Purpose built and designed freestyle buggy

[fat Old Whimp]

Its being designed with plenty of thought mate, its not just going to be heavy duty. Its going to be designed to be stronger than we've ever had before, and lighter too.

 

QUOTE]

 

So do you actually have something going on in the way of building a better buggy rather than a stronger and lighter buggy.

People over here are building some very cool buggies. link forks and and composites are becoming more common. A couple of guys are starting to use hard seats which means you don't have to use the old side rail frames which gives scope for a whole variety of new and wonderfull frames. Gannet's buggy with its carbon girder chassis, carbon axle and link fork is a truly amazing machine. I hope that your vision is not restricted to fittings and welding. A purpose built freestyle buggy does not have to look anything like a current one and it would be a shame if you went to all this effort just to end up with the same old thing.

[encona1599968593]

Its being designed with plenty of thought mate, its not just going to be heavy duty. Its going to be designed to be stronger than we've ever had before, and lighter too.

 

QUOTE]

A couple of guys are starting to use hard seats which means you don't have to use the old side rail frames which gives scope for a whole variety of new and wonderfull frames. Gannet's buggy with its carbon girder chassis, carbon axle and link fork is a truly amazing machine.

 

any pics for us mate, of what your fellas are making out there

[festa]

Coolest spot ever Ginge.

 

I see they left my face out of the promo pic... probably a good idea

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/frayz55/Powerkiting/Scoutad.jpg

 

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs084.snc1/5034_95112903182_652093182_1959491_5837031_n.jpg

 

 

nice helmet man where can i get one ??

[Junior]

you ever seen frayz ride normally mate? you know, when hes covered in padding and a helmet?

 

the guy knows how to buggy, it cant have been that windy as he's flying unhooked (and no doubt they would have been out on blades if it were!) and he's in a buggy with no lap belt, and no foot straps, suggesting he was only pottering about, and not for very long.

 

and honestly, i think the picture wouldn't have looked as good if he was fully kitted out with helmet and body armour. if it was like that, it would suggest the scout is aimed at advanced riders who buggy jump, whereas its not. it just happens that you can use the scout to jump too.

[fat Old Whimp]

 

any pics for us mate, of what your fellas are making out there

 

You should ask Gannet to put up a gallery of his work. Getting better all the time. I take iy you have seen the new PL stuff with the link forks. I rode that ultralight and it is sweet. Craig has been riding really well on it. Jimmy 22 should put some pics up as well. He has some nice gear. Most gear down here is getting bigger so alot of it is not freestyle gear.

That Ozone buggy is a nice piece of work.

[popeyethewelder]

 

any pics for us mate, of what your fellas are making out there

 

 

Popeyethewelder

[bear101]

Oh they are some cool looking bugs the composite freestyle one looks unreal. Only he snapped the rear axle, ouch

[Zotty]

nice helmet man where can i get one ??

 

BORE OFF!!

 

 

your sounding like my old man now lol

[AKTV channel 47]

at the risk of sounding dumb, i dont think leading link front ends would be good for freestyle. i like the direct feedback i get from the front wheel, and rubbers or springs would dull that feeling. just a personal opinion.

[frayz]

at the risk of sounding dumb, i dont think leading link front ends would be good for freestyle. i like the direct feedback i get from the front wheel, and rubbers or springs would dull that feeling. just a personal opinion.

 

Agreed, the leading link is too soggy and too heavy for a freestyle buggy in my opinion. I want the buggy to feel tight and responsive.

 

Yes the buggy is very much in the metal, all be it just components right now. But its very much there. I want the first time people to see it to be impressive and look finished as a proper product. I will post pics when i can.

 

@ Festa - Agree 100% on the helmet front.

 

However, in this situation we were asked to ride with the bare minimum of equipment on our person. These shots were done in very light winds, and as Junior has pointed out just to show the freedom of buggying at entry level. Just a kite and a buggy, golden sands and sunshine.

This is done as a marketing aid and nothing more.

[fat Old Whimp]

at the risk of sounding dumb, i dont think leading link front ends would be good for freestyle. i like the direct feedback i get from the front wheel, and rubbers or springs would dull that feeling. just a personal opinion.

 

 

 

 

Have you used a link? They feel great.

Edited December 10, 2009 by fat Old Whimp

[AKTV channel 47]

straight, strong forks with a headset that has bearings instead of nylon bushes. links arent needed in freestyle, freeriding maybe where terrain is bumpy, but as a freestyler i always want the smoothest, most uniform piece of terra firma to do my thing on making a leading link un beneficial to the buggy itself. for me it doesnt matter if the buggy looks just like the flexi buggy when it's done, as long as all the issues with the flexibug have been de-bugged. like the headstock i mentioned. seat, centre of gravity and so on.

if its something radically different that you are after then bespoke builds are what you are after (see popeyethewelder). but a bugatti veron of a freestyle machine on mass....awesome. AKTV are fully behind your project Frayz.

[Buggy PAUL1599968703]

we did a headstock mod for a flexibug using roller bearings it works well there is a thread on here but for some reason it wont let me put up the link stupid computer....

[fat Old Whimp]

straight, strong forks with a headset that has bearings instead of nylon bushes. links arent needed in freestyle, freeriding maybe where terrain is bumpy, but as a freestyler i always want the smoothest, most uniform piece of terra firma to do my thing on making a leading link un beneficial to the buggy itself. for me it doesnt matter if the buggy looks just like the flexi buggy when it's done, as long as all the issues with the flexibug have been de-bugged. like the headstock i mentioned. seat, centre of gravity and so on.

if its something radically different that you are after then bespoke builds are what you are after (see popeyethewelder). but a bugatti veron of a freestyle machine on mass....awesome. AKTV are fully behind your project Frayz.

 

I didn't realize you were so behind the times. I've had bearings in my headset since 1997.

Edited December 11, 2009 by fat Old Whimp

[Guest]

nice helmet man where can i get one ??

So every time you launch a kite you wear a helmet!! We are trying to get people into the sport, not put them off all the time! For freestyle stuff yes helmet in all shots, but general cruising up and down dosnt really require one dose it? Everyone is entitled to there opion but everytime theres no helmet allways the same!

[seitenschneider]

So every time you launch a kite you wear a helmet!! We are trying to get people into the sport, not put them off all the time! For freestyle stuff yes helmet in all shots, but general cruising up and down dosnt really require one dose it? Everyone is entitled to there opion but everytime theres no helmet allways the same!

 

Well, honestly I wear a helmet every time I lauch a kite. Even flying static in lowish winds I hit the deck and banged my head bad (actually I slipped on sheep droppings....). Each to his own I guess. For promo purposes I understand not wearing body armor, for myself I want it

[festa]

UOTE=Craig Sparkes;2097032]So every time you launch a kite you wear a helmet!! We are trying to get people into the sport, not put them off all the time! For freestyle stuff yes helmet in all shots, but general cruising up and down dosnt really require one dose it? Everyone is entitled to there opion but everytime theres no helmet allways the same!

 

 

right guys you lot have got me all wrong ere its not weather or not he wears a helmet! more that should the powers that be publish picys of people not wearing at least a helmet ! youngsters see this as the cool way to do it and then emulate what they see !!

 

as for me i do now wear a helmet after several attempts at finding a comfy one but i do advocate the fact that it should be a choice not a compulsory thing ! but if an example is set by the people in said publications then may be the youngsters will follow them instead !!

 

 

so i hope i aint got up anyones ass over this as it wasn't a dig more an observation of the publications

[jimmy221599968752]

i think a leading link adds about 400g to a 17 kg buggy so weight is not much of an issue, the rider could take a waz and make up the difference. There is a guy testing out the prototype leading link on a freestyle buggy , a pretty good rider, im awaiting his long term feedback when it goes public. I would never go back personally having actually used both rigid and leading link. The leading link is 000.5% of the riders weight , we have gone tubeless all round to compensate and have had a lighter buggy and leading link. The link is in contact with the ground a higher amount of the time so you can steer later on the up and earlier on the down, it also protects the frame. I have a hollow titanium front axle so weight is important to me too but i would never sacrifice the leading links weight to save weight there, they are too good

[bear101]

So every time you launch a kite you wear a helmet!! We are trying to get people into the sport, not put them off all the time! For freestyle stuff yes helmet in all shots, but general cruising up and down dosnt really require one dose it? Everyone is entitled to there opion but everytime theres no helmet allways the same!

 

I have noticed a lack of helmets in the PK mag lately. there was an issue a month or 2 ago when there were 4 or 5 pics of boarders freestyling with no lids even one with the boarder inverted with no lid. To be honest i think this is irresponsable of PK mag. On the subject of Fraz's pic i agree a lid would have been an over kill, at the end of the day he's wearing flip flops.

 

Its a great pic nice one Fraz.

 

Now to the buggy, Yeah the flexi buggy still hasn't got bearings in the headstock but most serious riders have sorted this problem. For a freestyle buggy I also think metal is the way to go a composite material is to much hassle. At the end of the day I'm no freestyle rider but the way i look at it is if the flei bug was so far off the mark then they would not have sold in such numbers. So if Fraz is building a buggy that takes the good from the Flexi and adds even half the stuff he has done to his buggy then it will be a better bug.

 

On a personal note I think you should all have to stay on the ground and cruise.

[AKTV channel 47]

The debate on wearing protection (and i don't mean condoms) seems to be hotting up. The "NO LID, NO VID" slogan is one that is at the forefront of AKTV's concerns. Our outlook on this is that we all know our own limits, if it's a low wind day and you know that theres slim chances of anything going wrong and you choose not to wear a helmet, why should you be penalised by not appearing in our awesome HD videos. it's a personal thing and here at AKTV we want as many of our riders to be in the videos. obviously if the wind is big and you intend to push your limits you know that the chances are that the risk of injury are significantly increased. i nearly always wear a helmet when i'm buggying, and if i'm going to be trying something different i'll put the body protector on and some knee pads, but like i said....it's a personal preference and if you decide not to wear protection it's at your own risk. our sport is i must remind you an extreme sport, and thats why we do it. but... theres no way AKTV will stop filming you because you're enjoying what you do. Plus if you do crash we get £250 off you've been framed lol.

AKTV channel47

[alanr1303]

The debate on wearing protection (and i don't mean condoms) seems to be hotting up. The "NO LID, NO VID" slogan is one that is at the forefront of AKTV's concerns. Our outlook on this is that we all know our own limits, if it's a low wind day and you know that theres slim chances of anything going wrong and you choose not to wear a helmet, why should you be penalised by not appearing in our awesome HD videos. it's a personal thing and here at AKTV we want as many of our riders to be in the videos. obviously if the wind is big and you intend to push your limits you know that the chances are that the risk of injury are significantly increased. i nearly always wear a helmet when i'm buggying, and if i'm going to be trying something different i'll put the body protector on and some knee pads, but like i said....it's a personal preference and if you decide not to wear protection it's at your own risk. our sport is i must remind you an extreme sport, and thats why we do it. but... theres no way AKTV will stop filming you because you're enjoying what you do. Plus if you do crash we get £250 off you've been framed lol.

AKTV channel47

 

Just thought I 'd throw in my opinions. The older members may "all know our own limits", but the younger generation may not and usually are aiming to push the limits.

Even in low wind conditions there is " a slim chances of anything going wrong", wearing a helmet can turn a life threatening accident into a minor bump.

Wearing a helmet and other protection does not stop kiting being an extreme sport. The extreme part is challenging the uncertain and often unpredictable elements. Increasing the risk of injury does not make a sport more extreme.

 

The easiest way to get kiting banned on a site is to have a serious injury, the authorities will rapidly react and the fact that the victim accepted the risks will not prevent a ban.

 

Sorry if I sound like a killjoy, but thats the way I see it

[Badger]

The debate on wearing protection (and i don't mean condoms) seems to be hotting up. The "NO LID, NO VID" slogan is one that is at the forefront of AKTV's concerns. Our outlook on this is that we all know our own limits, if it's a low wind day and you know that theres slim chances of anything going wrong and you choose not to wear a helmet, why should you be penalised by not appearing in our awesome HD videos. it's a personal thing and here at AKTV we want as many of our riders to be in the videos. obviously if the wind is big and you intend to push your limits you know that the chances are that the risk of injury are significantly increased. i nearly always wear a helmet when i'm buggying, and if i'm going to be trying something different i'll put the body protector on and some knee pads, but like i said....it's a personal preference and if you decide not to wear protection it's at your own risk. our sport is i must remind you an extreme sport, and thats why we do it. but... theres no way AKTV will stop filming you because you're enjoying what you do. Plus if you do crash we get £250 off you've been framed lol.

AKTV channel47

It is a shame that this has all blown up on Fraze's buggy thread (Mods: can you split the thread?) but I thought that I would add that I just watched a great wakeboarding competition on Sky Sports 1. High profile, big prizes, loads of skill and risk water. Every single entrant was wearing a helmet as required by the organisers.

 

I don't imagine that any of the sponsored competitors backed down and refused to compete because of this requirement. Regarding "why should you be penalised by not appearing in our awesome HD videos" I'm sure that the organisers of the wakeboarding event know that if they encourage someone to do something in front of a camera, they become at least in part liable if an accident occurs, so they have done their risk assessment and had to insist on helmets being worn by their insurers.

 

I don't know, but perhaps the same could apply to you if someone got hurt kiting whilst you were filming? But I'm sure that you have done the RAs and have appropriate insurance to cover you eh?

 

As a cameraman or photographer you do have some responsibility for ensuring safety of what you are involved in. In Frazier's case I am 100% confident that he did not need a helmet, but images like that it do make an impression on newcomers which is where the problem is. I've seen quite a few concussed newbies over the years who were no doubt influenced by the images that they saw in magazines.

 

Steve.

[shrimpo]

Needed kite in shot when me & Josh were choosing shot! Came out well though! Josh did a nice job on it!!

 

Handy we went down the beach on the last day!

 

Frayz always has a lid on normally, I think it's been said it was a chilled out trundle down the beach, probably did not expect a photo taken to make it to a promo Ad, and from what Craig says, it was the best photo of kite + Buggy they had, so used it.... Yes we should show the responsible side, with safety gear, but sometimes you have to go with the best shot, even if it does not tick all the boxes.

[frayz]

Frayz always has a lid on normally, I think it's been said it was a chilled out trundle down the beach, probably did not expect a photo taken to make it to a promo Ad, and from what Craig says, it was the best photo of kite + Buggy they had, so used it.... Yes we should show the responsible side, with safety gear, but sometimes you have to go with the best shot, even if it does not tick all the boxes.

 

Nail on the head!

 

For the record, this is me buggying day to day. You can see that every shot except the Flexi one i was wearing Bern lid, Dainese back protector and 661 knee pads.

http://forum.kitecrowd.com/buggying/freeride-buggying-one-year-170249.html

 

Back to the buggy...

 

Bearing headstock is already made up and ready to assemble. There could be the choice of bushes for those that want more friction in their steering.

I know Will and Dave both like it stiff.. (Ooooh Er!)

Edited December 11, 2009 by frayz

[Adamtoms1599968755]

just my opinion wind can change in an instant....

used to be my dream to be in an advert in powerkite, dunno if it is now

anyway enough said

Edited December 13, 2009 by Adamtoms