Dealing with vibration and the results of vibration has been an ongoing saga for me. In my area, there are not a lot of freshly paved roads, and since I prefer urethane over pneumatics, i have had to deal with some interesting issues as a result of all the vibration.
Losing screws is a problem that is easily solved with plenty of thread locker. You just have to remember to always use it no matter what. Just making a minor adjustment? Clean and reapply threadlocker. Major adjustments? complete rebuilds? poking around for no real reason? Always clean the area and reapply threadlocker. I like to use rubbing alcohol to clean my screws before application.
Hot glue can also keep things from rattling too much and coming loose. I like to a run a bead of hot glue across the seams of my charging port when i have to remove it and put it back. It has large threads and a slim nut that easily works its way loose after a while on the street. A little glue on the threads and a little between the case and the nut ties it down nicely. I also like to use it on the tiny nuts and bolts that hold my volt meter in place, and since iām running a metal box, i often run a bead along the seams of the end caps to keep things together just in case the thread locker fails and the screws start to back out a little. This keeps the aluminum plates from rattling against the steel threads on the screws which can act like a saw and start cutting through the aluminum.
Thick industrial adhesive two way tape is also pretty great for fastening things into your box or onto the bottom of your deck directly when just using a lid. It provides decent shock and vibrational absorption while also keeping your component securely in place. I canāt say Iāve ever had my battery pack or ESC come loose and flop around in my box and I only use two way tape to keep them fastened down.
But what about feet? My feet can can go numb after an hour of riding, so shoes are important. Normally I wear airwalk high tops, but iām probably going to either get some nice gell insoles or start wearing more cushy shoes like nike airs or something.
How do you guys deal with vibration issues when building and riding?
The topic of shoes is an interesting one! I might actually create a new topic on this!
I actually found the nike running shoes to be really comfortable for ridingā¦ the āmagicā foam they use to make the sole of the shoe is really good at dampening the vibrations.
One thing that I think could be developed to reduce vibrations is some specially designed truck risersā¦ Maybe they can be molded out of the same magic stuff nike use for the running shoes!
I think if you can effectively minimize the vibration entering into the deck from the trucks it will make a huge difference.
Both are great suggestions by Onloop. I have a few different boards with different wheels. Generally I know where Iāll be riding. My pneumatics are great for all surfaces though and I have no complaints on their rolling resistance with my matco tires.
Iāve been tempted to switch over to pneumatics but iām a little shy of the ride height and handling differences.
As far as shock absorbing risers, I have a set of somewhat squishy 1/8" risers that iāve tried but they donāt seem to mitigate too much of the foot numbing action. Hereās a link to some options though:
http://www.thelongboardstore.com/categories/risers/shock-risers.html
Maybe some thicker ones would do the trick? I think the secret to ride comfort may be in the shoes, but the secret to lower maintenance may be in a gooier shock riser.
Or it could even be in the deck. Most decks are layered veneer, like rock maple. But when pressing decks out of carbon fiber or fiberglass, the option to add in a layer of shock absorbing material might present itself in a number of ways, such as using different varieties of foam core.
For vibration bolts - I donāt have that problem too much. Since my main mounts are welded I donāt have to worry about that too much.
Iām not sure about my new bolt on. Iāll be testing it soon but I donāt doubt that screws will most likely become loose.
As far as the vibration on feet. I find putting less pressure when riding on your feet helps also closing your wider stance to a more closer stance helps on the front end of the board.
I also tend to hop off and walk my feet for a few seconds and that usually fixes the numbing issue. I just wait until my feet are able to relax a bit.
I also like to add some real soft 1/8th risers to absorb some of the shock.
I think comfy shoes would be key but I also think majority of happens to be stance and foot pressure/placement when riding.
Has anyone tried using stomp pads like you see on surf boards. Maybe set a board up with that instead of grip tape. Iāll bet that would make a difference!
A lot of numbness complaints are from foot/ankle weakness. Building the feet/ankle stronger allows the rider to relax more and shift pressure around to prevent hotspots. Same in regular skateboarding and most other sports.
I use them on a pump setup with dt poppys, they are great.
I bet they would be good for esk8 too.
Could be a problem with the motor mount, as they drop your board a little bit.
Roads and pavements where I live are really not good, the worst in terms of vibrations are brick paved paths and rough asphalts, and bigger and softer wheels (from 83mm 90a with hubs to 83mm 80a and belt drive and especially now w/ 97mm 80a) helped a lo-ooot! Also they help against gaps and small steps because I donāt have a kicktail. Ok the board is higher but I donāt pass 20mph so often, especially when commuting, Iāll be looking at abecs 97mm 75a to see the difference when I get some spare $$ and maybe a faster and lowe board when I become more skilled ^^. Also changing stance, going switch and repositioning the back foot help a lot.
