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Which companies (brands) have faster bases?

19K views 91 replies 27 participants last post by  super-rad 
#1 · (Edited)
Wanted to run this through here cause I never take the word of just one person.

I am currently riding the Lib Hot knife. I think it is a great board except that when I am flat running, it is not very fast. Only boarded on it 2 days so far, so it still has factory wax. I am going to have some pattern added to the base and new wax applied that the local shop here said will make it faster.

Talking to a few people there though, they told me that is the one thing about Lib's they don't like. They seemed to be in agreement that Lib's bases need to be faster. They also said that Burton has some of the fastest bases. (Even though one guy seemed to be anti-Burton, he said they are fast).

I do have a Burton Custom X as well and that thing is quick as hell when flat running. So part of me tends to believe this guys. Looking at getting a new board, but I would like one that has a faster base. I am liking the T Rice Pro, but hesitant, if it is as slow as my Hot Knife.

When I research, that seems to be something not mentioned much. Anyway, wondering other thoughts and rider's experiences on the subject?
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Fast Base: Oxess, SG, Kessler, Donek, Prior---these are more for racing
Most every higher end freestyle board like LIB snowboards have a good base that is very capable of high speeds but this is only one part of the problem.

It's different board to board though. waxing and sliding on snow is a science and the type of wax that's on your board is super important piece of this. I'm guessing your base is plenty fast. You might just be a little dry or have the wrong temp range of wax on there. Also any man made snow will rip the wax right off your board in less than a day. You can go for days on nice soft fresh snow without a fresh wax but man mad snow is sharp and jagged and rips the wax right off your board like sand paper.
 
#6 ·
Cool thanks.

The resort I was at (Keystone) is mostly man made snow, so I guess most of my wax is gone.

And yeah, I was a little worried about grinding such a new board. I will go for just the wax.

Plus that is good to here the Rice board is fast. I kinda figured it would have to be, cause I doubt someone like Travis Rice would ride a slow board.

Thanks for the inputs.. its always good to hear new opinions.

I think the Hot Knife has a different base than the Rice does. Liking the Rice to try out the hybrid design. Plus I hear that board is a little wider than others, which will help my big feet.
 
#31 · (Edited)
Got some good reading here. Thanks all for the suggestions. I looked at the Bataleon site. They look very interesting. Haven't heard much about them though. Maybe I can find a demo. I would be interested to see how they ride.

But yeah, to give a little background. I bought the Custom X. 2 days up and I soon learned that board is very advanced. (and it lets you know it).

I was a pretty good rider for the 20 years. I could hold my own. But I had 2 leg surgeries and 2 back surgeries recently and have been out of boarding for 5 years. I had to let my body completely heal. This is my first year back into it.

I bought the Custom X cause I was used to full Camber and thought it was a good board. It is a great board, but learned I have lost a lot of skill and my body is older. (learned my lesson to not get such a high performance board of the bat as I am re-learning) I wanted to try this new hybrid style of board so I got the Hot Knife as a starter to help get used to try a full hybrid.

Doing more research, I don't know if a full hybrid is what I want or not. (yes I have read a lot of camber vs hybrid reviews) Still trying to a find a real good fit to what feels good for me.

But I can tell you what I do want is a board with a little faster base so I don't have to unstrap and push my board when I hit flat spots, that has happened a few times with my Hot Knife. I am not disappointed with the Hot Knife. I am going to give it a good waxing with some high speed type wax and see if that does the trick.

But I still haven't found the board I am totally happy with. When I hone my skills more, I will go back to my Custom X, but still looking for the board that puts a total smile on my face, and, I do like trying out different boards so when I do get the board I am going to stick with for while, I know its the best choice for me.

And yes I do read all the posts. It helps give me a sense of what works best and gives me more stuff to research--I am a research junkie. Plus its fun to watch people go at it! ..... haha
 
#41 ·
Anyways....... :dunno:

Based on my experience, the lib tech factory wax fades quick, and is not as fast as a simple all temp. I used Hertels Super Hot Sauce or Swix and the results were not off the charts, but were substantially better.

That man made stuff will grind most wax off your base pretty fast. It is very abrasive. Sintered bases are much faster when waxed than extruded bases, so maybe a nice hotwax is all you need. Nothing fancy, just a good all temp.

In addition, the Hot knife is C3 camber dominant banana, so only a slight bit of rocker compared to other hybrid boards. I don't think the hybrid nature of the board will slow you down that much, if at all. Also, the base is the same as the T. Rice, which is C2 with more rocker... I have one and can fly no problem.

If you have been out of the game for awhile with serious injuries, I doubt you are straight-lining runs... so base seems to be less of an issue. What I CAN imagine you doing as a previously injured rider out of the game for 5 years would be just trying to make some nice turns at medium to high speed. This, coupled with not riding any of the new "wavy edge tech" released over the last 5 or 6 years, I can TOTALLY see you thinking the board is slow ON EDGE, but I'm not so sure about the base. Slow while carving (on edge) was my first impression of riding a magnatraction board 3 or 4 years ago. I liked it though, cause I had more control in my carves, but Lib magnatraction is the most grippy in my opinion.
 
#61 ·
I didnt read everything BUT TBT is a god damn rocket for sure. The base acts as a ski with least amount of base touching the snow... That thing feels like it has a motor. Now i might not want to take it to super high speeds but TBT bases are the fastest from the camber and base concave...
 
#63 ·
This is hilarious as u are right due to the basically 3 deminsional shape of the TBT design there could be less surface area on snow, especially flat, which this would completely go against the guys argument for the TBT being so sweet cause surface area is so important...I give up...lol
 
#80 · (Edited)
There is some full retard going on here. Wax is certainly a factor in speed, but how is it not understoos that it's only one of many factors involved---and not nearly the most important.

My NS Raptor 159 and T.Rice 161.5 were bloody fast, both of which would be faster than other boards I've owned such as a Bataleon Goliath 157 and Lib Skate Banana 159, regardless of what brand/temp/formulation of wax you put on each.
 
#83 ·
s


haha you guys are the retards that jump on a thread 9 pages deep without barely reading it and start talking down like know it all gods...Get a grip on your ego's. U guys think u sound so cool and I'm sure your tough guy act works with the kids but you really sound like a couple of retards to everyone who knows anything. I'm sure everyone went 9 pages deep to read couple of snowboard gods like yourselves.
 
#87 ·
LOL...Wow, did not expect all this when I asked the original question. Mainly what I was looking for was a board with faster material type base. I was told that different companies has faster bases than other, so I posted here to get your opinions. Got them I did! LOL

Anyway, what was happening to me was, I was cruzin down the hill then hit a flat spot, I would have to un strap and push myself. I would try the run again and get as fast as I could to see if I could gain enough speed to make it through the flat patch and I wasn't able.

Or on the beginning of the runs where its a little flat, I would have to hop until the slope got steeper. I would see other boarders able to strap in and start to go down just fine.

I wasn't looking for high tech arguments, just wanted to get insight on boards that had a little faster base to help guide my next purchase.

I just got my Hot Knife back with a sweet wax job on it. I think the issue I had was my wax was gone from riding on pure man made snow. But I will see if this theory is right next time I go up.

Don't get wrong, I learned some good stuff from this thread. Plus it was fun see the rivalry going on :)

Cheers!
 
#91 ·
There are some long term members of this forum that NEVER wax their boards.

Number one factor in how fast a board will go? Rider.

Number two factor might be base structure before wax.

Number three factor would likely be clothing (aerodynamic or not) for a top speed test, or wax for a cat track test.

All in theory of course.
 
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