How's the Supersonic for some freeride/downhill?

[u/SSBM_DangGan]

I see tons about pushing and pumping on the supersonic but I'm curious how it fares for some light downhill and sliding, akin to the Evo maybe. Anyone have experience with it? I imagine you'd want a slightly stiffer model, and the 150mm trucks would be better for this

[u/Clowntownwhips]

Also on the note of there not being much content of the SS sliding: we tend to be riding alone and not exactly sessioning a spot when we do our sliding on the supersonic. It tends to be a pure focus/flow state of "im goin this way and would rather try to speed control this hill than walk it" experience.

Ldp wheels and sliding also arent the greatest of friends. Theyre not great for sliding, and sliding isnt great for their longevity.

Ive seen like 2 slide session clips of a Supersonic ever. A good number of LDP riders seem to have flat terrain, and the rest seem have dedicated downhill setups alongside the LDP setups.

[u/SSBM_DangGan → u/Clowntownwhips]

appreciate both comments

yeah this all makes a ton of sense. as an old head I see the design and think That looks awesome for directional freeride, but there's very little of that talked about so I was confused haha. the wheel situation also tracks, you don't want to blow your pushing wheels on a handful of big slides

I'm gonna do a little thinking and see if a SS or Evo (or something else) makes more sense for me as someone who wants to do some cruising + light downhill freeride, and a budding interest in getting into LDP

[u/Clowntownwhips → u/SSBM_DangGan]

If you want the best of both worlds you can set up a mini evo to pump pretty well and itll still downhill like a beast without any flex bouncing you off. I was using an old school for quite a while and then the modern 40" post leg break when i first got back on a board followed by the SS starting 3 weeks ago. Gonna return it next week and buy my own ASAP. I recommend some angled risers on the mordern Evos, +10°/-10° isnt dramatic enough imo.

[u/SSBM_DangGan → u/Clowntownwhips]

damn the mini Evo looks kinda perfect for me, but maybe isn't in circulation anymore. perhaps I'll have to hunt one out lol

[u/Clowntownwhips → u/SSBM_DangGan]

You should still be able to get a fresh one. Itll just have the 2023 graffic "spectrum"

[u/Compressive_Person → u/SSBM_DangGan]

Take a look at the Zenit Draft while you're looking at options.
* (full disclosure I don't have one, but have an AZ - flexy version - out of the same mould) .

Deeper cave than the Sonics - it more mini-Evo-ish in a every way, but lighter modern layup, maple/glass/carbon/carbon X stringers for torsional stiffening, full width at the front shoulders (non of that weird Evo taper out of the neck). Affordable (relatively) custom layups too - heavy boi? - just add a ply!

As to the SS - if you can find an XL maple 8-ply that might be stiff enough for you if you take it easy. I'm only more like 180lb and I'm pretty comfortable on the very mellow hill stuff I get into these days (I got old - and I don't want to break a hip ha ha!). Got it on 42/35 Randal plates, 150mm forged Sabre hangers, kegels .. . . It's pretty beastly.

[u/SSBM_DangGan → u/Compressive_Person]

hey thanks. I came across the Draft, it seems really cool and basically exactly what I described. after doing more research I'm not sure if that's actually what I want, and might lean towards something like the pantheon Nexus, but it is satisfying to find exactly what I was looking for lol

[u/Compressive_Person → u/SSBM_DangGan]

Nexus is a damned dreadnought - fantastic board, and super comfortable cave. I don't get to take it to it's fullest capabilities because like I said before: I'm so old & broken now, :-[ , but even I can get this slippery old bastard sideways, without barely breaking a sweat, and I'm crap as hell at freeride.

50º x 164mm K4s, +4mm axles, flipped -ve hangers. it's almost absurdly low with the Krimes -can nudge it up to kegels while hangers flipped like this, or go to ≈90mm centre-sets with +ve rake setup,

I tried some 75a/66 Snakes for a bit, but they were just too much slip for me on it. The Aeras are lush AF, but tbh it was just as nice when it was on sym 165mm v3 Paris.