Donek

I have heard from Bomber that a number of people attending Nationals have asked to borrow boards for their race. While both of us would prefer not to have demos sitting at the top of the course not being demoed, I have a bit of a solution. I do have a few 185 rev prototypes on hand still, so I will ensure that I have them in the tent. These boards will be made available to individuals wishing to race on them and of course can be purchased during the event. I will not take sign ups for them, they will be lent out on a first come first served basis though. With luck we will have enough on hand for those wishing to borrow a board for their race.

I have heard from Bomber that a number of people attending Nationals have asked to borrow boards for their race. While both of us would prefer not to have demos sitting at the top of the course not being demoed, I have a bit of a solution. I do have a few 185 rev prototypes on hand still, so I will ensure that I have them in the tent. These boards will be made available to individuals wishing to race on them and of course can be purchased during the event. I will not take sign ups for them, they will be lent out on a first come first served basis though. With luck we will have enough on hand for those wishing to borrow a board for their race.

See you at the basin in the morning. Sounds like you need to take out the 170 proteus. I'll see if I can get Fin to bring it along.

Both Bomber and Donek will be at the base of Copper doing demos all week.

If it's going to break, it's most likely to break in front of the front binding.

It would be interesting to get back on that board. We'll see how my ankle is holding up.

1. Finding the one coach who stopped coaching for a day and just watched. Sean MacCarron Fixed my stance and allowed me to stop focusing on technique and just ride. The most important lesson I learned is that everyone is different and generic rules about stance have absolutely no place in snowboarding or carving. 2. Forcing myself to ride boards that were well outside my comfort zone. 3. Riding a plate.

cool stuff Brian.

If you've mounted this board while on the hill, there is likely nothing wrong with your screw length. It is actually very difficult to achieve a bump like this with just a screw in the insert. It is, however, very easy to do if you mount your bindings while there is snow in the inserts. It's also quite easy to do if there is a buildup of threadlock in the bottom of the inserts, or epoxy left in the insert from manufacturing. Reducing the number of threads you engage by shortening your screw could be very unsafe. To find out if your screw is the appropriate length, turn it into the insert by hand and count the number of turns, then count the number of turns when mounting the binding. If you are getting fewer turns when mounting your binding, your screw is not too long. You should see at least 3 turns on the screw when mounting your binding.

Both our Hazelwood and Nomad series have the structure to support aluminum plate bindings.

These guys will be there.... and me too. 163 metal FC 171 metal FC 175 metal FC 185 metal FC 170 Proteus 180 Proteus 175 REV 185 REV 172 Metal AX 164 Nomad 185 Hazelwood 200 Hazelwood 157 Pilot 168 Pilot

Metal is an isotropic material, meaning it has the same mechanical properties in all directions. Any fiber can be woven into an in plane isotropic laminate simply by weaving fibers in at least 3 directions and equally spaced about 360 degrees. Our carbon fiber construction uses such a laminate. We originally developed it to mimic the behavior of a metal board, as titanal is not available wider than 31cm. We frequently build boardercross boards for customers that are wider and these customers are looking for a metal like construction. It is possible to generate an in plane isotropic laminate from fiberglass or many other fibers. Such a laminate will generate metal like properties in a board. It is important to note that, it is not the metal that makes boards feel damp the way many people think it does. A board constructed with just metal and a wood core will sounds like a tin can when you tap on it and be very lively on snow. The board will not be terribly durable as the bond to the metal laminates is quite weak. In order to improve the bond strength to the metal it is common to use a thin rubber laminate against the metal. This rubber dramatically enhances the bond strength to the metal with a secondary affect of making the board very damp. It actually has a dull thud sound when you tap it. This dull thud sound is what is normally erroneously associated with a metal construction. This same rubber laminate can be used in fiberglass, carbon fiber, or any other constructions to produce very similar results. I am not familiar enough with the Oxxess construction to know what laminates they are using, but they do illustrate that it is possible to produce a high performance board that wins at the world cup level without metal. Both the Kessler and SG boards incorporate small amounts of carbon fiber as do the Coiler, Prior, and Donek boards. The relative combinations of metal, carbon and rubber can be used to tailor board characteristics. The combination of these materials is well proven and enables the builder to tailor many key characteristics. I think the original poster asked what are the differences between a metal board and one constructed with no metal but just carbon as a reinforcing material. There really isn't an good answer to this. I think the real answer is in the builder's personality and what could be termed his boards DNA. Many things can be accomplished with a number of materials. The key is whether the builders personality or the personality he has engineered into the board fits you. Engineering different board personalities is a new goal for us. Our proteus and REV are the first in this endeavor to create offerings outside our normal approach to board characteristics. Reading the technical information a builder provides is the first step in trying to interpret how the board performs compared to others. Demoing or talking with friends who have ridden specific boards is another. Discussing your likes and dislikes with your board builder is likely the most effective method of determining what will work for you.

This is something that has been discussed. The fundamental problem is with the axle spacing. It grows very large. Such a design becomes an integrated system that requires the board be designed around the plate. The plate must also get stiffer.

probably the most intriguing part is the rubbing between the aluminum 4X4 adapter plate. You show the anodizing being rubbed. This indicates interference when flexing the board upwards (inducing greater camber in the board) There is only 1 to 2 mm of travel in the slider in this direction, yet you are clearly bending the board far more than ever expected in the reverse direction.

I'm glad you liked it. It's something that I think will happen for a long time to come. It's very difficult to predict all the manners in which the rider can bend or deflect things and still try to minimize the stack height of the system. On your Bomber photo... Have you moved the axles out since you had the interference issue. Based on the Bomber hardware I have in my hand that scratching does not appear to line up with where the bosses are mounted. It should be just in front and behind the boss, where yours appears to be quite far behind it.

Calle, We've definitely seen interference for the bigger or more aggressive riders. The unusual part is that it seems occur in different locations for different people. I think we see it more than Bomber because we provide more motion in our slider. This is done to allow for more inaccuracy in the spacing of the hardware. We've tried to ensure that interfearence is only possible between the plate and hardware as we don't want to be scratching up boards. So far there have been no negative effects other than the visible scratches. I'm sure Fin will have some feedback for you, but Bomber is typically closed on Mondays.

Just confirming what most people are saying here. We don't have tuning machinery to set base or side bevels accurately and do not ask what you prefer. We leave tuning to the customer as they know what works best for their needs. If you are unsure, I recommend 1/2 to 1 deg on the base and 1 deg on the side to start. We occasionally put wax on the base and will probably begin running a buff waxer this year. The boards just look better when it's done. I wouldn't recommend riding extensively with that wax job. It simply isn't a performance wax.

Reduction in stack height of 1/4in with respect to TD3. Not sure how that compares to a TD2, but I know they are also made to be much lighter, so I would guess you gain a bit there. The e-ring only comes in one hardness as it's really not required. The idea is that you're getting your isolation from the plate, so you don't neet it in the binding.

I've ridden ours on an 18cm waist. This years plate is 18.5cm under foot.

Some video from Tuesday. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WzjxQ3Nn9JY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I will try to update the Razor specs this weekend. The Razor is now VSR. The 182 is 11-13m. EDIT: Just finished with a nifty new little tool. It now calculates your tip/tail width based on the waist width you want. Will probably implement this on other pages too. Let me know if it doesn't work for you.

I'm working on updating the web site and had an idea that someone might be able to help with. As we offer customization, I thought I'd forgo the waist width on some of the spec sheets and let people enter their desired width. As the math is really simple to calculate the tip and tail widths, it would be nice for that data to simply populate. Is there someone out there who knows enough html and java to make that happen. Here's a sample of the document. <table width="300" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#666666"> <tr> <td width="38">Length</td> <td width="34">Edge</td> <td width="110">SC (m)</td> <td width="34">N</td> <td width="34">W</td> <td width="34">T</td> <td width="38">Price</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">170</td> <td class="style5">133</td> <td class="style5">10-12</td> <td class="style5">W+4.8</td> <td class="style5">any</td> <td class="style5">W+3.3</td> <td class="style5">780</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">175</td> <td class="style5">138</td> <td class="style5">10.3-12.3</td> <td class="style5">W+5.0</td> <td class="style5">any</td> <td class="style5">W+3.5</td> <td class="style5">780</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">180</td> <td class="style5">143</td> <td class="style5">10.7-12.7</td> <td class="style5">W+5.1</td> <td class="style5">any</td> <td class="style5">W+3.6</td> <td class="style5">780</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">185</td> <td class="style5">148</td> <td class="style5">11-13</td> <td class="style5">W+5.3</td> <td class="style5">any</td> <td class="style5">W+3.8</td> <td class="style5">780</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">190</td> <td class="style5">152</td> <td class="style5">11.3-13.3</td> <td class="style5">W+5.5</td> <td class="style5">any</td> <td class="style5">W+4.0</td> <td class="style5">780</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5"><span class="style5">195 </span></td> <td class="style5"><span class="style5">157 </span></td> <td class="style5">11.7-13.7</td> <td class="style5">W+5.7</td> <td class="style5">any</td> <td class="style5">W+4.2</td> <td class="style5">780</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">200</td> <td class="style5"><span class="style5">163 </span></td> <td class="style5">12-14</td> <td class="style5">W+5.9</td> <td class="style5">any</td> <td class="style5">W+4.3</td> <td class="style5">780</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5"><span class="style5">205 </span></td> <td class="style5">168</td> <td class="style5">12.3-14.3</td> <td class="style5">W+6.1</td> <td class="style5">any</td> <td class="style5">W+4.5</td> <td class="style5">780</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5"><span class="style5">210 </span></td> <td class="style5">173</td> <td class="style5">12.7-14.7</td> <td class="style5">W+6.2</td> <td class="style5">any</td> <td class="style5">W+4.7</td> <td class="style5">780</td> </tr> </table> If it was possible to enter a waist width on the page somewhere and populate the data, that would be pretty cool.

Just for reference, there is no extra charge for custom shaping. Customizing a board is simply a keystroke for us.

I'm almost certain Mikes Camera use to digitize slides for people. They are not up in your area, but you could drop things off at a Denver or Boulder store. If you google digitize slides, there are also online services available. Obviously a flatbed scanner can do it. If you have an all in one printer, you can probably get a slide holder for it. It really comes down to how much time or money you want to spend on it. Once you're done scanning, it's unlikely that you'll use the machine again, so consider that before buying a machine.

cool idea.