And now for something completely different
ravingfool - 12/8/08 at 12:14 PM
Nothing to do with cars but I thought some of you might be interested in my new toy which arrived this morning 
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And so you know, it's a dirtsurfer, which is a type of mountain board, only these are much more like riding a snowboard because of the single
line of contact with the ground like the edge of a snowboard.
Now I'm just waiting for my brother to get home from work so we can go try it out. (technically it's his board but I like to think of it as
ours, just I can't really ride it first on my own, that might be a little cheeky..)
eta* and the garden is far too small for this, nearly went through a patch of irises and into a very prickly bush as I thought a little test in the
garden would be a good idea.
[Edited on 12/8/08 by ravingfool]
02GF74 - 12/8/08 at 12:27 PM
ooh disc brake - hydraulic?
Shall I phone to prepare A&E now? 
and how long before some says put a bike engine in it? 
clairetoo - 12/8/08 at 12:33 PM
It's gonna end in tears 
ravingfool - 12/8/08 at 12:42 PM
Yes disc brake, but not hydraulic, it's cable operated by the calf lever, lean back into the lever and it applies the brake. Pretty clever
little mechanism.
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and how long before some says put a bike engine in it?
haha, I know those bike engines are pretty damn small but I'm still not sure there'd be enough room for one. I'm thinking what I need
next is a power kite or kitewing. But I'll wait till we get the hang of the board on it's own first.
Mountain boards always end badly for me, but that's half the fun, I've still got a nice scar from mountain boarding down a nice steep and
busy road near me when the rear binding broke free!
splitrivet - 12/8/08 at 01:14 PM
Wish I was younger and not as breakable as i am now I'd get one of them.
Cheers,
Bob 
twybrow - 12/8/08 at 01:20 PM
Always fancied trying one of them. I have the very big kite if you do fancy trying it out! Good luck!
iank - 12/8/08 at 01:26 PM
Put a chainsaw engine in/on it...
Looks like a lot of fun right up until you wipeout - hurts enough on snow.
Neil P - 12/8/08 at 05:12 PM
Does it have some sort of bindings?
Be parting company at the first big bump!
stevec - 12/8/08 at 06:18 PM
Can I have your Spleen?
skodaman - 13/8/08 at 03:34 AM
Just the place for a mid-mounted fireblade engine.
smart51 - 13/8/08 at 07:17 AM
Calf operated brake. Lean back when going too fast to slow down. Lean back too fast - jam the brake on. Be catapulted forward so violently you
don't have time to react - fall off the board forwards - releasing the brake - you hit the dirt - the boad hits you.
I bet you could fit a strimmer engine.
ravingfool - 14/8/08 at 09:10 AM
Ahoy, I've been without internet basically since I posted this topic the other day thanks to some local builders going through a main phone line
just down the road.
Dirtsurfing is fantastic, very easy to pick up, very fast and very intuitive - at least it is if you snowboard.
I highly recommend giving it a go, no big bails so far and we started on the steepest hill we could find, much like a bike, the quicker you're
going the more stable you are.
There are bindings Neil, which make it look a little more like this:
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And here is about the only half decent pic I managed to get on my phone, a nice action blur as my brother zoomed past me down the hill 
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Actually Smart, the calf brake is a really clever idea, as if you brake too hard or don't lean back enough to compensate for the braking,
obviously you start to go forward... BUT when that happens you come off of the brake which evens everything out. I still haven't got the hang of
braking yet because I don't lean back into it enough and I just keep coming off the brake and carrying on.
Thanks for the offer of the kite twybrow, a friend of mine a little nearer has a couple that we're going to try out at some point though.
[Edited on 14/8/08 by ravingfool]
