GAcoaster Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Never having been to Europe to ride Balder or Colossos I have a question about them. Do either of them have trim brakes? I don't think they do (I've never seen them mentioned), but I'm not sure. I'm trying to figure out if El Toro will have them, and I'm assuming it won't if Colossos doesn't have them, but you never know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDG Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Colossos didn't have trim brakes when it opened, but when it got up to speed Intamin added a few magnetic ones on the first and second drop...as well as on the flat section before the helix. That was 2002 I think... All three have been removed again somewhere in 2003 or 2004... Without brakes, Colossos procudes some very very brutal airtime. I think El Toro will open without brakes, but if the ride becomes too intense, the park could decide to install them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted March 4, 2006 Author Share Posted March 4, 2006 That's kind of what I was thinking too. I could see trims going in just before the twister section to cut the speed a little. That looks intense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Balder does not have any trim brakes and it doesnt need any. The negative G-forces are very strong, but at the same time the airtime is very gentle. The transitions are very smooth so youre gently pushed up into the lapbar. Because of this, Balder is not a very intense coaster in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movieguy Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 It seems it's an inevitable thing to happen to any woodie...they start out nice and strong, and then the park decides to completely neuter the thing by adding trim brakes everywhere...it happened to all the Summers/Dinn woodies, and mark my words, it will eventually happen to most of the GCI/CCI/Gravity Group woodies. Parks are scared of woodies, plain and simple. They look so rickety and rough to them, when compared to the smooth and pretty looking steelies that they buy in droves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted March 4, 2006 Author Share Posted March 4, 2006 It seems it's an inevitable thing to happen to any woodie...they start out nice and strong, and then the park decides to completely neuter the thing by adding trim brakes everywhere I don't subscribe to the idea that any park WANTS to add trim brakes to any coaster. No park goes and says "lets slow the coaster down just to piss off riders", they do it to help prevent whiplash injuries and help with maintenance problems. If they WANTED to add trims, it would also mean they want to do more maintenance (on those trim brakes), and go through all kinds of hassles with modifying the ride. Trims are only added to make the forces more acceptable to riders, or to save the ride structure (or both). In the case of most woodies I'd guess trims are added because the rides start to tear themselves apart. The wooden structure flexes and shifts with each train, and that eventually wears out the parts. If those forces can be kept in check, it prolongs the life of the structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movieguy Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 But at what cost? Sure, it may prolong the coaster's life some more, and make it less of a maintenance headache, but the riding experience is somewhat cheapened on the flip side. Look at the Mean Streak for example. That was a woodie that started out strong, but lost a lot of it's punch a few years later...I mean c'mon. A trim on the top of the first hill?...what's that all about? And what about the now gone Hercules at Dorney? I never rode it, but I heard it started out as an awesome coaster as well, before they trimmed the hell out of it and...well, I'm sure most of you saw that video on the forum. Doug "They just don't build woodies to last anymore.." Booth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dailey Enterprizes Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 ^ I agree, most coasters that are trimmed up, like any Summers and Dinn coaster, were trimmed because of the company going under and the park could no longer have the coaster fixed as fast because of any wear and tear. That's why some of Summers and Dinn's masterpieces, like the Mean Streak and the long gone Hercules, were trimmed up so bad. So unless there are major flaws in the design for El Toro, I say it should be trim free for most of it's life until Intamin goes out of busines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 It seems like most of the woodies with trim brakes were built in the late 80's/early 90's. There might be more, but the only post-95 woodie with trim brakes that I can think about is Stampida (97), which has trim brakes on the first drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V2-dude Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 So unless there are major flaws in the design for El Toro, I say it should be trim free for most of it's life until Intamin goes out of busines. I don't think El Toro will have any flaws at all, it's designed by Intamin. And what makes you think Intamin will go out of business? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freefallbestrideever Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 and mark my words, it will eventually happen to most of the GCI/CCI/Gravity Group woodies. NOOO!!!!! not before i get to ride them..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verticalzero Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 I rode "Colossos" last May and it ran without any brakes, I did feel like I was going to get thrown out of the car over the 1st 3 "airtime" hills, it's that intense and I was holding on for the 1st few circuits to get used to the ride. It is one of my fav woodies and hope to go back for 4 days later this year. Shame "Mean Streak" can not be returned to its former glory, I rode it in 2000 and it seemed like it could of stopped in some places due to it going slow. An Imressive structure but so-so ride. Why can't CP just switch off the brakes for a couple of seasons and see if they get anyone complaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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