# Effective edge vs board length



## tonicusa (Feb 27, 2008)

Just a couple of things to keep in mind.

If you are a beginner there is a tendency to want a longer effective edge so that you can stop and feel under control on the hill and that makes sense. But boards of the same length can come with different length effective edges. It effects the personality of the board, free ride versus freestyle etc.

Generally a longer effective edge will make the board less playful and buttery. It will grab more and be less easy to execute flat land spins etc.

Ideally you want to learn to carve better and use better form to get your board up on edge and into turns and stops so that you can feel secure riding the board regardless of how much edge there is. This requires some experience and lessons.

You will get more benefits out of the longer board if you are good enough or progress quickly enough to take advantage of them.

Never judge the flex of a board on your floor at home, it does not translate directly to what you will experience on the fall line at speed with the force of your weight. On the mountain it will be even softer.

Go longer you can always shorten your effective edge by detuning it with a file (dulling it). Shorter boards can cause a lot of bad habits. It shouldn't be easy to lift the nose off of the snow, it requires proper form, tucking the back knee etc. Don't just buy a short board to accomplish this, take a lesson from a freestyle instructor or friend so that you learn proper form and technique.


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## radiomuse210 (Sep 5, 2014)

tonicusa said:


> Just a couple of things to keep in mind.
> 
> If you are a beginner there is a tendency to want a longer effective edge so that you can stop and feel under control on the hill and that makes sense. But boards of the same length can come with different length effective edges. It effects the personality of the board, free ride versus freestyle etc.
> 
> ...


Great things to keep in mind, thank you. I'm not a beginner, which is why I was looking into bumping up the size. I've felt perfect at the 136 size in the past, been able to do all the things I've wanted to do. That's why I wasn't sure if bringing up the size would hinder me on learning on the tricks that I want to get into with a longer edge. But you make a great point about tuning that I didn't consider.

I definitely don't go for a shorter board with the intention of making things as easy as possible and as a short cut. It has more to do with preference - but I also don't want to hold myself back. And considering my size, a 136 isn't extremely short for me. I'm not riding a 125 lol...but it is on the shorter end of my range. I think I'll definitely be looking into moving to a 140 on my next board however. Thanks again!


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## tonicusa (Feb 27, 2008)

Go 140 so you get the extra pop and then detune at least a full inch or two back from your contact points. Additionally if you put a 2 degrees base and side bevel on whatever board you are riding it will make it super playful for butters while not giving up performance. I actually like a 2 degrees bevel on some of my boards because it rolls into a carve instead of biting instantly.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

X board length is designed for Y weight. Unless it is specifically designed to be downsized, that fsct does not change when looking at blunts or not. 

My best advice for you right now though is, if you're over the age of 14, dont ride kids boards. While the size may fit, they are not designed for someone with an adults leg strength. Get a Womens board.


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## tonicusa (Feb 27, 2008)

Nivek is right about board length and body weight. Effective edge is less a factor as different manufacturers will purposely make that longer or shorter based upon how they want to tweak the board's personality. Generally the longer the effective edge is the more it will lean towards a freeride/all mountain personality. The shorter that effective edge is the looser the board will feel and it will lean more towards a freestyle personality.

For small resort stuff I love a loose board as it "can" allow you to get buttery and spinny on it with less edge to catch, and if it's the proper length you can still hold a carve simply by really getting up on it and setting that edge when you need to. That's really the whole point of having different boards in your quiver.


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## Mizu Kuma (Apr 13, 2014)

It's not as black and white as it all seems as well!!!!!

There's a whole heap of other factors that'll change the dynamics of a board, like radius of the side cut, profile of the board and how extreme the camber/rocker is, edge angles, edfe profiles, base/top sheet materials, along with what elements have been added to the core for flex patterns etc!!!!!


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## radiomuse210 (Sep 5, 2014)

tonicusa said:


> Nivek is right about board length and body weight. Effective edge is less a factor as different manufacturers will purposely make that longer or shorter based upon how they want to tweak the board's personality. Generally the longer the effective edge is the more it will lean towards a freeride/all mountain personality. The shorter that effective edge is the looser the board will feel and it will lean more towards a freestyle personality.
> 
> For small resort stuff I love a loose board as it "can" allow you to get buttery and spinny on it with less edge to catch, and if it's the proper length you can still hold a carve simply by really getting up on it and setting that edge when you need to. That's really the whole point of having different boards in your quiver.


Right which is why I'm thinking of just holding on to the Onyx and getting a bigger board when I can afford it - one with more all-mountain capabilities. If I end up selling the Onyx before the season starts then I'll grab a 140 but I'm not going to stress over it if I don't. I'm not riding any steeps anyway and if anything this will be a jumping off point as to what I prefer from NS. I thought I had sizing all figured out when I bought the board until I started reading this forum!  Before that I was limited to shops and people I met on the hill and no one really told me otherwise. In fact with my first board when I was only a month into it, they did "between nose and chin" test which is how I ended up with this size to begin with! And I can ride this size with no issue, but I think it would benefit me to have a womens specific board and a bump up on the size for sure.


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## Wiredsport (Sep 16, 2009)

Hi RM,

Great question. You are already jumping to a board that is 7.5 cm longer than your old board. Effective Edge and Contact Length are board length. As you suspected, tip to tip lengths mean nothing .

As both of these boards are variations on CRC the profile will not skew things as it often does as profile can have a dramatic effect on contact length (but not on effective edge).

If it is no trouble please lay the two boards flat and side by side. Please allign the wide points at the tails and then take a "straight down" photo that shows the tip wide points of both boards.

STOKED!


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## Mizu Kuma (Apr 13, 2014)

Ahhh, the old Nose & Chin Test!!!!!

A persons weight is the BEST way to select board size!!!!! From there, Ability, Style of riding, Place of riding, and Boot Size, are the key factors that change the length choice!!!!! (Pretty much in that order)


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## radiomuse210 (Sep 5, 2014)

Wiredsport said:


> Hi RM,
> 
> Great question. You are already jumping to a board that is 7.5 cm longer than your old board. Effective Edge and Contact Length are board length. As you suspected, tip to tip lengths mean nothing .
> 
> ...


Unfortunately, I don't have the old board anymore. :-/ I don't know if this information will be helpful, but as I was trying to place the bindings at the same stance width, I lined the boards up at the binding placement points (for lack of measuring tape), and it was impossible to get them lined up exactly. So I had to go by feel and ended up placing the bindings in the middle inserts of the Onyx. So the binding placement points were different...I realize this has nothing to do with tip width at all! I thought it was interesting that it seemed a bit of a difference for only 1cm difference in overall board length.

When I look up the stats, the old board had a tip width of 268mm and the Onyx has a tip width of 272.

Edit: After rereading, I realize that the width probably isn't what you're after, but rather tip length. Without both of the boards in front of me, I'm not sure how to help with that!


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## Wiredsport (Sep 16, 2009)

radiomuse210 said:


> Unfortunately, I don't have the old board anymore. :-/ I don't know if this information will be helpful, but as I was trying to place the bindings at the same stance width, I lined the boards up at the binding placement points (for lack of measuring tape), and it was impossible to get them lined up exactly. So I had to go by feel and ended up placing the bindings in the middle inserts of the Onyx. So the binding placement points were different...I realize this has nothing to do with tip width at all! I thought it was interesting that it seemed a bit of a difference for only 1cm difference in overall board length.
> 
> When I look up the stats, the old board had a tip width of 268mm and the Onyx has a tip width of 272.


Hi,

It was actually the contact / effective edge difference that I wanted to (roughly) confirm. Regardless, it is a safe bet that your new board is substantially longer than the old one in every meaningful way. Going longer again would be too much from what you have noted earlier. You have a great setup. Time to rip it!


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## radiomuse210 (Sep 5, 2014)

Wiredsport said:


> Hi,
> 
> It was actually the contact / effective edge difference that I wanted to (roughly) confirm. Regardless, it is a safe bet that your new board is substantially longer than the old one in every meaningful way. Going longer again would be too much from what you have noted earlier. You have a great setup. Time to rip it!


This definitely has put my mind at ease.  Thanks for your time and knowledge!


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

Just some comments on your original question:

- a longer effective edge for a given size board will have different characteristics

- A longer edge will have more grip, this isn't always a bad thing on hardpack/ice!

- The grip will translate into more confidence when carving (proper carving, not advanced slider turns)

I'm a big fan of the EE. I ride a 160 cm board with a 140 cm effective edge! :yahoo:


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