Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
Does a flexible snowboard make it easier to ollie and ride on one tip (i.e. ride like a wheelie on a bike)?
Wondering if a more flexible board makes it easier to do tricks down the hill like riding on one tip (like a wheelie on a snowboard) or stuff like popping ollies.
Also, would a shorter board make it easier to ride freestyle/park style? I mean doing jumps, spins, rails and boxes.
I currently ride a never summer system board. it's 155 and I am 5'8" and 145lbs. I will typically free ride (regular slopes, not alot of powder riding) but would like to get into more jumps, spins, rails, and things that add style instead of just carving down a run.
4 Answers
- Paul GLv 51 decade agoFavorite Answer
Yes and no.
A softer board is easier to do butters and presses (what you call wheelies) with and is more forgiving on rails and boxes but you can go too soft and loose pop and stability on landing.
When you are hitting jumps you'll find that you will need to "pop" off the lip in order to get the most air on the bigger jumps. I'm sure you've seen different people hitting the same jump and some folks go much higher but don't seem to hit the jump as fast as other people who aren't going as big. Well, that is because they pop off the lip better. It is much easier to do this on a board with a bit more stiffness as they tend to "spring" better when you pop. Also, a stiffer board will be much more forgiving when landing bigger jumps as the board will support you more and keep you centered. If the board is too soft it can fold up (especially if you land leaning a bit too far forward or back).
Ideally, I like a park board to be on the medium to stiff side (on a scale from 1-10 somewhere around a 6 or a 7) but I'd like it to be softer side to side (this is called torsionial flex) for forgivness when coming up a bit short landing spins and for less hang ups while jibbing.
Source(s): Been snowboarding for 20 years Manage a board shop. - 1 decade ago
Paul G gives great advice. One more thing to consider, if you want to start doing more freestyle in the park, is your binding settings. Widening your stance and adjusting your forward lean will have a tremendous impact on how you're board feels under your feet.
A wider stance will do two things for you:
1) It will lower yoru center of gravity and force you into a more athletic stance. This is going to help you stay in control both when popping off the lip as well as when you are in the air
2) You will have more leverage over the ends of your boards giving you more control over your edges
Forward lean will have much of the same effect as well as making your board feel more responsive side to side. The cost of adopting a more athletic stance is that it is really tiring at first b/c your let muscles have to do a lot more work to hold you up. You'll get used to it after a while though and will be amazed at how much more control you will have over your board.
If I were your height I would probably be riding with a stance width somewhere around 20" (distance between the center of the baseplates) but you will have to see for yourself.
- 1 decade ago
A softer board should definitely make jibs and tricks (nose presses, butters, ollies, etc.) easier.
The System board from Never Summer is a freestyle board. It's one of Never Summer's softer boards - on a scale of 1 - 10 for stiffness, it's a 5. I'm not sure NS makes a softer board.
If you're considering a more flexible board, you may have to consider another manufacturer. A few name-brand classic freestyle boards which spring to mind are the Ride Kink, Nidecker Diablo and Burton Dominant.
