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Wicker Man - General Discussion - Part Two

Ethan said:
It's been sorted out apparently. Whether that means it's running better we'll find out. They did work on it multiple times last season but weirdly it got worse
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Interesting; that’s very promising to hear! Thanks for the update @Ethan; I look forward to hopefully seeing the results of their work (riding Wicker Man) for myself on 16th April!
 
Matt N said:
Interesting; that’s very promising to hear! Thanks for the update @Ethan; I look forward to hopefully seeing the results of their work (riding Wicker Man) for myself on 16th April!
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I saw it testing and was looking relatively slow but smooth, not much rattling thankfully. That being said the corner it was getting bad on I couldn't really see so we'll just have to see when it reopens how big bob is running
 
Ethan said:
I saw it testing and was looking relatively slow but smooth, not much rattling thankfully. That being said the corner it was getting bad on I couldn't really see so we'll just have to see when it reopens how big bob is running
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I imagine the fact that it was empty probably made it look slower. Besides, they may well be testing out different wheel compounds or something; if they could get it up to the sort of speed it was running on last summer, that would be amazing!
 
Rick said:
It has steel wheels.
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Perhaps wheel compounds was the wrong word, then; is it a possibility that they could be testing both softer and harder wheels, or is that something that can only happen on steel coasters with polyurethane wheels?
 
Matt N said:
Perhaps wheel compounds was the wrong word, then; is it a possibility that they could be testing both softer and harder wheels, or is that something that can only happen on steel coasters with polyurethane wheels?
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I think it is something that can only happen with polyurethane wheels. I mean you can get different grades of steel, but in this application it would make little difference.

It is worth nothing that it is still relatively cool and the ride isnt cycling constantly all day at the moment. These two things can have an impact on the speed that it runs at. As both serve as means to warm up the components and bearings, reducing friction.
 
Matt N said:
I imagine the fact that it was empty probably made it look slower. Besides, they may well be testing out different wheel compounds or something; if they could get it up to the sort of speed it was running on last summer, that would be amazing!
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New wheel bearings or lubricants effect wooden coaster speeds, but if a ride hasn’t run for a while it will always start the season slow.
 
It's not unusual for new coasters to take a few years for them to get "right". The Smiler had a woeful first few years for example, but has been running a lot better - and more reliably - the last few seasons.

I seem to remember "Air" and "Thirteen" having a lot of issues too originally.

Wicker Man will be fine after they've put right it's issues.
 
spinba11 said:
2014 and till June of 15 were perfect for the smiler.
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Yes, that was a decent year, but the point stands, sometimes it takes a while for a Coaster to get into it's "groove".

They are all different at the end of the day, as are the enviroments and locations they are built in. Lots of them have to be adjusted, or redone a bit.
 
In terms of why that section of track (the bit going towards the wicker man structure for the first time) is (or at least was) so problematic; I might have suggested this before, but I have a theory.

You may remember that the profiling of that section was originally intended to be very different, and it is only the way it is because John Wardley amended the track profiling very late on in development. However, John himself said that the foundations had already been designed by the time he was called in and wanted to make amendments, so there isn’t much he could do. So my suggestion is; as much as John’s amendments most probably improved the ride experience, is it possible that the sections of track after suffered adverse effects due to them undergoing greater stress than was originally forecast?

He’s said himself that he physically couldn’t change the actual layout anywhere, merely the profiling, so is it a possibility that the additional speed gained from the reprofiled drop meant that the stretch afterwards underwent stress beyond the originally anticipated limits?

There would certainly be a precedent for this kind of thing happening; I once heard it said that the reason for the jolt in Saw’s first drop was because that element was originally designed to only be 97 degrees, but Merlin wanted it changed to 101 degrees late on in development to claim the record for world’s steepest free fall drop. However, they did this without changing the profiling of the surrounding elements, which is why it jerks so suddenly into that first Immelmann.
 
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Rick said:
I very rarely ride it but when I do it reminds me why I don't.
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Well like everything rides are down to preference. I can understand why people don't like it, it can be a bit tough on the shoulders. I don't think it's bad though given its complex and compact layout, fairly smooth imo apart from the odd jolts
 
Ethan said:
Well like everything rides are down to preference. I can understand why people don't like it, it can be a bit tough on the shoulders. I don't think it's bad though given its complex and compact layout, fairly smooth imo apart from the odd jolts
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It's the vibration I really don't like, that was nowhere near as prevalent before they changed the tyres, post accident. It runs very differently now vs. when it opened.
 
Rick said:
It's the vibration I really don't like, that was nowhere near as prevalent before they changed the tyres, post accident. It runs very differently now vs. when it opened.
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I'd agree with that @Rick; the ride did seem to run differently, and rougher, post-accident than it did pre-accident. It's not the roughest coaster I've ever ridden, but it certainly does seem to have a very strong vibration nowadays that it never had a few years back, and those final few inversions seem to hurt a lot more now than they did a few years ago, for some reason.

Pre-accident, the ride was actually in my top 10, but it's declined quite significantly in my rankings over the years to now be my #38 (out of 74). Admittedly, this may in part be down to the fact that I've ridden a lot more coasters since then and I also think my tastes have changed quite a bit; I now rate rides on overall fun factor and rerideability as opposed to mere intensity like I did before, and I think that this is an area in which The Smiler suffers in comparison to some others I've ridden, as I certainly wouldn't say it's the most rerideable of coasters. However, I'd also say that the ride itself seems to have aged a lot in the time I've been riding it; if I was able to rank the ride in its opening state against some of the more recent coasters I've ridden, I reckon it would still hold its own to a reasonable degree, as I did used to really like it. Possibly not quite a top 10 ride anymore, but if it were smoother like it used to be, I reckon it could definitely crack my top 20, at a guess? I guess I won't ever know unless I strike lucky and get a smooth(ish) ride on it soon...
 
Matt N said:
now rate rides on overall fun factor and rerideability as opposed to mere intensity like I did before, and I think that this is an area in which The Smiler suffers in comparison to some others I've ridden, as I certainly wouldn't say it's the most rerideable of coasters.
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I think it's one of the more rerideable coasters at towers. Well not in terms of how many goes you can hack in a day but in terms of actually wanting to reride. Once I've done all the coasters, thr smiler is the first one I reride because I find it very fun and enjoyable. It's certainly more rerideable than Nemesis imo, which is way too forceful to make you want to keep going round
 
I’m hoping that when TWoDW opens Wickerman’s queue won’t be as busy first thing in the morning.

With any luck swaths of families will turn right at the bottom of Towers Street.
 
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