nikiddawg

HAH! I said "nipples"! Not what you think.

I just got my Arbor Formula board and Burton Mission Bindings. Rode it for the first time yesterday and had a blast. Too bad it looks like the season out near me is pretty much over due to weather (NYC area).

Here's the nipple situation: I scewed down my bindings using the standard 14mm screws that came with my bindings. Used teflon tape and even cut out some rubber flanges (2mm thick) and stuck them between my bindings and board to keep the board looking great (saw this tip on a website). I didn't use anything except a normal #3 screw driver and hand tightened them,going in an "X" pattern. When I looked at my board at the end of the day, I noticed that there were 4 little bumps on the back portion of the underside of my board (opposite where the binding scews would be). I looked on this forum and saw someone refer to them as "nipples' as compared to "dimples" which are concave and go in caused by pressure when you leave your bindings on during the off season.

I contacted Arbor and they basically said that I was SOL because I had used the Burton screws and the Burton screws were too long. How was I supposed to know not to use the screws that came with the binding? Besides, clearly that's not the case since the screws measure exactly 14mm long which is what the Arbor rep said they should be. Is this a defect in my board? More importantly, will these little bumps impact my ride at all?

jgsqueak

Just don't get you base stone ground (or belt for that matter) too often. Every time you get a full tune, those little "nipples" will take a lot of the pressure and get ground down faster than the rest of the base. Other thatn that, if they are not too large, it shouldn't affect the overall ride of the board...but waxing will take you a little longer now cause it won't scrap as easily.

RickyBobby

The screws are not the problem. Could you feel the bumps from the screws? Sometimes it looks like like bumps(nipples?) are there, but you can't feel them. If this is case it is temperature differences making what looks like bumps.

If you can feel them, no big deal. Just back off the screws a bit after riding and they should go away. JUST DON'T FORGET TO RE-TIGHTEN SCREWS BEFORE RIDING AGAIN!



RB

Deviant

Ok...

The reason people fix bad gouges in their bases with Ptex is because it affects the ride and affects the core. Would something on the bottom of the board affect the ride since that's the part touching the snow? Would a bump on the bottom of your foot affect walking? The answer is YES. It may not be a really noticable difference, so just ride it, but obviously anything not level on the base will affect riding to some degree.

The screws fit into the board, not the bindings, the inserts are the specific thread, so yes you should've used the correct screws. At least you didn't strip out the threads in the inserts, so look on the bright side, you can still ride it. If it really is exactly same length and same thread, you may have just tightened them down too much. Back them off, leave it, and tighten it down to a reasonable level before you ride next time.

Off topic a little: I recently talked to the dumbest snowboard instructor in the world last week regarding something similar. He's riding an X8 and as I was walking to the lodge he stopped me and asked if my base came with bumps in it. I told him no, my base is flat. He said "Feel this...". Where his screws were there were nipples. He then blamed it on the channel and said it must be that coming through his board. He also used a drill to tighten them down. I just shook my head and walked away.

RickyBobby

But poster indicated they used correct size screws as Arbor recommends. So, maybe screws too tight? I really crank mine down, but only with screwdriver, not drill.


RB

nikiddawg

EXACTLY! Arbor rep pointed finger at Burton but then I measured screws and confirmed the screws I used were the right size. So if the screws were the right size, is it possible that I over-tightened the screws? If the screws were the right size and it's not from over-tightening, then why would it happen?

The bumps are very slightly raised and I can't imagine they're going to make a dramatic impact on performance....especially since I'm a noob. I probably won't even notice. Just wondering if it's something I did or if it's a defect in the board.

ChuChu

It's not the end of the world. I ride with a girl who made the same mistake and she just changed out the screws for ones that fit her board properly. She can keep up on the flats and everything np so I don't think it's affected her ride much. To be honest the bumps seem to have mellowed out/flattened a bit over time.

Of course you will get laughed at (which you deserve) whenever someone notices them on your board.

RickyBobby

If you can feel the bumps, then one base grind should fix that.

RB

legallyillegal

and next time you buy a board, remember which company basically told you to buy a different brand's board

__________________

THERE ARE SPECIFIC REASONS AS TO WHY I AM MORE LOCAL THAN YOU

GOD IS DONUT

Bubalouie

Keep in mind, the board mfg usually doesn't specify how long the screws should be, just the thread size. Some binding plates are much thicker than others, therefore deeming a longer or shorter screw, but the same thread sized.

This seems like a lot of discussion for something this simple. Get new screws that are shorter so that you can hand tighten them without pushing the base material down.

nikiddawk: I am not saying you have done anything more wrong than use the wrong length screw, then you did the right thing by coming here and asking. You can usually go to any boardshop and they will replace them for nothing.

Keep in mind that if you do ride it this way and hit something like a box or scrape on a rock, you could easily rip a sizable nipple from the bottom of your board.

--buba