# Slow Board



## ruslan. (Dec 15, 2012)

I'm having yet another issue, my board slows down like crazy after a few runs. I wax my board regularly, and for the first couple runs it does great. Then it begins to slow down, and I can feel it. It feels as if there's something that doesn't slide on the front of my board, around the nose. I'm not looking to go crazy speeds here, but it's noticeable how everyone is going faster than me. The only thing I can think of is maybe I'm leaving wax unscraped, but I'm quite sure I got all of it so I really don't know... Help!


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## LTP1996 (Apr 10, 2013)

ruslan. said:


> I'm having yet another issue, my board slows down like crazy after a few runs. I wax my board regularly, and for the first couple runs it does great. Then it begins to slow down, and I can feel it. It feels as if there's something that doesn't slide on the front of my board, around the nose. I'm not looking to go crazy speeds here, but it's noticeable how everyone is going faster than me. The only thing I can think of is maybe I'm leaving wax unscraped, but I'm quite sure I got all of it so I really don't know... Help!


could be the spring slush that is slowing you down and chewing up your wax.
my board has been destroyed after a few runs the past couple weeks


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Get a stone grind with some structure.


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## ruslan. (Dec 15, 2012)

It isn't the spring slush, I board at an indoor place so the snow is like usual. Do you think a stone grind is absolutely necessary? I live in Russia right now and I don't really want to spend too much money (everything is overpriced here), and I don't think I want to do it myself, I could try. If it helps I can post some pictures of my base before I wax it again... Maybe it's a good idea i really don't know at this point.


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## charles_r_cox (Oct 30, 2012)

is there any crazy scratches on the bottom of your board that might cause a lag? 

did you try a different wax to see if the problem clears up?


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

You have a machine to stone grind your base yourself? That's exactly why it's slow there's no structure so the base is probably burned or just has no way to break up the suction.


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## stan_darsh (Mar 10, 2013)

is this a newer board? you might try and use a base cleaner to get any weird shit off of it before you add more wax. 

i had a newer deck this spring, and noticed the same problem, however it was outdoors. i believe a lot of pollen/tree sap/random shit was getting stuck on the bottom of the board - if i scraped the board with a credit card, i would get some dark sticky shit coming off of it. i did a thorough base cleaning, and after that, i was hauling ass.

i think sometimes the factory wax that is on the board might pick up shit in the snow.


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## ruslan. (Dec 15, 2012)

There are no scratches, its a relatively new board (first season), and I do not have a machine, if I do do a stone grind I guess I'll take it to a shop and pay, whatever it's not really an issue. How exactly do you do a base cleaning? Is it the same as a stone grind? Should I just like take it to the shop and tell them to do stuff and fix it?


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## stan_darsh (Mar 10, 2013)

if it's a new board and no scratches or heavy wear, you probably don't need a base grind. i guess the structure might help you hold some extra wax on there, but i really think it is not necessary, and you should try a base cleaner first.

it's super easy: get a bottle of some kind of citrus snowboard base cleaner - i'm sure you can find a cheap one online. get a shitty towel and apply it to the board and take all that shit off. then dry it with a clean towel and let it air dry for a while. after it's completely dry, give it a good hot wax. you'll be hauling ass next time.


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## Irahi (May 19, 2011)

stan_darsh said:


> i guess the structure might help you hold some extra wax on there.


Structuring has nothing to do with wax retention. A structure is a pattern etched into the base of the board designed to break up suction forces applied to the board as you melt snow sliding down the mountain. The difference between a structured and unstructured base is most dramatic in wet, warm snow, but the right structure for a given condition will always help.

Most snowboards come without any structure whatsoever, so even a brand new deck can benefit from a stone grind. More detail here


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## ruslan. (Dec 15, 2012)

I've read that the citrus base cleaner can damage your board or something I really don't know. Will it help that much? I think I might get the structure fixed, but later, I'll reply if that helps. In the mean time should I get the base cleaned? Is it worth it? Does it honestly make you faster?


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## stan_darsh (Mar 10, 2013)

Irahi said:


> Structuring has nothing to do with wax retention. A structure is a pattern etched into the base of the board designed to break up suction forces applied to the board as you melt snow sliding down the mountain. The difference between a structured and unstructured base is most dramatic in wet, warm snow, but the right structure for a given condition will always help.
> 
> Most snowboards come without any structure whatsoever, so even a brand new deck can benefit from a stone grind. More detail here


cool - thanks! i was under the impression that you would benefit from structuring an extruded base by not having the wax come off after a couple runs like OP said. i understand the physics of sliding on snow, but i didn't know that the structure of the base was as important as brushing/structuring the wax on the board once it's scraped. cool article :thumbsup:


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## stan_darsh (Mar 10, 2013)

ruslan. said:


> I've read that the citrus base cleaner can damage your board or something I really don't know. Will it help that much? I think I might get the structure fixed, but later, I'll reply if that helps. In the mean time should I get the base cleaned? Is it worth it? Does it honestly make you faster?


i don't know if it will help you... we may have had different issues - i used a citrus cleaner on my board to get all of the sticky stuff off that seemed to accumulate from the spring snow. if you want to clean your board without it, you can try and do a "hot scrape" which is basically just scraping off the wax while it's still warm... which is said to pull all the dirt and shit from your board with it. look it up, i'm sure there are tons of thread on here about it.

i've heard that citrus cleaners are not good for the base of your board too... but realistically: i'm riding on my board, sliding it on boxes, rails, rocks... i really don't think any of that is "good" for the board either. lol. it was a super easy way to get all that weird sticky shit off that was slowing me down, and now the board rides great.


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

Yes, structure is very important if the snow is more wet. Case in point, I bought a board this year that already came with a good structure, didn't wax it for the first 10 days out and it was great...

I don't see how a citrus cleaner could hurt your base, it is a very tough form of plastic remember! That said I don't bother cleaning my base, ever. I just wax, scrape, and texture. Every once in a while get a stone grind.


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## Sick-Pow (May 5, 2008)

good post. I just wax the shit out of it and let all the rocks I bang give it some structure...lol



Irahi said:


> Structuring has nothing to do with wax retention. A structure is a pattern etched into the base of the board designed to break up suction forces applied to the board as you melt snow sliding down the mountain. The difference between a structured and unstructured base is most dramatic in wet, warm snow, but the right structure for a given condition will always help.
> 
> Most snowboards come without any structure whatsoever, so even a brand new deck can benefit from a stone grind. More detail here


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## ruslan. (Dec 15, 2012)

I snowboard inside that is correct, and the snow is anything but slushy. I'm going to do a hot scrape today and I'm going boarding tomorrow, if it helps I'll write. I plan on buying a citrus base cleaner tomorrow and cleaning the base, but till then I'll just do a hot scrape.


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## garikgarik (Dec 15, 2011)

Ð¡ÐµÑ€Ð²Ð¸Ñ�Ñ‹
Òðèàë-Ñïîðò - ãîðíûå âåëîñèïåäû, ðîëèêîâûå êîíüêè, ñêåéòáîðäû, ãîðíûå ëûæè, ñíîóáîðäû, îäåæäà äëÿ ãîðíûõ ëûæ è ñíîóáîðäà...
Ñêà-Ñêè


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

garikgarik said:


> Ð¡ÐµÑ€Ð²Ð¸Ñ�Ñ‹
> Òðèàë-Ñïîðò - ãîðíûå âåëîñèïåäû, ðîëèêîâûå êîíüêè, ñêåéòáîðäû, ãîðíûå ëûæè, ñíîóáîðäû, îäåæäà äëÿ ãîðíûõ ëûæ è ñíîóáîðäà...
> Ñêà-Ñêè


Thanks for sharing.

I'm curious of the temp in that dome too.


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## ruslan. (Dec 15, 2012)

Update: I went yesterday after giving my board a hot scrape, and for the first 2-3 hours it was great. I never went so fast ever. After though I started feeling the same thing. My board slowed down to a point where i was flatbasing and still slowing down. I think it's the structure. ^^thanks for the links, but I'm not sure, do those stores still do services this late, I think they might be closed by now or something. So that's the update


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## Mr.Miyagi (May 21, 2012)

is your board the only one that slows down that much or are your buddys or other people do have the same problem? i had kind of the same speedissues because of the snow, wich was getting softer and dry after 2 or 3 hours.

if it`s only your board, then maybe you use the wrong wax. and maybe a stone grind would really help.

try to hotwax it more than just one time before you scrape it. wait just 2 to 3 hours before you warm it up again. maybe 2 to 3 times...


are you in moscow? if so, do you know a young dude called vitali?


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## ruslan. (Dec 15, 2012)

I am in Moscow, but don't know anybody called Vitali, sorry. It's just my board, I think I'll hot scrape it again before my next session, and eventually I think I should stone grind... I'm using burton hydrocarbon all temp is that bad?


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## jdang307 (Feb 6, 2011)

Sounds like the hard sharp man made snow is stripping your wax.


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## Mr.Miyagi (May 21, 2012)

maybe you want to check out this wax by swixx. it`s made for the dry snow at indoor slopes.










i don`t have any experiences with that wax, i just know, that there is some special wax for indoor-snow


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## ruslan. (Dec 15, 2012)

I dont think its the indoor snow because many people can go fast, but its possible. I think I'll just pick up the indoor wax and survive until I move to America, where I'll get a nice stone grind and my edges fixed)).


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## jdang307 (Feb 6, 2011)

In Soviet Russia ... oh never mind.


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## Krato (Apr 29, 2013)

1. Make sure you are using the correct wax for the correct weather.
2. Make sure you are doing a good job scraping.
3. Take a gummy stone to the edges and get rid of the burrs.
4. Keep your deck cold. A warm base on cold snow is a sticky situation.
5. Get a new a board. If the slush is slowing you down too much when it gets softer later on it could mean you are riding a wet noodle. Worn in decks don't do well in soft sloush.


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