Snow board maker Arbor is working “The System” and hopes it will get riders rocking out this season on the white stuff. The concept of a rocker snowboard – with no added camber or flat zone – is to deliver a wide range of performance benefits including improved turn initiation, more fluid spins, slides, presses and butters. The problem is that a lot of snowboard makers didn’t do this right, and meant that at speed these could hard to handle. So Arbor has worked it out with “The System” design for its 2011 models.
Unlike other makers that put camber back into the nose and tail, the designers at Arbor thought this resulted in a design that sacrifices much of the benefits of riding a rocker in the first place. So instead with its boards, Arbor has stayed true to the rocker snowboard concept while making it easy to control.
“We did this by perfecting the true-rocker profile, while building in real edge control through a unique sidecut,” says Arbor co-owner, Bob Carlson. “In our opinion, the award winning “System” has proven to be the best rocker design yet offered.”
The new decks include the Draft, Westmark and Coda. Each of these new decks in the new line is a true-rocker design built using the System’s two principle technologies: which include Grip-Tech and Parabolic Rocker. Each board is also made with Arbor’s signature wood or bamboo Power Ply technology. Adjustments are then made to the board’s flex, twin shaping, nose profile, and edge material to tune it to a specific type of riding. The new Draft, which is offered in two color ways, features the Jib System. The new Westmark and women’s Cadence are built around the Park System. The new Element RX, Coda, and Formula are created using the Mountain System, and each utilizes Grip-Tech technology to provide create heel and toe pivot points that make turning faster and more efficient. This further provides a “true-rocker” profile, yet with powerful edge control, which preserves the full range of associated performance benefits. And those with bigger feet (up to US men’s 12) to ride standard width shapes to boot. Sounds like it is time to rock out.
Arbor Snowboards Official Website
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