This thread is just a SPAM about Rolex replicas! :)
Anyway we are all used to see good Swiss products being copied!
When will the excellent Kessler boards be copied too?
Fortunately, like the watches, what is inside do all the difference.
Ethics / etiquette:
You can buy what you want and Rolex replicas if you want. :) As well as buying illegal DVD copies, downloading MP3 illegally, etc. It’s just bad manners and bad ethics (bad etiquette). Making copies of the Swoard outline and taking the same model name is a “Chinese” method of making “news” boards. Again, it’s bad etiquette (and illegal by the way). Fortunately most riders here understand this and are not dishonest (special thanks for their support!). And they prefer the original Swoard. ;) If you have the opportunity to test one Swoard this winter, please try generation 3 and not generation 1 with incorrect size or flex for 1-2 runs only.
History:
Not true at all. Or maybe he can prove it?
Pictures from 2001 tell a lot about history and truth:
http://www.extremecarving.com/photos/photos01.html
Look at the prototypes on the pictures. :)
There are even older pictures with previous prototypes from 1997 there: http://club-ski.web.cern.ch/club-ski/snowboard/Photos/patrice.html#1997
Moreover, the excellent Carver’s almanach (www.alpinecarving.com) is a good book of history.
There are also many witnesses in the Bomber forum since day one (like Fin, Jack Michaud, yyzcanuck, Scott Firestone, etc.).
As shown on the 1997 and 2001 pictures, we had already developed before 2001 a prototype of what was going to become the Swoard. We had to develop our own model because at this time we could find on the market only narrow alpine boards (example: Virus width 15 cm) or not designed for the riding technique we were developing (laid turns armpit to armpit AND linked). Then people have asked us if we could make this board available to the public (since such type of wide boards didn’t exist anymore or had bad performances!). Fortunately Jacques Rilliet had still many contacts in the industry because of his past as shaper. In 2002 we could finally produce the first Swoards resulting from a long development on snow started in 1995.
Note that these pictures had provoked many reactions on the Bomber Forum in early 2001: some members didn’t believe that it was possible to get up after such laid turns (armpit touching the snow), and to link them… Then appeared the videos. The boards and the technique had been named “extremecarving” by us (that’s why we have www.extremecarving.com): this word was criticized at start because of the “extreme” term, what I understand because it’s used a lot in the media. But full laid turns have the maximal inclination, what is extreme in this sense.
Factories:
All brands (even Burton) use sometimes other factories from other brands to make their models. The Swoards made by Duret were not Duret boards. The Swoards made by Virus were not Virus boards. Indeed, we came with our own shaper, concepts and know-how. We also brought our own materials for some parts, like the cores, fiberglass and top sheets for example. Above all, making an excellent EC board requires many many tests and years of experience by experts of the discipline on the snow…
I wish to everyone an excellent season! With honesty and loyalty. Our small community doesn’t need untrue posts, bad manners and conflicts… Alpine snowboarding future is uncertain. Let’s stay a good family. I ask for respect from each other and good etiquette.
Ah, and if you travel with your board, watch out at the customs: they take and destroy the Rolex replicas! ;)
Patrice Fivat