Ramp surface

[kyle]

i was just wondering what i could use, i was talking to rick distler, and he said expanded mesh but i dont have the cash and i though chequer plate as i can get it cheap but they say it is super slippery? then i thought u was losing it and just thought 12mm ply with lots bracing and painted both sides with heavy chicken wire straight up the middle for grip?

[The Snitz]

what i used was 7ply plywood, not sure on mm, maybe 17mm.. and painted the surface that u ride on with "Perm-A-Tar". It seems it'd be easier to find Saddam Hussein than find this stuff, but i'm sure ringing around u'll get it. It's a 2-Pack type paint thing. So you have part A and part B. part A is the actual tar quite quite thick, and part B must be like a thinner, mix it together it does it's little chemical reaction and gets extremely sticky! then for the little time before it dries u quickly paint it over the top - quite thick. make sure u mix this stuff in little amounts - because it's hard to figure how much u'll actually used. For the 2pack it cost me $65 from Wattyl wholesale store, and i used half of the total 3 litres that u get (2 litres of tar to 1 litre of thinner) on an Aussie Comp standard ramp.

With that on top, i've never ever had anything go wrong on the ramp - bike hasn't slipped or done anything i didn't expect it too, so it's fairly safe.

[sexy_az]

chicken wire would kill your tyers would'nt it?

[kyle]

not as bad as expanded mesh would

[adam]

what about that rockey paint stuff? its grey with little grippy chunks in is, but the expanded mesh is the best

[shirefmx]

paint with silica or coarse sand mixed in it works well.... you can have wood with nothing on it if its dry just don't wanna be ridin that shit in the wet.

or you can get a bitumen type paint with pebbles in it similar to what snitz was talking about i think ... but i just use paint with coarse sand

[shirefmx]

actually another way i have heard of working well and cheap is to have a ply base and then have thin strips of 1 ply going across with gaps in it on top of the thick ply to make kinda like a ribbed surface.

[The Snitz]

yeah i tried puttin sand on the tar, but it didn't work very well, possibly needed to mix the sand into the actual tar, but then that would have made it damn near impossible to put on (tar is hard enough with a paint brush as it is LOL)

with the 1 ply on top, would u just glue that on?? it sounds like a good idea, not sure it might come off tho?? do explain

[redbull_fmx]

just use sheet metal

[Shifty]

Sheet metal = hella slippery. Me and a mate used it on our lil kicker which was 2 meters long and i hit it in the wet (not thinking) and lost all traction. Went for a nice nose dive into the landing.

Use Expanded mesh, it may be expensive, but it may well save you from a broken leg or even worse things.

[shirefmx]

with the strips of thin ply i'd say just glue and staple/screw em onto the ply.... i might try this on my next ramp.

[The Snitz]

cool magoo, show us the results when ur done :)

[kyle]

iam going to use chequer plate, with a foot wide strip of expanded running up the middle, will be intresting for whips though!

[The Snitz]

as in expanded on top of the checkered plate??? that'll be interesting alrite!

[robson]

will expanded mesh rip your tyres up heaps bad??? it will be effective, as in not slippery at all, and more than likely no maintenence. but how long will tyres last?

[StUmPnthqldD23]

We used about 17mm ply and didn't do anything to the surface for months. i finally painted it after bout 10 months with some ceiling white stuff i scored. (ramp is 6m long, 2.6m high Freerider design) hit it in the wet and all that, seemed fine.

[Mungoman45]

Originally posted by StUmPnthqldD23
We used about 17mm ply and didn't do anything to the surface for months. Hit it in the wet and all that, seemed fine.

What ever ya do, DONT hit wood faced ramps if they're still wet, and havent been coated in any weather proofing...take my word for it...as ya say..."seems fine"...yeah, seems fine till someone hits it, and one of thier wheels busts through the wood. Mungoman188 was very lucky not to be injured when he used my mini ramp after rain, wood was still soft and his rear wheel went through the wood....didn't matter about steel bracing underneath, it bent that no worries, remember there's quite a bitta force and pressure on ramps when ya got the weight of the bike + the rider + the speed ya comin into it at....so be safe instead of sorry. Just some friendly advice ;)

[HOLLYWOOD]

go the checker plate paint it in 2 pack then put sand on the wet paint wait for it to dry and then repaint over it you could do it a few times if you wanted but once is enough with plent of sand or maybe even crusher dust

[The Snitz]

You don't need Sand on Checker plate, just 2pack of paint and that'll be fine, the checkered pattern is more than enough to get you airborne with no worries about slipping off.

Although, Checker plate would wanna be fairly thick, as it's known to bend a little, specially in between the supports for it u might find "dips" in it, if the plate is too thin, 3mm or thicker would be a good idea.

[pic_takin_chick]

hey i know my 2 cents are prolly worthless here, but what bout the grip stuff they use on skateboards? It's not that expensive, you would prolly need to do a double lot of fixing it to the plywood, or whateva your using, anyhoo i'm bored

[robson]

would grip tape last very long? i cant imagine it doing so.

[The Snitz]

Initial thoughts, i may have laughed at that suggestion, but hey.... if it can withstand a bike riding up it on the gas, glued on perfectly, it would be a good surface. Wouldn't know how much that stuff would cost, but maybe some trials and research could go into the idea :D

Who said you were just a pretty face Lis :p

[Agip]

Yearh, Jono Porter usto or he might still with the ply on his ramp, get glue than put sand or fine rocks for the grip I think its a great idear. Anyone got a picyure

[bbeeuuhh]

:cool:

[robson]

so is that just expanded mesh welded onto sheet metal?? that seems like alot of work, like why have the sheet metal as well??? I am thinking i want expanded mesh, but i dont want to have to keep replacing tyres!! hmmm...

[kyle]

because expanded mesh sags

[mulisha_mike]

ive been thing of expanded mesh for my ramp, but now kyle says it sags? how much more would it cost to put shet metal behind it? plus i think chicken wire would act as a cheese grater on the tires.
how long do tires last with expanded mesh?anyone know the average

[Hillbilly]

I used some stuff a little thicker than chicken wire on my last ramp and the grip was good and it didn't chew tires at all. My new ramp I have used 21mm ply with 1.5mm expanded steel stapled on top. The expanded steel gives total grip and it would take a while to wear out your tire. I rate this highly. My mates ramp has got real fat expanded steel and that chews your tires real damn quck... and it stretches - not recomended

[Gropey]

hey i have checker plate for the surface on my ramp and it works absolutly fine i just painted i think 1 good coat over it and it works sweet. if u think bout it if ur hitting a ramp carrying a bit of speed going into it most surfaces would be fine anyway. unless ur still getting ur acceleration up the rap like if u had a 20 foot runup.
but yeh if ur thinking of using checkerplate go for it it works fine and get some failry thick stuff then it wont bend or anything like snitz said a while back.

[mulisha_mike]

i think im gonna go with the plain old ply wood with the glue sand paint idea

[Wrath Child]

well wen i was hit my mates ramp it has nothing on it just plain ply wood with a black slick finish. And we were hittin it in the morning with water all over it and it was fine.
I think that if you get a momentum it doesn't matter wat the surface is like but if u had a short run up u would probably feel it.
I would just use paint and thick rough sand mixed in it

[Hillbilly]

All the pro riders have to deal with short run ups and are usually putting most of the power on the ramp. The one day that your tire loses traction you will understand why people put good grip on ramps. Slamming into the downramp isn't fun.

[donald]

hillbilles right on that one. its painful grip matters

[bearings]

so many things to think about.
i might pray to god for a perfect ramp

[JAYKAY]

at my old school the stairs were full slippery and people kept getting nailed on them so they painted them with this stuff that was like paint with silica in it but real course and it came like that i dont know what it is though but its real grippy and tough as