Going from Flexy Flex to a Stiffy Stiff Deck

[Turns]

I ride a Dervish and Never Summer Eclipse. Both flexy boards. If I want to drop some cash and try a new stiff "Freeride/DH" board like the Sayshun Polar or LY Drop Speed. What can I expect? Will I have to be more careful carving hard on gnarly pavement? Will the board cause more fatigue? Will I have to learn to love it when less aggressive riding is called for?

[Reefer]

I've been wondering the same... I'm looking at getting a Rayne Avenger, which will be a whole different animal than my Heist.

[alberty]

I've gone through many boards, and I've gone for stiffer over time--Vanguard f2, Fish f2, Hustler, Knuckleduster...

My feeling from starting to use my stiff boards more is that they don't "cradle" your feet so much, but they remain responsive and smooth.

There shouldn't be more fatigue--maybe less, because every push you do is now more even since the board doesn't flex downward on the push? There would only be more fatigue if you're pushing uphill or on flats, in which the deck's physical weight comes in, and often many stiff decks are heavier than flexier decks.

As for carving hard, you'll have the same chance of sliding out your back wheels as you did with a flexy deck in my experience--when flexy, the board bends with your feet's push and gets the back drift. When stiff, the board's even stiffness will make the back drift with your push at the front. Hard to explain my experience, but I would drift out my back wheels with about the same pressure on both my Hustler and my Knuckleduster.

[willfromstow]

I've been wondering the same... I'm looking at getting a Rayne Avenger, which will be a whole different animal than my Heist.

NO WAY, me too My Heist started cracking where the trucks are drilled yesterday, So I've been thinking of getting topmount specificaly a Avenger, or comet crystal chalice, I do like riding around pretending im Adam Colton though, so im still not sure about a stiffer deck

[killdozer]

My first deck was a bamboo Drop Hammer, it's nice and springy, but I wanted to ride a deck that was more downhill oriented so I got both a Switch and an Avenger so I could weigh out the pros and cons of stiff top mounted boards. I don't go really fast yet and like to carve and just mess around at moderate speeds. What I noticed right off the bat was the stiff decks were more responsive. The Drop Hammer would still turn quickly but had a shorter wheel base that would help out with that as well. The Switch has a 33"WB and the Avenger is set up at 30" and I can get them to carve really well. You will feel a little more of the road and little imperfections could make you feel a little more twitchy at speed (well my speed lol) but now I prefer stiff boards. I wouldn't say one is better than the other, but then if you want to go fast you'll be more stable. I haven't hit anything over 35mph yet so I could technically ride a flexy board still but I want to go faster in the future and now don't have to worry about finding a stiff board later on. It was a pretty easy transition. I was used to it in about half an hour.

[Turns]

Thanks for the replies. I just ordered a Sayshun Polar so I will add to this thread later in the week.

[Turns]

For those of you not sure about getting a stiffer deck over your flexy carver. I have no regrets. The only place I miss a board like the Dervish is on flat flats pumping. Even so my Sayshun Polar carves incredibly well. The Dervish may offer a little more potential acceleration while pumping flats. With Reflex bushings though I get the satisfaction I'm after with pumping and carving with the Polar.

It also does open a whole world of speed that I feel much more comfortable doing than I thought. Busting through cruddy spots and being able to shut it down in a hurry opens up a lot more skating possibilities I'm not selling my Flexy decks but I've been converted.