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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Wakeboarding Discussion Archives > Archive through July 24, 2009

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Old     (bogartsomeday)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-28-2009, 11:59 PM Reply   
So my curiosity has grown more and more as I see some new boards w/o a center spine. From what i see, and feel, soft landings are always preferred. My theory is that a center spine helps create a softer landing by breaking the water on impact instead of having a flat bottom smacking the water. So, what i was wondering was; How come some board companies are still producing "flat" bottom boards??? I know people love soft landings, and i dont think that a center spine affects buttersliding nor speed enough to notice a difference. So is it the slight change in edge to edge response or what? Cause i really feel that the only thing the a spine affects is how soft the landings are. There could be an aspect about it that i havent thought of, but im just kinda curious to see everyones opinion about this. I saw some Ronix pro models today that were flat too, so i wonder how could they possibly have soft landings if anyone thinks they do....i ride a cwb transcend which has a spine running from tip to tail and i feel it helps whether i over shoot the wake or case the wake....hopefully some of you can enlighten me from the confusion about this. So tell me; Why not have a center spine???
Old     (garret_s)      Join Date: Apr 2006       06-29-2009, 8:24 AM Reply   
Spines can be goofy on rails. The original premiere shape was great on rails because it was so simple.

Other than that, I'm sure not having a spine changes the pop-dynamic a bit, maybe more buck?

Honestly, I don't really feel like it matters what board I'm on. I can tell a difference between boards, but making me a better rider? Nah. It's all marketing.
Old     (dizzyj)      Join Date: Jul 2003       06-29-2009, 9:10 AM Reply   
the same spine causes the board to sit lower in the water and drag more, causing a "slower" board. i.e. the trancend.

I'm not sure if I buy the whole spine == softer landings either. My marek lands way softer than my trancend ever did. but its super fast
Old     (wakemikey)      Join Date: Mar 2008       06-29-2009, 10:39 AM Reply   
I love my Watson and I think the center spine makes a huge huge difference. I love the way it makes the board ride and it also helps get the board on edge when riding a wider board.

I am also always looking for this in other boards. Ever LF board has it. In my opinion, they others are just behind the curve.......
Old     (andy_nintzel)      Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Minnesnowda       06-29-2009, 10:50 AM Reply   
I am on the O'brien Decade and it has a Big center spine, I have not issues jibbing on it, Infact its fast on the rails cause you are not using a ton of surfact area. I like the soft landings as well.
Old     (cwitham)      Join Date: Mar 2009       06-29-2009, 11:05 AM Reply   
I'm with Garret on this one. I think that boards are really much more similar to each other than we would all like to believe. People tell us that this board is "fast" so we go out with it expecting it to be so, so we cut real hard and think to ourselves, "Yeah, this is fast."

Or, "This board lands soft" etc. etc. etc. People experience all boards differently anyway. Don't worry about a boards "features" demo a board, if you like it, buy it, if not, try another one. Regardless of what is "hot".
Old     (wakerider111)      Join Date: Jul 2006       06-29-2009, 12:02 PM Reply   
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
Old     (wakemikey)      Join Date: Mar 2008       06-29-2009, 4:03 PM Reply   
Well in the quote above they talk about "channels" in the board, I'm thinking they mean concave channels (indentaion in the board) that run the length of the board along the rails. This is old technology too, no one really uses channels or vents or concave bumps or any other bottom features that companies used to do (except for the crazy o'brian with Delta base airplane technology or whatever hehe).

I do not think a center spine is something 'hot' or trendy. It is incredibly usefull and functional. IMO it is important enough for me to say they are part of the next generation of wakeboard technology.

LF doesn't JUST have a spine, the spine is a curved surface they call a double concave. On some boards they actually use a double spine or a quad-concave (then double-concave near the tip and tail).

I also think the best boards have gone away from having the shame sharpness edges from tip to tail of the board. They are now more rounded in between your feet.

IMO rocker (cont vs 3stage vs blended) is still debatable.

IMHO the ultimate board and bindings have
-aluminum base plate and single piece inner liner with feaux-silk material inside
-double-concave hull (spine)
-rounded edges between tip and tail
-shallower, longer fins that are closer to the edges of the board (4 or 6 fins)
Old     (mikef9844)      Join Date: Sep 2008       06-29-2009, 7:35 PM Reply   
I ride the 08 LF Watson and the center spine is pretty big. The first time I took it into the flats I could immediately feel the softer landings and loved it. It was a huge difference compared to other boards I have rode like the Ronix One. If you flip the board upside down and look at it, the spine is raised more than any other part of the bottom, making it the first thing to hit the water. When standing on the swim platform I can rock toes to heels on only the spine. I believe the spine makes a huge difference and is the future of board shapes. Except for flex boards, the spine is the best solution to softer landings, and you can't convince me otherwise. I will only ride boards now with a spine, it feels so much softer on my knees and any little bit helps.
Old     (all_board_rider)      Join Date: May 2009       06-30-2009, 4:19 PM Reply   
I like spines!

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