Carbon looks good on you (APEX Race V2 Review 4x4)

[Ernie00]

I got a few weeks ago a brand new Apex V2 Race plate. I have tried a few plates in the past 2 years. Lowrider plate, Donek and one of the rare one to test on snow the Apex sports plate V1.

I do not race, and I am a lightweight 155 and 5'11. The board is a Coiler VSR 180. I tried the Apex sports plate and the Donek on this board so it`s easy to compare.

For those of you who want the short version.. it's amazing ! Exactly what I have been looking for in a plate for a few years.

Not to get into details but all of them were too stiff for me and didn't allow much pedaling on torquing the plate.

First impression of the Apex were.. there are a lot of pieces to setup and itwill be a pain. Reality was that setup was super easy. It was long because I knew what I wanted in terms of axle placement and binding stance on the plate. Once I figured the distances putting the plate together with the pins was super easy, it took a few seconds. The 2nd setup easiest I tried. The apex sports plate was so easy to setup. The race plate is great because you don't have screws to unscrew and screw everytime. So thumbs up on the setup.

The next thing that really impressed me was how low was the plate on the board. All the other plates I tired were much much higher.

No need to talk about the weight. Even with the 4x4 I am really happy with the weight.

My first impression on the snow today.

Very weird conditions this morning. Just perfect for testing the plate... Artificial snow, with some golf balls, ice and a few surprised soft spot to throw you off.

FIrst thing that I notices is when coasting it fells like I have no plate. It doesn't feel like it wants to throw you off the board or anything. One of my main issue with the other plate was that you didn't feel the snow under your feet. I like to feel every bump, crack and terrain change when I am riding and the Apex Race V2 I got that great feeling for the first time with a plate. Very happy with this.

A few runs to get acquainted and it felt good right away, I was able to ride it hard on ice and crappy stuff. Never lost edge and it was very smooth. I was able to move my weight on the board and right away feel the difference when riding.

I was also able to pedal the plate very and change my turn radius. One of the things I noticed with the other plate was when you got in a carve there was no adjusting the radius while in it but with the apex I was able to play with the plate to change edge hold.

They way it's build is different from the other plates. All I have tried had a Beam that went from front to end of the plate. The Apex has different thickness at key point in the plate to allow some flex in it.

I was expecting the plate to be noisy with metal on metal but didn't hear a thing.

All the other plate I tried were ok and worke well, I always said I would ride them occasionaly in certain conditions because many things were missing in my opinion (flex, feel of the snow). With the Apex Race v2, I can say that I can ride it all the time.

Dealing with Henry at Apex has ranked up there, just like all my other experiences I had with Donek, Bomber, Coiler... He has always available to help with questions and really knows his stuff. Solid company to work with.

[Ernie00]

plate was tested this weekend again, in terrible conditions, pooring rain + soft snow that led pretty fast to holes, bumps and pretty much all the crap you can imagine. Worked flawlessly. I am really enjoying this plate.

[slopestar]

Great write up and love the Kemper graphic.

[BlueB]

We've got one of these beauties here in Van, for testing, courtesy of Henry Kim (thanks!)

The snow was very thin in the beginning, then pow all the time for about 2 weeks... Finally I had chance to ride it in great conditions, last Sunday.

Snow was hero in the morning and starting to bum up in the afternoon. I also found one steep run with poor grooming in the morning.

I had plate on Coiler Chubby 177, on which I used my "Plan B" home made plate. It has only 4x4 inserts - Scooby might give it ago with Upm on one of his Kesslers. Of the bat, Apex is a tiny bit ligher and lower then my plate and has a lot more adjustment options. Setup is slightly harder. I wasn't a fan of multiple washers to be threaded onto the axles... Split axles are a great idea, though.

I had the axles just under my front foot ball and rear heel, dead centre on the inserts. It worked great like that, I felt no need to fiddle and try something else. Snow pro bindings were used.

Ride... Confirmed everything I already knew from my plate... Smooth, of course. Immense edge hold. Ride centered for max success, don't stay forward, even if you initiated the turn like that. I could EC with it in good conditions, but it's better for race style.

It ate most of the snow imperfections. One edge change I did, accidentally, right on a groomer ridge. Without plate I would have crashed for sure... However, later in low vis I managed to ride into a small ditch, where plate couldn't save me. It did decrease the impact, though.

I didn't try (at least not consciously) any paddling - it just didn't occure to me as necessity...

As observed before, a plate is great when on top of your game. Ride hard and it would reward you. Not for take it easy mood/mode. Then, if you screw up, it becomes a liability, due to increased weight and edge hold! Extra weight is a nuisance on the lift.

Stay tuned for more...

Edited January 4, 2013 by BlueB
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[Ernie00]

I find the plate very forgiving compared to others I have tried. I find that I can ride pretty mellow if I want to with it, but I rarely choose to ! hehe.

Yesterday was an awfull day after a raining weekend and everything froozed up, probably the worst I have seen in a few years. So it was icy + golf balls + tennis balls and many many craters. Definitaly not nice but I was there with my students. Thank God no one got injured, I was really worried. Some of the runs should have been closed. With the plate and very very good tune I was able to carve. It was scary fast !