G ear for Cruise Power
Boards and gear for big board slides and walking tricks
Project Date: August 2002
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Gravity 54" Hardwood Classic showing grip tape pattern and reinforced tail strip
The board used in the Cruise Power shoot is a 54" Hardwood Classic made by Gravity boards. It's the same board I used for the classic style projects with a different wheel set up. I weighed the 54 complete at 10.7 pounds but it feels like more when you're sliding it because of the length.
Shown here is the 54 along with a 48, an older model. Gravity's latest model is 50 inches, which would be similar to the shorter board shown here. 48 or 50" is a little short for Cruise Power style, in my opinion. I'd like to be able to take two big steps on a longboard easily. Also I like the long wheelbase for this style because it means more resistance, which means more power and glide when it finally breaks into a slide. Plus a bigger board turns an ordinary slide into a challenging, wild looking maneuver.
Any flat, heavy, surf style board from 48 to 60 inches ought to be right. There are 72 inch boards, but I think at that length, a wide slide might become a nose slide. If you're really tall or big, that's your board length. Otherwise, go for the 54 or so.
Wheels and trucks
The trucks are Tracker B-2s. The risers are 1", tall non-angled risers. This stuff was stock for the Grav 54. Wheels are custom, Street Gs and Hollow Point 68mm 92 duro. For an easier slide, you could go smaller diameter, 62mm, and harder duro, 97, like the Gravity Snaps. You could also go with lower risers if you go with smaller wheels. You could try angled risers, for instance.
Truck adjustment is about the same as for my classic style. I use loose rear trucks, with some play around the bushings, and tighter front trucks. Once I get to the nose I like it to be less squirrelly. But you could loosen the front trucks too, for more looseness in your nose slides and turns.
Grip tape and gaffer's tape
Grip tape is left from my classic style custom tape job, and it's described on the gear page for classic style projects. This patchwork of grip tape gives me some traction at various stance points on the board.
Permacel P665 Gaffer's Tape, Nitto Denko Co.
Great force is placed on the tail from doing Cruise Power wide slides. I put reinforced gaffer's tape across the board about a foot from the tail. This reduces the possiblily of splitting the board lengthwise. The front, right where the trucks are mounted, takes a beating to a lesser degree, from doing Cruise Power nose slides. I also had tape near the nose for practice but took it off for the shoot. If you have a laminated board, I strongly recommend beefing it up this way.
I was prepared to split this board for the project, but it made it through ok. My 48 was not so lucky. When I first started doing the preliminary practice for my stand up slide projects in the summer of '01, I used 78 duro wheels. The concrete had enough smoothness to allow a slide, but enough grip to resist it and hold the soft wheels. Eventually I split the board up the middle. Take that as a warning, don't use stock soft wheels for this style, if you get into it.
Smaller Practice Board
My practice board is a 46" Classic Carve, made by Gravity boards. Currently I have on a set of black Gravity Snaps, 62mm, 97a duro.
Pads
Triple Eight wrist guards
I used wrist guards for this project. I did not use other pads. This Triple 8 is similar to Rollerblade guards and is the type of wrist guard that is most available. They are cheap, sturdy, and work fine.
A fall without padding I would have to distribute or "roll" onto two or three different parts of my body. These areas would all get minor injuries as a result, but the fall would be cushioned and no real injuries would be sustained. With wristguards, I can take the entire force of the fall on one wrist and save my whole body. My wrist doesn't even hurt, and my body doesn't get racked up. It works for me, and it should work for you unless you're very big or have frail wrists. If that's the case, you're going to have to take falls on two or more points and will have to pad those areas.
Traditional wrist guards have a tendency to bend your wrist back. I find that this screws up my hand and finger styling. In Cruise Power, the hand styling is pretty important, because it's based on a classic surf style. I did the best I could with the guards on. I could have used light gloves or no gloves, but I want to encourage people to use padding, even if it's light padding.
Recently I got into using Harbinger gloves which are a combination glove and wrist guard. The hands are much more free in these gloves. Check out the Cross Academy gear page for pictures and a discription.
Protection notes
There was some danger of impact in Cruise Power. The speed was moderate and I was riding facing backwards a lot, a potentially dangerous situation.
The biggest danger with any board walking style is you occasionally lose control of the board while walking and it shoots out from underneath. The most likely bad fall will be a backwards fall onto your butt. If you hit your tailbone (coccyx) that can be a bad injury. I usually make an effort to land on one side of my butt or the other, and not on my tail bone. A wrist guard can cushion that fall pretty well.
Another good piece of equipment to have might be a set of hip pads. I have some for park uses. They will cushion a fall onto the tail bone or hip bone. If you've taken a spill of that type that rattled your confidence, get some hip pads.
Another danger should be noted. This one can't be protected with padding. This style puts a tremendous strain on your whole midsection as well as leg muscles. For Wide Slides, I did extra warm up stretches for the waist and midsection, and did sit ups. It's kind of a straining, punishing style. Especially when you don't have the technique down enough to use the speed of the board to bring it around, and are straining your muscles to compensate. Use caution and common sense. Don't jump levels. Get slides wired on a shorter board first.
