Snowboard Edge Angle Questions… Help
I get the idea I think base edge is more for response and sensitivity when it come to engaging the edge so going to 1 - 2 will reduce those factors and make it mellower right? and the side angle is for edge hold my question is. Is there any downside to going down a few degrees on the side to make it like 88-87 on the side angle making that edge sharper? I know it adds edge hold but that seems to be a good thing atleast in my eyes. Also detuning, any recommends? I keep hearing about detuning the tip and tail which in my mind makes sense I suppose why have parts of the board sharp if they don’t even play a part on edge hold, but then I read about detuning the contact points by the tip and tail about inch in each direction I would think doing that would greatly reduce edge hold and any thoughts on this?
I’ve been on a Rossi board first then I bought a Burton Canyon and most recently I bought the 2012 Burton Custom which I haven’t toke out yet just waiting for the snow, now I’m not planning on doing anything to the board before I take it out as is just to see how it feels. And just making sure these Burton boards come with a 90 degree angle right out of the factory right?
I’m just trying to make sure I have a board that’s a close to perfect for me as possible my style of right it fairly aggressive, high speed, high speed carving, love carving down those steep slopes and getting some air from time to time, any angle recommendations you can think of just for my style of riding?
Thank you
Howdy Lester, and welcome to Boardworld,
My angle on the situation is, (Pun intended)
High speed aggressive carving, I would be goin for a 1/2 -1 degree bevel on the base edge, with an 88 degree on the side edge!!!!!
I would still de-tune 1/2 inch (Roughly 10-15mm) from the contact points at the tip and tail, as you are using the rest of your effective edge of the board to bite into the snow, and carve!!!!!! De-tuning these points just eliminate those areas that can be prone to catching in the transition of the toe edge to heel edge and vise-versa of the carve!!!!!
I take it that the Custom is a cambered board?????
Hey Lester, if you love carving, I’d suggest a base angle of 1 degree, and a side angle of 2 or 3 degrees (AKA 88 or 87) depending on how aggressive you want to go. That’ll give you an overall edge bevel of 89 or 88 degrees, which is plenty for a board like the Custom. World Cup racers run between .5 to 1 degree on the base, and 3 to 4 degrees on the side, usually forming an overall edge bevel of around 87 degrees - and that’s on long/stiff race boards with hard boots, so it’s overkill for regular all-mountain riders.
Your Custom comes factory tuned to a 1 degree base bevel and 89 on the side, forming the industry standard 90 degrees edge bevel. It should also come factory detuned from Burton (some companies do, some don’t) - but I always do it myself anyway. Lay your board on its side on a flat surface and put some tape on your base to mark where the board contacts the ground. Detune NO further than these points.
id reccomend leave it at the angle it is at right now and just ride…
Howdy Lester, and welcome to Boardworld,
My angle on the situation is, (Pun intended)
High speed aggressive carving, I would be goin for a 1/2 -1 degree bevel on the base edge, with an 88 degree on the side edge!!!!!
I would still de-tune 1/2 inch (Roughly 10-15mm) from the contact points at the tip and tail, as you are using the rest of your effective edge of the board to bite into the snow, and carve!!!!!! De-tuning these points just eliminate those areas that can be prone to catching in the transition of the toe edge to heel edge and vise-versa of the carve!!!!!
I take it that the Custom is a cambered board?????
yes, the Custom is a cambered board, mid flex.
you’re saying to detune 10-15mm from the contact point towards the tip/tail, but not back towards the mid? Just curious, never done a de-tune before.
id reccomend leave it at the angle it is at right now and just ride…
. . . yeah, and while you’re at it, never bother waxing your board either - that’s for suckers too.
yes, the Custom is a cambered board, mid flex.
Unless he means the Flying V version?
you’re saying to detune 10-15mm from the contact point towards the tip/tail, but not back towards the mid?
Yes, you want to engage at your contact points - not before, not after - so they need to be sharp.
Hey all thanx for all the responses… I do have a regular Custom not the flying V I thought about that one but heard at high speed it’s not nearly as stable plus I like in the Midwest so catching ice is fairly common, thats why I went with the reg custom.
So I’m hearing mostly going to a 1 degree on the base and 2-3 on side, can anyone verify that the base on the 2012 custom is 1 degree on the base right out of the factory?? Because of that’s the case then all I gotta mess with is the side edge and that I will prolly do after I take it out once atleast.
As for the detuning I’m hearing different sides to it and so far the “laying the board down and finding the contact points and detuning from those points toward each tip” makes the most sense to me mainly because I sure as hell don’t want to accidently engage that edge especially at high speed 
and those area dont do anything as for edge hold anyway. Any thought??? The way I see it detuning even a inch from the contact points towards the middle of the board would cause a decrease in edge hold and that’s something i don’t want.
Also when it comes to the detuning I’ve been reading different suggestions lot out people are saying to take a diamond stone or file put it at 45 degrees and detune like that obviously use gummy stone to get rid of any rough areas but that too me seems sorta of risky or sloppy let’s say, then on the other end I heard to basically increase the bevel edge 2-3 degrees on the base in the areas I want to detune which seems like it would do the trick and keep things precice when it comes to preventing on accidently engaging the edge at high speed
Thanx all
For the bevel, just dont mess with it, leave it be.
For the bevel, just dont mess with it, leave it be.
Why? If something can be improved, why not improve it?
. . . can anyone verify that the base on the 2012 custom is 1 degree on the base right out of the factory??
Yep. Most Burtons are factory tuned to a 1 degree base bevel - except for some of their park boards, which are tuned to 3 degrees.
. . . The way I see it detuning even a inch from the contact points towards the middle of the board would cause a decrease in edge hold . . .
Spot on.
Damn good point ! Chucky
Welcome to Boardworld, Lester86. 
Yes, the Custom has a 1 degree base bevel out of the factory.
The board also comes factory detuned. They never used to come factory detuned but they have doing it for the last few years. Although there is no mention of the Grip ‘n’ Rip tune for the 2012, I highly doubt they would stop detuning their board. I can confirm this on Monday when I speak to Burton.
Welcome to Boardworld, Lester86.
Yes, the Custom has a 1 degree base bevel out of the factory.
The board also comes factory detuned. They never used to come factory detuned but they have doing it for the last few years. Although there is no mention of the Grip ‘n’ Rip tune for the 2012, I highly doubt they would stop detuning their board. I can confirm this on Monday when I speak to Burton.
Thank you very much, I really appreciate that
@chucky: Cuz most ppl ended up messing up their board. Unless you’re always hitting rails or do GS slalom type race, I don’t think you should change the default 1 degree bevel.
^ agreed.