Jump to content
Note to New Members ×

Alpine Snowboard Plate Systems


www.oldsnowboards.com

Recommended Posts

Hey Sean... would you recommend against pushing the slider to the other end of travel, swapping to the other side and mounting the slider block with the tab end facing rearward? (aside from not lining up with the plate's screwholes when using the spacer strips) If recommend against, why?

Elegant. I like the way you've designed in some adaptability.

Do you have any guidance regarding selecting axle spacing and fore/aft centering to start with? So many different interacting factors to consider such as board stiffness, rider weight, riding style, slope condtions, etc.

Looking forward to a demo at SES !!!

I'm not 100% sure I understand the question. If you mean mount the plate with the slider in the rear instead of the front, you're welcome to try it that way. If you simply mean reversing sides the slider are on, you're likely to see a bit of interference between the slider and board when pushed all the way to the end. The original slider prototypes were the same front to back, but it was possible, no matter how unlikely) that the slider would hit the board when the board was bent so far that the slider travel maxed out.

In testing, most freecarvers preferred a longer axle spacing. Some of the racers preferred to narrow it up a bit. If you find that you are easily overloading the shovel, I would do what you can to move the front axle towards the waist. If this means moving the plate, back, that's fine, it may involve narrowing the axle spacing as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you find that you are easily overloading the shovel, I would do what you can to move the front axle towards the waist. If this means moving the plate, back, that's fine, it may involve narrowing the axle spacing as well.

Hi Sean,

I wanted to make sure I understood this correctly. You are saying that the plate's stance on the board should be wider in order to soften the board? Intuitively, it sounds like it should be the other way around, since a narrower stance (sans plate) usually allows for more flex with a regular set up. Please confirm, thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nekdut,

Cannot speak for Sean but here are my observations on pivot placement:

The placement of the pivots of a plate system do change how the entire system feels dramatically. Some of the conclusions from last year where as you went wider with the pivots the board became more stable and powerful. As you went narrower on the pivots, yes, more of the board was now freed up to flex but if you went too narrow (subjective on what is too narrow) there was a strange uneasiness in the system. Or rather it became a bit unstable.

This instability would be compounded even more if the plate was not rigid enough to stop it from "positive" cambering during the turn. This would happen with a soft plate as your feet where so outside of the picots that during a turn the plate actually decambered opposite from the board. Personally I found this very uncomfortable and strange during the turn. I would then move the pivots outward and stability came back. This just told me that if you want to run narrower pivots points the plate better be very rigid to support that.

Initially I thought the ultimate spot for the pivots would be directly under the center of each foot. It was symmetrical, put all your weight right on top of the pivots, etc. But as always, in practicality and testing this did not turn out that way.

You also have to think about the geometry of the narrower pivots. As you go narrower clearance with the board as it flexed become an issue. So you either limit the amount you can move the pivots inward or raise the height of the plate for more clearance.

Now ask me about my theory on why the sliding pivots works better in the front than the rear :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Sean,

I wanted to make sure I understood this correctly. You are saying that the plate's stance on the board should be wider in order to soften the board? Intuitively, it sounds like it should be the other way around, since a narrower stance (sans plate) usually allows for more flex with a regular set up. Please confirm, thanks!

Refer to Fin's response here. It really is something you're going to want to experiment with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now ask me about my theory on why the sliding pivots works better in the front than the rear :D

I guess that sliding mechanism in the front allows the nose to be more flexible which would be useful for the rider in terms of adjusting the radius of the turn...?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My guess on why a front slider is prefered is that a slider-pivot located there somewhat disconnects the rider's mass from the high frequency buffeting that is transmitted into the board from the nose as it hits and carves thru small irregularities on the slope. A fixed pivot at the front would carry those impulses right into the plate and directly to the rider's feet, causing increased fatigue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.......Bryan, please give as a full ridingreview, anxious to hear how such high platform rides.

Will do Hans, Yes, I am a bit concerned about the deck height. Even when I put my first set of TD3s on my Hangl set up. I did not care for the additional elevation. One of the reasons I commonly use the TD2 Elastomers. The effect is lessened for those that run lower angles. At 70/65 the lateral forces to the boot are noteable. Keeping in mind I am referring to past system set ups. I have not tried the Donek yet. I am impressed with Sean's work. Clean, simple and well thought out. Plus I just wanted to ride a "Cap" again :eplus2: One of my all time favorite boards is a cap. The Identity Carbon Race 185cm. VERY STIFF!! If I put the Donek Plate on it, would it be a cap-cap?? Cap squared? Double Cap? Capped Cap? Stacked Cap? Somebody stop me!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ogasaka RC-Z 185cm Alpine Race Snowboard

Follow the link for specs and photo of the bottom.

The red contrasting the dark plate sort of "pops" doesn't it?

I was tempted to put the bright read TD3 bases on too just for the photo.

I am going to use this with the TD2 cants to save height. They are also red, just darker and hard to see.

post-198-141842325311_thumb.jpg

post-198-141842325321_thumb.jpg

post-198-141842325321_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

b4buwcgkkgrhqmoknqe6rq4.jpgvbulletinSuper plate sold on ebay!

He is selling it as an alpine snowboard!!!!!

I was asked sometime in the 80's by a "Ya You Betcha" guy from Switzerland to try one of the two he brought to Buttermilk

for a couple seasons to try and promote in the U.S....he was very good at going slow and making great linked turns.

I used it on the Bunny Hill and it worked great...up the lift to midway was a different story. On pitch with some speed I

continually went high side and only at the bottom, where once again the slope flattens did it come back into a responsive mode.

It was very high off the ground compared to my snowboard, it did carve tighter turns than I could at that time on my board

yet pitch and speed were something it could never handle, like a skateboard at speed with loose trucks...scary and unforgiving.

He left after two seasons as it just was not going to catch on...then again, Bob Klein left after 1 month as Buttermilks first

snowboard instructor as No One wanted to try Snowboarding either...:eek:

The Snowster and this where the first Plates I am aware of...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are those screws supposed to protrude that far past the blocks? Looks dangerously close to the topsheet of the board.

They look close, but do not crash on the board. Unfortunately screws of this length are only available in 5mm increments. As a result, we can run a screw that protrudes past the bottom or have it be a bit short.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...