Riding new boards (rocker tech. ?)

[jtslalom]

After much debate here on Bomber about freeride boards and rocker technology, I finally picked up a new board from a local shop in town. It is a freeride board that I use with softboots but can probably use as a hard deck with hard boots. The board is called a Status snowboard. They have a website that I was referred to by another carving friend. My first day on it was AWESOME. Maybe it's the fact that I have been riding 6 year old equipment and just don't know what it is like to ride a new board but this board rips. Man I was driving some great lines with it. This board acts if it almost wants to initiate a carve itself. I guess it has something to do with rocker technology or something, I'm not quite sure but holy cow can it carve. It's a 166 and a little wider than most freeride boards, which I guess gives it less tortional flex. I don't really know but what I do know is it rips and I can't wait to ride it again.

[Jack M]

congrats, nothing like new toys. but is there a point here or should this be in off-topic?

[jtslalom]

Well I guess my point is that it seems like "rocker" technology seems to work. I've discussed this in prior posts that I guess most people have not read,including yourself. Sorry for being a little enthusiastic in my above post. Maybe it should be rephrased as, "I just bought a new board with a "rocker" technology design. It seems this board initiates a carve much quicker than any board I have ridden in the past without "rocker" technology. Is it me or does this design really work. I was wondering what other people thought." Maybe that is a better way to describe what I was saying. Sorry for not getting to the point.

[pokkis]

I think problem with feed back to these boards is that only users who have tested rocker boards are allowed to comment :rolleyes:

[Jack M]

cool. is it fully rockered or does it just have a rockered nose and tail?

[pokkis]

Hmm i dont know how tight this rule you defined is

[jtslalom]

Just the tip and tail are rockered with a cambered middle section. I don't know if manufaturers have done this to pure hard decks but I could see how nice it would be for beginner and intermediate level hard riders. The board really wants to turn itself and takes very little effort to initiate a carve.

[Buell]

Spill it pokkis, let's hear how the Tinkler rides.

Rocker can carve fine. I think a rockered freeride board will probably out carve most of the freestyle rockered boards. I assume it has been tested but not picked up in the racing world. There might be an issue with nose/tail pressure at high speed or with rebound for pumping down the course that the builders could not resolve.

My fully rockered Tanker carves super well. It has a stiff nose and tail and is also torsionally stiff for a freeride deck. It could use a bit of dampening though. Being a freeride board, it can only be pushed so hard anyway without twisting off, so I don't know how rocker performs at higher speed or on steeper slopes.

I put a beginner, non aggressive, carver on a K2 Gyrator. It has a cam/rock profile like the board you have jtslalom, and he could carve it immediately. He had been having a hard time on a fully cambered board. It carves at super low speed, but will not carve at even medium speed (way too much rocker). He has now moved on to a custom metal Prior MFR with hybrid rocker. I cannot wait to hear what he thinks!

[Jack M]

Hmm i dont know how tight this rule you defined is

Just the tip and tail are rockered with a cambered middle section. I don't know if manufaturers have done this to pure hard decks but I could see how nice it would be for beginner and intermediate level hard riders. The board really wants to turn itself and takes very little effort to initiate a carve.

Oh, heck yeah. That construction (rockered nose/tail, cambered middle) is all the rage now (in skis too!), and it works great like you say. I did a review/summary of race boards with this tech last year here:

http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/newhotness.cfm