Author Topic: Another dutch bocker, and some might call this one insane.  (Read 2048 times)

Offline Raephen

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Another dutch bocker, and some might call this one insane.
« on: April 13, 2012, 11:39:28 AM »
Hi everyone,

My name is Ralph, 31 y/o and I'm from a quaint little (ok, maybe not so little) town up in the north of the Netherlands called Heerenveen.

Whie I'm not new to bocking, I still have a long way to go. I purchased a pair of Skyrunners in April last year, but I have to say the site I bought them from was a bit lacking in extra information about how to properly set them up etc. And then there is the kneebar and the bindings are rubbish. But I learned a lot of the basics and, what I've come to see as the best lesson: sometimes it's better to fall than to struggle to remain on your feet (well: hooves, I guess in this case.)

That lesson I learned the hard way: I injured my left knee in the first few weeks on the skyrunners, but kept trying. My left knee wasn't happy about that. So I decided to give my knee a rest, went on a short holiday in May and then life got in the way, and up until earlier this year, never bocked again.

I had some mods done to the bindings on the Skyrunners and while they proved semi succesful, the kneebar still annoyed me. No matter what I tried, the bugger still left my calves/knees wabbling all over the place.

I did notice, however, even when just trying to walk normally on my skyrunners, I started bouncing. No wonder really: when I bought them, I was arround 77 kg and the stilts are rated 70kg-90kg (on the stilts is a very nice 80 scribbled). so fast forward to now, and I'm arround 87 kg (+/- 10 kg in a year? I blame my age :P ).

While looking for possible mods I could make, I came across this forum and pro-jump.co.uk . The Pro-jump EXO CZ90's looked great, and while out of stock, they informed they could swap a spring and cobble a pair together. So I ordered that, and in after thought, ordered a pair of knee cuffs with the EXO's.

So since Tuesday I'm the proud owner of a pair of Pro-jump EXO CZ90 stilts. The calf cuff is great! Though I already have thought of one or two mods to make it even better.

But I have a problem: my left bock has a tendancy to land too much on the outer side of it's hoof. Is there any good way to set up the calf cuffs and or any other modification to counter this?

I had this tendancy on the skyrunners, too, and this may or may not have to do with why some might call me an insane bocker: I survived a close encounter between a van at +/- 80 km/h and me crossing the road on a bike in 1998. Resulting in a few weeks coma, maybe some light fractures and some permanent brain damage.

I got of lucky: walking down a street, you wouldn't notice it. It's just that some things take a bit more effort to do and to learn and master.

Regards from the NL,

Ralph / Raephen / possibly insane bocker? ;)

---
Quoth the Raephen: Nevermore.
The Bouncing Dutchman

Offline BitLord83

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Re: Another dutch bocker, and some might call this one insane.
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2012, 06:54:47 PM »
Welcome. Glad you're getting back into bocking!

As for your problem with your left stilt, you basically just need to adjust the cuffs by moving the bars, etc.

I'm not positive what you mean when you say the hoof is landing on the outside, but to fix crookedness like that you need to mess with the bars generally.

First, (with your stilt attached to your leg) loosen your calf cuff bars and move them left or right, whichever feels like it's correcting the problem, tighten them up, and try them again. Keep experimenting to see which way corrects what. Generally you want to move the bars in the direction that your foot feels like it's falling off of the footplate, so if the hoof feels too far to the right of center of your foot, and your foot feels like it's falling off the left side, then you move the bars (and therefor your leg) to the left a bit.

Another thing people overlook usually which can cause weird twisting problems with your stilts are adjusting each cuff bar up and down individually. Sometimes one will be higher than the other causing the stilt to feel twisted under you, and sometimes because of the shape of people's legs, one will need to be a little higher than the other. Just keep experimenting. It can be a bit time consuming and frustrating for a while, but once you really "get it" it's great having a good solid strait stilt.

Hope this helps. Update us with your progress!

Offline Jason

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Re: Another dutch bocker, and some might call this one insane.
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2012, 07:18:07 PM »
Hi Ralph and welcome to the forum

Bitlord has hit it on the head you need to adjust the cuffs

You probably have the same problem O do in that one leg is different to the other  :Cbiggrin:

The easy way to remedy this is to move the cuff towards the side you feel you are falling off (sounds wrong but works)

And both cuffs don't have to be adjusted the same as most peoples legs are different

Jason  :Hoofies2: :CGEEK:

Offline Raephen

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Re: Another dutch bocker, and some might call this one insane.
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2012, 09:22:28 PM »
Thanks for the warm welcome, guys.

Aye, from going over the forum I had already guessed fiddling about with the cuff bars was my best bet, but it's always good to have this confirmed by experts  :Csmile:

I already messed about a bit since Tuesday and found that for my left leg having the inner of the two bars almost pointing straight forward gave me the best results. My right leg doesn't really give a rat's ass about how they're fitted, as long as they're snug. Which I find amusing, though understandable: my left leg is the dominant of the two (Yes, I'm a lefty by nature), but ever since my accident whenever I stand still I shift most of my weight to my right leg.

Ah, why oh why did I go for the EXO's and not the EXO Pro's? Tweaking the cuffs would have been so much easier, lol!

Ah well, I won't be doing summersaults anytime soon, but I'll be happy if I get into a bounce / jog / run first.

Cheers!
Ralph
The Bouncing Dutchman