Wood VS Steel roller coasters, which is better?
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- čas přidán 18. 01. 2020
- There’s a well known rivalry surrounding roller coasters. It’s not one of height, speed, or length; but one of material - wood vs steel. As most of you already know, the first roller coasters were made out of wood, but today the majority of coasters are steel! So what are the differences between these two materials, why has steel gone onto dominate the industry and most importantly, which is better?
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Yeah I don’t have a lanyard and I’m an enthusiast so HA
Coaster Fusion You mean you *thought* you were an enthusiast. But, well, if you don’t even have a lanyard, I mean .....
StamfordBridge I’m not an enthusiast then?
Coaster Fusion Well, come on, with no lanyard, how could you be an enthusiast?
StamfordBridge no one else has made that rule...
So, wood or steel?
RMC: “Yes”.
Soon to be gci too, they have a hybrid track as well
vic jaxon well really them and Gravity Group have made hybrids
Finally someone who knows how to correctly apply this meme
Lol
lego is my fav
RMC - “Why not both” 🤷🏽♂️
Lol yup
What's rmc?
And British rail
@@a.3160 Lmao gp its rocky mountain construction
yes
1900s: Wood roller coasters
1950s: Steel roller coasters
2000s: Plastic roller coasters?
That's next level thinking ;)
it acctually existed plastic roller coasters
2020: paper roller coasters
Carbon fiber rollercoasters
Fiberglass coasters
Here’s how I always described the difference:
Wooden rides it feels like you’re in a car, driving along the track, similar to how you can feel the road below you when you’re driving.
Steel coasters feel like you’re flying along the track, but also secured to the track
(Gliding along the track)
I like this
Agreed. Although I know it not, Wooden roller coaster always FEEL faster.
Wood or steel
B&m: steel
Gci:wood
Rmc: i agree
Steel : intimin >B&M>Mack>Gershlauer>Vekoma>ARROW>Zamperla
Wood : RMC >GCI>intimin prefab >DINN>CCI>RCCOA
I love the Looks of a wooden Coaster!
Me too!
My favorite is a nice rmc hybrid
Same, especially around Christmas time when the lights follow the track
I dont care if its a wooden or an steel or an i Box coaster
Main thing is that it is a (good) coaster
(^_^)
I mean that both are good not the same
Yes!
@@coasterbot what u answerd 😱🙂
Lol
U cool, yeah ...
That answer from me is unneeded
(Stroke lol)
You know what would be awesome?
If Harry made a livestream playing no limits 2 or planet coaster.
We need this !
Oli Combs indeed my friend indeed
I have done this in the past, maybe we can do it at some point in the future
COASTER BOT yes thank you
@@coasterbot rollercoaster tycoon 3?
The classic Woodie is my favorite kind of coaster. Just something about the rumbling of the ride as you go through the layout is really appealing to me
100 vomiting guests per minute might want to disagree
Same
@@mateuszodrzywoek8658 eh? Just the fact wooden can’t handle steep and high hills and horrid loops and corkscrews has to reduce the “puke” factor. Rough sometimes? Yes, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue as much as turning one over and disorienting.
@theOlLineRebel Got to agree with you there
Just looking at corkscrew coaster - 1 makes me feel sick.....
On a GCI:
Wood: Haha I am the track
Steel: but I support you, I am more important.
Rmc: We will make u both useful
I’m on team Hybrid.
Agreed
Same
I don’t know why but this is my favorite coaster channel
and you don't know why? :)
and what
You're very kind, thanks for watching and enjoying our content :)
I like the satisfying shake when you get airtime on a woodie, like the way Voyage does
I really like wild coasters with strong ejector air or other high-speed elements. So when it comes to how good a coaster is, the layout is actually more important to me than the material, even though wooden coasters often appear faster to me.
However, most of the modern wooden coasters seem to be much wilder than the steel ones, so I really like those as well.
It's the same for me, but as you said wood and wild often come hand in hand :)
Harry : Wood or steel?
Me (an rmc fan) : Both
Same
What about British rail
RMC's iBox hybrids aren't steel coasters, they're steel-tracked hybrids. Gnd Gravity Group's steel-structured coasters aren't wooden, they're wood-tracked hybrids.
Me: *does homework*
Coaster bot posting this: I’m gonna end this men’s whole career!
I hope we didn't end your career ;)
bruh my teacher is having us watch this for homework
I prefer the woodies. They provide a different ride each time. Steel make some great coasters at well.
Loving the hybrid wood/steel combos myself. InvadR at Busch Gardens and Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion are fast and fun.
I agree, wooden coasters are usually enjoyable no matter what
As a German enthusiast, we don't have the classic old wooden coasters. The oldest wooden coaster in Germany is actually just over 20 years old. So we just don't have that nostalgia.
Having said that, I just love smooth rides. B&M, Intamin, modern Vekoma, Gerstlauer… And in my opinion, the smoothest wooden coaster is still miles away from a decent steel coaster. The only woody I enjoyed in the last few years was Joris en de Draak at De Efteling.
Well, Wodan is a great ride as well. Its fast pacing, quick transitions and high-speed hills make it so much more thrilling compared to the steel coasters at Europa Park.
@@themeparkchallengeofficial I haven't been to Europapark since before they got Blue Fire.
@Dexter Frebish's Electric Roller Ride from where I live, both of these countries are like an 8-hour drive away… the closest wooden coaster to me is Bandit at Movie Park Germany… which is utter shit in my opinion.
Joris is actually a great woodie. But you should get up to Heide and try Colossos.
@@StamfordBridge 1. Joris is in the Netherlands. 2. I rode Colossus a few years ago and I didn't like it that much. One of the better wooden coasters I've been on, but still not better than a lot of steel coasters…
In my opinion, wooden rollercoasters provide terror striking experiences already and don’t even need inversions. Steel coasters are scary, but woodies have the power to literally make you feel like you are going to die, without even needing more expensive steel tracks. When I last went to Lagoon, the wooden coaster scared me the most out of every ride there, even their behemoth of a steel coaster, Cannibal.
I like how Wooden look and feel. Giant, lumbering, uncontrollable beasts...
Hey...that sounds like a good name for a coaster...
Me too!
As long as I am having fun then either is perfectly fine.
This was the most relaxing thing I've ever seen, and I'm not sure why.
But Steel.
Ha ha thank you :)
Great video Harry! My top three coasters are The Voyage, El Toro and Eejanaika, but the ever growing possibilities with Steel are what I enjoy most. 😊
Thank you! All of those coasters look insane!
Whenever I have an anxiety attacks or if I'm about to, I watch your vids. They calm me down INSTANTLY.
"As steel attractions are stronger in nature, they usually require less maintenance"... unless they're made by Intamin.
Wooden roller coasters are way more thrilling imo. I used to be afraid of roller coaster because all I rode were wooden. The first steel roller coaster I rode at the end I thought "is that it". It.was so lackluster.
I'm not the bravest rider of roller coasters, and that's partly why I prefer wooden ones. They're a little easier to grasp if I can tolerate them or not. Though I will admit that I'm somewhat bias, since Blackpool Pleasure Beach is my nearest themepark, and they maintain most of their historic wooden coasters in addition to new ones.
Were it not for the long ques, I'd love to ride on a steel coaster like Air at Alton Towers!
Mystic Mind Analysis You mean galactica.
@@danielledewitt1 Whatever it's called these days. I haven't been there since high school. (And for reference, I went to Camelot theme park in high school.)
Mystic Mind Analysis Same ride just remamed and rethemed. Oh and I loved camelot too.
If you can tolerate the Blackpool woodies you can tolerate anything, trust me ;)
COASTER BOT Indeed. I used to be a whimp til my sister got me on shiekra at busch gardens tampa.
Great video, you can really see the advancements made to the content on this channel in the last few months, commentary is much smoother and I like the addition of references to other videos, parks and the rides themselves!
Thanks Dom, that means a lot. Recently other members of the channel have been having more input into the scripts of the videos, and as you noticed it's turned out great. Thanks for noticing :)
You used the hyper in my home park in the thumbnail!!! I’m so proud! People seriously under look SFOG
10/10 rides are possible with both types. I can't even decide if my favorite coaster is I305 or El Toro, anyways lol.
Both look awesome
The amazing thing about wooden coasters is that I literally laugh out of excitement most of the time I ride them
Same! :)
Woodies all the way. I love the head choppers, shaky airtime, and lats on woodies that isn't found on hybrids or steel coasters.
I totally get all that :)
Coaster Bot: Wood or Steel?
Me: Yes.
RMC be like: Inversions on woodies, throw in a launch on a Woodie, have both Steel and wood, and decide to do one rail. I really want to know what goes on in alan shilke's mind.
I prefer steel because of the huge potential they have, but wooden coasters I think look more iconic
I think that wood could become more popular if companies try to add more advanced features and element like when RMC built a launched wooden coaster
I love the aesthetics of a purely wooden roller-coaster! The perfectly regular mesh of wooden bars and planks ... it's fascinating to think that it endures the forces that enact upon it!
From all the footage I've seen, RMC's hybrid coasters seem to feature a less regular supportive mesh with steal beams at crazy angles, which I don't find as appealing.
Y’all telling jokes about RMC however you all forgot that it was British rail who made the first hybrid coaster. ;)
I like both :))
Me too!
Love it Harry , brilliantly explained 🎢🎢🙌🏽🧱👍🏽
Thanks guys :)
That 20-40 year life span terrifies me. Imagine a U.K without Nemesis and the Big One? I know people said that about the Corkscrew, but seeing the end of the country's first Great Coaster War would be grounds for the declaration of a national holiday.
Quite a few of the steel roller coasters at Blackpool are 40 years old now. But yes, the world is going to be a different place without Nemesis or the Big One!
Brilliant informative video as always, Great job!
Thanks Dan, it means a lot :)
@@coasterbot what's your preferred type of the two? I personally love steel coasters! The twisted layouts full of high speeds and inversions create such an enjoyable and insane experience! I'm glad I could give you some feedback for your excellent videos. 👍😀
Great Video.
Thank you!
Gravity Group: Sorry what did you say about wooden coasters not having inversions?
Of course the wood vs steel (vs hybrid) question is just for fun and there is no straightforward answer. I think parks need both. When a steel coaster becomes rough it doesn't mean it feels like a wooden coaster. It just means that it gives you a headache. And depending on the restraints it may also pound on you uncomfortably. So you can't really mimic wooden coasters by just having steel coasters that are rough. There are some very smooth wooden coasters that still have the out of control feeling so they don't feel like steel coasters.
Conversely, there are many things that wooden coasters just can't do. And steel has added a greater variety than what you see from wood. And while there are some super smooth wooden coasters, most are at least a little rough and many are painfully rough.
A park with only steel would be missing out on the fun of wood. A park with only wood would miss out on variety and would probably end up being a park that guarantees you a headache.
Wise words!
You should actually do a wood versus steel preference poll. I’m pretty sure steel would win, but I’d be interested to see the percentages.
I love both but definitely tend to love woodies most.
That would be interesting, we might have to do this on social media!
Finally occurred to me that an advantage to wood would be for timid customers. Realized the wooden always have a visible support while you’re in the train. Steel don’t need all that structure so it’s almost invisible from the train. Much more intimidating for timid passengers.
Keep up the great content harry and zoe / coaster bot team 😁 love your content and your amazing merch 🤗
Thanks Tom that means a lot :)
How RMC was born
The people: wood or steel?
The people: why not both?
RMC: Great idea!
Very nicely put together. The bit about different coasters' service life was particularly interesting. As for me, I think Steel is always gonna win out.
Thank you, it certainly is interesting to think about!
I can't decide, RMC does both :(
I love chaos and intense rides, so naturally I prefer wooden rides
I don't have a favorite. My #1 is a hybrid. Great video!
Awesome, and thank you :)
I rode on the only wooden rollor coaster with an intversion. It's also the bigest in Europe. The same park are making a crazy steel coaster soon.
it's in tayto park. the only theme park in ireland
Tayto parks looks like an interesting one for sure! It seems they're hoping to expand in the future :)
the reason why I love wooden roller coasters more is simply the way it feels/drives, It feels more rough and very non-smooth and that's what I like about them.
I couldn't agree more
Woodie all the way.😀
For 80 years no one has ever ever referred to Coney Island's Cyclone as a "Hybrid". It is arguably the most famous "wooden" and iconic classic coaster in the world. The supports are made of STEEL! Its not alone. RMC came along and INVENTED a "marketing term" to stand for "let's rip off these old wooded rails and stick our new I-Box steel ones on top of the old wooden support structure to spruce up this old woodie--looks weird so we'll call it a HYBRID."
An RMC coaster is a STEEL coaster. They are thrilling and fantastic. However...
A proper woodie is actually giant sculpture meant to be RIDDEN, as in horseback riding. In the 60's we kids weren't stapled to the seats. We used the safety bar to maneuver our ride experience and control the amount of airtime we wanted. The word "smoothness" wasn't even in our vocabulary! Today's restraints all but destroy an authentic wood coaster ride. Today's snowflakes would saw their horses' legs off and RMC them.
I love horror movies and comedies. I love steel...wood has a special fascination for me though.
I didn't realise Coney Island cyclone was a hybrid coaster, that's really interesting to know. I think the term is a new one but these rides are different to their all wood and all steel counterparts and it's best to give them different terminology
@@coasterbot The problem is that the US industry classifies coasters in their own specific way and with the public it can vary..this can lead to confusion. I've been trying to investigate the matter, and have not found any evidence that the material used for the supports has any bearing on how a coaster ride "feels". Track type which determines train type etc. seems to be the biggest determining factor in rider's preferences. I love having this discussion and thanks for a great channel.
i really appreciate that you use lots of uk / european coasters for footage in your videos, it gets so tiring seeing the same american coasters over and over in every other video
Well to be honest I use footage of the rides I've recorded footage of. Obviously being from the UK that's most UK and European footage :)
Wooden coaster/hybrids for the win! Bring me that airtime!
My favorite at the moment is definitely wood. they tend to have more intense rides, and more airtime. although i havent ridden alot of coasters yet. only been to great america and magic mountain, as well as knott's
Great America in California or in illinois
@@champagne_papiiii when i wrote that comment, only illinois, but now ive been to both!
Nice 👍
You left out one of the biggest differences: wheels. Most wood coasters have steel wheels running on steel strips, giving them far lower friction and sense they could keep going forever. RMC conversions have rubber treads, so they have to raise the lift and speed and still finish with wicked little hills since they're going so slow. Some large wood coasters such as El Toro also use rubber tread, but as wood coasters that size otherwise tend to be failures, they get a pass and can still be "wood" coasters instead of "rubber" coasters ....
That's interesting, I forgot about wheel compounds (they don't come up in discussion very much). As you said that's definitely one of the reasons wooden coasters carry their speed!
The only thing that really matters o me about a ride is its smoothness. If it doesn't give me a pounding headache and make me feel like I'm in a blender, it's good to me.
I use to hate wooden roller coasters because from my experience or at least from what I remember most of them were rough and I just thought that was an inherent quality of them then I realized that steel coasters can also be rough as well and that a wooden coaster is one of my favorite roller coasters
I saw Wicker Man like 5 times
Because it's a quality coaster!
Loads of Liseberg footage this time, which I quite like :)
That's because Liseberg is awesome ;)
Thank god GCI is still around
That was very useful thanks
No problem, thanks for watching :)
I don't know anyone who likes one type of coaster over another. I think we all just enjoy an awesome ride. And I've gotten them on wood, steel, and wood/steel hybrids. :) The rides that are highest on my bucket list include both wood and steel coasters!
Speed no limits has concrete inside the track to amplify the sound
everyone: wood or steel
me: lego
Wooden coasters will always have my heart, there's just something about them. They have a certain ride character, sight, and even smell to them. A woodie that was built well in the first place and maintained can run great for years and years which the smaller parks especially continue to prove to the public. Another thing I like is that a woodie proves that a coaster doesn't have to be enormous to provide a huge thrill. A woodie that's only 100 feet tall or even less is often more thrilling than a steel coaster of the same height and speed because of the feel. 50 mph on a woodie feels much faster than 50 mph on a steel coaster.
Don't get me wrong, I love steel coasters and many of them out there are some of my favorites. I would say you just can't compare wood and steel coasters, they're meant to provide completely different rides.
I definitely agree, there's just something different about wooden coasters that steel ones don't have :)
wood or steel:
rmc:yes
I am clueless as to how many people adore wooden coasters way over steel. I guess it's just a preference, but I like my rides smooth, I don't want bruised hips and shoulders or neckpain (yes some steel coasters may give you that as well). But overall, most wooden coasters I've ridden are too forceful, in a bad way. That and (in my opinion) steel coasters can have way more variety. To each their own, I guess. I do enjoy hybrids but I would say that rather classifies as steel instead of wooden.
Steel coasters definitely offer more variety. Not all wooden roller coasters hurt though, you've just got to find the good ones!
My favourite is steel because the wooden coasters we have in spain are very crappy with horrible pacing issues
Haven’t ridden a RMC, can’t how awesome it must be
What I would prefer? Both, if it's a good ride.
It's interesting to think that the regular maintenance required for wooden roller coasters is ironically why they have longer service lives than steel roller coasters. What I wonder now is if using modern treated wood like BluWood would help reduce maintenance demands of wooden rides without increasing their overall cost.
Newer technologies in terms of wood preservation have probably helped. But you not only replace wood because it gets old, but because it becomes weaker over time due to the forces of the ride, and I'm not sure what can be done to stop that.
Wood. Because there is not even a single wooden coaster with a over-the-shoulder restraint. Lap-bars for life
I'm sure there's a wooden roller coaster with OTSRs somewhere! :)
@@coasterbot that'd be even worse than the roughest steel coasters with Over the shoulder restraints!
I like wood the best!
Wooden rollercoasters always seem to scare the CRAP out of me. When on the ride, They always feel scarier to me.
I’m not a big fan of classic wood coasters, but I think every park needs at least 1.
I love the wooden rollercoasters the most
On a poorly built, and/or maintained wooden coaster, i don't at all care to be shaken around like a can of paint. Nothing else will so quickly give me a pounding headache, ruining my day, as the shaking, jolting, jackhammer-ing of a bad wooden coaster. So, while I would profess to liking steel coasters better, I must admit that I have not yet been on a Rocky Mountain Construction hybrid coaster, and very much so look forward to doing so.
Great vid, thanks for the upload!
RMCs ride like Steel coasters, so I'm sure you'll enjoy them! Thanks for watching :)
I'll take a classic woodie any day, unless you're putting it up against a 200+ foot drop hyper with loads of airtime.
Kind of a nitpick here but I love how the Great White wood picture in the thumbnail has steel supports
Shuush, don't tell anyone! It looks so wooden ;)
I was on a wooden roller coaster and one of the seatbelts on it was messed with some idiot so the entire time I felt like I was gonna fly out
The thing about some wood roller coasters for me is that I am crushed against by seat and have a weird feeling umm down there
I would like to see you do a new series called Coaster Bombs. This will be about failed coasters like Drachen Fire and Batman and Robin: The Chiller.
I mean technically What Is (or when it's about defunct coasters, What Was) is exactly that series. He has covered some defunct coasters.
This is a great suggestion, I'll note it down, thank you :)
I love both wood and steel.
4th - 90's style steel ("we have THIS many inversions!!!"). Dragon Khan style rides feel super dated now.
3rd - wooded coasters (for out of control lulz)
2nd - modern steel non-inverting hypercoasters+ (for zomg speedz)
1st - RMC conversions (they will eat your soul - twice)
0:56 "Flug der Dämonen" Heide Park in Germany. I LOVE this Ride
It's a great ride! :)
Wood, and hybrid. Except I do like the Intamin blitz model
Take a shot every-time you see a UK roller coaster.
You would cease to exist
*RMC slowing about to breach the argument door.*
Wood=Airtime
Steel=Intensity
Steel and Wood=Airtime and Intensity
I think through all these videos, which are great by the way, I now have like 10 rides on the Smiler.
Awesome to hear! The smiler is a great roller coaster :)
COASTER BOT:wooden coasters cant be built as high as steel
Planet coaster: Watch me