Here's a look back at the Street Luges I've built over the years. The historical value of this Street Luge building adventure is noted as the path to Tim's latest and greatest project ever, The NOREASTER Street Luge. I present to you the evolution of a Street Luge design.
Tim's First Street Luge ~ 1994
This is the original picture from 1994 and featured on my website from the very beginning.
I built this "rail type" streetluge right after seeing a street luge on TV. A very basic design, this streetluge would never pass a tech inspection (inadequate padding at the ends, for one) nor could it keep up with today's dropped designs. There was no headrest on this model because the shorter runs I usually rode allowed me to keep my head up without tiring. I used a pivoting shoulder plate which helped me to maintain my postition on the street luge, especially in turns.
A twin tube steel frame (from early "editions" of the skateluge, which I was already working on.) is secured under the belly pan for added stiffness. Note the footpegs. I determined early on that footpegs SUCK and this would be the only luge I build with footpegs.
The lessons learned from this project include the importance of "dropping" a luge to lower the center of gravity and the conclusion that footpegs aren't necessary to street luge. I had a lot of fun with this street luge, earning my high speed gravity scars with my first wipe out over 40 mph. Yes, I was riding without a leather suit and the resulting roadrash was a painful lesson even though I was wearing a heavy jacket. ALWAYS WEAR YOUR PROTECTIVE GEAR!
SPECS
- FRAME: 6061 aluminum square tube / welded steel double tube for stiffness.
- SEAT:1/8" aluminum with hardwood hand rails and closed cell foam padding.
- TRUCKS: Siesmic with "black" tension springs installed.(About 210 mm)
- WHEELS: Roadie Racers, nylon core, softish (80 durometer) 70mm diam.
(shown above with Xtreme Wheels SS) - FOOTPEGS are standard BMX wheel mount, SPEEDOMETER is inline skate type.
- NERFBARS are formed from standard conduit stock.
- LENGTH: 7' 7" (including nerfbars)
- WHEELBASE: 4' 10" (adjustable)
- WIDTH AT WIDEST: 15" at seatpan
- TOTAL WEIGHT: 28 lbs
I didn't make Street Luges for a long time after that. I was preoccupied with my family and my Skateluge project. The Skateluge went through its own evolution and growing as a sport unto itself. The Skateluge is my attempt to bridge the gap between the street luge racer and casual gravity sport recreation. In 1995 I set up a streetluge website: the beginning of skateluge.com. Then I made my first buttboard in 2003 and soon I was building Streetluges again.
the stacked laminate designs.
I got into Classic Luge in 2002. I played around with a bunch of designs and ultimately realized I needed to have a skateboard company "press" my shape into plywood. And that's what I did. I started selling the HAE Classic Luge on the 'net with moderate success. Then I started cutting up the decks with blemishes to build a new kind of streetluge. After a couple of tries and a whole lot of sawdust, the stacked shaped emerged and I was enjoying some high speed runs and discovering how much fun Street Luge actually is. I tried many different handle designs and liked the bar end cycle grips that were available in various shapes. I think I tried every one available.
SPECS
- BODY: Stacked 9 ply birch laminate
- SEAT: see above w/closed cell foam padding.
- TRUCKS: Randals - RII-B
- WHEELS: ABEC 11 FLYWHEELS - 90mm diam.
- Pegless design
- LENGTH: 62 inches (including bumpers)
- WHEELBASE: 51 inches
- WIDTH AT WIDEST: 12" at seatpan
(not including the side grips, another 4 to 8 inches) - TOTAL WEIGHT: 33 lbs
Fiberglass Part 1 ~ 2005
the Green Monster.
Now I was hooked. Making Street Luges is as fun as riding them. I was driven to find the cool shape. I started working with fiberglass. I was covered in foam/fiberglass dust for weeks. And soon the Green Monster was born.
A beast, the Green Monster dwarved all other street luges on the track. But it worked. I loved this ugly greenie but I knew there were better designs... I had to go SMALLER, SLEEKER and LOWER to the street.
SPECS
- BODY: Foam, plywood wrapped in Fiberglass
- TRUCKS: Randals - RII-B
- WHEELS: ABEC 11 FLYWHEELS - 90mm diam.
- Pegless design
- LENGTH: 70 inches(including bumpers)
- WHEELBASE: 54 inches (double front trucks)
- WIDTH AT WIDEST: 18" at handles
- TOTAL WEIGHT: 37 lbs
Fiberglass Part 2 ~ 2006
Failure and Success.
After learning about fiberglass from the "Green Monster" project, I had a vision of a glass-clad plywood design. I went to work building up a street luge with some flex. This is where I went wrong. As good as this luge looks and fit, it performed poorly in turns. Instead of applying the lean to the wheels, the board ate up all the force in the flex and stole away the steer.
Back to work on the flex free design. The result was my ultimate weapon. This new street luge had it all: sleek shape, low slung profile, great handles, slick graphics and HEFT. Yepper, this beast was built for the race track. This was the design I was looking for. But it took forever to make. Hours upon hours of futzing with the file and sanding myself silly. There had to be a better way...
- BODY: Fiberblass clad plywood
- TRUCKS: Randals - RII-B
- WHEELS: ABEC 11 FLYWHEELS - 90mm diam.
- Pegless design
- LENGTH: 58 inches(including bumpers)
- WHEELBASE: 47 inches
- WIDTH AT WIDEST: 18" at handles
- TOTAL WEIGHT: 24 lbs
NOREASTER ~ 2008
the Storm from the Northeast.
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