Reverse Camber Explained
Confused by all the talk about bananas, rocker, and reverse camber? We’ve outlined the difference between Banana Tech, Rocker , and other Reverse Camber options on the market
Revolutionary Design Although manufacturers make small technological advancements every year, most of us don’t really take note. However, recently, a revolutionary change is taking place in snowboard design. Over the past few seasons, many companies have been testing and developing their own versions of Reverse Camber, and this year, there will be a much wider variety of these boards on the market, with women’s boards from companies including Roxy, Gnu, K2, and Never Summer.
What is reverse camber? Traditionally, a snowboard when laid flat on the ground, arches up at the center of the board, and touches the ground only at contact points near the ends of the snowboard. Reverse Camber is the opposite: when you lay the board flat, the nose and tail are raised up, and the center of the board is in contact with the ground, allowing you to spin the board like a propeller. If you manage this feat while strapped in, I expect you to scream, “ WEEEEE” as loud as you can and make sure people witness it.
K2 Rocker vs. Banana Tech Mervin Manufacturing (makers of Lib Tech, Gnu, and Roxy) and K2 were the front-runners for this new technology, and have expanded the use of their new camber design for the 2008-2009 season, including reverse camber versions of new and popular women’s models like the K2 VaVaVoom, the Gnu B-Pro, and Torah Bright’s Roxy Eminence. K2’s version of the technology is called Rocker , and uses a three-stage design. The board is flat between the bindings, and raises up only at the nose and tail. On the other hand, Mervin’s Banana Technology is more like a traditional skateboard shape. The board is concave from edge to edge, and the reverse camber runs between the bindings. Some Mervin boards also offer Banana Traction, a combination of the Banana board shape with a mellower Magne-Traction edge, designed to give you a bit more edge hold.
Other Companies Join In At the annual Snowsports Industries of America Tradeshow in Janurary 2008, the buzz was all about this innovative change in the camber, and afterwards more companies began jumping on the reverse camber bandwagon. One of the first to begin research and design was Never Summer Snowboards, who developed their own unique reverse camber design. Their design has a more V-shaped rocker between the feet, and then curves back for a small bit of traditional camber at nose and tail just past your feet. This idea behind this design is to take advantage of the fun reverse camber, but give the board a bit more pop. After a lot of positive feedback, they’re offering it on a ton of their boards, including the Infinity R for women.
Other companies such as Stepchild and Signal have followed in K2’s footsteps and are developing a 3-stage rocker , while Rome is offering reverse camber in a limited edition releases with the Artifact 1984 and Notch, and Capita just released the Horrorscope. Burton will offer their zero camber board, the Fix, and are planning a late-release of their new V-Tech. Look for more of this technology in upcoming seasons as well, rumor has it Atomic and Nitro are both developing prototypes of their own reverse camber designs.
Review & Comparison
The biggest advantage of any reverse camber design is that it raises the board’s contact points at the nose and tail when the board is flat, pulling the edges slightly off the snow (or rail), so that there’s less friction, and less of a chance you’ll catch an edge. Park riders especially loved these boards; and not only because the reduced friction and raised edges help out on boxes and rails. The shape of the board also allows you to press even easier. Snapping ollies and popping off jumps is also easier, testers commented that the reverse camber allowed them to pop the board more on the fly instead of having to preload it so much. However, it’s not just good for park riders, reverse camber is also being used in some powder boards, because it makes it easier to pull up on the nose of the board and float in the powder. For all-mountain riders, you’ll feel a difference in edge-to-edge transitioning: our testers thought harder carves felt different, but some models actually allowed for a stronger hold while transitioning from heel to toe side.
All this awesomeness may have you wanting to run out and get you a reverse camber board, but there were a few negative comments. With the 3-Stage Rocker boards, testers found that forward and backward weight shifts caused them to go over the handlebars or into the backseat more easily than with traditional camber. This was especially noted with jumps - if you come off a jump and aren’t perfectly centered when you land, you’ll be more likely to go down. With Banana Tech, when pushing through a transition, some testers had trouble pushing off the tail as much as with other reverse cambered boards and sometimes found that the boards folded under extreme force. The concave shape between edges also means that edge to edge transitioning can feel a bit squirrelly.
However, overall, testers loved these boards, so if the chance presents itself, get out there and test out some of the new camber designs. See if you notice a difference in your riding. Also, be sure to look for our upcoming board test article for some specific product reviews.
Posted by Dee Stroyer on 07/22
