Not all rockers sing the same tunes

By Matt Boxler

In a year when most major snowboard manufacturers have embraced some variation of “rocker” technology in their 2009-2010 board lines, one of Lib Tech’s offerings should serve as a warning for consumers interested in blindly climbing onto the reverse camber bandwagon.The experimental planshape of Lib Tech’s banana Hammock full rockered board is not recommended for riding in anything but the deepest of powder (photo courtesy of Lib Tech).

“Just because we built it doesn’t mean it’s safe,” the company says of its Banana Hammock, a full-rockered 160 cm deck with an experimental oval “planshape” that’s widest underfoot. Sans sidecut, this board – in theory – will thrive only in the deepest powder, and will ride more like a deathtrap on anything else. “Don’t buy this board,” the company advises most customers.

While the Banana Hammock is an extreme example, it highlights a danger out there with a growing percentage of consumers doing their own research and making purchases online. Local shop owners are offering simple words of advice: Come in and talk to someone who knows the products so you don’t end up buying the wrong board for you.

“That’s what we’re talking about with our customers,” says John Riley, owner of the Ski House in Somerset, Mass., which has been in business since 1956. “Get the rocker technology that works best for you.”

Rocker technology (reverse camber) isn’t new. It was developed to give boards better flotation in powder. Boards with rocker are flat underfoot and taper upwards at both the tip and tail (picture the bottom runners of a rocking chair). What is new this year is that companies are rolling out hybrid combinations that feature both traditional camber and reverse camber (rocker) designs. Some of Riley’s best-sellers are versatile, all-mountain products from Burton and Never Summer.

John Riley, owner of the Ski House in Somerset, Mass., holds a 2010 all-mountain Never Summer board that features both camber and reverse camber (rocker) technology.“There’s a different rocker for a different technique,” Riley says. “The design of these rocker boards is different depending on if you’re going to be more of a freerider or do more riding in the park.”

Billy Geary, manager at Underground Snowboard in Warwick, R.I., agrees. “Everybody’s doing rocker,” he said, standing before a selection of the shop’s offerings of Ride, K2, Rome SDS, Burton, Forum and DC in both men’s and women’s boards. “The biggest thing with all the people buying them online is that half of the people buying them don’t really want them. A lot of the kids think since everyone else is riding it that they’ll get it too.”

A snowboard shop can help a rider find a board with the perfect balance of traditional camber underfoot for carving turns, but with some rocker to play around in the park or on those powder days. The shop sales staff can help customers find the right board for them based on their experience, height, weight and, most importantly, the style of riding they prefer most often.

“So the guy who’s not riding the park all day can still be on a rocker board and still have fun with it all over the mountain,” Geary says. ‘We get 80 percent freestyle kids down here, and about 20 percent freeride guys. So most of the boards we carry are twin-tip boards that are great in the parks.”

Rome SDS, for instance, has introduced five new boards in its Anthem Superlight Series with “Pop Rock” hybrid camber technology. “They give you camber where you need it and reverse camber where you want that.  “We’ve been killing it with Rome boards,” Gary said of the small, up-and-coming Vermont snowboard company. “A lot of kids are flocking there instead of going with the mainstream.”

Forum Snowboards calls its version of the technology “ChillyDog” Continuous Rocker, a continual arc that big air riders will appreciate because it guards against catching an edge on take-offs or landings. Palmer Snowboards has introduced FLF (Feels Like Flying), that blends the advantages of bother regular and reverse-camber shapes.

Similar innovations are featured in K2 Snowboards’ Slayblade, their all-mountain deck with “Harshmellow” and “Flatline” technologies. Harshmellow is a synthetic compound designed to dampen vibration and Flatline creates an equal pressure everywhere across the base of the board to optimize stability and versatility.

On the women’s side, K2 (Jib Rocker), Gnu (Banana Tech) and Burton (V Rocker) have all climbed aboard the reverse-camber train. K2’s Va Va Voom is a twin-shaped board that’s flat under foot, Gnu’s C2 B-Pro – designed by pro rider Barrett Christy – features Magne Traction and Banana Technology, and Burton’s Lipstick is a twin-shape with V Rocker, which lifts at the nose and tail while focusing on control between the bindings.

Lib Tech is a leading innovator of Magne-Traction technology, which strategically locates varying sized bumps along each sidecut. The biggest bumps are between the feet, where balance is centered, adding control and power where you need it most. The bumps toward the tip and tail are smaller, providing control but maintaining freestyle freedom.

Bindings

“There aren’t many big changes in bindings,” Riley says. “Companies have fooled around with cap straps, modifying them a little more so they fit better on the boots. They’re also more workable with the mesh,” he says, pointing to the Ride SPi as a good example. “The toe really gets in there and is hard to pull out.”

Also, bindings are being built with more ramp in them now, giving riders options to adjust their own canting underfoot.  Otherwise, Riley says, as you go up in bindings, they get stiffer and lighter, or lighter and more flexible if it’s a freestyle binding. “Companies have tweaked them a bit, but the concepts are still the same.”

Flux has introduced new bindings – the Distortion and Titan RK – that integrate urethane in their highbacks, enabling riders to stretch their lateral limits without sacrificing edge-to-edge responsiveness. Flux is also using urethane material beneath the base plate to serve as dampeners, creating a smoother ride with less chatter.

Boots

With boots, speed lacing systems are still all the rage, but proper fit remains the most important factor for the consumer. “Burton’s got two strings now that are more specific in the way you tighten them up,” says Riley, who also carries Ride, K2 and Northwave. “I try to find boots that fit well – Burton has always made really good-fitting boots.”

Riley shakes his head that young riders attempt to buy boots online without being able to try them on first. “They need to be fitted,” he says. “We’ve got kids who come in here who’ve never even had their feet measured before.”

That highlights another difference between buying online and buying in a shop – service. “We get families fitted properly, get them the right size boards, hook them up correctly on their bindings and show them how they work so they can make adjustments as they go,” Riley says. “That’s the advantage of a brick and mortar shop.”

(Matt Boxler is a member of the Eastern Ski Writer’s Association.)