In another of our reader reviews, Alan Newman brings us details of GI’s flagship product, the Conflict 106

As Ground Industries top of the range board, naturally my expectations were pretty high, and I wasn’t completely disappointed. The board as a whole is well above average with the only let down being the Bionic Trucks and their T3 Torsion Cube’s.

Unfortunately the trucks are a pretty big problem and the cubes are a nightmare. Firstly the provided mid-range yellow cubes are incredibly soft and offer very little stability at high speeds. They are good for carving while freeriding but again speed wobble is an issue. The main problem is that during a turn the cubes become weak and are liable to breaking (mine did after two sessions). I now have stiffer cubes and the board feels a lot better but you cannot adjust the trucks by much unless you spend more money (£20 a time) on different cubes!

In Ground Industries defence the cubes are very easy to change although why the kingpin is so over complicated I will never know.

The Conflict 106 deck is the saving grace for this board, it is very light weighing in at 0.07kg less than the FlightLite 100 (which is 6 cm shorter)and, as a whole, nearly 1kg lighter than the equivalent MBS pro set-up. The pop that you get from this board is amazing and even hitting a small bump can produce a satisfying air.

I have not had the board long enough to comment on its durability but it seems to be incredibly strong and is beautifully stiff. Best of all the graphics are gorgeous and really a mark above any other Ground Industries designs.

The Talon 2 binding are quite simply the best bindings available at the moment and after a few sessions will have shaped to your feet and offer a comfort level well above MBS F3’s. The action of the ratchet is very smooth and very easy to tighten, your feet feel secure and the strap pouch on the front is a nice touch.

The wheels and hubs and pretty standard. I have the basic Crossair Hubs the board is also available with Vegas Hubs. They seem strong enough to take some pretty major abuse and are of a similar quality to the MBS equivalent.

To sum up, The Conflict 106 would be the one of the best complete boards available if it had Scrub Channel or MBS Matrix trucks. Ground Industries has tried to hard to be innovative and have instead came up with something that is a good idea but lacking in practice. Still, I would highly recommend this board to any rider as the good points do outweigh the bad.

Manufactuers Information

Board Specs:

Length: 106cm / 41.7in

Width: 21.6cm / 8.5in

Weight: 6.39kg / 14.1lbs

Deck Construction: Heliocore Comp with V-beam Technology

During this three part series, we’ve covered the basics on fractures, road rash, and now concussions. Concussions are often referred to as Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI). While there are different levels of severity, even the mildest of concussions should be avoided. Not only is your brain getting beat up each time, you also become more vulnerable to further brain injury with each repeated concussion.

Inside the skull the brain is surrounded by what is called “cerebrospinal fluid.” This fluid acts as a cushion to protect the brain from low levels of trauma. It has it’s limits however, and if those limits are crossed the brain can be damaged. These limits can be crossed even without a direct blow to the head. If the body comes to a sudden and forceful stop, the brain might still get shook up regardless of where the impact occurred.

Symptoms vary from person to person. They can also vary depending on the severity of the injury. Some of the most common symptoms for mild concussions (though the same symptoms can be present in all levels of concussions) include: headache, nausea and sometimes vomiting, dizziness, and confusion. Momentary loss of consciousness sometimes occurs, along with that “whoa-what happened feeling.”

One should pay careful attention to his or her symptoms if a concussion is suspected. Regardless of the severity, you’ll need to rest. Your body is telling you through these symptoms that it’s extra fragile and that you need to take it easy. In most cases, more mountainboarding, is not the best idea.

More severe concussions can include symptoms such as these: loss of consciousness for over a couple minutes, waking up and then passing out again, an intense “I want to die” headache, your buddy saying, “dude, you hit really hard, I thought you died,” blurred or doubled vision, prolonged amnesia (you can’t remember what happened). The list goes on, the key is if you get up (or don’t get up), and you think to yourself, “Wow, I feel really messed up,” then you probably need to get some professional help.

If it is someone other than yourself that is down for the count, you can help my looking for certain symptoms that the victim won’t be aware of. If the guy is moving slowly, confused or kind of dazed, if he keeps repeating things even after receiving the answer, if his pupils aren’t equal (one is big and the other is small), basically if the guy is simply “not right,” then get him help. Keeping the person awake, contrary to popular belief is not necessary, all though it does make it easier to assess symptoms and vomit without choking.

Also a person who has been out cold for more than a couple of minutes shouldn’t be moved. Further injury could be caused and medical help should be called for as soon as possible.

As mentioned before, even the most mild concussion should be treated with care. Pay attention to the symptoms. Even if you feel okay, if your symptoms worsen you should get checked out my a professional.

So what’s the good news? The good news is that a great deal of mountainboadrd related concussions can be prevented by one simple piece of gear: your helmet. That cerebo-whatever fluid can only do so much. WEAR YOUR HELMET and make sure it fits, it can save your life, or at very least save you from a throbbing headache.

This is a bit of a tricky review to make due to the nature of the board; it’s designed for kids. So equipped with a Lil Bomber I went off to see my nephew Tom and between us we were able to come up with a review.

Tom is not a mountainboarder, but he rides a mean RipStik and has had a couple of snowboarding lessons so I thought he could cope.

First comes the marketing guff produced by GI:

Inspired by Akoni Dama and his mission to get more kids riding, the Lil’ Bomber 90 is a light-weight, tight lil’ package. The wider side-cut and youth-engineered bindings provide greater turning leverage for increased speed control and stopping power. Built with full size 8″ wheels and 12mm skate trucks, this board packs components that maintian their functionality and durability as the rider and your skills grows.

From this, Tom and myself translated that this was designed for small people wanting to get into mountainboarding, and that it has a wide deck and special bindings to ease turning.

The “youth-engineered” bindings were good, a bit of manipulation and Tom had a really good fit, and was able to control the board fairly well. Onto his maiden voyage.

On jumps Tom and zooms off down the street, an instant expert, carving smoothly down the street, and stopping with a neat j-turn without too much effort.

His first impression was that it does not turn as well as his RipStik and that it does not bend very well. From this I interpret that the ride was a bit stiff. I’m not sure if this was due to Tom’s size (he’s not very big). A more heavy kid may be able to overcome this shortcoming. This aside he had no trouble turning.

A quick session of the basics, and we were off to a gentle hill, this I think, has made Tom a life long mountainboarder. He loved the off-road nature of the ride, and the 8″ wheels handled the terrain we were riding on with ease, full points for using full size wheels G.I.

Tom had one criticism of the board, and that was the graphics on the bottom, he though they were a bit “Lame-o” with the “stupid smiley sun” (his words not mine). So you may want to run that past any kids you are planning to buy this board for.

Our opinion – excellent fun, and pretty easy to ride, an excellent entry level board to bring new riders into the sport. I’ve lost my demo board to Tom, but I think that was a cheap price to bring a new keen rider to our sport.

Manufacturers Information

SPECS:
LENGTH: 35.4 inches/ 90 cm
WIDTH: 9 inches/ 22.9 cm
WEIGHT: 13 pounds/ 5.9 Kilos
DECK CONSTRUCTION: Hard Maple
BUILD: Intermediate
KIT INCLUDES:
Balistik Turff 2 ply tires
5 Spoke Hub Technology
15″ 12mm Skate Style Trucks
Roots Lil’ Pro Bindings
Lil’ Bomber Maple Deck
Tool Kit & Instructions

INSPIRED BY OUR GOOD FRIEND AKONI KAMA AND HIS MISSION TO GET MORE KIDS RIDING, THE LIL’ BOMBER 90 IS A LIGHT-WEIGHT, TIGHT LIL’ PACKAGE. THE WIDER SIDE- CUT AND YOUTH-ENGINEERED BINDINGS PROVIDE GREATER TURNING LEVERAGE FOR INCREASED SPEED CONTROL AND STOPPING POWER . BUILT WITH FULL SIZE 8” WHEELS AND 12 MM SKATE TRUCKS, THIS BOARD PACKS COMPONENTS THAT MAINTAIN THEIR FUNCTIONALITY AND DURABILITY AS THE RIDER GROWS.

Our more primitive ancestors quickly became accustomed to using what they had around them in order to survive. Whether it was smashing dinner with a club made of mammoth bone, or huddling in a cave to stay out of the storm, they improvised with what was currently available and stayed alive, some of them anyway.

As mountainboarders, we can learn from our ancient cave brothers and embrace this same instinctive behavior. Instead of smashing dinner however, we use it to ride. We use it to turn our line of descent into a beautiful piece of mountainboarding art, sometimes even a masterpiece.

As we ride, we not only look to throw down style points, but we look to survive the ride and avoid injury. Can we do both at once? You bet we can, and that’s what it’s all about. As beginners we might have bailed off every five meters, or powerslide in the middle of what would have been an awesome ride if we could only handle the speed. Regardless of skill level, speed needs to be controlled, though it doesn’t require us to bail or powerslide every five meters.

This is where we harness our inner instincts and we use what we have around us to control our speed and to create our mountainboarding masterpiece. Use of terrain is key to this. A soft patch of dirt or sand, some tall grass, even a rocky, gravely section will slow you down to some extent. Incorporate your own personal style into this and slowing down can even become part of your art work.

Say you’re picking up some tear-streaking speed and you don’t know what’s around the next corner. You want to slow your rate of descent without messing up what has been an epic ride so far. Instead of coming to a stop or bailing out, you see a patch of loose dirt on the bank to your left. You carve toward it and as you reach it you carve hard back to the right throwing dust into the air. Now, ahead of you is a steep embankment that marks the edge of the trail, you slash it like a curling wave and continue downward. Then, just as you reach your mystery corner you throw down what appears to be a powerslide, but you force it into a 180 ground speed and take the corner riding fakie (rear foot forward).

Any onlooker would be stoked by the scene despite the many times you slowed your speed. Your methods of slowing down were so saturated with style that few would even realize that you were trying to gain control of your mountainboard. The loose dirt you threw into the air absorbed a portion of your speed. The embankment, due to the upward angle as well as the slash, took another chunk of your speed. Then, when you reached your corner of uncertainty and wanted to kill even more speed, your 180 ground spin consumed enough of your momentum to make you feel comfortable facing the unknown. Best of all, it all looked and felt awesome.

Use your terrain. Use what you got. Create your masterpiece.