Carveboard & Flexboardz (small movie)

[raphael]

what about a comparison with the t-board?
http://stoked.at/tierney_rides_boards.html#tierney

(Actually this t-board looks like something I have build with a friend 10 years ago, We took to weels that where able to turn 360° and fixed on a 5cm long iron piece and screwed it under the middle part of a cutted skateboard, and indeed it provided some sort of carving feeling)

I can't tell, i never tried one.
But, due to its design i think it wouldn't have enough grip to carve as hard and deep as what you can do with a carveboard.

To prove me wrong, try to find a t-board photo with more angulation than that:

(it's a carveboard)

[DaddyYo]

Thanks for the good reviews.

I have been interested in the Flexboard for some time. It is good to read the first-hand account of a rider.

I used to ride mountainboards by MBS until last year when my town built a concrete skatepark. I got my SurfStik the day the park opened and have been modifying it for the purpose of skatepark riding for the past year.

I don't ride my Stik downhill Although I had some experience riding downhill on asphalt on a frame type mountainbaord in 1996. A early model MBS mountainboard, I assume, rides very much like a modern Carveboard. My first mountainboard had very loose steering suspension and would speed wobble if not carved appropriately.

Later models of mountainboards addressed the need for tight suspension at high speeds by using urethane inserts (egg shocks) in the springs of the steering suspension.

I adjust my Stik for a tighter suspension with stiff egg shocks and it works very well.



In park riding it is important to have a tight suspension in order not to over steer while pumping transitions. I also have the advantage of a custom deck (29" long) and mountainboard bindings. Even with the stiffest egg shocks I can still power slide my board to a stop within the distance of three feet at full speed (I wear full pads including a butt pad).

I would encourage Carveboard and Stik riders to experiment with urethane inserts. Stiffer suspension reduces speed wobbles.

Speed wobbles don't seem to be as much a factor with independent suspension (BMW Street Carver and Flexboard) boards as it is with channel truck (most mountainboards and all Carveboards and Carvestiks) type boards.

The reason for this, I think, is that the independent suspension prevents the frequency vibration (resonance) that develops when spinning wheels are linked by a rigid connection (axle). Skateboard (pivot) trucks are less susceptible to speed wobbles due to their tight suspension and the urethane bushing that help to dissipate resonance.

It seems to me that independent suspension trucks would feel more like driving a car that riding a board. Not that that is a bad thing, just different form the feeling of board riding. Channel trucks cause the wheel to "toe" in as pressure is applied to a side. Just as a snowboard will rotate onto the pressure edge and cut into the snow with the effective edge of the rail. Independent suspension trucks "turn" identically to the way a car's independent suspension turns as the steering wheels turns. Rather than toeing in, the wheels tilt.

I can't voice a preference having never ridden an independent suspension board but somehow it just doesn't "feel" the same.

[DaddyYo]

This is my board. I have changed the eggs shocks from yellow (soft) to orange (hard).

I made this board to jump.

[9th December 2008: two pictures removed as asked by the author]

[raphael]

Note for thoose that don't know carveboards: Daddyyo's board is not the regular Stik, it's the TwinStik (shorter, narrower, twin-tip)... or am i wrong ?

[rcrobar]

Hey Daddy Yo

Welcome to the EC site and thanks for the great pictures and post. The bowl you are flying out of looks very nice.

Before your post, I had never heard of Egg Shocks. Thanks for the tip, I will definitely give them a try!

Cheers
Rob

[raphael]

I had my first bowl ride this afternoon.

I wasn't extrordinary, but i managed not to be ridiculous.
I regret i just imitated skateboarders, i was not able to do anything specific to carveboard.

I didn't feel the need to stiffen the trucks.

[Rob Stevens]

Hi Y'all;
I hope everyone has had a good summer and you're all healthy and ready to "lay down".
Have any of you tried the BMW Streetcarver? I used to own one of their cars and when I'd take it to the shop, I'd get the Streetcarver to demo along with the loaner car.
Generally, I'd take it to steeper and narrower terrain than I'd use on my skate for downhilling. Where I'd have to powerslide the conventional sh
skateboard to slow down, the BMW would allow you to "tailpush" or in other words, the rear wheels would take a wider line without sliding if you wanted them to.
This, combined with a carved-turn radius you couldn't stay on if you were 1m tall, can have you doing speed controlled turns down just about any steepness of paved road you can find, regardless of width.
I would wish one of these on all of you, but wishes don't put $800 CDN in your pockets to actually buy one.
Lates
P.S. The noboard clip I've been promising will be shot as soon as the shred is on.

[raphael]

I tried the bmw streetcarver. But i think it's no match for the carveboard or flexboardz. It has too much of a rail sensation, it lacks agility. The flexboard is made along he same principle but it's something much more lively.

[Rob Stevens]

The only bad thing I could say about the BMW is that it had a speed wobble that would make your heart stop.
I'll give those others a try though I'm a little worried about needing 2 lanes of roadway to control your speed. The streetcarver could turn inside 1m (not like you could actually stand on it while it was turning like that...)
Can you powerslide with them? Will they break traction like that with the pneumatic tires?
Lates

[Böany]

Hey guys, got some question on the Carveboard: Is it possible to take these boards off-road and go carving down some smoothe grasslands? I did not try any conventional mountainboard so far, but I don't think that it would come that close to carving?!

[raphael]

Hey guys, got some question on the Carveboard: Is it possible to take these boards off-road and go carving down some smoothe grasslands? I did not try any conventional mountainboard so far, but I don't think that it would come that close to carving?!

I never tried, but i think it would not be very efficient.
The tires are slick so i think it would skid a lot.
Anyway i don't think anything would carve correctly on grass.

This said, Flexboardz are much better for mixed on-road/off-road use.

But on asphalt, carveboards carve deeper than anything.
And it feels very secure too. More than snowboarding.
This is because we are going slower, and the roads are perfectly flat compared to snow pistes.
So you may hurt if you fall, but you fall less than on snow.
Just wear gloves and knee-pads and it's ok.