EQUIPMENT:
Slalom equipment is a little more specialized than some types of skateboarding.
Essencially it consists of:
TRUCKS:
A rear truck, that is stable, gives you the most traction possible and set at an angle
to make it turn as little as possible.
And a front truck, that turns quickly.
These range from 85mm to around 150mm hangers and are amongst the narrowest of trucks on the
market. Very soft bushings (khiro being the most popular, white) are used on the front and the hard end of the spectrum are
used on the rear.
WHEELS:
Wheels that are made of top quality urethane, with a good rubound and in duros (hardness)
that range from soft:78a to hard:89a, combinations of hard on the front and soft on the rear are normaly used, again for speed
at the front and traction at the back, these come in sizes between 62mm to 76mm diameters, but 65mm to 70mm is most common.
DECK:
The deck comes in various shapes and sizes, this ranges from 24" to 36" long and around 8"
wide.
They can be made very simply from birch or maple ply, some have fibreglass
added, and this varies up to the top class carbon and foam core decks.
OTHER BITS:
Wedges are used on most trucks, to tune their turning ablity, the front can be wedged
with the narrow end toward the front of the deck, this makes theangle of the kingpin more horizontal, the bigger the degree
of wedging the more the front truck will turn.
The rear can be wedged or de-wedged, this is that the wedge is also used with
the narrow end toward the front, but because the truck is fitted in mirror image to the front truck, it places the king-pin
more vertical, which in turn lets the truck roll, but stops it turning.
Proper fitting spacers are used in the wheels between the bearings and speed rings or
washers on the outide of the bearings on the axle to ensure the bearings run smoothly.
Trucks, decks and wheels, that are produced for slalom all
try to maximise traction, speed and stability.
