Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums banner

Why buy a hybrid/FV Board???

5K views 28 replies 17 participants last post by  Jimi7 
#1 ·
Notice that when I do a few repairs/waxes that a lot of people are bringing in hybrids/FV profiles. Mostly, these are one board owners. I had a guy the other day telling me how shit his C' twin off axis (basically a FV park board) went in Japan. I helped him out by explaining the profiles and what he needed next time.

Now I understand the benefits of a softer hybrid as a sort of one fit for all for the novice rider as it presents a more playful/forgiving/easier platform to learn from. I did this for my son over 10 years ago for a few seasons (CFV smalls).........., but the benefits of full camber for the experienced rider/hard chargers to me is far more important. Gee, I learnt on camber over 30 years ago as that was all that really existed. Of course profile type is an important consideration with the terrain/style you prefer to ride.

So a question would be......., do seasoned riders consider bringing a hybrid snowboard into their quivers ???
 
#2 ·
I'm like you, I learned on camber boards in the late '80s/early '90s and I still remember when the reverse camber boards first came and, honestly, I hated them (man those first LT Bananas sucked bad!) and still do.
Sure, they have their place and lots of people swear by them. It's ok, but I don't get why.
To me the benefits of camber over reversed (or hybrids) far outweigh anything else.
Still, I understand that they're not for old fuggies like myself. I'm not in the same generation nor even type of riding. I'll always be a pipe/big air guy at heart and these are disciplines where camber rules. I do jib and still maintain that a camber board, when put sideways on a feature is better, but there are tons of variations of jibs where camber will be preferred by loads of guys (most likely guys who now whoop my butt too).

My kids are learning on flat boards and it seems to go well. I'll see in a few years when they've outgrown these boards.

My wife also rode all her life on camber boards. A friend gave her a nice, brand new Salomon Spark (reverse-camber) and man, she HATED it. The turn-initiation and edge-hold was too different for her.

I also can understand how reverse/hybrid could be beneficial in powder.

Different folks, types of riding and all that. Guess I'm at a point where I know what's worked for me for 30 years so I'll stay in my grumpy-old-dude lane and leave the new weird stuff to the kids...
 
#5 ·
Notice that when I do a few repairs/waxes that a lot of people are bringing in hybrids/FV profiles. Mostly, these are one board owners.
Now I understand the benefits of a softer hybrid as a sort of one fit for all for the novice rider as it presents a more playful/forgiving/easier platform to learn from.
Of course profile type is an important consideration with the terrain/style you prefer to ride.
I reckon the vast majority of riders only own one board at any given time and don't venture too far from the original hybrid profiles they learnt on, or for that matter even know there are a variety of profiles.
The answer is right there. Most people own one pair of skis or one board. Most people don't try a lot of skis or boards.

They go down the piste sliding their turns and enjoy doing just that. They're not so worried about whether the skis or board is on edge as long as they are having fun.

In forum where almost everyone is a geek it's easy to be the carving police or talk about how some profiles clearly sucks. Into my second season I suddenly realized, while watching people from the chairlift, that the people ruddering and sliding down the piste looked like they were having just as fun (or even more) as I had. I still can't help wanting to ride a thousand different boards.
 
#6 ·
A hybrid board is'nt just a hybrid board. You've got Cam-rock hybrids that basicly are a modern take on the traditional camber profile with a bit of rocker/flat past the insert points to make the camber a bit more forgiving. Those profiles are good.
The only other hybrids worth riding is the C2/C2X from Gnu/Lib.
The rest is meh..
 
#7 ·
A hybrid board is'nt just a hybrid board. You've got Cam-rock hybrids that basicly are a modern take on the traditional camber profile with a bit of rocker/flat past the insert points to make the camber a bit more forgiving. Those profiles are good.
The only other hybrids worth riding is the C2/C2X from Gnu/Lib.
The rest is meh..
If they're not traditional camber or rocker then wouldn't the rest be classed as hybrid apart from flat
 
#8 ·
If I had to have just one or two boards they would be camber. Once I can own more than that, it's great to have a hybrid or rocker board. The C2 and C2X Mervin boards are a lot of fun to ride due to the independent camber zones and contact point between the feet. Put your weight back a little on them and lift the nose up and you're essentially riding a 1/2 length board with your back foot. You get excellent control for butters and freestyle stuff that way.

It's a different way of riding and can be a lot of fun. I don't think it's just for beginners.

Camrock makes the least sense to me, unless it's the tiny amount of rocker in the tips that rides essentially like camber. But other than that those boards seem to give up too much stability in the name of forgiveness.
 
#12 ·
Camrock makes the least sense to me
It has 90% of the benefits of a camber board, with extra float for powder and none of the edge catching, theres a reason so many companies stand by it.

you wanna talk about least sense? putting rocker in the middle so the board feels washy, and you have no power and putting camber on the outside so you can catch all the edges, DA FUQ?:unsure:
 
#9 ·
Old guy here who learned on traditional camber back in the 90's too. Tried a few different rockers over the years and quite frankly thought they were dangerous at speed with poor edge hold and slow turning response. Tried a K2 Turbo dream a few years back with the flat to rocker profile and was surprised how closely it road like traditional camber. Still good edge hold at speed and far better than traditional camber in the pow. I bought a Ride Warpig last year to try the volume shift board so I could size down and I ended up riding it all year long in all conditions. It's also a flat to rocker profile and even though I sized down from a 160W to this 154 I can't believe how well it does everything.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Eh... seems bit like fashion to be all for x in this decade, then all for y in the next. Camber is dead it was few years back, now all of a sudden, everyone is all over only camber. Duck was the only way to go some years back, and since recently, all of a sudden ppl find back to fwd.

Anyway. I don't care much about fashion. I love my CRC and RCR hybrids for what they're great at, as much as I love my trad camber for what it's great at. However, the trad camber gets the least time out. It's only for carving in good conditions. As soon as there's pow? The hybrids are out. The board I used most the last two years was a CRC 🤷‍♀️
 
  • Like
Reactions: zc1
#11 ·
I like some camber in the tail at least, even if it's mostly rocker. Tail has to be able to ollie in soft snow, but still bend enough to slash and balance on. Rockers aren't as stiff as cambers with the same construction, so they usually need some reinforcement. What I really don't like is when the front of the board is so soft it almost pushes you into a slide. I like the backseat cambers and crc more than camrocker, but with like Mervin I feel like I don't get the full benefits of the middle rocker until C3, because it has the spring of camber, but it slows the momentum of takeoffs and landing, camber with suspension. C2X can launch you skyhigh, but it's a little more unstable. If it's just powder cruising, alot of boards work.
 
#18 · (Edited)
It doesn’t do as much as for CRC but it still helps on the RCR on icy surface.

You have added contact points on the camber section even when the rocker tips are drifting when the board is pushed hard on the edge. Still more grip underfoot and between the bindings if there was no magne. Similar story with Underbites/Midbites etc.

Niche adds an aggressive magne to their CRC and a mellow one to RCR boards.
 
#17 ·
Notice that when I do a few repairs/waxes that a lot of people are bringing in hybrids/FV profiles. Mostly, these are one board owners. I had a guy the other day telling me how shit his C' twin off axis (basically a FV park board) went in Japan. I helped him out by explaining the profiles and what he needed next time.

Now I understand the benefits of a softer hybrid as a sort of one fit for all for the novice rider as it presents a more playful/forgiving/easier platform to learn from. I did this for my son over 10 years ago for a few seasons (CFV smalls).........., but the benefits of full camber for the experienced rider/hard chargers to me is far more important. Gee, I learnt on camber over 30 years ago as that was all that really existed. Of course profile type is an important consideration with the terrain/style you prefer to ride.

So a question would be......., do seasoned riders consider bringing a hybrid snowboard into their quivers ???
I had been riding camber for most of my life. Then i tried the Lib Tech Orca, with a C2x profile. I loved it!
especially for pow. Then i tried the Mind Expander, that has a flat to rocker profile. So surfy and fun in the pow.
If I am charging and hitting jumps though. Then i prefer my Capita Asymulator, with a camber profile.
In my opinion, it is always fun to try something new!
 
#19 ·
Well you have the serrated knife theory, and in some cases it works, like an extra safety when you unweigh the board in the wrong place or by accident, or ride like Xavier De Le Rue in places where you struggle to even push the board into the snow. In other cases, it just removes effective edge from a cambered zone, and slows you down. Eventually the brands learn to adapt profile to sidecut/edgetech and it's all good.
 
#20 ·
I don’t think magnetraction removes effective edge in many situations, but I don’t think it has any positive effect in many situations.

Some looks at magnetraction as having more contact points. when looking at edge hold it makes more sense to view it the other way around.
 
#22 ·
I’ve probably got somewhere north of 20 boards currently. They range in size from 151 to 195. There is old school camber, new school camber, crc, rcr, flat, surf rocker. Spoon/ lifted contact points. Traditional single radius side cuts and about every other type of side cut or edge tech available. Twinish to very directional. Just the softer side of the middle to death plank stiffness. 25cm-29cm waist widths. 6.5m to 14m radius. Long effective edge to overall length ratio and the opposite. Mostly solids but a couple of splits also. If you’re happy with the same shape and camber that you’ve been riding since the wheel was invented, have at it. Some of us enjoy experimentation, variety and getting weird. Also, some beginners prefer to learn without getting their ass kicked by their equipment.
 
#25 ·
I have 2 camber boards (both of these have triple base as well, as they are bataleons), and I just got myself a Rome National which is rocker-camber-rocker, which pretty much makes it a more well-pronounced camber with more float and pop - what's not to like?

I'm definitely a camber girl, I really like that you can load it up so well. The board I ride most (Bataleon Distortia) has really mellow camber (and i'm guessing after 25+ weeks it got even softer), but still has a lot of rebound and pop. I feel like rockers/flats miss this rebound and this makes them less lively to ride. The Rome National was one of the first rocker-camber-rockers I rode and it blew me away last year, because it was really poppy, like it exploded out of turns, into carves, while at the same time it still had float and was incredibly responsive in deep slush. It was just in general really ballsy and fun. So I just had to get myself one and i'm really excited to ride it next winter :) The benefits of camber-rocker-camber i don't really see, but I'm also guessing it doesn't really fit my riding style so it might be nice for other people.
 
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