# Whos rocking camber?



## henry06x (Feb 16, 2011)

So with the new season approaching I have been debating what to ride primarily. I bought a barely rode 2010 Ride DH 159 super cheap for my collection (one of my favorite graphics) and started thinking about riding that or my 2008 157 Ride society more this year. So I was wondering if anyone out their still rocks or prefers a good ol fashioned camber decks. I also bought a 2012 158 NS SL this season for more of a do it all board. Ive never ridden a rocker hybrid camber yet tho so I may love that and ride it non stop.


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## ThunderChunky (Oct 1, 2011)

I am on camber and likely will never stray. I learned on flat. Moved to camber. Then last year I tried rocker and although it is playful and fun I like a serious board. I bought a Rome Mod 2012. That is my board. Unless it breaks I will never ride another board again. I forgot how great traditional camber was.


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## ETM (Aug 11, 2009)

Ive got rocker, NS hybrid and old skool camber. My go to board is camber. I dont do park.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

I'm about to sell my last cambered board. Well, my rock board was camber, but the camber has pretty much been ridden out of it at this point, so it's pretty much a zero camber board now. 

My splitboard is cambered.


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## henry06x (Feb 16, 2011)

ThunderChunky said:


> I am on camber and likely will never stray. I learned on flat. Moved to camber. Then last year I tried rocker and although it is playful and fun I like a serious board. I bought a Rome Mod 2012. That is my board. Unless it breaks I will never ride another board again. I forgot how great traditional camber was.


I'm curious if thats how I'll feel also. I have not ridden a camber board in the last 2 seasons so I'm wondering if I'll get stoked on it. I also have not ridden a real snappy board either. My local place is small and not too steep so I primarily ride soft playful boards so that will be different and hopefully fun.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

I don't get this attitude of serious = camber.

Is anything but traditional camber a joke? :dunno:

With the newer edge techs, I'm not sure there's a single thing that camber does better than the rockered designs. The only real advantage camber had was grip.

I do like that poppy feeling of camber coming out of turns, but it's more of a mental thing. I don't think that it's a real advantage.


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## digZ (Jan 23, 2012)

Learned on a camber board, and my latest board was bought before the whole camber vs rocker vs hybrid mentality sprung up, so I'm a camber rider . Haven't tried a rocker, but I've been thinking about demoing some hybrid boards.


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## henry06x (Feb 16, 2011)

linvillegorge said:


> I don't get this attitude of serious = camber.
> 
> Is anything but traditional camber a joke? :dunno:
> 
> ...


Ya edge tech has come a long way. I have ridden full rocker and did not like it what so ever. I wasn't really comfortable with that super loose feeling. 

Stability and consistantly pop maybe the biggest advantage I read about for camber. Most the big jump slope style guys seem to be riding either camber or a camber hybrid instead of rocker or rocker hybrid. I believe I read (this may be wrong tho) that the triple cork has only been landed on camber and hybrid camber boards.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

I'm all about hybrid camber. Not a big fan of pure reverse camber, but honestly there isn't that much of that these days. Most everything is going hybrid.


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## nzshred (Jun 3, 2009)

linvillegorge said:


> I don't get this attitude of serious = camber.
> 
> Is anything but traditional camber a joke? :dunno:


Yes.




linvillegorge said:


> With the newer edge techs, I'm not sure there's a single thing that camber does better than the rockered designs. The only real advantage camber had was grip.
> 
> I do like that poppy feeling of camber coming out of turns, but it's more of a mental thing. I don't think that it's a real advantage.


That's not a mental thing, it's called rebound.


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## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

henry06x said:


> Ya edge tech has come a long way. I have ridden full rocker and did not like it what so ever. I wasn't really comfortable with that super loose feeling.
> 
> Stability and consistantly pop maybe the biggest advantage I read about for camber. Most the big jump slope style guys seem to be riding either camber or a camber hybrid instead of rocker or rocker hybrid. I believe I read (this may be wrong tho) that the triple cork has only been landed on camber and hybrid camber boards.


what the hell is the difference between "camber hybrid" and "rocker hybrid"?? there is none, they mean the same thing.


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## ThunderChunky (Oct 1, 2011)

henry06x said:


> I'm curious if thats how I'll feel also. I have not ridden a camber board in the last 2 seasons so I'm wondering if I'll get stoked on it. I also have not ridden a real snappy board either. My local place is small and not too steep so I primarily ride soft playful boards so that will be different and hopefully fun.


I ride at a small resort too so I can deal with rocker, but I am more of a free ride/ jump guy so I like the camber. I like the edge hold/ feel of it, pop, stability, and general feel of it. I know it sounds weird, but I actually prefer the feel of camber in powder(or what powder is here). It rode it with rocker and it felt the same as a groomed run. Floating with loose turns and not as much control as a camber.


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## henry06x (Feb 16, 2011)

There are still some good camber boards out there.
Ride DH
Rome MOD
Burton either custom or custom X I forget.
There are some more also. Last months snowboarder had a right up on tradition camber decks saying there having a comback in the slope style and big jump scene.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

ThunderChunky said:


> I ride at a small resort too so I can deal with rocker, but I am more of a free ride/ jump guy so I like the camber. I like the edge hold/ feel of it, pop, stability, and general feel of it. I know it sounds weird, but I actually prefer the feel of camber in powder(or what powder is here). It rode it with rocker and it felt the same as a groomed run. Floating with loose turns and not as much control as a camber.


You've never ridden real powder, have you?


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

linvillegorge said:


> I don't get this attitude of serious = camber.
> 
> Is anything but traditional camber a joke? :dunno:
> 
> ...


Camber has more energy. Period. You will start to see it come back more and more. Rocker wont ever go away for sure, and I doubt anyone will even get to 50/50 with their line, camber/rocker, but it is coming back. Look at Salomon. The Villain and Sabotage are basically camber, just with a touch of early rise tips. Even then they're only early rise when loaded. Burton has new models with new tech that are only in camber... 

I still ride it, it still has its place.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

linvillegorge said:


> You've never ridden real powder, have you?


Look at what a lot of the pro's are riding in pow. Cambered decks. Custom, Mans board (basically camber), Maverick... When your haulin camber still has its place, even in pow.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

I still like camber. I do. I honestly just think that hybrid cambers have far more benefits, at least for me, than traditional camber does.

Now maybe if I was throwing triple corks or hucking my carcass off of 100 footers I would think differently, but I'm not and I'm not going to either.

Pros are pros for a reason. They're fucking ridiculous. I just think it's funny when guys who are nowhere near that level (not talking to you directly Nivek, just to be clear) start pointing to what the pros use as if it's relevant to what the other 99.999% of us are or should be using.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

linvillegorge said:


> I still like camber. I do. I honestly just think that hybrid cambers have far more benefits, at least for me, than traditional camber does.
> 
> Now maybe if I was throwing triple corks or hucking my carcass off of 100 footers I would think differently, but I'm not and I'm not going to either.
> 
> Pros are pros for a reason. They're fucking ridiculous. I just think it's funny when guys who are nowhere near that level (not talking to you directly Nivek, just to be clear) start pointing to what the pros use as if it's relevant to what the other 99.999% of us are or should be using.


I agree, and I might sell 1, maybe 2 at the most, big camber decks to guys that just search for powder. For most people out there they aren't out performing rocker.

For me I still like soft low camber boards for jibbing. They just have more control. Flat at the very most. I do not like jibbing reverse of any kind as much as flat or camber.


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## henry06x (Feb 16, 2011)

ShredLife said:


> what the hell is the difference between "camber hybrid" and "rocker hybrid"?? there is none, they mean the same thing.


Yeah it's just hybrid and it is basically the same. Just rocker hybrid is a rocker profile with camber and a camber hybrid is camber profile with rocker or camber with lifted contact points. I've seen plenty of sights with them listed like this. 
They make so many different profiles you see a bizillion different ways people talk about the profiles to deferentiate.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

henry06x said:


> Yeah it's just hybrid and it is basically the same. Just rocker hybrid is a rocker profile with camber and a camber hybrid is camber profile with rocker or camber with lifted contact points. I've seen plenty of sights with them listed like this.
> They make so many different profiles you see a bizillion different ways people talk about the profiles to deferentiate.


It's honestly getting to a point where you can't generalize camber styles anymore. There's basic RC like what Mervin and NS use. Then Mervin has EC2 which is a bit different. There's Gullwing and now Hotwing. Gullwing like RC but with less camber and then Hotwing has a bit less camber than Gullwing. Then you have Camrock like YES, Signal, and Rossi who all do it with different levels of rocker and camber. Then along the lines of Camrock you get boards like the Salomon Villain and Sabotage that are rockered only when loaded. Then there's early rise like The Mans Board. Then you have S rocker. Dead Flat. 3 stage, and within 3 stage you get different lengths of flat. Flat between the feet with camber under foot. K2 Tweakend that blends your rocker into the tip kick. Contract with their crazy snake transition between the feet that acts like a spring.

It's a mess. And is the very reason shops need to stop hiring shitheads that are either just good at riding or are a "family friend" and hire people that actually understand all these different features in a snowboard and what they all mean.


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## ippy (Mar 11, 2010)

Oh goddamn, if theres one tech im DYING to check out this year its snake transition tech  I bet it bloody works as well. Their vid has such a cool confidence to it you cant help but be charmed by those cats. 

As for camber...

Pretty much happy to mix it all up now. Camber feels fun, reverse feels fun. Hybrid (though probably more accurate to call it dual camber), feels fun. Still havent ridden a board with R+C/camrock or the whole world of shit nivek is describing there, but loved the zerker and love my charlie, so definitely appreciate a more directional flavor to my boards these days. 

Actually I reckon thats the next big thing on the horizon... well, explaining that you suddenly dont forget how to ride a snowboard because theres a bit of a taper to it or it has a multiple radius sidecut or some such. I keep seeing people talking about directional boards like they're from the moon or some such. And really its because the last 4 or 5 years has all been twin twin, directional twin, twin. Just as theres a whole gaggle of riders that havent tried a camber board and maybe dont know what it can bring to a ride, theres likely a whole group of people who think a directional board means a swallowtail. 

Its not a terrible thing. Its just a different style to your ride is all. I enjoy the energy on camber. its nice just bouncing around and popping off things. its not the best in pow when its your mid size. But a bit longer could be a blast. 

I also love reverse camber. and can get just as much pop out of it. It just pops in a different way is all. A bit more of the energy comes from me it feels like. But it still springs and still feels fun. It gets bounced about in chop though something fierce. But aside that, good clean enjoyable fun.

And dual (i think of hybrid being more the attempt to mix in camber with reverse camber) is awesome fun. Snappy, stable, floats and even a little bit loose and playful when you feel like it. I say dual just to give it a bit of breathing space from gullwing et al. Basically the nose is rockered (in varying degrees), but the tail is probably camber or flat. Its pretty much a great shape for not only pow but also non catchy/hooky nose or turns. The zerker also enhances this with a phenomenally effective sidecut and energy transferring stringers that just make it feel like youre weight is all over that edge in perfect balance. So yeah, the camber argument is boring now to me  Im much more interested in directional versus twin designs. 
Almost everyone i know rides a twin. Ive barely seen anyone but me ride in switch. And yet if i told them to check out a directional board youd think i just *****d their sister.


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## Snownad (Oct 17, 2011)

Rossignol JDUB cambered checking in. Rides rails on the harder pack. Setback a tad so does decent in POW. It was "made" for JDUB after all. . .?

Rock board is a cambered big five model. I owned a salomon drift rocker. Thing was way too loose on serious hard back blacks.


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## henry06x (Feb 16, 2011)

ippy said:


> Almost everyone i know rides a twin. Ive barely seen anyone but me ride in switch. And yet if i told them to check out a directional board youd think i just *****d their sister.


Ya and that's crazy to me. After learning to ride learning switch was my next big thing to learn before any tricks. I will talk to people or my friends and they are trying to huck 3s and don't even know how to ride switch. Personally I love riding switch and ride it almost as much as regular.
My favorite is watching people in the park who are more ballsy than me going bigger and doing more tricks, but cant ride for shit. Cant make an agressive turn, ride switch, or anything to save their life but hit all the rails and can spin off bigger jumps than me. It more so just pisses me off that I can't get the confadince to just do it. Although I guess I am getting older now. Creeping in on 30!


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## ETM (Aug 11, 2009)

At 30 your days in the park are numbered lol. Those kids have rubber bones, you no longer do ;-)


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

I learned on fr cambered and have solid time on: mtx, banana, then rock>flat>cam, and c2btx...so different boards for different things/conditions. But my go to groom/resort board was a cambered twin with mag for stability, pop and rebound...unfortunately I snapped the tail....and would love to have an updated cambered twin with mag and asymmetrical edge tech....frickin rip up a resort.


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## Gustov (Dec 17, 2011)

camber certainly still has its place. it's just not the most versatile. a lot of people only have 1 board (like me) and it just makes a lot more sense to have something like a camber-rocker-camber.


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## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

A-Frame, therefore Camber. Waiting today for the delivery of my Hovercraft...Hybrid Camber/Rocker nose. Love the A - Frame. Cant wait to Hovercraft.


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## blunted_nose (Apr 26, 2012)

Altrough i have a hybrid myself, i love camber. I dont think many know that rocker was already invented 20 years ago and its not a mystery as to why it died of. I hate when kids buy rocker boards so they can jib easier, WTF? Man up and press that shit. Rocker is for pussies in my opinion.
EDIT : proof reading your shit before....


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## Frozen (Apr 21, 2012)

blunted_nose said:


> Altrough i have a hybrid myself, i love camber. I dont think many know that rocker was already invented 20 years ago and its not a mystery as to why it died of. I hate when kids buy rocker boards os they can job, WTF? Man up and press that shit. Rocker is for pussies in my opinion.


Rolling on the floor laughing my fucking ass off. I understand the spirit of what you tried to say but you failed so bad that I almost pissed my pants.


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## blunted_nose (Apr 26, 2012)

Frozen said:


> Rolling on the floor laughing my fucking ass off. I understand the spirit of what you tried to say but you failed so bad that I almost pissed my pants.


W/E
10char


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## dreampow (Sep 26, 2011)

I spent most of last season on posi camber (with a slight low rise in the front).

Its great for carving, blasting on piste, but now I am enjoying the versatility of my NS proto with a c2BTX style profile. 

Can still carve well on edge, but so much more fun to play with and makes life much easier on my back leg in pow. Some say they like the workout, but when you ride 80% powder for days on end it just makes sense to have some rocker. 

My 157 Proto gives more float with less effort (centered) than a 161 posi camber with full setback. Plain and simple it just floats better. Also in tight trees its easier to flip from one edge back to the other and so is more maneuverable IMO. 

In the end its each to their own.


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## blunted_nose (Apr 26, 2012)

Snowolf said:


> Your opinion is ignorant........


I know, but think about it.


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

dreampow said:


> In the end its each to their own.


Except for blunted, who can just go die in a fire.


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## qwezxc12 (Oct 24, 2010)

dreampow said:


> ...
> My 157 Proto gives more float with less effort (centered) than a 161 posi camber with full setback. Plain and simple it just floats better. Also in tight trees its easier to flip from one edge back to the other and so is more maneuverable IMO.
> 
> In the end its each to their own.


That's why I ride a 162W Custom X for groomers/crud/ice/general bombing and a Barracuda 165 in the pow. Both are camber, but the 'Cuda has that great honking S-rocker nose, plus taper and setback built in. It floats like a dream and slashes in the trees like a much shorter board, but still handles like a cambered board between the bindings when you have to get between stashes or navigate narrow cat-tracks.

Personally every time I've demo'd a rocker or hybrid, I've felt like I was riding on a spoon... reminiscent of days sledding on a silver saucer with little or no directional control.


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

ThunderChunky said:


> I am on camber and likely will never stray.


+1

Not going to get all preachy or defend other people in this thread. We all have VERY different opinions. I personally ride a very stiff, heavily cambered board. And I ride it in rocky mountain powder on a regular basis.

I'm look at a new board to replace my current board (that was damaged by the moving company) and I'm looking at another fairly heavily cambered board. They actually advertise camber with very slightly lifted tips, but if I could get it custom made I'd want full camber all the time.

I think I'm an alpine bomber in soft boots who likes hucking himself off big jumps.  Camber wins!


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## gstboy (May 1, 2012)

I'm going from a 11 year old Option Joni Makinen to a 2012 NS Raptor the next time I ride. Think I'll notice a big difference? I already notice that the Raptor is half the weight and half the stiffness. I can barely bend the Option whereas it feels like I can bend the Raptor in half using one hand.


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## dyno1980 (Jul 18, 2010)

Can you suggest some soft,jibby cambered boards.(with a wide option).Also, does anyone have experience with a smokin superpark? I'm thinkin of getting one but not sure whether to get it in Clash rocker or good ol' camber.


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## Soggysnow (Sep 11, 2012)

dyno1980 said:


> Can you suggest some soft,jibby cambered boards.(with a wide option).Also, does anyone have experience with a smokin superpark? I'm thinkin of getting one but not sure whether to get it in Clash rocker or good ol' camber.


I have been wondering a similar thing. They clash rocker sounds like I would be looking at buying the same as what I ride already in another brand. The smokins are known for being heavy (like my NS) and has rocker camber tech (like my NS). I did see they made the Vixen (board in question) in a DTX flat camber/rocker at tips and I thought wow its the board i want. But they stopped it in 2010.

My alternative is a Stepchild PMS which is flat camber all the way...not sure how i feel about that but ppl seem to say zero camber floats in pow?? (i want for intermediate jib progressing but still capable of a mountain ride)

I really love my hybrid rocker...I love it. When i went from my old Troop to my NS it just did things i didnt expect, in a good way. Like on a pow day if i hit something underneath the snow and kinda got bumped off balance, my board would snap me back up again before I could put my hand down, got to love that!


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## RickB (Oct 29, 2008)

tbt:thumbsup:


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## dyno1980 (Jul 18, 2010)

RickB said:


> tbt:thumbsup:


Mixed feelings about tbt.I used to own a Bataleon and TBT was ok, but overall I much prefer the feel of a flat based board for pretty much everything,to each their own and all that. I haven't been on one since they revised TBT shapes a couple of seasons ago though.


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## dyno1980 (Jul 18, 2010)

I really love my hybrid rocker...I love it. When i went from my old Troop to my NS it just did things i didnt expect, in a good way. Like on a pow day if i hit something underneath the snow and kinda got bumped off balance, my board would snap me back up again before I could put my hand down, got to love that![/QUOTE]

I think NS/Smokin hybrid rocker are pretty similar? Am tempted to give smokins effort a go over their camber version...just for the banter. Hope it doesn't lose pop on jumps thats all....or lose that locked in feeling you get on rails with camber.


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## dyno1980 (Jul 18, 2010)

Nivek said:


> Look at what a lot of the pro's are riding in pow. Cambered decks. Custom, Mans board (basically camber), Maverick... When your haulin camber still has its place, even in pow.


How would you rate the custom? Don't see a lot of love for Burton these days.


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## dyno1980 (Jul 18, 2010)

Nivek said:


> For me I still like soft low camber boards for jibbing. .


Me too. Can you point me to any boards that fit this bill?


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

dyno1980 said:


> How would you rate the custom? Don't see a lot of love for Burton these days.





dyno1980 said:


> Me too. Can you point me to any boards that fit this bill?


Custom has some issues. With as much camber as they use under foot and the squeezebox right where frostbite is and that they use a little rocker oustside the camber zones it just washes out unless you downsize so you have enough power to flatten out the cambered zones.

For softer cambered jib boards, the Stairmaster, Signal Park, or Bataleon Disaster. Maybe the Zion Wonk, but I have not ridden it and don't know anyone that has. 

For some zeroness, the Nitro Swindle or Haze, Signal Park Flat, Ride Kink, K2 Weapon, or Salomon Salomonder.


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## CalvaryCougar (Nov 3, 2009)

Nivek said:


> Custom has some issues. With as much camber as they use under foot and the squeezebox right where frostbite is and that they use a little rocker oustside the camber zones it just washes out unless you downsize so you have enough power to flatten out the cambered zones.
> 
> For softer cambered jib boards, the Stairmaster, Signal Park, or Bataleon Disaster. Maybe the Zion Wonk, but I have not ridden it and don't know anyone that has.
> 
> For some zeroness, the Nitro Swindle or Haze, Signal Park Flat, Ride Kink, K2 Weapon, or Salomon Salomonder.


just fyi zion snowboards offers all of their boards, except for ryan pauls promodel, in rocker camber hybrid or full on camber. The zion woah man that I reviewed is a softer flexing cambered board.


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