| Video Clips and Pics of Sliding There are currently very little video footage of sliding. The old Powell videos contains great short clips. I high recommend getting these videos if you want to learn how to slide. Bones Brigade Video Show - three sliders Future Primitive - sliding around corners Animal Chin - check slides Public Domain - Stacey sliding Gravity 'Flow' - great sliding footage To find out more, check my video page. ------------ Check out the following sliding clips on the net: supaflexbyug.com - sick French riders doing crazy slides gravityboard.com - check their video lounge (Cliff, Sergio, Brad) chrischaput.com - check under video solidskate.com - cool clip shnitzels' page - check out his video chasseursdecourbes.com - hot heels clip kkphoto.net - hot heels pics, sliding around turns wheelmanmike - mikez talk about sliding around corners mitch2k1.com/skid row - excellent pics of cornering Exposure Photographics - pics of skid row bomdrop.blogger.com.br - brazil angelfire.com/extreme4/jimblanco - venezuela speedmasters.cjb.net homepage.mac.com/sadas9/wired - japan |
| Cliff Coleman developed these downhill sliding techniques since the 70's in the hills of Berkeley. Many riders refer to the heel side slide as the 'Coleman Slide'. I was very fortunate to learn sliding from Cliff and other sliders in Berkeley. Be sure to check out the famous hills of Berkeley, and remember to bring those slider gloves. Read Cliff's interview by D.T. Cliff's Bio on gravityboard.com - link Thrasher article by Cliff - pic |
| Learn to Slide with Slider Gloves ! Sliding with slider gloves is a very effective technique for speed control, quick stops, and sharp cornering. Once you learn how to slide, you can ride steeper hills with more confidence, because you have the ability to stop quickly and ride in control. |
| Cliff Coleman |
| Deck. You can use a short board or a longboard. For learning, I highly recommend learning on a short board. The shorter decks pivot quicker and it is nice to use the kicktail for extra leverage and better control. A longboard swings more slowly with a bigger arc. Stiffer decks are also more predictable in their slide. Soft flexy decks are not recommended, they make the wheels release unpredictably. Wheels. You can slide on soft wheels but they don't allow you to slide far, they wear fast and some soft wheels are very unpredictable when breaking into a slide. For learning, I highly recommend getting a set of hard wheels. They are easier to learn on allowing you break into a slide more smoothly and predictably with less effort. Some examples of harder wheels: Gravity Super G 73mm 90a, 94a (cliffslider) Powell Bones Bombers 64mm 68mm 85a, 90a, 95a Abec11 Flashback 70mm 84a, 88a, 92a Abec 11 No Schoolz 65mm 94a, 96a, 98a Powell Mini Cubics (pic) For softer wheels that slides predictably, I like ... Abec11 Flashbacks 76mm Krypto Red 70mm Classic K in green 82a. Exkate Turbo Power Paws Hyper SuperMundo (pic) Be sure to rotate those wheels once they start to cone. (pic) |
| Slider gloves (pic) are basically plastic pads that are velcroed or glued to the gloves. The best material for this is UHMWPE, ultra high molecular weight polyethlene. It is the most wear-resistent of all plastic. You can get it at McMaster-Carr. Note, they have UHMWPE with rubber backing for easier bonding of velcros. I recommend using industrial strength velcro because it's simpler to make and the pads are easily replaced.. Check HughR's page, Chaput's page, or Toothless's page for details on construction. Here's links to slider glove manufacturers:: www.slidegear.com www.boziboards.com www.timeshipracing.com Safety. Slider gloves will help you slide in a fall, instead of rolling. They also protect your wrists. They are much better than standard wrist guards. Compare to others methods of braking like standing slides or footbraking, layback slides (aka coleman slide) are much safer to do. When one mess up, you will usually just end up sliding on your butt with no impact injuries. I highly recommend jeans or leathers when sliding. They are skin savers. |
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| Learn how to slide on the Sliding Techniques Page |