School of Rocker
2010 is the year of reverse camber boards. What seemed like a gimmick last season has turned into a major technology trend sweeping the industry. Nearly every company is offering a board with reverse camber this season yet they are all called something different.
Are you confused? Do you want to understand this whole reverse camber thing?
You've come to the right place. Welcome to the SCHOOL of ROCKER.
Camber 101
Before you can understand reverse camber you need to learn what normal camber is and what it does. If you placed a cambered board on a flat surface only the tip and tail would touch. In a reverse camber board only the center of the board would touch.
So what does camber do? Well first of all it keeps the contact points of your edges in the snow, so you can initiate turns and gives stability at high speeds. Secondly when you push against the camber you are storing potential energy.
Missed class when you covered potential energy in physics? Think of it like a diving springboard. You jump on the end which compresses the springs storing energy. The springs release the stored energy and the springboard throws you in the air. But instead of springs you have camber. This gives the board life and pop.
When you're in the middle of a carved turn on a cambered snowboard it is flexed in the opposite direction to the camber, and that's why as you finish your turn you can feel the board 'snap' or 'spring' you out of it as the board returns to its natural shape. If you've ever ridden a board and concluded it felt like riding a door, you know why boards are made with camber.
Reverse camber is, of course, just the opposite. One of the benefits of reverse camber is that there is more control between your feet rather than at the tips of the board. The board is easier to turn and control.
Reverse camber makes it easy to ride in powder as the nose will want to float instead of sink, so no back leg burn. For jibbing there are less contact points to worry about which means fewer places to catch on rails.
There's also no camber or flat boards. Unlike reverse or regular the board is always in contact with the snow. Of course they aren't totally flat - the tip and tail still curve up.
Of course this is reverse camber at it's most basic. Many snowboards use some combination of reverse camber, no camber, and regular camber that, in theory, can provide the best of both worlds.
So let's go in depth into this season's snowboard offerings and decode just what all those funky terms mean.
Note: The camber illustrations provided are not exact diagrams. They are simplifications meant to aid you in understanding the camber provided in each board.
Burton
V-Rocker
A three-stage rocker that’s equally fun from park to pow, V-Rocker™ features a center rocker between your feet, with additional rockers outside each foot that lift the tip and tail completely off the snow. Along the Channel zones, we added Pressure Distribution Edges for enhanced grip and power that balances the board’s loose and forgiving, skate-like feel. Together, the V-Rocker package energizes edge control while disengaging tip and tail contact points to create a catch-free feel that’s incredibly forgiving, floaty, poppy, and fun on all terrain.
- Burton
camber: triple reverse
boards: The Social, Feelgood V-Rocker, Lip-Stick
P-Rocker
Inspired by the feel of skating, our P-Rocker features Zero Camber between your feet with rockers outside each foot like a skateboard that lift the tip and tail completely off the snow. Super easy to slip and slide, this shape makes the board feel loose, soft, and effortless to press and butter. Hungry shred or seasoned pro, mini shred to mega jib, P-Rocker will fuel your park creativity.
- Burton
camber: reverse - flat - reverse
boards: Blender
Capita
Reverse Camber
Turning takes no effort. Stable at high speeds. Perfect for hangovers.
- Capita
camber: reverse - flat - reverse
boards: Space Metal Fantasy FK
Forum
ChillyDog
Created to bring the FUN back to snowboarding, Forum’s award-winning ChillyDog is unlike other rocker shapes. Chillydog’s Continuous Rocker is based off one big ass circle. This smooth constant arc underfoot makes the board stable, predictable and damn fun. The Continuous Rocker shape lifts the contact points at the tip and tail up off the snow. This means no more catching your edge on take-offs or landings, and more stomps per day. Lay down a switch landing in the deep stuff and the Continuous Rocker floats to the surface with high-fives waiting. Delicious.
- Forum
camber: reverse
boards: Spinster ChillyDog
Gnu
Banana/BTX
Banana Tech - "rocker between your feet" - and Magne-Traction - strategically located serrated edges - are revolutionary departures from traditional ski based, one pressure point, camber snowboard designs...Both designs are premised on the fact that snowboarders ride with two feet on one board in a wide, stable freestyle stance...Magne-Traction improves edgehold, and Banana completely reworks the snowboard pressure map...full edge contact is maintained but edge pressure is now focused between and at your feet, the board is pre-bent into a natural turning arc and the tip and tails are less weighted for lift, deflection and catch free jib insanity.
- Lib Tech
camber: flat - reverse - flat
boards: B-Pro BTX, B-Street BTX, B-Nice BTX
C2BTX
C2-Power Banana is designed for aggressive all terrain freestyle riders and features Banana Tech rocker between your feet combined with camber at each end of the board. This Banana Camber combination offers the best features of Banana Tech ...float in powder in both direction, carving on hardpack and ice and a catchfree freestyle perfromance with the best features of camber...end to end stability, and extra pop for strong aggressive riders. C2 Banana Tech is perfect for aggressive freestyle riders who demand pop power and tip to tail stability for critical lines, landings and takeoffs.
- Lib Tech
camber: regular - reverse - regular
boards: B-Pro C2BTX
K2
Jib Rocker
Your park and rail ROCKER with the automatic 'press higher' function, JIB ROCKER allows for a loose, buttery feel while jibbing around the park or slaughtering the streets. Whether you’re pressing boxes or just playing around on the flats, JIB ROCKER has a forgiving no-catch feel that allows you to pull off even the most wild combinations. The flat mid-section allows you to lock into rails like you were on a skateboard. Rocker Range: 6-2mm/ 120-160mm
- K2
camber: reverse
boards: Va Va Voom Rocker
Never Summer
R. C. Technology
Never Summer's rocker designed lineup featuring R.C. (rocker & camber) Technology and Vario Power Grip sidecut geometry combines a rocker freestyle feel with all mountain high speed performance. Unlike older generation rocker designs that may perform well in powder and parks butlack stability and edgehold when riding fast, our combined rocker and camber design destroys anything in its path from parks to steeps, to power and high speed cruisers. This new technology blends a NS custom rocker profile with seperate camber areas at each end of the board, providing unmatched power and snap out of turns. This also provides better board tracking for high speed stability and massive ollies.
- Never Summer
camber: regular - reverse - regular
boards: Infinity-R, Lotus-R, Pandora-R
Nitro
Gull-Wing Camber
Designed in response for more technical park and street riding, this negative camber concept relieves pressure towrard the contact points giving the board a loose ride just like a drifting car. The Gull-Wing shaped camber line maintains a positive response towards tip and tail once pressure is applied to keep you from folding over the nose or tail.
- Nitro
camber: regular - reverse - regular
boards: Runaway Gull-Wing
Ride
LowRize
Ride LowRize™ Rocker eliminates the hook, but maintains full ollie pop and landing lock. Anybody can simply reverse the camber of their existing boards, but making a better performing rocker board takes dedication and innovation. Through extensive testing we developed our new LowRize™ sidecut and rocker profiles together to provide optimal hook-free goodness and allow you to lock in big landings without the fear of 'Rocker Washout'. LowRize™ Rocker has a flat profile through the center of the board and then begins the rocker at the extended blend zone to lift the contact points just out of the snow.
- Ride
camber: reverse - flat - reverse
boards: Canvas, Compact
Rome
Reverse-Free
Park or pow, box or hip, this is the most versatile, kill-the-whole mountain profile in the collection. A mild reverse camber profile extends outside the insert pack, terminating at -3mm of camber. From the ends of the reverse camber to the contact points, straight camber results in -7mm of camber at the contact points. Tuned for a pure freestyle approach to the mountain and park, this profile also gives the board a natural de-cambered shape when up on edge for better edge hold and control through a turn and it lets the rider generate more edge pressure in the tip and tail for stronger turn initiation and completion.
- Rome
camber: flat - reverse - flat
boards: Lofi 1985
Roxy
BTX
Banana Tech - "rocker between your feet" - and Magne-Traction - strategically located serrated edges - are revolutionary departures from traditional ski based, one pressure point, camber snowboard designs...Both designs are premised on the fact that snowboarders ride with two feet on one board in a wide, stable freestyle stance...Magne-Traction improves edgehold, and Banana completely reworks the snowboard pressure map...full edge contact is maintained but edge pressure is now focused between and at your feet, the board is pre-bent into a natural turning arc and the tip and tails are less weighted for lift, deflection and catch free jib insanity.
- Lib Tech
camber: flat - reverse - flat
boards: Eminence BTX, Envi BTX, Ollie Pop BTX, Ally BTX
Salomon Snowboards
Pres-Sure Rocker
WHAT: Pure reverse camber, with regular kicks. WHERE: Backyard presses, rails and jumps. WHY: easy to press and spin.
camber: reverse
boards: Gypsy
Be sure to study up. There will be a test.
