Day 2 using PoweriSers

[Bill C.]

I forgot to mention that my tire socks lasted about a month of my total time with my bocks.

Yeah, but mine have lasted well over a year each time - so it depends on how often you bock, on what surfaces, how intense you bock, as well as the type and quality of bike tire you use.  At about $3 per tiresock, I'll gladly change them out rather than wear a hoof down.  Of course, I'm bias.

Also, Zipp, it depends on the brand of bocks you are on.  While unprotected 7Leagues hoofs seem to last the longest, there are really cheap brands like SkyRunners that wear out quickly.  (Correct me if I'm wrong, folks.)  Powerisers tend to be somewhere in the middle.  But, yeah...  there are too many variables.  It's like me asking you how long my car's front brake pads are going to last me.

Best to just inspect each time.  If they are wearing too quickly, put a tiresock on them.

[ElectricStapler]

I found my hoofs are wearing down quickly. I didn't notice a hole in my tire socks, so went bouncing for maybe a day and they had clear signs of wear.

[Pendragon]

If they wear out and split in under 6 months they should be under warranty.  Mine split on me in about 5 months and just made the cut.

[zipp]

Day 3 bocking...

Hey Bill, looks like you may be right, the rubber compound may be a tad too soft.



Will be sure to keep you posted of the progress, and will try and source a firmer rubber in the meantime.

The wear seems to be forming a flat spot along the bottom of the hoof. This is obviously the section that i am using the most. Is this flatspot a bad thing, or is this how hooves are expected to wear?
Should i be using the very front and rear of the hoof when walking/running, or are those sections for more extreme moves?

Not done a great deal today. Took things steady, walking, running and basic kangaroo jumping, even up a single curb!! Tried the star jump again, but holding onto a fence this time. The weight of the bocks is quite noticeable when trying to move them around beneath you, and i think this is where i came unstuck the other day.

What i have become aware of, is that whilst walking/running, after the hoof plants on the floor in front of me, i then feel my knees push outwards before bending and propelling forwards. Kinda bandy legged style. I will have to get the wife to video this, as it must be visible, and it feels kinda sketchy at times?

[Bill C.]

The wear seems to be forming a flat spot along the bottom of the hoof. This is obviously the section that i am using the most. Is this flatspot a bad thing, or is this how hooves are expected to wear?

Quite normal.  The hoof's curvature is used more during walking and running in a rolling way.  Jumps will generally land on the same location on the hoof bottom, hence the flattening spot.  This flattening is more obvious on your worn soft rubber layer.  Looks like you'll be down to the original hoof in another few days.

What i have become aware of, is that whilst walking/running, after the hoof plants on the floor in front of me, i then feel my knees push outwards before bending and propelling forwards. Kinda bandy legged style. I will have to get the wife to video this, as it must be visible, and it feels kinda sketchy at times?

That sounds a bit unusual.  Are there any loose bolts, gap or side to side play in you hoof elbow joint?

[Mr Frank]

Are your cuffs in line with the rest of the stilt?  I have found that a misalignment there can cause all sorts of weird pressures.

And as for the weight issue, I think I said that they require some weird musculature.  You'll get used to it.

[Ace]

Grabbed the fence for some spring flexing practice on the way down:

Click here to watch jumping-holding-fence on putfile

I it looked like you were about to hop that fence!

[zipp]

Hey Bill,
Have checked all the nuts and bolts as you suggested, and all are (and were), fine. Worth checking though.
I will keep you posted on the rubber wear. I am hoping the wear rate may plateau out now that the really soft ridges have worn, but we'll see.

Mr Frank,
I am not sure about the alignment, or how to realign. I am just using them as they came.
How would i realign the cuffs please?

When i first got the bocks, i did notice and record that the calf cuff bars were not symmetrically aligned.
You can see from the pic below, that the right outer calf cuff support bar, sits at a lower angle than the left one? Not sure if this affects anything? I am guessing not, as my problem is with both knees?
 


What i have done, is changed footwear. The running shoes i was wearing were quite worn on the outer edge from running. I have just tried a pair of newer trainers and it has minimised the outward movement of the knees, but there is still a bit of unwanted movement there?

Ace,
I wish!! A vault over that 7' fence would be impressive. Maybe with practice?
In fact, now that i have used a pair of bocks for a short while, the pictures and videos of those doing tricks, are even more impressive.

[Bill C.]

See those little black bolts in your above picture?  Loosen them, and those knee cuff tubes will slide up and down and twist side to side.  That is how you adjust the alignment and height of the knee cuffs.

And if you ever try vaulting over a fence like that, try finding one that doesn't have little pointy things along the top.  LOL.

[zipp]

Thanx Bill,

That makes perfect sense, and should have been obvious to me already. doh!
So i can just loosen them off, raise the right hand one upto the same level as the others, and then twist both the outer one's in a bit, to try and minimise the knee movement there. Excellent. Will adjust those tomorow evening after work. Thanx again Bill, top man.

And if you ever try vaulting over a fence like that, try finding one that doesn't have little pointy things along the top.

Indeed.

Mr Frank,
Thanx for mentioning this adjustment. I would never have known, and I reckon you might be on to something. Cheers.

[Mr Frank]

It seems a number of beginners don't notice they are adjustable.  Those cuffs are lopsided and way out of alignment, no wonder they caused some trouble.  Just unscrew/loosen the black bolts, slide them to the way you want them, and tighten them back up.  When I mess around with my cuffs, I do it sitting on something with them on.  You want them as high up as they go on your calf without restricting your leg movement.  Mine are set so that they only start digging into my upper leg at the same point that the spring does, but you may want to experiment a bit, I'm not really sure about the best spot myself.  Laterally, you want them very close to perfect alignment with the rest of the stilt.  Perhaps a bit to the inside or outside might work just a bit better, but not more than just a bit and it probably depends on the individual quirks of your shoes and your legs.

[zipp]

Ok, spent some time adjusting, inspecting and testing the bocks.

It does not seem to matter where the cuff bars are adjusted to, the same unbalancing outward knee movement is still evident.
I have tried many different set ups, and it was always the same.

I then swapped the bocks around. I put the left one on my right leg, and vice versa. The knee movement is now inward!!
I think this proves that the movement is something bock orientated, rather than my legs.
The inward movement feels more manageable, but the foot bindings were very uncomfortable this way round.

Are there any loose bolts, gap or side to side play in you hoof elbow joint?

Re-checked all the bits again. There are no loose nut/bolts.
There is very minimal twist movement on the 2 hinges beneath the footplate. About 1mm each.

Where the spring goes down into the hoof section (behind the lowest hinge), it passes through 2 black spacers. These prevent forward/ backward movement i think? At this same point the spring can and does move left and right about 3mm in each direction. Is that how it shoul be, or does this side to side movement need attention?

I know it only sounds like a small amount, but could that small movement get transfered up the bocks and magnified at the knee?

This is becoming a sticking point for me at the moment, as i don't think i will be able to progress swiftly with this happening. It is a really unbalancing and unnerving experience.    
 

[Sprog]

Where the spring goes down into the hoof section (behind the lowest hinge), it passes through 2 black spacers. These prevent forward/ backward movement i think? At this same point the spring can and does move left and right about 3mm in each direction. Is that how it shoul be, or does this side to side movement need attention?

I know it only sounds like a small amount, but could that small movement get transfered up the bocks and magnified at the knee?

There shouldn't be any sideways movement at all with the springs. try and pack out the spacers a bit tighter with some card or plastic, see if that stops it, if not you may need to add additional spacers down either side of the spring.

It could also be this causing it:
http://www.PoweriserPages.com/forum/empty-t3148.0.html
Check that it isn't.

And yeah, that small amount of movement could be transferred up the stilts and magnified along their length.

[Bill C.]

Zipp, take a look at that lower joint again and see if the frame is bent inward at all, causing a gap at the washers.  Chuck had a similar movement and alignment problem and this was the photo of his situation.



Can you take a close-up photo of each of the joints on your bad stilt for us?  Maybe we can spot something.

I also have another thought that might be causing the problem.  As explained previously, those 4 little black bolts in your photo hold the knee cuff tubing firmly in place by clamping down on it -- but if you remove that clamp plate, you will see two bolts crossing through the frame to the other clamp.  These two bolts are actually the only things holding the knee cuff unit to the stilt.  We've seen cases where those bolts had loosened -- or hadn't been tightened at the factory in the first place.  Any looseness in these two bolts will cause side to side knee instability and will be difficult to spot as the cause.  You might want to check them out.  Here is a diagram of where they are:



Bill C.

[Mr Frank]

So the cuffs are the same height on both sides and each bar is pointing about the same angle away from "forward"?

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  \\          //                     \\          //
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The bars should look something like that.  If they do, then the problem is probably elsewhere.  I still think something is misaligned somewhere.  It should be a pretty straight shot from your hoof to the diagonal support to the center of the footplate to the column to the center of the area your cuffs encircle.  Given the state that your cuffs came in, I would not rule out poor assembly.  Anything look like it was screwed in wrong?  Are all of the joints in good shape?  Is anything bent?  It might be worthwhile to take a look at what kind of wear pattern you're putting on your hooves.  It probably won't solve anything, but it would be worth seeing if they are taking more wear on one side than the other.  If the problem proves too elusive, you may want to show them to an experienced bocker in person.

One last thought, do you have any bruises or unusually sensitive points on your knees?  I recall mistaking a squeeze on a bruise for weird lateral pressure once.