Vekoma criticism
- Thread starter T0M
- Start date
FaceYourNemesis
Hyper Poster
You have to admit that Vekoma have come a long way in the last few years. They seem to be shedding their awful reputation with coasters like Ben 10.
^And what else? They haven't come a long way in the last few years at all. They've done pretty much NOTHING of any note in the last few years.
They've had basically no major installation for years apart from a GIB (an off-the-shelf model) in China and the invert in Singapore that was closed for months because a chair fell off.
They've had basically no major installation for years apart from a GIB (an off-the-shelf model) in China and the invert in Singapore that was closed for months because a chair fell off.
JJLehto
Hyper Poster
oriolat2 said:
It is indeed a great layout, absolutely compact, forceful and has all the great things you mentioned.
What else can I ask for? A ride that doesn't give me brain trauma lol
You are quite right, they are cheap and small and allow a small park to have a big ride, but that simply doesn't make it good itself.
Shame is it IS a pretty wicked ride. If you took the exact same ride but had it made by B&M it would be f***ing amazing!
JJLehto said:
Define "any smooth"
I found it fine, but I rode at the front. Others says it's pretty nasty. So no idea really, but I liked the ride and it milled around my top ten for a while.
Haven't Vekoma had a few of their junior suspended coasters installed recently? Other than that, yeah, they're not playing with the big boys at the moment.
T0M
Hyper Poster
Jubilee Odyssey is almost a suspended version of The Ultimate in terms of aggression. It is fairly mild on the front, but there is that much play and looseness in the train that it fals down on itself when it goes through the inversions (which it does slowly). The front is certainly the place to be, but the middle is rougher than the back.
I've always thought Vekoma criticism was a little unfair but then I am originally a Flamingo fan boy so of course I would?
The worst has to be the SLC at Terra Mitica though. I think GIB's are entitled to be a little rough because of their design, they're just brutes. They can master it though, I rode Millennium Coaster at FI and that is ridiculously smooth, as well as some Boomerang we all rode in Denmark.
The worst has to be the SLC at Terra Mitica though. I think GIB's are entitled to be a little rough because of their design, they're just brutes. They can master it though, I rode Millennium Coaster at FI and that is ridiculously smooth, as well as some Boomerang we all rode in Denmark.
nadroJ
CF Legend
I really want to like SLCs. Like, I really do. Every time I see one I think they *look* amazing. But as an enthusiast they come with the expectation that they're going to be rough as ****, I try to get that out of my head (especially when it'd a new cred) and just try to enjoy the ride but EVERY time it's just painful death.
One day there will be one that doesn't hurt, but that day has sadly not yet been.
Why the hell are they so rough anyway?!
One day there will be one that doesn't hurt, but that day has sadly not yet been.
Why the hell are they so rough anyway?!
FaceYourNemesis
Hyper Poster
nadroJ said:
I'm sure it's to do with the trains and the wheels not remaining in contact with the track.
I feel exactly the same when it comes to SLCs. They should be amazing, yet the trains always let the side down.
suryavl
Roller Poster
I'm not sure Vekoma can make smooth coasters. If Millennium Coaster is so smooth, and all their others aren't, don't you think it's shear luck? An accident?
I still try most Vekoma's and even the newest ones keep disappointing me. How do they succeed in making their oh-so simple motorbike coasters unsmooth?
I still try most Vekoma's and even the newest ones keep disappointing me. How do they succeed in making their oh-so simple motorbike coasters unsmooth?
nadroJ said:
I think it was rollermonkey in this topic said it was all down to poor build. If you look at the SLCs, some have wheels that have a gap of say 2" between the track and wheel assembly, others may have a 4" gap. It's that kind of thing, they're all clones, but each one is built slightly differently, their tolerances are too lax in the manufacturing of the ride. If the cars can differ so much, I imagine that the track production is similar.
So you end up with the hunting (the movement between the wheels and track which causes jerks from side to side and up and down) and the shunting (a massive, sudden loss of momentum in the front carriages (usually due to hunting) that cause the back carriages to compress like an accordion - which they can't but you body still moves).
They also...
suryavl said:
push the coasters too much, except with Millennium Coaster. Here they had a large plot of land and the design spec "build us something that kind of goes around in an oval, but we want a couple of loops too". Millennium Coaster is smooth because it doesn't do anything. It never really picks up speed and there's no force through the loops. Everything is huge and pedestrian.
The SLCs particularly are designed to be very fast, very forceful rides, but the build quality doesn't match the design ideal. Same with the Booster Bikes, etc.
If they just reined in the forces a little and tightened up on build quality a little then they'd be good. I think they started making some headway, but just haven't had the big orders since.
suryavl
Roller Poster
I guess it hasn't helped that their biggest customer, Six Flags stopped working with them
The layout of the standard SLC is indeed decent, but I can't help but find most of their other layouts very boring. It's usually a huge bunch of meh. The human side of their BSG coaster is probably one of the best examples of that. You get launched, and then nothing really happens until you get to the station, and then the ride is over.
The layout of the standard SLC is indeed decent, but I can't help but find most of their other layouts very boring. It's usually a huge bunch of meh. The human side of their BSG coaster is probably one of the best examples of that. You get launched, and then nothing really happens until you get to the station, and then the ride is over.
IntaminToWin
Mega Poster
caffeine_demon said:
This has probably been to long, but I did go on that. I liked it, the one at Darien is better though.