davidj

... my legs, that is .

Ok, kidding aside, ppl on this forum talk about "base damage" if you don't wax your board as needed. What if I pulled a BA (no offense dude ) and decided not to wax my board at all? I don't care if the base looks blue/gray/puke/insert-color-here because of prolonged wax deprivation. Also don't care if I'm a couple of mph slower while charging the mountain.

I'd like some specifics of "base damage" - something that will compromise the integrity of the board. Otherwise, why should I care?

Frozen

I'm curious about this too.

When I got into snowboarding the buddy I rode with had a 6 or 7 year old burton custom that he rode. I asked how often he waxed it or sharpened the edges and he said something along the lines of "I don't do shit". So I haven't either and can honestly say that aside from hitting the occasional "sticky spot" on days with warmer weather I've never really had a problem. Then again I've never waxed my boards either so I don't have a baseline for comparison.

Just wondering if I'm missing out on something by not waxing (board) regularly.

ace9213

I went 6-7 days on factory wax. Felt like I was riding through mud. I was catching my edges a lot. It wasn't a good day.

Soggysnow

Do you like a fast smooth ride?
A lot of boards are made pretty different to a few years ago too. Sintered bases allow for good absorption of wax and a smooth ride, but you do need to look after them too.
I can definitely feel the difference when my board is freshly waxed. You should treat yourself sometime.

bseracka

Extruded bases don't really need to be waxed and don't hold much wax when they are.

Sintered basespreform noticably better when waxed and are designed to hold wax. Sintered bases can burn from friction impairing their ability to hold wax and transfer wax to the surface. A dry sintered base is more susceptable to damage and can crack especially if die-cut

budderbear

Wax is probably debatable depending on how fast you like to go, but after a few icy days, or running over rocks you can really see the benefits of doing your edges. Especially when it comes to catching edges.

Jed

Honestly waxing makes you go faster, but I don't think it's much of a huge deal for non pros that aren't trying to shave seconds from their boardercross time or get more speed for their freestyle run.

I'd say you're far more likely to break a board before the base dies from lack of wax.

I tend to only wax if I specifically need extra speed for some reason (jump without enough run in, contest etc). Most of the time I don't even notice if I don't wax.

Snow conditions will have far more effect on your speed than waxing.

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biocmp

Do you all wax brand new boards or do they come prepared to go?

Jed

They have factory wax, but factory wax kind of sucks.

With brand new boards I'll give it a hot wax and redo the wax with a nice base wax and blend in some other waxes on top.

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NWBoarder

You can ride without wax, and it won't hurt your board to much in the long run. However, riding a freshly waxed board is a great feeling. And it's an even better feeling if you waxed it yourself.

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