M-Flex?

[Hey John]

Don't know if this has made the rounds yet but I just found it in my YouTube recommended list.

Without having much in the way of an engineering background, I don't know what this would accomplish on the board, but it look interesting, if not a bit precarious. Definitely using with new TD3s.

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[Istvan]

Looks like a new hydraulic super fancy bling bling plate system. I want one!

The thing in the middle looks like a motorcycle steering damper. In that case this is gonna be costly....

[Miltie]

Hey John, Hope your season was good at Mammoth. Only made it there one trip this year and was unable to make the planned SnowPerformance camp. Looks like SNES was a blast except for George getting hurt.

This plate is made by a company in Japan called Winter Tree. They are also the Bomber Distributor in Japan so that is why a set of TD3s are mounted on top of the plate. Link to their website below:

http://www.wintertree.info/index.html

Look under the "User" for more info on the plates and their rider Manabu Kobayashi who races the World Cup circuit on M-Flex, Bomber and SG Snowboards. He rips - BTW.

Winter Tree has offered a simpler design of M-Flex plates for the last few years here in Japan (see website). My understanding is the D1 plate in the You Tube video is a prototype. Have not tried either version. Had a chance to look at the earlier plates at a local shop and was impressed with their design and quality.

See you next season at Mammoth.

Take care, Tom

[heroshmero]

What's up with the fancy orange TD3s? I thought they only came in red.

[Jack M]

What's up with the fancy orange TD3s? I thought they only came in red.

Camera error.

Very cool looking from a gizmo point of view, but looks heavy. I think the Apex plate looks like a simpler solution to eliminating binding footprint and allowing natural board flex.

[bobdea]

I tend to go for some level of simplicity

[pokkis]

Agree with Jack, colors due different video systems and conversion.

System is super Bling, but technically i would also go rather with Apex

[kieran]

Camera error.

possibly not ... their website shows a kinda gold finish, as well as the normal red.

glad i checked it out though, they have BTS' in stock.

[Istvan]

I agree with the comments that emphasize simplicity. However I think the idea to include a hydraulic dampening mechanism is new and revolutionary. As I said it reminds me of a steering damper we use on our speedbikes. In case I'm right those also come in adjustable versions. Just imagine that you could adjust dampening without any tool, quickly, easily..... I know, some will immediately say "Snowstix".... but trust me, a hydraulic dampening system is different.... Otherwise I had snowstix on my speedbike....

[pokkis]

I would say Snowstix, specially cause Istavan asked

But another issue is, that this will change only center stifness of board not only independent nose/tail side stiffness like Snowsticks does.

[west carven]

howdy

so what happens when snow and ice builds up? not for normal riding, yes?

maybe good for 1 run on a course, then defrost...

[Arclite]

reminds me of our old contraption, the HFP. :rolleyes:

[pow4ever]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magneto_rheological_damper

if some one can retro fit magnetic ride control to the plate system.

Just need to carry a 12 volt battery in the back pack.

or some sort of capacitor system that get charge from the vibration.

variable damping based on condition. talk about ride like caddy.

--

David

[Istvan]

@ Pokkis: you're right, a damper in the middle section will not have an impact on the nose / tail.

After all, it's all about try and error, right? If the new M-Flex is a good thing overall, we'll see it all over the place. If it does not work as expected, it will go into the archive files of those inventions that never made it to racing....

[Dr D]

And I thought my set up was heavy! looks cool but not sure the weight gain is a fair trade off.

[Dr D]

can the hydraulic dampener be that much more efficient than say a metal board? lots weight.

[heroshmero]

I agree with the comments that emphasize simplicity. However I think the idea to include a hydraulic dampening mechanism is new and revolutionary. As I said it reminds me of a steering damper we use on our speedbikes.

Yeah, I'd say it looks exactly like a motorcycle steering damper. While heavy I bet it works well in that application.

[heroshmero]

possibly not ... their website shows a kinda gold finish, as well as the normal red.

Yeah, definitely orange or gold anodized TD3s on their website. What's the deal Fin? Are you sending secret gold product to Japan? ;)

[Snowman]

can the hydraulic dampener be that much more efficient than say a metal board? lots weight.

And keep in mind that its mounted on a SG which is already incredibly damp. Just add sidewiders and you wont feel a thing. Gheessh! You will need an attendant to hual it up the mountain for ya! Where does it end, toys an contraptions, its going over board.

Think Snow!

[KingCrimson]

They have be modding stuff. Their center discs have slots like a Softboot or Raceplate center disc, not the sets of holes like normal TD2/3 bindings.

I can't imagine Fin is making these changes for only one market.

But then again..He does have the self respect to keep some stuff hidden! ;)

[Snowman]

They have be modding stuff. Their center discs have slots like a Softboot or Raceplate center disc, not the sets of holes like TD3s.

Not positive but I believe all TD3 center disk come this way now. And the gold anodize was customer spec. You order enough you can spec gold too. They do look nice!

Think Snow!

[KingCrimson]

Not positive but I believe all TD3 center disk come this way now. And the gold anodize was customer spec. You order enough you can spec gold too. They do look nice!

Think Snow!

Thanks for the info Mark, I looked closely at the SW picture and it reflects that.

All the other binding pictures do not show this, but I would be surprised if Fin is producing 2 different 4x4 plates. However, I'm very good at being wrong as I've demonstrated many times.

Threadjack...Next time I'm in CO we need to meet up, I want to see some of that old racestock gear!

[Snowman]

Threadjack...Next time I'm in CO we need to meet up, I want to see some of that old racestock gear!

You bet, there is an amazing amount of gear in a very small radius in Colorado. Chances are, if you can think of it me or someone close to me has it. Lots of old vintage stuff and all the new stuff you can imagine. Its a privledge to have access to such a large amount of quality equipment.

Think Snow!

[inkaholic]

You bet, there is an amazing amount of gear in a very small radius in Colorado. Chances are, if you can think of it me or someone close to me has it. Lots of old vintage stuff and all the new stuff you can imagine. Its a privledge to have access to such a large amount of quality equipment.

Think Snow!

Heck, Bola's shop has a ton of new goodies along with quite a bit of old stuff crammed into corners that the employees don't even know about. It is fun having access to the shop and checking out all the nooks and crannies for old gear. I also have some old custom race stock which Big Mario won't even try to flex.

Ink

[bjvircks]

Any further word on what is going on with the M-Flex development?

The concept of float under each foot is an interesting divergence from our present mindset that seems to have locked our perspective. With the M-Flex approach you could implement a solid top plate or a 2 piece top plate linked by a slider/damper. Full pedaling could be allowed.