Well do you? I do, and so does Mutley, thats why we’ve decided to enter this yearsATBA-UK Downhill Championship!

So it was friday night, I was settled down on the sofa, i’d had a few beers, when suddenly my phone came alive -a text message. It was from Roger (Leapb4ulook) ‘Cheddar this sunday?’. I knew as soon as i saw it he wasn’t enquiring about my cheese eating habits, oh no , he was asking if i wanted to go and try out the downhill course for this years downhill championship……-

So after lots of text messages, and some facebook activity it was arranged. Roger as usual being very accomodating to Mutley and mines demanding family schedule, and agreeing to meet us at 7am.

I don’t know what sort of mental images a ‘Downhill Championship’ conjures up for you, but for me its battle hardened riders, racing down ridiculously steep tracks, on Nosno’s with massive wheels, at 40mph+ - but this is a very different downhill course. Essentailly it only covers about 500 metres in dense woodland, and its by no means the steepest thing i’ve ever ridden, but boy is it technical.

The start is a gentle slope, but has you weaving between the trees, desperately trying to control your speed in limited space, as the track steepens, it takes in a sweeping left hand turn, great for you ‘regular’ riders, but this weekend in very wet conditions almost impossible for us goofy riders to handle. The course crosses a track and funnels you past the ‘Cheddar cheese wire’ (see left of photo below) which Roger assures me will be covered in something soft by the actual event.

From here you drop into a narrow gulley, which is maybe 75-80metres long, full of obstacles, big rocks, branches etc, before giving you an exit which is just about wide enough for the board. Once out of the fast gulley, your onto part of a mountainbike track, weaving through the trees again for a short time before turning sharp left onto the ‘finish straight’ - basically a fast, steep track, which should make for some dramatic finishes.

Now that all sounds great, but when you bear in mind that me and Mutley have only been boarding for just over a year, well, lets just say it wasn’t pretty. It was the toughest thing I have ever ridden, not just from a technical point of view, but the sheer physical exerction required to control your speed, and make turns in the trees was ridiculous, we literally had to stop at least twice to get our breath on the way down!

The weird thing is that when we got in the car to go, we both decided that entering the comp would be a good thing. Hey we will probly come last, but if competing pushes my riding to the next level i don’t care, if i can make it down the course cleanly, i’ll be happy.

To get a better idea of the track check out this video - shot when the track was built earlier this year.

ATBA-UK Downhill exploration from Woodie Wright on Vimeo.

I can’t wait to get back to Cheddar, we are hoping to get some more lines in for the less experienced riders like myself, which is what i liked about it, like so many aspects on Mountainboarding the guys organising the event are keen to make it accessible to everyone. So if your not sure if your experienced/skilled enough for a comp why not give it a go - it can only make you a better rider.

Check out the ATBA site for event info.

Join in on the discussion in this thread

Kirkman who has won multiple World Championships(UK) and made multiple television appearences is also considered by many to be the best mountainboarder in the world.

Thanks to inflated hype caused by websites such as atcproductions and surfingdirt our boy Tom is usually treated like a rockstar every where he goes and prefers to not be seen in public with this guy:

It is also rumored that Tom may have signed a pack with the devil back in 2002 in exchange for some “Mad Mountainboarding Skills” but that has yet to be proven.

The new MBS TK PRO 100 not only sports some of the nicest graphics we’ve seen on a mountainboard, sick new all metal trucks, but also some other features that are still being held under wraps by the boys at MBS.

If you want to find out more of what people are saying about the new products check out these related threads:

A REALLY close look at the new 2010 MBS Trucks

Tom Kirkman Pro Model Revealed

The new shape of MBS

Looks like TK isnt the only name on a board this year(Jereme Leafe Pro)

Did ATCproductions erringly give us a glimpse of the new rumoured TK Pro Model from MBS? It sure seems like it,  whether on accident or on purpose somthing was shown.  Check out this screen shot from the ATC Productions latest edit “WE GOT RAILS”:

If you watch the video closely its pretty clear that the board he is riding is about the same length as the Pro100 but obviously not a Leon Pro as this is no paint job we’re looking here.

Watch the vid and you judge.

Could it be the TK Pro Model? Were ATC Productions directly involved in the graphics? Will it have a stick man sticking french fries up his nose on the bottom or a baby with a large body? Is there a direct link between the color of this hoodie and the board? Is this baby TK’s illigitimate baby?

Join in the conversation by clicking HERE

Team Nielegal would like to invite you to check out the mountainboarding trailer i.e. audio-visual expression filmed and founded on the occasion of downhill Master of The Hill contest in Poland this last year.

This time around we present you an experimental fusion of DJ’ing and extreme sports. This is the first project of its kind in Poland, where image, where sound and extreme sports combine -bringing a breath of fresh air…..

The film contains a soundtrack recorded and scratched by the Polish turntable group - 13Crew, which includes DJs: O2ld, Drapol, Kielon and Lolo.

They are currently stationed in the town Tricity, where they engage in producing their new album. In the meantime they are running hip-hop and funk events in the best clubs while working with many artists on separate musical projects. DJ O2ld is responsible for the beats, DJ Drapol, with the help of DJ Lolo, for the scratches.

Material carried out by a Team ‘Nielegal’ is once again supposed to raise the bar in comparison to the previous production.

Mountainboarding started developing in Poland in 2002. Since then the number of places to ride has increased significantly, as well as the number of riders and competitions held each year. Master of the Hill is currently the largest contest and - as rated by pros - a hard one. This is surely an incentive for many. We continuously work on reaching the widest number of people in Poland possible.

As ‘Nielegal’ we have been an active presence in the mountainboarding business for several years. We have been engaged in production of various promotional materials such as photos or videos as well as helping creating the whole idea of the “Master” contest.

We know only one effective recipe for success for this brand new sport in the country and that is having fun and sharing positive emotions with others. The more things occur in that sphere and the more people share it, the more people will start mountainboarding.
We also want to show the sport from different angles - fast and slow, diabolical and divine at a same time. We are simply experimenting and since mountainboard is a malleable and graceful material it can be shown in a lot of ways.

Enjoy the show:

http://www.vimeo.com/8323615

Master of the Hill 2009 the movie from nielegal on Vimeo.

We hope that such creative collaborations will motivate artists from different fields to connect and join together in projects influencing the development of this sport!

We look forward to your feedback!

Nielegal Crew

Leave a comment or join in on the discussion by clicking HERE

Original Post by Parker Bomar. Click HERE to join the discussion.

HUBS

P = plastic
M = metal
H = hybrid

Mankhick hubs x4 = 1200g M
Mbs Trispokes x4 = 936g P
Flame cryptics x4 = 820g P
Trampa superstars x4 = 750g H

GI terrainulas x4 = 726g M
Mbs rockstar pros x4 = 678g M
GI crosshairs x4 = 635g P
Trampa hypas x4 = 620g P
Mbs rockstars x4 = 550g P
Primo Tri-spoke Hubs x4 = 540g P
Mbs twistars x4 = 504g P
scrub 5 spoke x4 = 848g

TRUCKS

~ = spring trucks
(s) = skate
[ ] = torsion cubes
^ = Vector
0 = tube style trucks

Mbs matrix x2 = 2014g ~
scrubs channel x2 = 2000g ~
Anarkite trucks x2 = 2000g 0
Revo trucks x2 = 1950g 0
Trampa infinity x2 = 1940g ~
GI Bionic Springs x2 = 1904g ~
GI bionic Cubes 09/10 x2 = 1814g [ ]
Mbs matrix lite x2 = 1714g ~
Trampa vertigo x2 = 1700g ~
Flame Torsion x2 = 1600g [ ]
Mbs vector x2 = 1560g ^
NoSno Standard Aluminium = 1500g (s)
Mbs vector pro x2 = 1416g ^
Mbs ats x2 = 1350g (s)
GI skate x2 = 1270g (s)
scrubs skate x2 = 1236g (s)
Mbs ats pro x2 = 1132g (s)
GI skate hollow x2 = 1088g (s)
GI titanium skate x2 = 906g (s)

Lightest skate = GI titanium skate x2 = 906g
Lightest Vector = Mbs vector pro x2 = 1416g
Lightest torsion = Flame Torsion x2 = 1600g
Lightest spring = Trampa vertigo x2 = 1700g

Grip Tape

Trampa tape x2 = 436g
Grip tape x2 = 50g

Bindings

R = ratchets
C = Camlock
V = velcro

Flame Ratchets x2 =624g R
Flame Velcro x2 =600 V
GI talons x2 = 566g R
GI freestyles x2 = 566g R
GI Raptor bindings = 530g R
Trampa ratchet x2 = 528g R
Mbs F3 x2 =524g R
Mbs F4 x2 =500g R
Trampa velcro x2 = 460g V
Trampa hybrid x2 = 496g V
Trampa Camlock x2 = 474g C
Mbs F2 x2 =434g V
Mbs freeflex x2 =300g V

Heelstraps

Mbs Fx pro x2 = 424 R
Mbs Fx x2 = 400 V
Trampa Heels x2 = 180g R

Decks

Design Extreme - Genisis = 1200g
Cambello Pro Comp 25 ply = 1200grams
Design Extreme - 15° Deck = 1350g
MBS - Core 1 = 1356g
Cambello decks = 1526grams
MBS pro 90 1617g
Flexifoil - Airdeck = 1800g
MBS - Comp 90 (2007) = 1875g
MBS - Comp 6 = 1950g
MBS - Pro 16 Leon Robbins = 2000g
Trampa - 15° Kitedeck 12ply = 2200g
Trampa - 35° KiteDeck 12ply = 2250g
Ground Industries - Flight Light 100 = 2270g
Kheo Bazick = 2290g
Trampa - 15° Kitedeck 13ply = 2350g
Trampa - 35° KiteDeck 13ply = 2400g
Trampa - 15° Skate Deck Short 12 Ply = 2400g
Trampa - 15° Kitedeck 14ply = 2500g
Flexifoil - Flexdeck = 2500g
Trampa - 35° KiteDeck 14ply = 2550g
Trampa - 15° Skate Deck Short 13 Ply = 2600g
Trampa - 15° Kitedeck 15ply = 2650g
Trampa - 35° KiteDeck 15ply = 2700g
Trampa - 15° Skate Deck Long 12 Ply = 2700g
MBS - Comp 16 = 2750g
MBS - Core 16 = 2750g
Trampa - 15° Skate Deck Short 14 Ply = 2800g
Trampa - 15° Skate Deck Long 13 Ply = 2900g
35° Channel Deck 14ply = 2950g
Trampa - 15° Skate Deck Short 15 Ply = 3000g
Trampa - Flexifoil - Kava = 3100g
Trampa - 15° Skate Deck Long 14 Ply = 3100g
Trampa - 35° Channel Deck 15ply = 3150g
Trampa - 15° Skate Deck Long 15 Ply = 3300g
Trampa - 35° Channel Deck 16ply = 3350g
Trampa - 35° Channel Deck 17ply = 3550g

 

TIRES

Primo Alpha tyre & tube 8″ = 1500g
GI balistiks 8″ = 1350g
T1 tyre & tube 8″ = 1280g

Innertubes/pneumatics

9in x4 = 500g
8in x4 = 328g

Hardware

MBS Grab Handle = 104g
M6 x 30mm (inc nut and washer) = 10g
Axel Nut = 5g
Skate Truck Bearing = 12g
Truck Mounting Screw = 5g
Truck Mounting Nut = <1g
Binding Mounting Screw (short) = 4g
Wheel Bearing (6001-2RS) = 20g
Skate Kingpin Bearing (6000RS) = 19g
Egg Shocks (Yellow) = 7g
Maui Magic Mystic Grab Handle = 60g
Adjustment Screw = 11g
Adjustment Washer = 9g
Kingpin (Channel) = 62g
Kingpin (Skate) = 31g
Kingpin Nut (Channel) = 5g
Kingpin Nut (Skate) = 3.5g
Kingpin Spacer = <1g
Kingpin Washer (Skate) = 3g
Freeflex Post = 33g
Freeflex Nut = 4g
Freeflex T-Nut = 5g
Tri Spoke Hub Screw = 8g
Tri Spoke Hub Nut = 2g
Rockstar Hub Screw = 4g
Rockstar Hub Nut = <1g
Tophat-Top = 7g
Tophat-Bottom = 7.5g
Bottom Tophat Screw = 2g
Truck Mounting Screw = 5g
Truck Mounting Nut = <1g
Binding Mounting Screw (short) = 4g
Wheel Bearing (6001-2RS) = 20g
Skate Kingpin Bearing (6000RS) = 19g
Spring = 58g
Egg Shocks (Yellow) = 7g
Kheo Bazick Foot Pads = 190g

If you have a question or comment please join in the discussion by clicking HERE

We’ve been quite lucky lately really. This may be an odd concept considering the recent loss of 90% of our boarding grounds due to unfair restrictions placed upon us by the land owners. However this has not been a hindrance but more of a catalyst for our exploratory natures to search out new runs.

This weekends run was a spur of the moment expedition to Wales. Wales like Gloucestershire, is blessed with some fantastic geography however they actually have mountains. This is something GoofyMark and I have often joked about – the lack of mountains in mountainboarding. When GM mentioned a trip to an actual mountain I obviously became quite excited.

The night before boarding was peppered with the usual crying babies, dreams of boarding and hourly wakeups in case it was time to go! Eventually the alarm confirmed zero hour (actually 5 o clock) and I leapt from bed and raced downstairs faster than my daughter on xmas day. I packed up my bag and checked the deck just in time before Mark arrived.

The journey consisted of the general mix of boards/components that we wanted past rides, New runs etc..
It was halfway through one of these conversations as we were nearing the end of the journey that hills started to come into view and GM says… Ah….
I can kinda see what he’s ah’ing at. The Peaks of the hills that weren’t hidden in clouds were white, with snow. By the looks of them I was thinking GM may have regretted leaving his 9’s at home. The closer we drove toward the base of the mountain, the more the snow built up on the sides of the roads. Luckily all the roads except for the odd patch of ice had been cleared.

Eventually the mountain came into view and it looked sweet. A white mountain with swathes of darker forest patches down the sides.
We started to pad up in the frosty welsh air. GM carries two spare Twistars with tubes and tires in case the Rockstar Pros get a puncture. This is damn lucky; as we were loading them into the backpacks GM noticed he had a flat on his deck. After changing the wheel and inflating the wheel he got to be lucky all over again because the Twistar had a puncture!

Third wheel on the 16, and we began the walk to the base of the run. The road up to it was like a sheet of ice. Even to walk on it was slippery and we commented how we wouldn’t be boarding back down this bit.

Reaching the run I had a good chance to look at the 6km fire track we were going to attempt to board down. The snow had fallen quite heavily and ranged from 8 inches deep, to icy rocks which had been created from melting and refreezing snow. Luckily some tractors/4×4’s had been up the track and created boarding runs on either side of the track leaving a good central lane of snow and ice for scrubbing. We began the long walk to the top.

It was really difficult to resist the urge to try the run as we were walking up however due to the snow we did periodically test the surface to ensure we didn’t sink in too deep.
On the walk up we noted several side runs which all looked amazing in addition to the main run we were on. Plus there were runs which we called ‘Roger runs’ which are only suitable for leapb4ulook!
Unfortunately just over a third of the way up we reached a point where the tracks in the snow split off and the snow made it impossible to board from any higher so we strapped in for the ride back down.

The ride down was amazing. It started slow due to the snow. This was a good point as it allowed us to get used to the snow and compensate for the varying surface. As we sped up the surface began to get interesting. Smashing through the odd block of snow which had fallen into the track and struggling for grip on the cambered edges. The path weaves down through open parts where the snow was thicker then under canopies of trees where snow had melted from the branches and refrozen as ice on the floor. Every now and then the boards would snake under our legs and you had to fight for balance. Luckily you get rewarded with a nice surge of adrenaline at these points which slows down time enough for you to get back in the centre of the board before hitting the next icy obstruction. By the time we got to the bottom the concentration had frazzled my mind and my legs ached from controlling the board. We both decided this track will be mental when the snow melts!

We returned back up to the middle of the run and tried some of the steeper shorter looking runs before heading back down for a final time. We headed back down a slightly different way and started boarding down a small icy track we found. Hopping at the sides of the track we were surprised at the grip and speed control that can be gained on Ice. It wasn’t until we got to the bottom that we realised we had just come down the icy track from the start of our walk!

Back in the car we both agreed that we couldn’t wait to go back and ride the full 6km when the snow melts.

Radnor , more like Rad Gnar!

More pics here

Hey thanks for checking the homepage, I was wondering when you would show up. If  you have more than 50 post on the forums and are the first one to make a comment on this post using the wordpress post reply option below I’ll hook you up with something useful. Make sure to PM me on the forums once you have posted.

If you see anything that needs to fixed or added to the main page please let me know.  Cheers and thanks for reading.

Chad

Low tire pressure (15-25 PSI)
Tight Suspension
Loose Front Binding

Nose Manuals On Flat Ground:

What you want to do is to hop into the nose manual, as opposed to gradually applying more weight to your front leg. The idea is to pull the wheels under you.

Get into the position you’ll be keeping during the nose manual, and then jump up a little while trying to position your front truck to where your front foot was before. That makes it so that you body is essentially still, but your lie on your truck instead of just your foot.

Keep your front binding loose and the back one tight. All the adjustment goes through your back foot, so it needs to be responsive. Opening up you front foot helps a lot too, that is give it more angle towards the front truck.
One last thing, the more you reach out in front with your front arm, the easier it is to get into the position and balance it.

Nose Manual on boxes(terrain park):

Jump the box and put you nose down and drag you front wheels so the get a spin and then start to work into putting more weight on your front foot.

The reason you do this is to find what I call the sweet spot. There is a point where your center of blanace (Your hips if your a dude and your chest if you a lady) holds true and all you have to do is keep it there.

Its eays to fall over your front truck but you can go into a push up and save yourself.

Sebew makes flat ground manuals look easy:

Tips from Devin Garland, Paul Johns, and some French Guy named Mikael

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