direct seems to be the only way but a few shops in the EU does stock them.

Thanks guys!!!

Aaron

well its that time of year again , more skating ,more partying,more travelling. 2011 went quick but definatly felt like a much better skater after. I had a brilliant opportunity for this year and jumped on it as soon as i could. This year I will be riding alongside Nicolas Robert and Cedric Robert of 9.81 from Switzerland. Pretty stoked to be riding with a crazy pair of brothers.Some of you may not of heard of these brothers or even of the luge and skateboards they build but dont be fooled they have built brilliant pieces of kit . buzzing with excitement! first stop majorca!!

Also for 2012 ill be riding for carve board shop in bournemouth. hilarious bunch of guys with the right attitude ,pushing skating forward in the right way and having a hell of a time doing it .The boss man is mark evans (hes not as bad as he looks ) , rad guy!!!

 

looking forward to great things with these guys!

 

Skate Bearings

ABOUT THE BEARINGS…
After many years of specialising in miniature bearings, thin-section bearings and corrosion resistant bearings SMB now offer custom designed skate bearings (part numbers below) for roller skates, skateboards, inline skates and Heelys.

Have you ever tried to shop for skate bearings before? How many times have you been faced with a confusingly large range of skate bearings?We haven’t given them fancy names to entice you and we won’t offer you a dazzling range of different grades, lubricants etc.

We have used our extensive experience and knowledge of miniature bearings to produce four types of skate bearing to satisfy the most demanding skate and skateboard specifications. Our two most important design criteria were high performance and value for money. The only difference between our various specialized skate bearings are the material of the bearing rings and the ball material. Read the explanation below the part number table for more information on bearing technology.

      

Bore

O.D.

Width

Max Load (kgf)
RPM
(x1000) 

DynStat 

8227

608TW-2RUP5C3LDS18 
Chrome steel with steel balls, high speed nylon cage,
removable non-contact seals, P5/Abec5 grade, C3
radial play, lightly lubricated with free-running grease

33013539

8227CB608TW-2RUP5C3LDS18 (HYBRID)
Chrome steel with ceramic balls, high speed nylon 
cage, removable non-contact seals, P5/Abec5 grade,
C3 radial play, lightly lubricated with free-running grease33013539

8227S608-2RUP6C3SRL (STAINLESS)
Stainless steel with stainless steel balls and cage,
removable non-contact seals, P6/Abec3 grade, C3
radial play, lightly lubricated with free-running grease27811639 8165688TW-RUP5C3SRL (MICRO/HEELY)
Chrome steel with steel balls, high speed nylon cage ,
single removable non-contact seal, P5/Abec5 grade, C3
radial play, lightly lubricated with free-running grease 
1195341

What makes a good skate bearing?

Abec rating? Lubrication? Seals? Cage/retainer? The answer is all of these. The problem is that some retailers will throw a lot of jargon at you to convince you that their bearings are superior. You have to decide what is relevant but, not being a bearing expert, how are you supposed to know? As experts, we will try to explain in plain simple language in the hope that you will go away with a better understanding of what to look for. For more details see our technical pages.

Material:
Rings: SAE52100 chrome steel is the most commonly used steel for bearings because it is hard wearing. It will corrode so if you skate in the wet, clean the bearings after use to avoid rust (see the section on cleaning below). 440 grade stainless steel is slightly softer but will still last a long time as, even if you are very heavy, the bearings are designed to take much greater loads than you.

We do offer stainless steel as an option for those who like the rain and it should not corrode unless subjected to salt water/salt spray or certain aggressive chemicals. See Technical Data - Bearing Material).

Balls: Chrome and stainless steel balls will take high loads and speeds and are absolutely fine for skaters. Silicon nitride (ceramic) balls are much lighter than steel balls and about twice as hard. These factors reduce running temperature and minimise wear meaning longer bearing life. The extra hardness of ceramic balls means they are less likely to be damaged if debris gets into the bearing. If used with a small amount of low torque grease, bearing life can be significantly extended.

These hybrid bearings (bearings with ceramic balls) are capable of higher speeds too but higher speeds are not necessary for skate use. As they are lighter and generate less friction, they require fractionally less effort to accelerate and maintain speed. However, this will not be a noticeable difference compared with, for example, using a stiff grease in your bearings.

See more details on hybrid bearings at the Cerbec website.

ISO/Abec rating (tolerances/precision grade)
ISO ratings are expressed in millimetres whereas Abec tolerances are measured in inches (see Technical Data - Tolerances). These standards control the dimensions of the bearing such as internal and external diameters and width.

For example, the inner ring diameter (bore size) of a 608 bearinng is 8mm. If the bearing is P0 (Abec1), the inner diameter can be no bigger than 8mm but it can as small as 7.992mm. The smallest for P6 (Abec3) is 7.993mm, for P5 (Abec5) its 7.995mm and for P4 (Abec7) its 7.996mm. The ISO/Abec rating also controls the roundness of the bearing by limiting the amount of variation allowed on each inner or outer ring. The ISO/Abec rating does NOT control the looseness of the bearing. That is down to “Clearance” (see below).

To be honest, ISO/Abec ratings are way over-hyped in the skate world. The difference in inner ring tolerance between P0 (Abec1) and P4 (Abec7) is a matter of 4 microns or 0.004mm and none of the other components on the skate/skateboard would be made to such a standard. There are a lot of much higher precison applications in industry where P5 or P4 bearings would not be considered necessary. As for Abec9, there very few manufacturers in the world capable of making genuine Abec9 bearings and they are very, very expensive!

An improvement in smoothness can be achieved by selecting a low noise bearing (see “Noise Rating” below). However, many skaters seem convinced that the ISO/Abec rating gives a certain peace of mind so our skate bearings are genuine P5. There are factories out there who will stamp Abec1 bearings with “Abec5” and others who make bearings with high tolerances on the inner and outer diameters but won’t worry about smoothness of the raceways (grooves inside the inner and outer rings that the balls run in) or the roundness of the rings so making the whole thing a waste of time (and your money).

Speed
A standard bearing is rated up to a certain speed (according to the size). This can be increased by use of a high speed cage, a high speed lubricant, ceramic balls or, very slightly, by a higher precision grade. None of this is relevant here as you will never even approach the maximum speed of a standard bearing!! As an extreme skater, you may occasionally approach 2500 to 3000 rpm whereas the bearing will manage well over 30,000 rpm with a standard cage and over 60,000 rpm with a high speed cage. There’s a lot of talk about fast bearings. They are all fast. Its about how freely they spin so what is much more relevant is torque or drag (see below).

Torque and drag
Bearing torque relates to the amount of force required to rotate a bearing from rest (starting torque) and to keep it running (running torque). With skate bearings, this turning force is your weight acting on the skate causing it to roll downhill or you pushing off on your board to accelerate. Starting and running torque figures for a bearing are influenced by a number of factors such as raceway roundness and smoothness; seals; lubricant and cage.

Obviously, a bearing with a very stiff grease and tight seals will be harder to turn due to lubricant drag and seal drag and will not allow your skates to roll freely. Less obviously, a cheap bearing will not spin as freely because it is not as round although you would need a bearing torque tester as the difference is too slight to feel by hand. A bearing with good roundness and surface finish on the balls and raceways requires less effort to rotate.

The choice of seal is important. Non contact seals do not drag on the inner ring as contact seals do so do not increase bearing torque. As for lubrication, the difference in drag between low torque grease and a light oil is very small. Skate bearings do not need to be oiled to run freely with you onboard. You may notice the difference when you spin the bearing with your finger. This is because lubricant drag with very low load, turning force and speed is much more noticable. However, when you’re actually skating with the right bearing, there are only a few grammes/cm difference in frictional torque. The difference is even less once the bearing has been running for a short time as the grease warms up and gets softer. See the section below on lubrication for more on this.

Cage/retainer
A good all purpose steel cage is fine for skate bearings. We use a high speed nylon cage simply because, although it does have better sliding characteristics and slightly better low noise performance, it is more forgiving if the bearing is contaminated with dirt or being used with inadequate lubrication which may be important if your bearings are overdue for cleaning and relubrication. The stainless bearings have a stainless steel cage.

Seals
Bearings can be supplied with metal shields to keep out larger particles of dirt or rubber seals (sometimes called contact seals) which will stop dust too.Metal shields will allow small particles of dirt into the bearing. Contact seals rub on the inner ring of the bearing to create an effective seal but greatly increase bearing drag which is not great for skate use.

A better solution is the non contact seal. This design gives better protection than shields but without the drag caused by normal seals. Finally, as they are only a push fit in the outer ring of the bearing, non contact seals can be easily removed and re-fitted when you clean and relubricate the bearing. IMPORTANT - the 688 micro skate bearing has one seal. When the bearings are fitted, the seal should always be on the outside of the wheel.

Noise Rating
Bearing rings and balls are not perfectly round and the balls and raceways, even after extensive fine grinding and polishing, are not perfectly smooth. These machining/grinding imperfections cause extra vibration. Our skate bearings are EMQ grade which means they had additional noise testing after production and only the lower noise P5 bearings were selected. These have better roundness and smoother raceways which means a smoother running and lower torque bearing.

Clearance
The internal clearance of the bearing relates to the space between the balls and the raceways. A bearing is designed to take mainly radial load (vertical load on skate bearings) and some axial (side) load. The clearance on our skate bearings is slightly larger than standard and designed to allow the bearings to take a greater side load when needed.

Lubrication
Correct lubrication is vital to keep the inner surfaces of the bearing from getting too hot. A lack of effective lubrication greatly increases the rate of wear and deformation. The most effective lubrication for a sealed or shielded bearing is grease. Oil is often used in bearings but normally where rotation is very slow or where it possible to continuously lubricate the bearing with, say, an oil jet or spray. Oil does not stay in place for long and will quickly leak away from the contact area between balls and raceways. Grease is simply an oil mixed with a thickener to keep it in the right place. It normally creates more drag than oil but only slightly more if the grease is low torque (free-running) and the amount used is quite small. Low torque greases are based on low viscosity oils and often work well in low temperatures as they do not stiffen up too much in the way a high viscosity grease would. Grease can also help to seal out dirt.

The lubricant in our chrome steel 608 type skate bearings is manufactured by Klueber who make a range of high grade lubricants for some of the most demanding applications in industry and aerospace. “LDS18 Special A” is a high speed, low torque grease. The grease in our stainless steel 608 type and our 688 type mini skate bearings is also a high speed, low torque grease made by Kyodo Yushi of Japan. They both contain hard wearing lithium which is more than tough enough for skate conditions. They possess good water resistance, useful for skating in wet conditions (stainless steel bearings recommended). A standard amount of grease for a ball bearing is about 30 percent of the internal space of the bearing but we have reduced this to 20 percent. This means minimal drag on the bearing while giving very effective lubrication. We offer tubes of grease for those who want to clean and re-grease their own bearings.

Light oils are used for bearings in sensitive instruments where the force acting on the bearing is likely to be very small and sensitivity to tiny movements is vital. Oil is not normally recommended in skate bearings. However, if you are a serious racer over short distances and a split second makes a difference to your performance, a couple of drops of synthetic instrument oil in a bearing instead of grease will give very little resistance but will only give a small reduction in rolling resistance over our low torque grease. If this is your type of skating, we can provide the bearings with instrument oil on request. We can also supply synthetic instrument oil in small bottles for relubrication.

Some skaters use bearings “dry” (no lubrication). This will (very slightly) give the lowest resistance but much faster abrasion as the balls and raceways are unprotected. There is also a greatly increased risk of corrosion with a chrome steel bearing as the exterior surfaces are protected by oil when packed at the factory so if you insist on running them dry, you might consider wiping some protective oil on the exterior surfaces but take care to use it sparingly so as not to get any inside the bearing. Again, unless you are a sprint racer and a fraction of a second makes a difference, use a lubricant.

PTFE spray lubricants are favoured by some skaters as these bond well to the bearing steel and are easy to apply and this type of lubricant is fine for skate bearings. We use a wide range of lubricants for many specialist applications from underwater use to vacuum use. Skating is not a specialist application so many lubricants will do a perfectly good job as long as you avoid the thick, high viscosity ones. Just don’t be fooled by the finger spinning test. A cheap bearing with no lubricant will spin much more freely than a good quality greased.steel bearing in the “finger test” but the cheap bearing rings are not as round and the raceways (grooves) are not as smooth. With higher speeds and higher loads, the cheap bearing has much higher vibration levels and the vibration causes much more drag than a low torque grease in a quality bearing. That is why the “finger test” is very misleading.

Learn more about Klueber at www.klueber.com or Kyodo Yushi at www.kyodoyushi.co.jp/eng/

Packaging
Bearings are precision engineered components and secure packaging is important to keep them from being damaged in transit and prevent contamination. It should also be cost effective. You should pay for the bearings, not the packaging so we do not supply our bearings in fancy tins.

Cleaning and Regreasing
In order to make bearings last longer, they should be kept clean. In skate conditions the bearings are often subjected to dirt and dust so, to save yourself money, you can perform regular bearing maintenance to remove dirt from inside the bearing and replace any contaminated grease. REMEMBER - dirt in the bearing usually means damage to the surface of the balls and raceways. Cleaning is unlikely to restore the bearing to its original state but it will prevent further damage (until more dirt gets into the bearing).

Checking for wear
Its not difficult to to check your skate bearings for wear. Over a period of usage, wear will cause flaking or spalling of the raceways and fine particles of metal will break away. This causes increased roughness in the bearing. At this point the wear will accelerate as the metal debris scores and dents the balls and raceways. This process is greatly speeded up by any dirt that has worked its way into the bearing. If you hold the bearing’s inner ring between a thumb and finger and then turn the outer ring with your other hand, you will be able to feel a roughness or grittiness if the bearing is worn. OK, this may be due to dirt in the bearing so if the roughness is still there after cleaning, the bearing is due for replacement. Worn bearings often feel rougher after cleaning because grease has a dampening effect.

Seal removal
As mentioned in the section on seals, the non contact seal can be easily removed with a thin blade such as a Stanley knife, a trimming knife, a small screwdriver etc. CAREFULLY slide the tip of the blade between the seal and the inner ring taking care not to damage the seal. Push the tip just under the seal (but not too far as you don’t want to catch the bearing cage!!) then gently prise the seal out. The outer lip of the seal sits in a groove in the outer ring of the bearing.

Lubricant removal
It is important to clean the old grease (or oil) out as this may contain particles of dirt or grit which have an abrasive effect on the ball and raceways. The grease can be removed by soaking in a solvent such as white spirit. Agitating or spinning the bearing in the solvent will help speed up the process. You may need to dip the bearings and re-spin a few times to remove all the old grease. The bearing will spin freely if its clean. It will save you money if you filter the solvent through a lint free cloth to remove larger dirt particles and grease solids during the cleaning process rather than using fresh solvent as soon as it gets dirty. You can spin the bearing to remove most of the solvent and place on a clean surface to dry. If using a flammable cleaner, make sure you keep well away from any flames or other possible sources of ignition and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you ever use petrol/benzine/gas (depending on the country you live in) due to the risk of fire or explosion. You must always allow the solvent to fully dry off before re-lubricating or the solvent will break down the lubricant. 
You can use WD40 to clean the bearing but you should clean the bearing in solvent before regreasing as the remaining film of WD40 will stop the grease from properly adhering to the inner surfaces of the bearing. Bearings can also be cleaned with a water-based degreaser but they will need a final rinse in water to remove the degreaser. Care must be taken to remove any remaining water quickly from chrome steel bearings or they will rust. This can be done by immersing in oil or spraying thoroughly with WD40. The problem here is that you should then remove the oil or WD40 before greasing so adding another process to the cleaning procedure.

Lubricant application
Without the right equipment, it is difficult to regrease with exactly the right amount so guesswork is involved here. You want to fill roughly 15 - 20 percent of the internal space of the bearing with grease. It is better to evenly distribute the grease so work round the bearing squeezing a small amount between the balls on to the raceways (these are the grooves or tracks inside the inner and outer rings that the balls run in). If you use too much grease, don’t worry. It will make the bearing slightly stiffer and you can always carefully remove some of the excess. Once the greasing is done, rotate the bearing several times by hand to spread the grease around the raceways. If you choose to use oil, a few drops will suffice but you should also spin the bearing after oiling to distribute the oil evenly.

Seal replacement
The rubber seals can be refitted by pressing the outer lip of the seal into the narrow groove in the outer ring of the bearing. This is a snap fit and is done by hand. When you have replaced the seals, check that the bearing rotates freely enough. If it feels much stiffer, the seals may not be correctly fitted.

Protecting your bearings
To protect against corrosion, apply a light oil coating to outer surfaces of chrome steel bearings 

This is an awesome new creation by my friend max newton , not only an awesome skater but also someone who has created this brilliant idea of ‘ecoskate’ 

‘GreenwareBoarding’

We are an online eco lifestyle skate brand retailing the best products available at the very best price. We are in the process of getting products on the website.

Our mission here at greenware is to give that little bit back to the environment through Eco friendly clothing. Our products are made from organic materials that are sourced fairly and ethically. Every time you purchase one of our “ECO” t-shirts, you give that little bit back to the environment. We aim to get the best out of every product and to get it at the best available price.

MAX

http://www.greenwareboarding.com

smb bearings are an awesome bearing company from brize norton in the uk , these guys have been hooking me up with bearings for skating use , in the picture above on the left is a standard skate bearing from smb and on the right is the ceramic version . As soon as i used these i knew i liked them , they run super smooth and dont make no noises or rattles . The bearings are also pretty good at holding the water out if you decide to ride in wet conditions .I took a few sets of these bearings away with me on the euro tour , i wanted something decent for the world cup races and smb showed me the way. The ceramic versions i especially love as the smoothness of the bearing is at a super high level , no noises and no nonsense from smb again. its hard to say if there is a speed difference between the ceramic and the standard either way i couldnt tell but you know the quality is much higher in ceramics.There super kool bunch of guys have definatly created a brilliant bearing and i hope that other skaters from the uk and even global try these bad boys out , because i gurantee once these bearings are in your wheels ,youll be riding faster!

Aaron

www.smbbearings.com

Switzer Wins Kozakov

Patrick Switzer on top of the Kozakakov podium flanked by Jackson Shapiera & Jakob Raab.  Photo Dave Kessler Kozakov, Czech Republic- Patrick Switzer from Ontario, Canada stormed to victory in today’s Kozakov Challenge Downhill Skateboarding final.  Jackson Shapiera from Australia was second while German Jakob Raab who is virtually unknown outside of Europe earned the final podium spot in third. James Kelly was fourth.

The Consolation Final was won by Sebastian Hertler from Germany placing him in fifth. Canadian George Mackenzie was sixth.  Maryhill winner Ramon Konigshausen from Switzerland was seventh and World Champion slalom racer Dominik Kowalski from Germany was eighth.
 
The Kozakov rider’s tent was the focal point for much of the weekend.  Photo Dave Kessler
The entire race weekend had been hampered by rain.  Practice on Wednesday morning was delayed by four hours due to rain.  Due to the high speed, sweeping corners on the top and bottom of the course where speeds in excess of 110 km/h are routine, the organizers would not allow riding under wet conditions for safety reasons. Thursday’s scheduled practice and first qualifying run were completely canceled due to severe wind, thick fog and more rain.

IGSA rules state that in the event that timed qualifying is not possible all riders should “Pea-pick” for their starting positions and that all riders must be placed into a bracket.  With 141 riders registered in Downhill Skateboarding alone, this would have required a racing bracket for 256 riders.  Such a bracket does not exist and would not be possible to complete given the limited time available.  The rule book goes on to say that in the event that there are too many riders, the next option is to place the riders in the bracket based on their finishing positions in the previous years IGSA World Rankings.  Neither of these options were very appealing and there was still a very real threat of rain on Saturday.  The complete cancelation of the event was a distinct possibility if the rain would not subside.
 The rider’s tent was packed each night.  Photo Dave Kessler
On Friday morning, IGSA Officials Marcus Rietema and Norman Kinnish approached the organizers with a plan to shorten the track by removing the fastest sections on the top and bottom.  The organizers agreed to the plan feeling the shortened track could be run safely in wet conditions.  Although it was still raining, the fog was lifting and the severe wind had subsided.  Finally after more than two hours clearing debris from the track, a wet weather practice session began at 4:00 p.m.

Patrick Switzer was the first skateboarder to make a qualifying run.  He described his run as “Mistake free and nearly perfect” setting a time of 1:32.359.  126 additional skateboarders followed Switzer making qualifying attempts yet no one could beat his time.  Shapiera was second, Konigshausen third and Robin Sandberg fourth.  With one round of qualifying complete, race organizers and officials could now breath a sigh of relief.  Fair brackets could now be created and in the event of more severe weather, final results could be generated if additional skateboarding was not possible.

After three solid days of rain, the sun was finally shining on Saturday morning.  It had not been possible to run Street Luge and Classic Luge qualifying on Friday due to darkness.  The start of practice on Saturday was delayed an hour while more debris was cleaned from the track.

Street Luge qualifying was up first and the full course would be used for the day.  Yvon Labarthe from Switzerland qualified number one followed by Will Stephenson from Great Britain in second. Austrian Michael Serek was third,  Mickel Echegaray-Diez from Spain fourth and Abdil Mahdzan from Malaysia rounded out the top five. 

Mickel Echegaray-Diez surprised many by qualifying #1 in Classic Luge.  Photo Dave Kessler
Classic Luge qualifying was next.  This time it was Echegaray-Diez earning his first number one qualifying position at a World Cup. Serek was second, Phil Champion from Australia third, Labarthe fourth and Pete Eliot fifth.

With qualifying complete it was finally time to start racing.  First up were the 8-13 year old Junior I Downhill Skateboarders.  Lenny Gires led a German sweep of the podium.  He was followed by Gero Kalb in second and Pedro Dederer in third.
 
Spencer Smith dominated the Junior II race.  Photo Dave Kessler
Next up were the 14-17 year old Junior II’s.  American Spencer Smith came back from a severely dislocated shoulder suffered a few weeks ago at Maryhill to win the race. Swede Fredrik Molin overcame his own adversity to finish second.  In the Semi-Finals he crashed heavily resulting in a deep gash to his knee.  Fredrik was able to still win his heat and transfer to the Finals.  After the race his knee would require five stitches to close up the wound.  Gabin Piton from France was third.
 
Katie Neilson earned her second consecutive World Cup victory.  Photo Dave Kessler
Women’s Downhill Skateboarding was the next race on tap.  With a final featuring Maryhill winner Katie Neilson and arch rival Rebekka Gemperle it was shaping up as round number two of the Katie and Rebekka show.  Unfortunately things didn’t quite work out for Rebekka.  In the final Katie took the lead followed by Marie Bougourd in second, Gemperle in third and newcomer Kari Havnevik from Norway in fourth.  As they approached the first corner Bougard who comes from France suffered speed wobbles and crashed.  Unable to avoid Bougard, Gemperle also crashed enabling Havnevik to sail by and earn second place in her very first World Cup race.  Bougourd would recover to finish third.  Fortunately Gemperle was uninjured in the crash.
 
Michael Serek on the way to his 15th IGSA World Cup victory.  Photo Dave Kessler
Dr. Michael “Flying Dentist” Serek earned his 15th IGSA World Cup race victory in Classic Luge.  The Austrian continues to dominate the class and is clearly number one on the IGSA all time World Cup win list.  Echegaray Diez was second, Labarthe third, Russel Naude from South Africa fourth and Pierre Hardillier from France fifth.

In Street Luge, Echegaray Diez earned his first ever World Cup victory.  Labarthe was second, Naude third, Eliot fourth and Michael Muller from Germany rounded out the top five.
 





The Pass: In the Semi-Finals Patrick Switzer was sitting in third place behind GOG team mates  Dominik Kowalski (right) and Sebastian Hertler (left).  Switzer decided to shoot the gap between the two riders (black leathers) while they were foot braking.  Once past he made a quick slide to check his speed and then went on to win the heat. 
Photo sequence by Dave Kessler
After a brief, five day break, the World Cup Series will return for round three in Insul, Germany. Practice and qualifying are set to begin on Friday.  On Saturday there will be more qualifying followed by a Repacharge (last chance) race. Final eliminations are set for Sunday.  We’ll have all the action for you here at IGSAworldcup.com.

Open DH Skateboarding Final Results
1. Patrick Switzer, Canada
2. Jackson Shapiera, Australia
3. Jakob Raab, Germany
4. James Kelly, United States
5. Sebastian Hertler, Germany
6. George Mackenzie, Canada
7. Ramon Konigshausen, Switzerland
8. Dominik Kowalski, Germany
9. Kyle Martin, Canada
10. Stefan Rufli, Switzerland
 

Women’s DH Final Results
1. Katie Neilson, Canada
2. Kari Havnevik, Norway
3. Marie Bougourd, France
4. Rebekka Gemperle, Switzerland
5. Dasha Kornienko, Canada/Ukraine
6. Lenka Salacouva, Czech Republic
7. Tamara Prader, Switzerland


Kozakov Jr I Final Results
1. Lenny Gires, Germany
2. Gero Kalb, Germany
3. Philipp Schickor, Germany
4. Pedro Dederer, Germany

 

Kozakov Jr II Final Results
1. Spencer Smith, United States
2. Fredrik Molin, Sweden
3. Gabin Piton, France
4. Oriol Galvez, Spain
5. Pierre Conan, France
6. Daniel Peterson, Norway
7. Henning Patricksson, Norway
8. Fredrik Wangsten, Sweden
9. Jens Dydland, Norway
10. Raul Clavadetscher, Switzerland


Kozakov Classic Luge Final Results
1. Michael Serek, Austria
2. Mickel Echegaray-Diaz, Spain
3. Yvon Labarthe, Switzerland
4. Russell Naude, South Africa
5. Pierre Hardillier, France
6. Helene Schmitt, France
7. Cedric Robert, Switzerland
8. Peter eliot, Great Britain
9. Joachim Lang, Germany
10. Georg Klotzberg, Austria

Street Luge Final Results
1. Mickel Echegaray-Diaz, Spain
2. Yvon Labarthe, Switzerland
3. Russell Naude, South Africa
4. Peter Eliot, Great Britain
5. Michael Muller, Austria
6. Jacek Ptak, Poland
7. Joachim Lang, Germany
8. Cedric Robert, Switzerland
9. Abdil Mahdzan, Malaysia
10. Alexander Frischauf, Austria

kozakov is over was a gnarly race , i made it into top 32 ,really happy about that as the competition was feirce , glad the rained stopped in the end ,next stop is almatrieb going to shred the hill ! then after that is igsa insul world cup in germany ! hells yeh!

Riptide bushing review

Right new sponsors riptide has hooked me up with some sick new bushings. The ones i will be reviewing are the APS™ (Animated Polymer Systems) bushings. These bushings by riptide are similar to venom bushings but with some differences. Bushings i have been testing so far are the 90a and the 85a, now the 90a straight out of the box are pretty damn amazing, i expected a lot but these blew me away, they have radial edges on them so they turn instantly no need to worry about breaking them in .These bushings feel a little bit softer than the duro itself maybe 1-2a softer, some of the range however i feel is harder than it says. As soon as i put these bushings in my board i could tell the difference straight away, they have an amazing rebound to centre, this for me is perfect in a bushing as there’s no sloppy turns just precision.

The 85a is another amazing bushing as i feel this is harder than it says which is also a good thing as running a softer bushing helps with control and gives more turn but also you still have that stability with you at all times. Again straight out of the box these bushings are perfect, i feel for me 85a is a nicer bushing for free ride its feels a bit hard than a 85a so i ditched my 90a and stuck with these.

Racing i would feel using a 90a bushing would be right for me , i used to run 93a for speed but now I’m thinking the 90a riptide bushing is perfect ,offers brilliant rebound ,great turn and if it’s coming from riptide you know your onto a winner already

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