I believe that center spines land softer, and i believe that flex lands softer, but i too am not so sure i believe flat boards land softer.
but this is what ronix has to say about their flat belly surfaced boards
quote:Clean center bottom design – leaves the wake and lands with more forward momentum so there is no need to have big channels to reduce the impact on landings
I think i can understand the reasoning behind landing with more momentum, but i believe a spine makes more difference than momentum, unless you ride like Vandall or any other rider who has intense airs into the flats. i cant imagine any board slowing on impact enough to create more stress than what a spine can absorb. but i am no intense advanced rider either. and neither have i tried any where near half the boards on the market.
speaking of Randall Harris. he has mentioned one additional soft-landing aspect of flex besides the absorption effect of a spring. what he mentioned was a little along the lines of carrying momentum
quote:...Another huge benefit for me was that upon landing, the board would flatten out somewhat and rocket forward, hence faster landings...
when slinghot introduced flex they had very flat featureless bottoms, explaining the reasoning for this with "less drag" and better utilization of a continuous flex- that channels and such would make the board ridged in areas and less flexy. flex is breaking from infancy and now there are hybrids that even include center spines like SINE. Humanoid has a good concave on the bottom (when they release to the public). and Liquid Force too has some hybrids.
IF there really is a way to gain a good balance of the benefits of spines AND flex AND momentum. that would be great i think!
im excited to see what companies will cook up in the future. hopefully i'll be able to try more designs