The Gnu Park Pickle
So this is the latest invention from the Mervin Factory – this time it´s from Gnu Snowboards. A asymmetric snowboard (sort of). Of course it has got all the ordinary hi tech such as Banana Magnetraction. But also the board is design to make heelside turns easier. Sounds kind of wird, but so did Magnetraction at first.
It´s good to see that Mervin keeps up the good work. But what we still miss are the Gnu/Lib tech board with steel edges all around the board. That would really improve the life time of these boards.
December 6th, 2008 at 9:14
Hey guys. As you know I am the Mervin guy here in Sweden. People always tend to ask about why Mervin does not have steel edges around the tips and tails. The easy answer is: Because it does not improve the durability of the boards. Of course it is a bit more complex than that, but that is the bottom line. If Mervin found out that steel around the whole board was better they would most definitely start manufacture boards that way because making boards the way Mervin does, with the steel edges ground down, bent and tucked into the board construction is a much more labour intensive way of manufacturing. Also the boards are much more difficult to shape because there is no steel edge to follow when finishing the boards.
The idea of tucking the steel edges into the board construction for better durability came from the small american brand Glissade. Mervin soon jumped on the idea and tributed Glissade for this by calling the tucked in edges “crap” in their catalogues. At this time “crap” was the name of one of Glissades lines of boards.
Personally I have been riding Glissades and Mervin boards exclusively for the last 12 years and I have never had a single problem with durability that have been ralated to the steel edge construction. Also I have not had one single warranty claim related to the “not fully wrapped” steel edges and I have sold somewhere around 350 boards with this kind of construction in Sweden.
December 6th, 2008 at 20:19
Thanks for the clearifying Marcus.
Since both I and Fredrik ride the Riders Choice (and are more than satisfied with the model) we havn´t yet had any problems with the edges. Still if feels sort of reassuring when you have the steel edges all the way around the board.
When it comes to the durability I´m sure that you´re right. Still there are some pictures and comments on the world wide web saying that this or that board from Mervin actually have broken only because of the “tucked edges”.
But again – I guess youre right. And in the end: if I get any problems with my Riders Choice or Skate Banana it´s you I´m getting back to
December 12th, 2008 at 17:54
So Marcus if your the Mervin guy, why didn’t you actually answer the question about the use non-use of a full edge rap? The reason that mervin chooses to use the edge rap that is does is because of impact to edges. When you blow out an edge, it can cause damage to additonal spots on your edges. When you choose not to rap a board with 360 degree rap, you are limiting the damage that is able to be transferred through your ege because it cannot transfer through the tips and tails. That’s the answer plain and simple.
January 6th, 2009 at 16:05
You’re all idiots. GNU makes their boards out of diamonds and gasoline. That is why they are so great; not because of some imaginary metal edge you speak of.
July 16th, 2009 at 20:23
hahaha!!!