What are your thoughts on Vekoma coasters ?

Jim Fisher said:

It must have been suffering from a square wheel when you rode. I rode it about 25 times during the Discovery Channel shoot and it didn't seem any rougher overall than usual, though one wheel was a little off.

Maybe I got a bad wheel. Bumpy may be a little much, but it was sure rougher than I thought a Vekoma of it's young age should be. I can only imagine the stress the wheel assemblies have to go through when changing from regular position to flying. With those gaps, the whole assembly must be subjected to some big stress each cycle. I(Just like when the upstops slam on a SLC) I wonder why their new SLCs or the flyers don't have some type of spring loaded assembly like those nice Swiss folk use!

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- Peabody

The coolest VEKOMA I have ever ridden is Rockin' Rollercoaster at Disney's MGM. It's #7 on my top ten list.
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Coasters are like a fine wine, they get better with age.

dude, i stand alone im sure...i freakin LOVE vekoma!!!! ive ridden MindEraser at SFA(slc), Two Face(invertigo), Sidwinder (boomerang) at hershey, tidal wave(boomerang) at ocean city md, and Batwing at SFA.....ive never had a bad ride on any of them!! regarding the SLC's, the ONLY complaint i have is the pacing....its an awesome layout, better in some respects than Batman clones, but it was sixed down way too much...it could have been stretched a little more...cal me a sucker for rough steels, but i just love the heck out of Vekoma!! for me, they never dissapoint!! :)
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ROLLERCOASTERS....BETTER THAN OXYGEN BABY!!!!!!

I don't know, the Deja Vu models are pretty darn SWEET. Everything else from them I can take it or leave it.
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I'm a reasonable man, get off my case, get off my case. -Radiohead(Amnesiac)

Have not ridden Deja yet, but I hear it is great. The SLC has a great layout and some cool inversions and foot choppers, but their pacing is totally off and they just have a rough feel to them.

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Any resemblance to living or
dead people is purely coincidental.

The 2 Vekoma coasters (not including kiddy coasters) I have been on have both been good. (Rockin Roller Coaster and Deja Vu)

I forgot about rollerskaters. Vekoma makes wonderful kiddie coasters. Their bigger ones just don't stand up against a lot of others.
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- Peabody

Vekoma is a great company. I hear good things about Flyers, I love SLC's and Boomerangs and Deja Vu is one of my favorite coasters.

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The roughest part of a B&M is having to get off.

Not really...SFGAm's Batman:The Ride was the world's first inverted coaster, opened in 1992.

I thought that T2 at SFKK was the first inverted coaster in 1992? Anyway, Boomerangs are great! But the first time you ride them, going backwards you bang the crap out of your neck!

I think Vekoma is a good company. I am pretty tired of the boomerangs, but I'll still ride them when there isn't a long line. The original Sea Serpent at Mariners Landing in Wildwood is my favorite. I like the invertigo even more. I wish more parks had them. I agree with themonkeymaster99 that we would have seen a dueling boomerang and invertigo by now. I think that would be pretty cool. The SLC's are decent. What I like about them is the fact that on the 2 I have ridden there weren't any brakes until the final brake run. Those things just rip through the course. I did think the Minderaser at SFA wasn't overly rough like the Great Noreaster at Moreys Piers in Wildwood. Rough or not I still ride them. My favorite Vekoma that I have been on is the Batwing at SFA. The flying coaster is the s**t. Regardless of what anyone else says. It is truly a groundbreaking coaster in tems of technology. I wasn't sure what to think about it until I rode it myself(got the front seat.) Until we see a B&M flyer stateside I am sure this will tide me over. The only thing I didn't like about Batwing was that its was hard to look out straight ahead. The G's often push your head down so you are stuck looking at the ground. I loved the double inline twist and the final helix. I also thought it was pretty smooth for a Vekoma. They aren't B&M's or Intamin's, but they are a decent coaster. Arrows and Vekomas always get bashed, and I think that any coaster that I can enjoy deserves some respect.

Peabody said:

I can only imagine the stress the wheel assemblies have to go through when changing from regular position to flying. With those gaps, the whole assembly must be subjected to some big stress each cycle. I(Just like when the upstops slam on a SLC) I wonder why their new SLCs or the flyers don't have some type of spring loaded assembly like those nice Swiss folk use!

The wheel assemblies on the Flying Dutchmen are much more sophisticated than on previous Vekomas. There is a certain amount of springing accomplished through rubber bushings and also links that tend to guide and stabilize the wheels. The wheel assemblies are not designed with smaller upstop wheels. Instead the wheels are all the size of normal road wheels

Thanks for the info Jim. I thought that Vekoma would have thought of that, but I was still surprised to see wheel gaps, when several companies have eliminated them (with WONDERFUL results!).
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- Peabody

Can't wait until we get some Vekoma wood here in the U.S., their European coasters look NICE. (Not that I want any fewer CCI's or GCI's to be built)!!

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Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!