Surf Quebec Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 With the Sport plate by Apex and the soon to be available JJ Interface, there are more plates on the market than before. I've reread a lot of plate reviews and most of them if not all are mentionning 171-173 boards . I'm 5.6 and 160 pounds and ride on the east coast, I've always ride 162-164 boards, my current board is an SG full race T 163. Is the lenght of a board a factor on the "greatness" of riding with a plate ? Anybody has tried a plate on a 160-164 board ? if so what's the feedback ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeho730 Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 Tried on 158 board... Not so much fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekdut Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 I also tried it on a 158, a Madd classic. I actually found it to be pretty effective, but the weight was immediately noticeable for such a small board. Also, the loss of some of the hyper edge-to-edge feeling was a bit of a downer since thats what this board excels at. It definitely did add a dramatic amount of smoothness and rut busting though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 You'll notice most of the WC racers are using them in SL as well as GS. I have not personally tried one on something that short. This indicates they are effective on short boards for racing, but beyond that, it will likely be a personal opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGogoussier Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 ...even junior racers won't leave home without plates on their SL board. This was last month in Chile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffV Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 Stephane, I to had the same question last season and got to test my BBP out on my Madd 158 F3. It's interesting that the previous posters had different experiences with a plate on a Madd than I did. It comes down to your riding style, personal preference and craving skills that will result in different experiences. I actually had a surprisingly pleasant experience. I thought that the extra weight would slow down my edge to edge transition and would make the Madd (that is known to be a difficult board to ride) more of a challenge. The extra weight was far less noticeable than having the plate on my 185 and 171 Coilers. I remember setting up for my first few turns and thinking this is going to be a lot of work on this short board with all this extra weight, in actuality it was effortless, I couldn't feel the weight at all. The slow speed turn that was first a struggle on the longer boards with a plate was almost nonexistent on the 158.What the plate did specifically for my experience on the Madd was widened the small sweet spot that the 58 has. It made it more ride-able, the famous pops you can get in a turn turned into 3 foot launches on a plate. However you had to really work on your timing to get a good pop out of the tail. Is there a need for a plate on a short board for freecarving, I personally don't think so, but that is my own opinion. The only conditions I would consider slapping a plate on a short board would be on ice. My go to boards are a Coiler 185 and a 171, I can see myself keeping the plate on the 185. In crud snow I really struggled to be nimble on my 171 with a plate on it. It slowed down my edge to edge transition while trying to carve around fresh mogules. Please keep in mind that my experience was on a dated board with old technology, I have not tested a new SL deck with a plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 I found that a plate makes the natural turn radius a board likes to make (with minimal rider input) seems to get bigger. If I'm on a short board, I want to make a million turns per run. It made the board feel like it had a longer sidecut radius. I'd rather just ride a longer board in that case! That said, they definitely isolate the rider from ripples/bumps/etc. If I was out on a bumpy/boilerplate day (and didn't feel like going home instead of riding that crap), I'd ride a short board with a plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miltie Posted September 3, 2011 Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 Tried a plate on my SG Full Race 163 last year for freeriding. I coupled that with Sidewinders. The overall combo seemed a bit heavy for freeriding at my 160 lbs. You could definitely feel benefits of the plate (better edge feel and smooth ride) but it was a lot of work. If I was racing and in primo physical condition then it might be a different story. My mental notes that day were to skip the plate next time and just run the Sidewinders on that board. I really like plates on boards over 170 cm and at resorts with long wide-open runs where you can really let the board go. I also switched to running TD3-SI bindings on the longer boards since the plates isolate things so well. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted September 4, 2011 Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 The nuance in variation of a plates stiffness, binding flex and board stiffness along with riders preference is a minefield of variety most will never enter. If you have the determination you will find a combo that works for you. If you have available to you a plate that is of a softer flex the option of a TD'1 binding or Catek will provide a very nice ride on a shorter board. If you haven't tried this combo i invite you to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted September 4, 2011 Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 It made my Coiler SL 161 ride more like a VSR 170. Which isn't a bad thing... except I own the VSR 170 too ;-) I will probably never mount a plate again on my SL b/c it took away the board's extreme nimbleness and it wanted to make bigger turns and accelerate more. When I'm on this board it's usually b/c I want nimble turns and my speed kept in check. Think month-long mid-winter drought, night riding, and other situations where the west coast gets icy. That said, I agree it would probably get a skilled racer down a SL course faster. (A skilled racer - not me. A real SL course, I'm riding this board plateless so I can make it through the course) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 I'm going to flip this thread over and say I absolutely love my BBP on my 162 Kessler. Yes it is heavier but that's what then gym is for. I raced it locally and nationally this year and no doubt I swept everything because of the plate. I've found the the pressure the plate puts on the nose actually shortens up my radius at some times. You just have to learn where to lean and when to make it work right. Lean back enough and you can make a 10m board run like an 11 or 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 is a 172 a short board? i managed two runs with my donek plate on the silberpfeil. all the pop was turned into exit acceleration, which i've never felt it was short on to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 I'm going to flip this thread over and say I absolutely love my BBP on my 162 Kessler. Yes it is heavier but that's what then gym is for. I raced it locally and nationally this year and no doubt I swept everything because of the plate.I've found the the pressure the plate puts on the nose actually shortens up my radius at some times. You just have to learn where to lean and when to make it work right. Lean back enough and you can make a 10m board run like an 11 or 12. Mike, Can you tell us what your axle spacing is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Mike,Can you tell us what your axle spacing is? I ran the BBP at the widest setting possible. Did this to keep the flex of the board as close to the flex without the plate. Narrower and I found that it caused the board to flex more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 I ran the BBP at the widest setting possible. Did this to keep the flex of the board as close to the flex without the plate. Narrower and I found that it caused the board to flex more. Thanks Mike. I've seen some racers preferring the narrow axle spacing and was curious to find out if this played a role in how well it worked on the shorter boards. Seems not to be the case for you though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekdut Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Thanks Mike. I've seen some racers preferring the narrow axle spacing and was curious to find out if this played a role in how well it worked on the shorter boards. Seems not to be the case for you though. Sean, how narrow is narrow? We should avoid having the axles within our binding stance width, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Sean, how narrow is narrow? We should avoid having the axles within our binding stance width, correct? 56cm axle spacing with stances around 50cm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Thanks Mike. I've seen some racers preferring the narrow axle spacing and was curious to find out if this played a role in how well it worked on the shorter boards. Seems not to be the case for you though. In my case I'm on a custom Kessler 162. I didn't know the exact weight range when I bought it, and when I did run the plate on it I found that it would tighten up too much on the narrower setting. Thus I'm running it as wide as possible. I do the same thing on my 177 WCRM as I want it to run as long/wide as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 In my case I'm on a custom Kessler 162. I didn't know the exact weight range when I bought it, and when I did run the plate on it I found that it would tighten up too much on the narrower setting. Thus I'm running it as wide as possible. I do the same thing on my 177 WCRM as I want it to run as long/wide as possible. Yes, it does become possible to custom tailor a board to fit your needs more adequately by repositioning the axles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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