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Camber Profiles: Camber vs Rocker vs Flat vs Hybrids

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My 2c…

I’ve learnt on a el-cheapo standard camber board (FTWO Prime to be exact lol) and to be honest i dont think bieng on a reverse camber board would make the process any easier or make my ass hurt any less (because who learns park/butters/spins/etc… on their first few days??)

However when it comes to technique camber DEFINITLEY teaches you to be always on edge which helps you progress A LOT faster! Once you learn to ride camber you can confidently ride RC, but same cant be said in reverese! smile

Also for some reason a lot of people think that you NEED R.C. if you want to do park/butters etc… or that it makes it easier, IMO completely bull if you know the technique to do a butter/spin/ride boxes/rails, you can do it on ANY board and if you haven’t got the technique you wont be able to do it on a reverse camber board either, no matter how expensive it is or how much R.C. its got!

Ok rant is over smile loll

 
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What your saying there Coseks certainly makes sense in a lot of ways. It’s a popular view from most camber riders. And nothing you said was wrong, just a different approach.

Before I get into it I should tell you that I’m a camber rider too, and I love camber. But I have a different opinion on it.

Basically what you are saying is Rocker has no place. There is no need for rocker when camber can teach you better and is better at a higher level.
I do agree that camber is more aggressive at a higher level but the problem is, it’s also more aggressive at a lower level whether you like it or not.
Watching my students learn on different boards, the one thing I can say for sure is:

Learning on a camber and learning on a rocker ARE different. The techniques practiced are the same, but the rate of progression, confidence levels and the skills you are left with after a lesson are different.

I’ve noticed a rise in rental boards being rocker these days and I gotta tell you. As a teacher I LOVE IT. Students catch less edges, there are less injuries, and because their confidence levels are higher, they generally progress much faster.

As for riding in the park, I totally agree. The profile of your board is strickly a personal choice in park riding. Any trick is possible on any board.

 

Hey guys, first time poster here from the UK!
I’m fairly new to snowboarding probably 10hours on the snow so far with more to come between now and holiday in March (andorra), but feel like im progressing well and picking it up at a decent rate. I don’t doubt it gets asked all the time “which is best for me” etc etc but I’ve seen a nice board at my local store which is in the sale at a good price (2012 K2 lifelike) I’ve done a bit of internet searching and it sounds like the kind of board I’d be into, I’ll not be spending my days in the park, but I come from a BMX background and at some point will feel the need to hit a jump of some sort.
Now the K2 is a flat board (specs here http://www.snowboard-review.com/snowboard_reviews/review/Lifelike/ ) and I just want to make sure I’m not going to jump onto this and hate it. I dont think I will (it HAS to be better than what im riding currently) Just I dont see too many flat boards out there.
at 6’2” and around 95kgs I’d be on a 161 I know that much for sure

So I guess I’m just asking, will I massively regret it, or will it be pretty easy to pick up with?

Thanks in advance
Oli

 
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In a nutshell, I think you’ll like the Lifelike. It’s going to be a versatile ride whether you’re riding park or the mountain. There’s nothing wrong with flat camber profiles. Their advantage is their versatility, and they are really good on rails.

Please feel free to start a new thread about your board options.

Welcome to Boardworld, Oli. cool smile

 

Hello guys,

I have been riding since 15 years and would like to buy a new board.
I always had a camber board and now I discover that most boards are “hybrid” which seems pretty great when I read what it does.

But I got totally confused when I read that there were 2 types of hybrid camber:
- Type A:  camber-rocker-camber
- Type B: rocker-camber-rocker

I mostly ride on groomers 75% of the time and do some small jumps (although I would like to try to make some 360).
In terms of boards, I had seen those:
- Type 1: Lib Tech Jamie Lynn, Lib Tech TRS, Never Summer Heritage, Never Summer SL
- Type B: Jones Mountain Twin, Capita Totally Fkn Awesome, Capita Dan Brisse, Capita BSOD

I would ideally like a board that handles well speed and that eases landings when I try to do some 360.
What type of hybrid would you recommend?

Thanks a million fr your help wink
JT

 
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Both works well. It depends on your preference and also the stiffness of the board. For type 1, boards like the Lib T.Rice, Jamie Lynn, NS heritage will handle speed really well because that’s what they’re designed for (hard charging, all mountain freestyle). Same with type 2. I found type 2 is less catchy at the tips because the contact points is always off the snow where as C2, NS RC, type camber the contact will always be touching the snow. I rode the T.Rice for about 2 seasons and I really love that board. I just got YES PYL which is the camrock profile, demoed it last spring and really love it too. So if you can, demo the boards.

 
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Yeah, skip echoes my feelings on the subject. For me, by far the biggest drawcard of rocker is the forgiveness and playfulness of a raised tip and tail - so I see no sense in camber-rocker-camber, I may as well just go straight camber. It’s rocker-camber-rocker all the way for me, and I think that will eventually be the industry standard along with straight camber.

 

Hello you 2, thanks for your answers!

So if I understood correctly, both of those hybrid profile will handle speed on groomers well if I go for a board that is stiff.
And in terms of landing a 360, which one would be the easiest, more catchfree?

I had the feeling that the camber-rocker-camber was more catchfree because of the rocker between the feet, but it seems you guys are saying the opposite?

 
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As far as being catch free, rocker-camber-rocker is more catch free in my opinion. Technically any board regardless of flex can go fast, but a medium stiff to stiff board will handle speed better. I like both profile to be honest, just a different ride.

 
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Jean-Thomas - 18 January 2013 09:08 AM

I had the feeling that the camber-rocker-camber was more catchfree because of the rocker between the feet, but it seems you guys are saying the opposite?

nah mate complete opposite, the points that “catch” are the contact points on the ends of your board

 

okido, so if I had a camber board for 15 years already and like to be mostly on groomers, you recommend I go with rocker-camber-rocker. I am indeed afraid that if I go with camber-rocker-camber the ride will feel “too” different from what I use to know and might feel unstable (altough I have read that Lib Tech boards like the Jamie Lynn are pretty stable at speed).

It’s quite a difficult choice to make and unfortunetally I can’t try those boards as I live very far away from the mountain and snow wink

 
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camber-rocker-camber will not feel unstable at all. It might be a little squirelly if you 1 foot it or totally flat base it, but far from being unstable. I rode a Lib T.Rice with C2 for about 60 days and it’s not too “different” from a cambered board on edge. I find that rocker-camber-rocker is a bit more loose than camber-rocker-camber if the camber in the middle is not pronounced (aka some Rossi boards, some YES boards only have like 1.5mm of camber and lots of rocker at the nose).

 

By loose, you mean a little less stable at speed?
If I need to choose between easier landings or stability on groomers: I prefer to choose stability.

To land a 360 with a CRC profile is still way easier than a regular camber right?

 
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I’ve got a CRC (camber at feet, rocker at middle and ends - GNU Riders Choice) and it is super stable at speed. Just did a PB of 80.2km/h a couple of hours ago and had no problems. It’s also a great profile for powder on Whistler too smile

 
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Loose meaning, that the contact points are not touching the snow, I wouldn’t say less stable. If you’re comfortable with the board, you can make it as stable as you want.