JohnE Posted December 21, 2021 Report Share Posted December 21, 2021 Does loss of camber correlate to a loss of stiffness? Can a board lose stiffness and keep it's camber? Conversely, can a board lose it's camber but retain it's stiffness? While prepping my board for the season I noticed that it had very little camber. I put it on a surface plate and it has only about 1mm of camber (with risers and bindings installed). Time for a new board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted December 21, 2021 Report Share Posted December 21, 2021 Camber adds "mechanical stiffness", kind of like spring preload. So a board that has lost camber will be softer all else equal. It will be less snappy. Now, the fact that it has lost camber has to mean that it has also lost some material stiffness too. It is "broken in" and no longer retains its original shape. But sometimes all this can be ok if you thought it was too stiff before. I'd ride the board and evaluate it in use. Then decide. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuxdiesel Posted December 21, 2021 Report Share Posted December 21, 2021 Your board hasn't lost camber, it's just trying to identify as rockered now. Seriously, I had the great fortune to do some prototype ski and board testing in the past. I can say for certain that a stiff board with no camber will be snappier than a highly cambered board that is too soft. Camber also helps keep the contact points in the snow and keeps it from being "drifty" like rockered boards are. The old Hooger Booger boards built with the Elan MBX-style cores were like this. They had like 3/4" of camber but were ridiculously soft longitudinally, so they didn't hold an edge very well. Conversely, Nordica had some air core alpine boards a long while back as well, and they were so stiff that keeping an edge was difficult. Even with a burly board that has a ton of camber, it will still flatten out when the rider stands on it. Long story short, if it still rides well, no worries about the camber- it may just perfom better in softer snow conditions now. But it does sound like a good excuse to get a new board! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dredman Posted December 21, 2021 Report Share Posted December 21, 2021 9 hours ago, JohnE said: Time for a new board? It is ALWAYS time for a new board! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowburn Posted December 23, 2021 Report Share Posted December 23, 2021 On 12/21/2021 at 4:51 PM, dredman said: It is ALWAYS time for a new board! SAID THE BOARD CRACK HEAD. LOL... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carvin' Marvin Posted December 24, 2021 Report Share Posted December 24, 2021 On 12/21/2021 at 7:26 AM, JohnE said: While prepping my board for the season I noticed that it had very little camber. I put it on a surface plate Snowboarding is cool and all but I need to know more about this SNOWBOARD SIZED surface plate you have access to. I'd like to lay down on it and check my personal camber. It definitely seems to be sagging as the years turn over. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordmetroland Posted December 24, 2021 Report Share Posted December 24, 2021 7 hours ago, Carvin' Marvin said: I'd like to lay down on it and check my personal camber. It definitely seems to be sagging as the years turn over. Dude, it’s not about camber, it’s all torsional stiffness. An anally inserted carbon stiffening rod may be the answer. At least that’s what Mario has been saying I should try. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carvin' Marvin Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 You actually might be onto something. We could use guitar style adjustable truss rods to adjust torsional stiffness on the fly. Getting to the adjustment nut might take some getting used to at first. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b.free Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 Definately stiffness! Unless we are talking not about carving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 10 hours ago, lordmetroland said: Dude, it’s not about camber, it’s all torsional stiffness. An anally inserted carbon stiffening rod may be the answer. At least that’s what Mario has been saying I should try. A rod section has no particular torsional stiffness. For that you need an I beam, or maybe an A beam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimW Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 (edited) On 12/21/2021 at 3:26 PM, JohnE said: Does loss of camber correlate to a loss of stiffness? Can a board lose stiffness and keep it's camber? Conversely, can a board lose it's camber but retain it's stiffness? While prepping my board for the season I noticed that it had very little camber. I put it on a surface plate and it has only about 1mm of camber (with risers and bindings installed). Time for a new board? Although a board can lose camber without losing stiffness and also a board can lose stiffness without losing camber, the likely scenario is that it lost in both departments. If the board only lost camber, that might be fixable by heating it in a cambered position (basically re-pressing it) Edited December 25, 2021 by TimW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted December 25, 2021 Report Share Posted December 25, 2021 If you board is a Coiler and it looses camber it is shot !!!! Coliers are built with a core that is cambered not pressed to have camber. The only coiler I know of that lost camber also lost it in an accident ! Moral of the story is if you do not want your stick to wilt buy a Coiler. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted December 26, 2021 Report Share Posted December 26, 2021 7 hours ago, lowrider said: Moral of the story is if you do not want your stick to wilt buy a Coiler. Bruce should include a smoking jacket with every board. "Hey, nice Coiler!" Schawiiiing.... "I have come to clean the pool..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dropthebody Posted December 29, 2021 Report Share Posted December 29, 2021 On 12/21/2021 at 8:51 AM, Jack M said: Camber adds "mechanical stiffness", kind of like spring preload. So a board that has lost camber will be softer all else equal. It will be less snappy. Now, the fact that it has lost camber has to mean that it has also lost some material stiffness too. It is "broken in" and no longer retains its original shape. But sometimes all this can be ok if you thought it was too stiff before. I'd ride the board and evaluate it in use. Then decide. I own an Oxygen Summit 178 (Now part of a Bench) I thought was stiff originally but then became perfect until a few years later it became "Noodley_!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnE Posted January 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2022 On 12/24/2021 at 2:38 AM, Carvin' Marvin said: Snowboarding is cool and all but I need to know more about this SNOWBOARD SIZED surface plate you have access to. I'd like to lay down on it and check my personal camber. It definitely seems to be sagging as the years turn over. We have a 4' x 8' surface plate at work that is flat to within 0.001" (or better). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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