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November 13, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Rockers play different tunes

by Matt Boxler/

In a year when most major snowboard manufacturers have embraced some variation of “rocker” technology in their 2009-10 board lines, one of Lib Tech’s offerings should serve as a warning for consumers interested in blindly climbing onto the reverse camber bandwagon.

“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 death trap 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,” said 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 upward at both the tip and tail (picture the bottom runners of a rocking chair). What’s new this year is 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.

“There’s a different rocker for a different technique,” Riley said. “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 said. “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 takeoffs or landings. Palmer Snowboards has introduced FLF (Feels Like Flying), which blends the advantages of both regular and reverse-camber shapes.

Similar innovations are featured in K2 Snowboards’ Slayblade, its 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) all have 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. 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,” Riley said, 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 said, 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 also is using urethane material beneath the base plate to serve as dampeners, creating a smoother ride with less chatter.

Boots

With boots, speed-lacing systems still are 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,” said 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 said. “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.”