Monday, February 22, 2010

Turn Up The Base!

So, you just had your new board waxed, and people are still passing you on the flats. What the hell? All bases are not created equal, and which type you have can drastically dictate your top speed.

There are two basic types of bases, sintered and extruded. These are basically sheets of p-tex several millimeters thick that constitute the bottom of your board. Both are available in various densities/ hardness, and are porous to absorb wax.
Extruded: The less expensive of the two. This will be on a board designed for someone starting out, or a very casual rider not looking for high performance, or someone who wants a very low maintenance board. Think of an extruded base as coming from a block of p-tex, and a thin layer is sliced off, making the base. Imagine a cheese slicer. These bases are usually found on lower end boards, usually the under $400 categories. While an extruded base is not designed for speed, it is easy to repair and requires less maintenance, making it appealing for entry level boards and many jib- specific models.
Sintered: Ok, take that sheet of p-tex and slice it lengthwise, making long spaghetti strings of p-tex. Now compress them back together into a sheet for the base. In a nutshell, that is a sintered base. This process makes them harder (higher density= faster) and more porous (better wax absorption) than its extruded little brother. Not surprisingly, this raises the price of the board. Most board with sintered bases start at $400 or so. Any board considered a "high performance" model will have a sintered base.

How hard is it? Like I said, both sintered and extruded bases come in different densities/ hardness. The harder the base, the faster it will run. A softer base, while more susceptible to damage, is also easier to repair. Most companies use a number system to indicate the hardness of the base: the larger the number, the harder the base. An extruded 1500 base is much softer than, say, a sintered 4000 base. If you had two identical boards, but with those two different bases on them, the sintered one would run much faster.

A Few Extras
There are many things that companies can add to the base to make them faster. Bases with graphite built into them are among the most common. Basically, during the sintering process, graphite is added, to reduce friction and increase speed. A wax impregnated base, like it sounds, has wax built in. This allows future waxings to bond better with the base, which not only speeds things up, but you won't need to wax quite as often. Another benefit of the wax infused base is that it adds density to the base, making it harder as well. Some other exotic sounding stuff you'll find in higher- end boards; gallium, indium, Teflon, zeolit. Sounds tech? It is, but basically all these things serve one purpose, reduce friction to improve your glide; go faster!

Lastly....
If you don't know the importance of waxing, check out my other posts! Waxing makes a HUGE difference in how fast your base will be. Again, an extruded base does not absorb a ton of wax, so it is not as noticeable as a sintered base, but a good wax job on a high end sintered base is a wonderful thing! No more getting stuck on the flats, no problem getting enough speed for that 50 foot kicker, no more getting passed by 9 year olds in ski school..... it's on!

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