Fat tube vs flat bar

CalebT

CalebT

Active member
hey just wondering how skills such as swaps and stuff on fat tubes transfer to a flat bar rail.
 
Its pretty much impossible to catch an edge on a fat tube, and if you get sloppy on tricks you can still ride away, (ie do 3/4 of a switch up on a flat tube you will still do the trick) whereas its easier to catch edges on flat bars and there is not as much room for screw-ups.
 
I too have had my fair share of 270 on to instant edge catch haha, not fun on higher rails.

I heart tube rails.
 
I'd say that it's a lot easier to lock on tube and everything is easier like surface,2in and all that stuff because of how easy it is to lock.

also it depends on how large the flat bar is
 
This actually helped me truckloads. Building a summer set up and, even though i'm kind of scared of fat tubes and comfortable as hell on flat bars, i chose to make a tube rail. And from reading all that ^ i think i made a good choice.
 
You will learn a lot on a tube, they're so much fun. I think it's much easier to set your edges and spin on tubez.
 
definitely easier to lock on

but locking on to a long flat rail feels incredible

no homo

or maybe
 
on flat tubes you can still switch up fine but its lots easier on a round tube. the only thing is the round tube is harder to stay on to. also on round tubes surface swaps are lots easier.
 
fat tubes in theory should be no different than skinny tubes. however you have to account for the fact that your ski is not truly in tangental contact with it so a larger radius is going to have more surface area blah blah blah.

however a flat bar is still going to have MUCH more surface area touching your skis than a flat tube. This means one good thing and one bad thing. The good thing is it is much harder to slip off when you do tricks. The bad thing is it is much easier to catch an edge and also harder to scissor making it harder to fine tune your rail position.

I hate fat flat bars. Boxes are different because the coping usually is slightly raised, almost eliminating the edge catching problem, while still giving you the balance advantage. I think once a rail is any wider than your standard double barrel you might as well make it a box. I also never get why a box has to be wider than your foot is long. it provides not advantage other than "aim" and makes it much much harder to scissor.

god damn this is why adderall and NS don't mix.
 
Agreed, for the most part. I'm definitely a big fan of fat tubes just because I tend to have much more confidence going into them.

As far as the box thing goes it's not that hard to scissor on a big box. Sugarbush's boxes are all so fucking fat.

458774_10151468294275556_541435555_23597476_1994281013_o.jpg


haha
 
well, the reason i'm asking this is because for my summer set-up i'm going to have a fat-ish plastic/pvc tube. i'm just wondering if my skills will transfer to a flat bar or the regular rails at my park.
 
Yeah man, honestly I think tricks on big tubes are a lot cooler than a flat rail. Not to mention any practice you do at all will translate over anyway.
 
yeah, i'm excited because all summer i'm going to work real hard to get a bunch of rail tricks down, then in the winter i'll be all sick and stuff haha.
 
i did that last year got a bunch of dope tricks but dont get too excited because hitting a setup is similar to hiking. so when lapping a park you wont be able to do nearly as many tricks. even though you get those tricks down on your setup doesnt necisarily meen you will be able to do them as often in the park. if anything i would get a metal rail trust me it will be worth it in the long run. dont get me wrong it will definitly be more fun and easier on a pvc tube but going from that to park rails is very hard to get all your tricks transitioned over too, and it will improve your skiing but not as much as a metal rail.

spark notes: get a metal rail! take this advice to avoid all the frustration i encountered
 
What....If you learn a trick hiking you will still be able to learn it lapping. That has nothing to do with anything.
 
I approve 100%, at the begining of the season I was sooo stoked of all the trick I got on my summer setup and sadly I wasn't able to land them on metal bar... It's a lot easier on tube when you're hiking it nonstop but it's still better than nothing.
 
I think what he means is, every rail in the park is different and even slides a little differently. It gets comfortable Seshing your pvc rail countless times learning all kinds of 2 on swap combo variations and shit, but then taking those skills to park rails sometimes feels like you're relearning everything.... at least that's how it was with me.

Don't get me wrong summer setups help a shit ton especially with 2's on, getting the timing of the pop and spin just right. I will certainly be using mine again this summer.

 
that's all i really care about. i might borrow a metal small tube rail from my friend, (like 1.5in diamater) , but either way, as long as my skills will transfer to the park, then i'm good.
 
i'm not sure what you're all classifying as "fat" i mean, my hill has a tube rail thats around 4inch in diameter and its the hardest thing ever to lock onto, sliding the whole thing requires sketchy tail or nosepressing around the last 5 feet...
 
you just need to practise... My friend has a 1" 20ft long rail and once you get how to lock it's the funniest feature. and 4" is reptty big... if you cant do it without any press then theres a lil problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top