Bruce Varsava

I do not want to post any pics as it is just on loan to me for testing and board set up. Will wait for the manufacturer to do that. Your description is pretty darn close though BV

I did Asym cores years ago and actually last raced on a SL one at the last USASA races I did 8 yrs ago. The core is thinned out in front from heel to tip and in the rear from toe to tail. Conversely it is thickened a bit from front toe to tip and rear heel to tail. This reduces the amount you have to move fore and aft to pressure it effectively . Actually works quite well as another reason I did it is I can injure my back if I try to manipulate my body for max pressuring in toe side turns so the softer rear toe side will allow for a more consistent turn if I ease the pressure off. On the front heel turn I do not need to pressure as far forwards to make it initiate smoothly. Pain in the ass to build but a fun unique ride. The Apex plate was nice as it allowed me to tweak the nose pressure required . Board design with the plate seems to be make it a bit stiffer in mid to rear and the nose can be softer as you can stiffen it to taste with the plate. I used TD1 bumpers installed into threaded holes I put in throughout the extended nose area . This way I could move them around to suit the conditions. You can effectively make your nose Asym by using just the plate and bumpers. BV

About 4.5 lbs with all hardware. I'll give a full report once I get a bit more time. Liked it in GS, SL model would need to be modified to adapt for more board flex. The Asym board really worked well as planned. Since we were running a blueish hill in softer snow for the GS I added a TD1 bumper on the front of the Apex plate over the softer side of the Asym board . This gave me more to push against. If it were steeper and harder snow, I would have left it without the bumpers. Nice to have the adjustability. I just chickened out in my second runs in both races and found out that the extra weight just likes to be ridden hard as it should but I was not up to the task. For freecarve it is also a nice ride but the extra weight seems to cancel out any energy savings you get through a smoother ride. All in all very effective tool to make you go a bit faster but the user needs to be up to a certain level before it really will make a useful difference. Also your board can be a bit stiffer. Built the Asym board just a touch stiffer than I would normally and it worked pretty good with or without the plate. I could have still gone a bit stiffer in the front but may then give up nice the soft touch on harder snow. BV

[/img] Heres the latest toy. 182 NSR+ regular asym core. Racing it at Copper this week and will get back with findings. Apex plate is on loan and is the latest version available. BV

Base distortion is a semi involved issue depending on board construction. When a board is made, usually heat is involved. When cooling the bases will contract and pull the board edge hi and into more camber. Since the Madds have no topsheet to compensate the pull, they should go edge hi if the press was flat across and they were heated during the build. Adding he carbon should not change that much as it is a more stable material than the plastic base in regards to expansion/contraction. A theory I have but its not really confirmed is since the base is pulling, if you grind some off, it will lessen the pull and the board should go more base hi and get less camber once more material is removed. Exactly what you do not want to happen! One thing I do is check to see if the top of the board is flat or distorted. Since the cores are planed flat and that board should have an even flat lamination across it ( I assume) you can see if the board has distorted and how much. Most bases are 1.2mm to start which does not sound like much but it still takes quite a bit of sanding/grinding to take it off. Of course if the board was used, no idea what it has been through. Another thing to do is check it at snow temp and not room temp. You may well see a difference. My new glass Angrry goes about 1 mm edge hi at snow temp and is dead flat at room temp. I use very little to no heat during building to eliminate this concern. Since the boards come out dead flat form the press with no distortion , I need to take off no more base than to just clean the epoxy off . So since there is nearly a 1.2mm full base on it and no topsheet, more contraction is seen in the cold but this will lessen once it has a few sand/grind jobs . I just tune it with a bit extra bevel at that stage and life is good. BV

Not a true comparison as they have a slight different decam which affects the measurement, While at ECES I checked out a newer Madd 158 and it had 15mm. My glass carbon has 14mm with decam so its about the same. The yello Angrry metal had about 9mm. My legs are just getting back to normal 4 days after testing those things. No need for a gym membership when going hard on 9m BV

Sorry I ride Titleist AP2 and now build fiberglass/carbon boards again;)

Quit getting picky, that board you got last Feb was already next years 2011 model:biggthump

Board does have my Slalom decam nose which has been revised and smoothed out from previous ones, same decam tail as a stubby. This is why I was hunting out some softer snow today as I only rode an original Madd in softer snow and did not like it at all. It wanted to overturn and toss me over the front. Seems the smoothed out nose and tail elevations have helped that out which makes it much more versatile. While doing some testing about a week ago with a few various sized boards on an icy day which had a few real dark hard spots, I found what worked best if you wanted to turn tight were only the shortest boards or you could ride longer boards with long sidecuts (14m ish). Kinda makes sense as the longer tight turning boards just could not get enough pressure to bend the ends into their preferred arcs since you could not hammer on them. So if you want to turn tight and on hard surface, sub 160cm seemed to work best. Board is going to Mike T for testing in Oregon then to California for some more late season action. Already have numerous ideas for tweaks but will wait till I get expert opinions. BV

It wasn't really a fair test in regards to that as it was so firm you were pussyfooting to try not to break loose a lot of the time. What feel I did get was not a huge difference, they both needed to be loaded and then you could get some energy back. The glass did mid flex more so seemed to load up better. The metal takes a bit more effort to get some air transisitons and you can load it due to the added trust in its edging but neither was just sit back and get launched. If either tail was stiffer, maybe a bit better to launch but then they'd be too stiff to have much other fun in those conditions. I really want others to comment on that as I have not ridden enough short poppy boards to really compare. BV

Just a few thoughts as I need to get in some shop time today. Well my legs are toast but I was very happy with the results. Was hoping to get maybe 75 or 80% of what I desired but got closer to 90% so its pretty fun as is. Actually a bit stiff for me despite feeling a bit soft. Before testing I had a sneaky feeling the higher camber would do that. It really grips very well. Conditions were about as hard as you would want to ride. I was golfing for the last few days and the morning I was out was -10C so you just knew it would be solid. Did back to back tests with a metal Angrry 160 which is a board I quite like. The glass version definitely transmits substantially more feel which is of course good or bad depending on how old your knees are. When I switched back to the metal I definitely enjoyed the smoother ride. Grip was similar yet different if that makes any sense. The boards flex patterns are quite different due mainly to the hi camber on the glass version and its mid section which is a bit softer to be able to flex into a decent arc. It really tightens the arc when pushed by flexing more in the mid and a nice pop can be had when it releases. The metal having a bit lower camber feels like it tightens more form the ends of the board rather than the middle. When my legs were fresh and technique still good I was very successful at taming most hills on either board. After 2 hrs legs were gone and I did get into a few wild chatters on both but the glass was more susceptible. Almost always on toeside so the stiffer rear sections were not being pressured enough when I got lazy.When you pound turns and can pressure nicely throughout with good technique,they both hold extremely well. The glass version was a little more tricky to draw out a turn farther across the fall line when you could not pressure it as hard so if speed got a bit above where it should be and you were on a steeper real hard section, it was interesting! Found a few softer spots exposed longer to sun and the glass version worked plenty good even at a measly 157 cm without any fore/aft pressure concerns. It was 18.5 compared to the 19 on the metal version so I did boot out on occasion a bit more easily. Rode 59/56 and could have gone a few degrees up yet maybe. In the slightly softer snow you could really tighten up an arc, load it up in the mid and get some nice energy back. No signs of any stress on it so it appears all should be good. Carbon scratched a bit easy from debris on my boot so a stomp pad would cure that. All in all a very fun ride which definitely is a unique and more challenging model to tame. Still not too demanding as to make it too tricky of a ride. For me at 185lbs ish and on real firm steeps I would go softer and see how that works out. Will be sending out west for a few others to try it who have 158 Madd originals so I look forward to their findings.

I mix up the wood also but still figure that even if I use the same plank, different grain direction can still changes overall stiffness so I prefer not to make any assumptions of wood density and final adjust at the end when the process is pretty much complete and no variables left. I feel the law of averages can work for or against so I don't take the chance

Nilfisk indestructible hepa vac Not sure how old but who cares:) West is good reliable stuff but it is only one of 3 or 4 different resins I use for different purposes. BTW, that long ski thing had sidecut of infinity, straight as an arrow dowm each side. BV

Yeah, I bought it before I became a full time board builder. I track it on rare occasion but it has no power adders only moderately upgraded brakes , full coilover suspension along with track tires. Too costly and risky to go FI on it since it is high compression. My rear tires only go about 5000km without any added power:eek: It is aligned for grip and not tire longevity though so that does not help. Tons of fun on twisty roads. Only get to use it about 6 months per year up here. Do all the work on it myself as its my hobby when I'm not immersed in epoxy. Nice to work on a car that does not rust:)

I don't think the dissected board was an original. I never even really took it all apart. Just peeled the top off not even to the wood. I had his original but just for riding purposes and also to test my patience by spending a day trying to find the right length screws for my bindings. Pricing TBD. Probably higher if it actually works well:lol: BV

Shaggy is actually the brain behind this project. He donated a board for dissection and also let me have a go on one of his originals. I still am a metal guy and will surely prefer the metal version once its sorted out. However I have not had such an urge to bed down with a board for long time:o Muchas Gracias amigo! BV

HUH , consider your knowledge updated;) Does this also compensate for wood density variance?

No metal as I was out so finally had a few weeks to fool around on the glass Angrry project. The carbon really looks nice so that was the major conquest for stuff being learned. Metal one will be ready to test next season. Methinks that is going to be a fun ride:biggthump Really looking forward to getting this thing on snow tomorrow. Not too sure what to expect but it pretty much all came out as planned. Stiffness may be a touch soft for me but will not know till I try it. The camber came out a few mm short of my goal but is still more than anything I have ever built BV

HAHAHA That arrow goes on all boards as it indicates which way to orient sidecuts with core profile. On this board I had so many new things to think about it never occurred to me it would be visible. Realized that one a bit too late. You can see the binding center lines too. I really wasn't too worried about it as I thought it was going to come out looking pretty rough but it came out a lot nicer than expected Pretty much good enough to sell as is but test ride still needs to be done. Before I say I can reglue your plate on, lets see if mine stays on:lol: BV

Sorry but I edited the photos so the original links no longer work 157 x 18.5 x VSR approx 9m( ok I stole it right off a Madd 158) SL nose decamber, slight tail decamber. Carbon bfly and lateral carbon tail reinforcement Substantially more camber than typical for one of my board. Flex pattern very Madd ish Testing it on fri on hard icy stuff if weather man is right

Gee, I didn't realize my entire photo album would be public:eek: The thing in Pic 5 is a set of 267 cm skis I made which is used with that platform for windsurfing on ice. The white one was the same as it is made as one piece and cut. I just took the pics as a joke last season, 267 cm, no sidecut, anyone want to try it:eek: They only need one edge so it can be built as one piece and then cut. The carbon bfly was wider than the board as it was just installed and not yet trimmed. Finished it tonight and will post final pics tomorrow. Size is deceiving as its smaller than it appears. 157 x 18.5x VSR approx 9m. Guess it looks wide as its so short It may be touch soft but will not know till I ride it on Fri. Real warm on Thurs and then real cold on Fri, PERFECT! It has substantially more camber than any board I have built and flex pattern is very very Madd ish. The cosmetics were f*#k ups on my part. Forgot it was going to be a clear board so left pen marks on the core. DUH! Also had some metallic pen marks on the carbon form a previous job so they bled through. All simple stuff to fix of course. The carbon came out 99% good which is plenty good even for me. I thought that would be the hard part but I came up with a simple process to get it all smooth and real nice matte finish. Can;t wait till Fri. After I test it it will be sent to a Madd specialist for further tests. Metal one will be done too, complete with carbon Bfly but that may be an early next season project as I won't be selling any till testing proves all is OK BV

Definitely you need one of my metal boards or else I don't even understand how you can get down the hill:lol: Actually the real issue is suitability and the metal IMO is the icing on the cake. It does allow for a quicker progression but even suitable glass boards can ride very well and help progression. Production boards can be all over the place in regards to stiffness, thats where the skill of a reputable builder comes in as they can use their skills to make it right. When someone mentions steep and shooting off into the woods, I immediately think too stiff! Just got word my Titanal is ready for pick up, WOOHOO back in business! BV

I've got lots of rubber if required;) Its the good Austrian stuff too.

This weekend we get plenty of dampening, rain:freak3:

That Skategoat dude never even rides. Didn't see him out once this season. As an interesting experiment, I built a glass VSR as close to the metal ones as I could in a single attempt. It actually came out extremely close so it was a decent test. Took it to ECES and rode it back to back and just did not like the micro vibrations as discussed earlier. It did not have a noticeable larger amount of pop. So this solidifies my thoughts that the energy can come from many other parts of a board and it is not just these new fangled designs and materials making you miserable. Now that golf season is here WTF are you doing thinking about snowboards still. I have already been 2wice to the range. Take that you lazy you know what. You want pop but energy in = energy out so I guess you were tiring yourself out in the first hour and going home tail firmly between legs rather than riding sweet metal all the day.:lol::lol::lol: BV