Bock without my Sock?

[RicochetBNB]

I should have my bocks either tomorrow or the next day I HOPE  !  But dunno if I will have the money yet to buy the tires and stuff to do all the tire armour yet.  So is it still ok to use them just a bit before I add that stuff?  I don't figure I will be too extreme for a while... if ever lol (but I'm gonna try after I'm confident!) -- may be the female Jason soon hehe  ?!? 

[Spud]

It is more important to protect your springs as a begginer than any other time. Most damage to the springs when you are a bit wobbly and you hit the springs together. When you are better you tend not to do this. The first few time you go in them is when most of the damage occurs. Try to protect them before you use them.


 

[RicochetBNB]

Thanks for the info.  and yeah I was more worried about the springs at first anyways, saw a YouTube video where the dude fell and damaged his springs!  Me no wanna do that!  I need them to last as long as possible, because unless I get rich soon, there can't be another pair for a while  !

[Spud]

I know how it is. Look after your bocks well and they should last a while. I have had my frames 14months with no probs I broke a spring the other week tho but anyways. Tape them up or make armor (I use lots of gaffer tape) before you use them.

[RicochetBNB]

The people that put shoes... like actual SHOES on their bocks, is that not dangerous?  Seems like a tripping hazard to me for sure.

[Dark Knight]

Has a beginner I wouldn't use them. They make the hoof bigger and means at unless you confidante you could end up stepping on your own foot. I personally wouldn't use them anyway as apart from saving the rubber they would in fact have less grip, you would be much better making sox's/boots.

Has for your spring a quick fix is to add some extra layers of tape ( any tape would do ! ). If you do bash them together you can simple add extra tape.

Adding shoes or/and tire armour to your springs will add to the total weight which can be a issue when learning as you'll be walking around a lot and have to left the weight on every step. Once you begin to jog/bounce and run that may not be an issue but you should bear that in mind when adding things to a standard stilt.

 
 

 

[Spud]

Hold you hard! Hex has shoes on his bocks and it seems to work really well. They last for ages with good grip. How can you say they would have less grip? There are so many shoes out there how can you know?

I had a problem with using tire socks and that was that they slipped. Hoofies seem like the ideal solution for me but because you have risers wouldnt work for you. I guess you should make some good tiresocks.

Bocks are pretty heavy to begin with. I don't think a tire or anything will hurt I don't reccomend you wrap your springs in lead tho

 

[Brendan (NeoNinja)]

I 100% recommend putting tyre armour on your springs. The extra weight is neglegable... especially if you put them on before your first session since you'll have nothing to compare it to. =) ...and they're really not that heavy anyway. I would assume that someone who couldn't handle that little added tyre weight would also have to bock naked to save on the added weight of clothing. =/

The people that put shoes... like actual SHOES on their bocks, is that not dangerous?  Seems like a tripping hazard to me for sure.

I also 100% recommend putting shoes on your bocks. But make sure they're the right shoes. It should be obvious what I mean when I say that, but I'll give you the two main factors anyway. Go to multiple shoe shops (with your bocks!) and try lots of different shoes to find the perfect pair.

1. GRIP - There are literally millions of different shoes. It's a bit crazy to say that none of them would be as grippy as tyre socks (sorry DK). I know mountain bike tyres are grippy but I've never seen a bike climb vertically up a rock face. Climbing shoes do... I'm not suggesting you put expensive climbing shoes on your bocks, I'm just making a point. =) Try the shoes on your feet to test grip. Try quick turns and changes in direction, and if you can, try hanging on something with your feet against the wall (known as arm-jump position in Parkour). This might seem a bit weird in a shop... but I do it whenever I buy shoes! lol. As a traceur, the grip on my shoes is very important.

2. FIT - This is crucial! You're right, if you get the fit wrong they could be a trip hazzard. So put the shoe on your bock to check it fits. The shoe should be slender and the hoof should go right to the end. The tread of the shoe should round upwards over the toe so you have grip when running. The shoe size (as in length) is relatively unimportant. I originally tried as small a shoe as I could find. But in the end, it was the width and shape at the toe end that was the important part.

The shoes I found fit so securely on the hoof I wouldn't need to worry about it slipping whilst bocking. But to be absolutely confident with them, I also use a pull-tight strap on each shoe. You could use a cable tidy.

I recommend searching for the best shoes yourself. But I use ALS men's King Surf shoes. They were £20 from Blacks. I found a size 8 or 9 fit the best. The grip is fantastic and lasts forever. And the upper is kind of elastic so it perfectly accomodates and moulds to the shape of the hoof. A final tip is to put the piece of card (that comes in the shoe) ontop of the bock, then slip an actual sock over that. This helps you ease the bock into the shoe without the bolts catching on anything.

The tread should last a LOT longer than with tyre socks. Some people manage to kill them in 10 hours! And as an added bonus, shoes look awesome when you wear bock pants! ^_^ (though slightly stupid the rest of the time! lol).

I think tyre socks are kind of out dated now anyway. If you don't want shoes. I think Jason's hoofies are the way of the future. ^_^

EDIT:

Oh wow, they're actually only £10 at the moment. =) I got them in black.
http://www.blacks.co.uk/footwear/men/product/082365.html

[RicochetBNB]

Thanks for all the info.  I was wanting to do the tyre armour (socks and on the springs (springs have 4 layers of tape now)).  May already be getting softer springs soon so I just have to wait a bit.  But I'm already finding that my hooves are slipping a bit and they are not even worn out.  I was hoping a good grippy tire would help solve that in some way.  Cuz my feet keep wanting to slide and turn inwards, esp. my left one??

[Dark Knight]

 Putting a shoe on your stilt could work fine once you know what your doing ? True there are some very grippy shoe you could use but it's hard to compare how the will react on your hoof, remember the amount of area that is in contact is different, how many of us would bock on path covered in ice, yet we do on foot !

 Neo that's a very good write up on hoof shoes, I don't believe anyone as done one before ! But I still think the amount of shoe that would be in contact with the ground is very small and you would find in time you'd find a hole in the shoe while the rest of the tread would look like new ? A tire sox is a simple answer the grip/wear problem and I can make a 4 sets ( 2 x 2 ) for under £12  ( I must show post a picture of what under my tire it will shock you ! ).

 Another point about putting a tire armour on the spring that has been over looked is what happens when you bang them together wouldn't the grip each other ! While learning how often did you bash the springs together ?

 The weight of these extra's are not that much but there are a number of topics on people wanting the make stilts lighter and the newer stilts have been made lighter ! We forget how heavy we thought stilts felt when we started to use them, put a newbie on them and what the first thing they say ? Most of you have seen how much rubbish I fixed to my stilts at Xmas ( Mini Xmas trees ), would you say that wouldn't be a problem for a newbie to wear ? Neo I do hope these naked bocker your talking about will be wearing their safety pads still ! LOL

 So I'd say bike tires sox's/boots and taping up the springs is the best way to go while your learning then maybe change once you know what your doing ? Or at least use them as a quick fix while you sort your self out !

 
 

[RicochetBNB]

I still think I will go with the tyre armour.  I need to see about getting a few tires for free.  If not I have buy some soon.  I wanted coloured tires but I looked them up and found they are expensive and hard to come by unless you order online (which I'm not doing lol). 

Yeah I guess it does add weight but surely it can't be THAT much?!?  I will weigh them before and after and see what the difference comes too... that is if I can ever get around to purchasing or finding freebies to do the tyre armour hehe! 

[Brendan (NeoNinja)]

I admit shoes won't be for everyone... and if you put the wrong shoes on they will suck. But as far as surface area goes, it will be no less than that of tyre-socks or the hoofs themselves - so I don't really get DK's point. Mine have lasted very well... apart from where I destroyed them learning wall-flips. lol. And the area that will be in contact with the ground is the shoe's equivolent of the ball of the foot and toe. That's the part of the shoe with best traction!

But like I said - I admit they're not for everyone.

Spring Armour on the other hand is fantastic! I see no down side to them. They're fantastic protection, they look awesome, and the extra weight on each leg is less than the weight of half a tyre! That's almost nothing. I would definitely recommend doing it soon, so you get used to the masses of extra weight *rolls eyes* from the beginning, and mostly because it's whilst you're learning that you'll do the most damage to the springs.

If you're not shy, you could go to Halfords and ask if they've thrown out any damaged tyres recently. And if so could you have them for free... or at least dramatiacally discounted... which would be a bit mean of them considering they're throwing them out anyway.

In summary. Shoes great but not for everyone. Spring armour awesome, full stop.

[RicochetBNB]

I'll be doing the tyre armour.  Im going to check at a bike shop and see if they have any ones they are gonna throw out.  Also once I have them ready to punch the holes (since I don't have a hole punch) I may take them to a hardware store and see if they will do it hehe!  Then I would just have to buy shoe strings  !