Apex Gecko Carve & Cross Review

[RCrobar]

Apex Gecko Carve & Cross Review

 

Conditions

 

Global warming, Super El Nino $hit is how I would describe the conditions. The days before the weekend it was -5C, then is snowed about 8cm of nice fluffy stuff, by the middle of the day it was raining and +8C, by the end of the day the snow was either all gone or ice.  I went riding a couple days after this, it was hard snow.  If it wasn't for the Gecko demo I probably would have got a lot of work done around the house!

 

Geckos

 

I was lucky enough to try both the Gecko Carve (for SL and GS for plates) and the Cross (for BX for softies)  I tried to make the two set ups extreme opposites, by that I mean I set up the hard boot Carve with the stiffer RED bumpers and the soft boot Cross with the softer ORANGE bumpers.  I also centered all the Gecko plates on the available holes in a symmetrical pattern for every test run.  

 

My Set Ups

 

I used 3 boards for the test, a Coiler Nirvana Freecarve Balance Flex, a Swoard EXCarve Metal medium flex, and a 10+ year old generation one Swoard EXCarve glass medium flex.  For all the Geckos and set ups I used F2 Race bindings and hard boots.

 

Testing

 

For each of the boards and Gecko sets ups I did the same run twice, I did this all day long.  After 2 runs, I would head back to the truck tail-gate work shop and start swapping boards, plates and/or bindings around. The runs went like this:

 

1) Coiler Nirvana - Gecko Carve/Red Bumpers

2) Coiler Nirvana - Gecko Cross/Orange Bumpers

3) Coiler Nirvana - No Plate/bindings directly on the board

4) 10+ year old generation #1 Swoard EXCarve glass - Gecko Cross/Orange Bumpers

5) New Swoard EXCarve Metal - No Plate/bindings directly on the board

 

Highly Biased Opinion Time

 

Smooth as Butter

 

As stated, the Gecko plates add a velvet smooth feeling to the ride, they work great.  Comparing the two Swoards really highlighted the smooth ride sensation.  The knock on the original first generation Swoard, when compared to metal boards, was the lack of a damp feeling.  The old EXer, with the Gecko Cross/Orange Bumpers had a ride that was 'similar' and/or approaching the smooth damp ride of the metal EXer.  When skidding the Glass swoard you could heard the loud sound of a glass board on hard snow, but the sensation was still smooth.  Props to the new Metal Swoard as it was very, very smooth without the plates.

 

Skid-carving 'Slarving'

 

Skid-carving 'slarving' with the bindings directly on the board or with the Gecko plate on the board felt exactly the same, you loose no performance with the Geckos.  A few years ago I also tried the original Duck Billed Apex plate, it really smoothed out lumpy, chewed up terrain.  But when skid-carving 'slarving'  with the Duck Bill Plate there was a decoupled feeling, you would be skidding into a stop and then you would spin right round before you realized what happened.  This does not happen with the Geckos.

 

Controlling Board Flex

 

My first run of the day was on the Coiler Nirvana with the Gecko Carve and the hard red bumpers.  The smooth Metal Coiler ride and the smoothing sensation of the Gecko plates resulted in me going way faster than I realized as it felt so easy.  This relaxed cruising feeling was rudely interrupted when I flew off of the very narrow grooming, hit a few frozen rock solid speed bumps, went over the handle bars ... did a sky-snow-sky-snow flip (this is all I saw/remember) into one of the hardest crashes I have done in a long time!  Nothing hurt, nothing broken ... just my pride:)

 

For me the most interesting discovery about the Geckos was how they have the ability to affect the boards' flex pattern.  The best way I can describe it is the use of the different Gecko plates and different bumpers made my one Coiler feel like 3 different Coilers.  It was like I was riding a Stiff Flex, then a Medium Flex, then a Soft Flex Nirvana.  

 

With the stiffer Carve Gecko and the stiffer red bumpers, it was harder make the tight turns I am used to making with this board.  The Gecko Carve with hard bumpers are probably made for real racers that can squat a house. I was not able to bend everything as much as a bigger, stronger hard charging rider; this resulted in bigger radius turns. Poor light, easy smooth speed and a board that wasn't turning as tight as it normally does equaled a pretty good crash!  

 

With the Gecko Cross and the softest Orange bumpers, I was able to turn the board tighter than I have been able to in the past.  My best guess as to 'why' this happened is with my bigger frame riding a hard boot set up, and the Gecko Cross being made for soft boots, gave me the power to really flex the entire set up.  Combined this with the idea that the Geckos reduce the binding foot print by 60% is why I was able to bend and flex my Coiler more than before; making it easier to turn.  

 

With both Gecko plate set ups, whether it was the stiffer or softer set up, the board had a nice, even, smooth bending sensation.  

 

Conclusion

 

The Geckos work great.  I'd also like to try the Stealth version as well.  I would try the Stealth version with the longer insert extensions from the Carve and the Cross, with the red and orange bumpers.  I also wonder how the Carve and Cross Gecko would feel with the shorter insert extension and the super stiff Black Delrin bumpers?  Henry explained to me that you can mix and match all parts from all of the different Gecko plates.

 

If you are a guy that sees a lot of hard, icy conditions, you will probably enjoy the smoother ride as it makes the snow feel better than it is.  If you have a glass board you love and want to get a smoother damper ride out of it, I think the Gecko could help.  If you have a board that is too soft or too stiff for you, I think you probably could tweak the bumpers etc to dial in the flex better.  Dialing in the flex, for example, on a Heavy spring slush day you could use a stiffer Gecko-Bumper combo to stiffen the board.  On a rock hard ice day, use a softer Gecko-Bumper combo so the board bends easier.  Different flexes all from one board.  I didn't try setting up the Geckos in an asymmetrical pattern with a mix of hard and soft bumpers, I am guessing this could keep a guy busy testing for quite a while.  Cool product!

 

Big thank you to Henry for the demo.

Cheers

Rob    

Edited February 10, 2016 by RCrobar

[boardguru]

Thanks for your review. I have been giving these some serious consideration.