Mountain boarding.

lego

Does anyone here mountain board? I was thinking of giving it go as I only live a 10 minute drive from Ditchling beacon but need some advice.
I spent a couple of hours on google last night having a look at stuff but it all got a bit hazy after a while (no it wasn't the cider). I would like to have a go first but it would seem of the two 'dirtboard' centers closest to me one is shut till march and the other doesn't seem to be doing anything (closed?). So if I can't have a play first it would seem I'll have to take the plunge and get a cheep- mid range board, but what one? what size?
Any advice chaps?

nonnac85

i mountain board. you can get a decent entry level board for about £150-180 or you can get one second hand from the likes of ebay. some makes just have adult / child sizes and others go by weight.

boards like the one here
http://www.atbshop.co.uk/productdetails ... subcat=22#
are good entry level boards. look at makes such as Scrub, MBS and EXIT

hope this helps a bit

commissoiner

if you want a decent board then go onto Kite-kit.co.uk i got one quite cheap and nothing has gone wrong in the 4 months i have had it and it has been badly treated.

give them an Email and i'm sure they will give you a price.

jord

jacktheoc

i dont know a thing about it but noticed this on pinkbike and nonnac85 recommended mbs
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/248457/

PhatPig

As an alternative, have you heard about dirtsurfer - http://www.dirtsurfer.com/en/defaultds_int.asp

Much faster & more stable than a go-slo (aka MTB)

[/i]Awaits tirade of abuse

cee

thats the bonkers looking skateboard thing with the chunky wheels and snowboard bindings right?

PhatPig

Uh - kind of, I always describe it as a cross between skateboard & bike

The straps are more like MTB straps (only go over front part of foot) than snowboard - it helps being able to get your feet out quickly if needed

lego

Well it turns out a chap I work with does this dirtboarding thing. So he's going to let me borrow one of his boards for a day. cheers for the help chaps and lets hope I don't brake anything :oops:

cunning-stunt

I'm a mountainboarder..

First thing...as in mountainbiking - WEAR A HELMET!
It may look like soft ground but at 30mph it's not so soft..
Second thing..if you're learning - wear pads and body armour!

Wrist guards are mandatory in most MTB centres but opinion is divided on just how much good they actually do,as in they simply transfer the force of impact further up your arm so you get a compound fracture on your forearm instead of a shattered wrist.
(Compound fracture being that nice thing where the broken bone pierces the skin..).

Bindings...unless you're on a NoSnow or something,bindings are simply step in with adjustable tension.
I have mine 'kind of tight' but slack enough to step out of if needs be.A rotary crash with feet strapped in bindings can severely compromise your ankles ability to work.
Ever again.

A word about leashes if I may.
Although all centres insist on them being used,if you ever fall (and you will) and the board zooms away,the elasticity of the leash will let it go so far then pull it back toward you at warp speed.
Not good when the lead edge of the deck hits you in the mouth at 87 squillion mph.

When you get speed wobbles (and you will my friend),the only possible answer is to crouch low and grab the deck.Speed wobbles are caused by resonance which occurs at a certain speed dependant on deck/bearings/trucks etc,and if you dont grab that deck you will wobble until you crash.

Don't take on too much too soon.
Start simple and safe (and be prepared for eveyone who sees you to start asking bloody questions!). Learn how the board reacts to bumps and jumps,learn how to stop (the 'crumple into a ball' technique works well for me ),learn to 'pop' the board and unweight it,learn how to carve...basically,don't go down Ben Nevis on your first try ok?

Punctures are rarely an issue (yay!),and if you do get one,all I've seen so far is schraeder tubes.
You can even get disc brakes if you're a tart...Shimano brakes are fitted to more than a few boards..

There's plenty of boards out there for cheap prices.
I bought myself a cheap Mindless board for £130 when I took it up. I didn't want to spend too much incase I didn't like it,but 3 years on and the Mindless is still doing me proud.

It's nice to look at all these expensive boards and drool,but at the end of the day,you're on a plank with 4 wheels going downhill.
The way I ride,you could fit an ironing board with 4 wheels and it wouldn't make much of a diffence
Get good....then get a good board.

Re-reading this post,mountainboarding seems to come across as dangerous and suitable only for the loopy.
That's about right..

alyk7

i was wandering wheather any one knows of good boarding locations around sussex?
thanks
aly

cat_with_no_tail

Ok, so I've gone and dug out this ancient thread because.... you guessed it, I want some advice on Mountainboarding.

Me and a lad from work are thinking about getting into this, but before we go splashing out on some nice shiny boards, I want to know what it's like.

I have been told that you need a surprising amount of space to turn. Is this correct or is the person who told me this talking complete bum gravy?

Plan is to start off using them on some fairly steep fire roads and grassy bits nearby, then hopefully progress to running them down the local DH Demo track. As it's only a demo track, used for the kiddies and such, it's nothing too extreme, some basic steps, and jumps is about as extreme as it gets.

I'm not talking about trying switchbacks or anything, it would be super if I could go round a corner without putting my face through a tree.

Anyone who knows about this stuff want to comment?

nonnac85

Id say grass is good to start on!
Fire roads will pretty soon = gravel rash

I find I need a lot more space to turn on my mountain board than I do on a snowboard.

If you try a run on a DH track make sure there are no kids in front of you (especially if your board has no brakes!)

fyldesmurf

starting on fire oads is probably not the best idea as from what i could gather stopping basically equates to falling off. Also definately wear pads and padded shorts if you have them

cat_with_no_tail

yeh, we are planning on getting the hang of the boards on a big grassy hill nearby which is perfect for it.

The ones we are looking at do have brakes and we were planning on knee pads and elbow pads as a minimum. Moving up from grass hills to fire roads eventually.

If we were ever to mini-DH course, it'd only be if no-one else was about to see us falling off and faceplanting etc.

Hoping to eventually buy a kite for it too, seeing as we live on the beach in a particularly windy part of the british isles.

I'm hoping I can convince one of the local boarders to let me have a go before I start splashing out though.