Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums banner

When do Base Scratches/Gouges affect performance?

3K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Etienne 
#1 ·
I have a couple boards that I love and ride them everywhere - steeps, chutes, trees and everything in between. Problem is I have accumulated tons of scratches and some deeper cuts from rocks on the base of both my "free ride" decks.

One deck (Rossignol XV) has a decent amount of ptex poured in already and had a base grind earlier this year. My other (K2 instrument) is also starting to accumulate rock damage (both vertical streaks and deeper horizontal gouges near the edges) but no core shots yet.

At what point do you retire a board based on accumulated scratches and gouges? Or do you put it away only once there is a core shot or edge blow out that is too significant or costly to repair?

It's hard to say if or how damage affects performance since we ride in different snow conditions, temps, mountains, fresh wax vs not so fresh wax etc on any given day so it's not obvious that "hey this board is not ripping like it used to".

Thanks for the pointers.
 
#2 ·
each scratch, each gouge, each ptex repair is because you and the board are sharing an experience.
when I wax my board and look at each repair and each scratch I’m reminded of when and where and how much I enjoy snowboarding.…or how dumb I was to ride off piste in early December.
In Japanese it’s called “wabi” or seeing the beauty in imperfection and impermanence.
Embrace the boards imperfection and impermanence.
gouges and scratches that don’t affect performance are just cosmetic but they tell a story.
If you enjoy them, keep riding them…. .with all their imperfections.
Ultimately, your board is just a tool.
If that tool isn’t working for you then it’s time for a new tool….or a choice of tools.
It never hurts to have a third or fourth board in case the XV or the K2 are no longer rideable.
Eventually you’ll need a new board but for now if you’re happy, enjoy!
 
#5 ·


You do ride your board dont you Awchute? If you can still ride it well why even worry about the scratches? Youll know when something needs to be retired, and if theres a question about it its probably not time yet. Ride the thing til it blows up and then keep a fragment or 2.
 
#9 ·
Just aim the right way, scratches will be a free base grind. No jokes, small scratches can actually make your base faster...

Bigger ptex filled stuff isn't optimal, but I never discarded a board because of that.

I used to do away with a board when a fix wouldn't stick or had no more base material near the edge, or flex was just washed out.

These days though, it's more because I clicked compulsively on some internet store...

Envoyé de mon H8324 en utilisant Tapatalk
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top